I’m Stuck on a Remote Island With the Male Leads - Chapter 191

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 191
* * *
I checked the time and scanned my surroundings for any suspicious movements.
Mother was engaged in a private conversation with the Empress, while Father and Innis managed the numerous guests in the Banquet Hall.
The noble ladies seeking me out were being handled by Rosemary, who gave me the freedom to move about easily, and those who still approached me were dealt with by Enoch and the Prince of Asdal, both seasoned in such situations.
It was then that I suddenly noticed Kaiden’s absence. Where had he gone?
Now that I thought about it, the Pope wasn’t visible in the Banquet Hall either.
“Have you seen where the old fogey went? I lost track of him because of that damned Linnehaon.”
Yuanna, like me, was looking around for the Pope.
The Pope disappeared along with Kaiden… I felt a bit uneasy.
Yuanna, who had been surveying the surroundings, let out a sigh before turning to me and whispering.
“Oh, Margaret. I’ll give you my gift after the party ends.”
She winked at me with a natural smile. After confirming there was no one nearby, she leaned toward me and whispered in a very small voice.
“I’ve gathered a lot of evidence about the Experiments. I’ve even obtained letters exchanged between the Rohade Family and the Papal Court.”
“Really?”
“Yes. I found them in the old fogey’s basement.”
The old fogey’s basement clearly referred to the Pope’s chambers.
“To take such a risk…”
“It was risky, but I have the ability. I’m confident in stealing.”
Yuanna tapped her chest proudly as she spoke. Saying she was confident in stealing was hardly fitting for a Saint, but it was so like her.
“But I obtained the Experiment logs, and there were mentions of dimensional rifts and life forms from beyond dimensions. I’d like to discuss this matter with Meg.”
Talk of dimensional rifts and life forms from beyond dimensions made my hair stand on end with a chilling sensation.
However, this place was far too public to mention such matters now. I decided to discuss this after the party ended and turned my head away.
Vanessa, who was walking through the Banquet Hall supervising the servants, caught my eye again.
Vanessa was busy with various tasks—instructing servants to refill the empty dessert table and procuring fresh wine.
Then, Vanessa’s gaze landed on Linnehaon. Linnehaon nodded toward her, and upon seeing that signal, Vanessa hurried away somewhere.
I quietly observed the suspicious exchange between Linnehaon and Vanessa.
* * *
Vanessa rushed into the Kitchen. Linnehaon had given her a signal.
Two Clerics from the Papal Court were waiting for her in the Kitchen. They had infiltrated through the back door of the Kitchen that Vanessa had left open beforehand. They were there to surveil Vanessa.
“Archbishop Linnehaon sent the signal.”
At Vanessa’s words, the two Clerics pulled out a small tin case from the table. When Vanessa opened the lid of the tin case, a red powder was revealed.
“Mix it.”
The Cleric gave her an order. Vanessa, her face tense, mixed the powder into the wine that would be served to the Banquet Hall. Her hands trembled, but she tried her best to maintain composure.
“When the signal comes again, deliver the wine to the Survivors. If you make a mistake, I’ll reveal to Lady Flone what you did in the past. Then you won’t be able to keep your life.”
Vanessa quietly nodded. The two Clerics glanced around nervously before hurriedly disappearing through the back door of the Kitchen, fearing someone else might arrive.
“Vanessa!”
Just then, Mia, Rosemary’s personal maid, poked her head into the Kitchen.
“Miss Margaret is looking for you.”
“I’m coming now.”
Upon hearing Vanessa’s words, Mia entered the kitchen and pointed to two bottles of wine sitting on the table.
“The head maid said the Banquet Hall was running low on wine… Oh? The corks are already pulled. This is right, isn’t it?”
Wine was typically uncorked and left to breathe for about thirty minutes to develop a richer flavor and aroma. Mia assumed the bottles on the table had been prepared for that purpose.
Vanessa swallowed hard and nodded.
“Yes, that’s right.”
Without a shred of suspicion, Mia took the uncorked wine. Vanessa glanced subtly toward the kitchen’s back door.
As expected, the two clerics who had slipped out were hidden in the shadows, watching her intently.
Her heart sank. She couldn’t afford to make a mistake. Vanessa called out to Mia, who held the wine bottles in both hands.
“Take that straight to Miss Margaret.”
At Vanessa’s words, Mia paused before leaving the kitchen. She turned back to Vanessa with a slightly puzzled expression.
Vanessa stepped closer to Mia and placed her hand over the back of Mia’s hand holding the wine.
“The young lady found that wine.”
When Vanessa spoke firmly, Mia stood there looking reluctant before nodding.
“Understood.”
As Mia left the kitchen, she quietly opened her hand. Inside lay a small note that Vanessa had just slipped to her.
* * *
Duchess Flone, Violet, watched as Margaret’s maid Vanessa disappeared toward the kitchen, and then Rosemary’s maid Mia followed after her.
Then her gaze met that of her second daughter, Margaret. It seemed Margaret had also been watching the two maids. When their eyes met, Margaret slowly nodded.
It was a signal that the plan had begun.
“Madam?”
At that moment, the Empress standing before her called to Violet again. Violet turned to face the Empress and apologized with practiced composure.
“Ah, yes. My apologies, Your Majesty.”
The Empress, looking at Violet, fanned herself with a somewhat weary expression.
“I’m exhausted. I’m afraid I won’t be able to stay here long. It’s difficult to leave the Imperial Palace unattended for extended periods. Please don’t be too disappointed, madam.”
The Empress smiled warmly and spoke to Violet.
‘Exhausted, my foot. She’s planning to flee before this is all over.’
Violet concealed her true thoughts and grasped the Empress’s hand with a sorrowful expression.
“Of course. I understand. Your heart must be quite troubled right now.”
At her mention of Rodban, the Empress withdrew her hand with a reluctant expression.
Violet observed the Empress’s expression carefully. Once, she had been desperate to entangle her daughters with the Empress’s son. Now she gazed at Violet indifferently, as one might regard a deflated balloon.
It seemed the Empress had shifted her attitude because once the Flone Family was destroyed today, she would no longer have need of them.
Violet’s eyes fixed on the necklace around the Empress’s neck. Until moments ago, the cape draped across her shoulders had obscured it, but now that she had shifted it back slightly, the necklace became visible.
An ugly, dull-colored stone—rough and unpolished—hung from the necklace around the Empress’s neck without even proper craftsmanship.
“That necklace is quite distinctive. Was it a gift?”
She had heard that Magic Stones varied in size, but the Empress’s appeared smaller than those of others.
The Empress smiled at Violet’s words with a meaningful expression.
“It was indeed a gift. An object that changed my entire life.”
To wear it so brazenly as a necklace at a party—Violet’s teeth clenched at the Empress’s audacity, but she laughed along as if she knew nothing.
“A necklace that changed your life? I’m quite curious who gave you such a gift.”
“The greatest mage in the world. Though he no longer walks this earth. Ah, but since he was a mage whose name was never revealed, I’m afraid I cannot tell you.”
The Empress answered Violet’s question without much concern. It was just as Violet was about to press her for more specific details on the matter.
Count Paterson, who stood nearby and was the Empress’s father and Rodban’s maternal grandfather, approached and whispered something into the Empress’s ear.
Violet caught a smile playing at the corners of the Empress’s lips.
* * *
I spotted Enoch Aster Klaus Langrid as I watched Vanessa and Mia enter the banquet hall with wine in their hands.
“Enoch Aster Klaus Langrid.”
Enoch turned his affectionate gaze toward me, pausing his conversation with the other nobles.
The nobles he’d been speaking with read the room and withdrew from us. Feeling somewhat embarrassed, I read the situation before opening my mouth.
“It seems to have begun.”
At my whisper, Enoch Aster Klaus Langrid’s gaze also fixed on Vanessa and Mia approaching us.
Beyond us, there were others closely tracking the movements of the two maids. The Empress, Count Paterson, Archbishop Linnehaon, and members of the Mage Association.
“Do you know where Kaiden went? I haven’t seen him since earlier.”
“The old fogey hasn’t been visible either.”
Yuanna Lucy, who had just finished surveying the surroundings, spoke to me. At that moment, the sound of applause echoed from somewhere.
“Now, everyone, please pay attention.”
It was the Empress. All eyes turned toward her.
“I would like to propose a celebratory toast for our Lady Flone. Everyone, please fill your glasses.”
Before the Empress’s words had even finished, Vanessa and Mia approached us. As the Empress, who had been watching them intently, met my eyes, she smiled knowingly.
I turned to look at Vanessa. With an undisturbed expression, she calmly poured wine into my glass, then Enoch Aster Klaus Langrid’s, and finally Yuanna Lucy’s.
In the distance, I could see Mia filling the glasses of Archbishop Luzef and the Prince of Asdal.
I quietly picked up my filled glass, following the Empress’s lead. I felt the gazes of those around me intently watching the glass I held. They were clearly members of the Peony Flower.
“To celebrate the birthday of Margaret Rose Flone, a toast.”
“A toast!”
The moment the Empress finished speaking, everyone shouted in unison and raised their glasses before drinking the wine together.
The Empress smiled at me, and I returned her smile knowingly before drinking the wine.
As I drained the glass completely, the Empress’s smile deepened.
Then I suddenly noticed a necklace around the Empress’s neck that I hadn’t seen before.
‘Could that be…?’
And then,
Boom—boom—boom—
A deep, resonant sound echoed from outside Duke Flone’s Castle.
The music stopped.
People stirred in surprise, gathering toward the terrace of the banquet hall.
It seemed they had begun summoning Magical Beasts using Magic Stones. If so, I had to find the Magic Stones and apprehend them quickly from now on. This was a race against time.
At that moment, the Empress approached me with an unhurried expression.
“The wine had a lovely fragrance, didn’t it?”
I handed my empty glass to Vanessa and turned to face the Empress. The Magic Stone hanging around her neck still showed no light.
“I offer my congratulations once more on your birthday, Lady Flone. Did you like the birthday gift?”
“Pardon?”
“That wine was my gift. What was its name again? Tentationem wine?”
As she spoke those words, the Empress’s eerie smile sent a chill down my spine.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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