I’m Stuck on a Remote Island With the Male Leads - Chapter 199
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————
Chapter 199
* * *
The waves remained turbulent.
Diego Bastian Vilterheim and Marcel stood at the bow of the warship, raising their telescopes.
Alea Island lay in ruins, shrouded in fog, yet its debris remained starkly visible. The island itself was simply too vast.
Diego Bastian Vilterheim gazed upon the shattered Alea Island with a somewhat melancholic expression. From this distance, it seemed like nothing more than an ordinary island.
“So she was trapped there.”
Marcel’s voice carried anger as he spoke. Diego Bastian Vilterheim, standing with arms crossed and an impassive face, glanced briefly at his younger brother.
“They twisted the space-time around it so passing ships couldn’t detect it, or so I’ve heard.”
Just as Diego Bastian Vilterheim said, the unnaturally dense fog enveloping the island proved that traces of Magic Power remained there.
“Have you received a response from Your Highness? I think we could enter if we attempted it at a slightly faster speed.”
Diego Bastian Vilterheim shook his head at Marcel’s question. He took the telescope from Marcel and surveyed the island once more.
They had wasted far too much time simply finding the island and then discovering a way to enter it. Now that they had found a method of entry, all that remained was to venture inside and secure evidence.
However, the order to enter had not yet come from Enoch Aster Klaus Langrid. He had been unreachable since last night, for reasons unknown.
‘He said we had to find and secure the island before the Peony Faction could make their move.’
After deliberating for some time, Diego Bastian Vilterheim hardened his resolve and opened his mouth.
“We’ll proceed with entry.”
And just as Diego Bastian Vilterheim gave the order and Marcel was about to relay the command to enter—
Suddenly, commotion erupted around them. Soon after, Marcel and Diego Bastian Vilterheim turned to look behind them.
In their field of vision, a crimson smoke streaked across the sky in a long arc. It was clearly fired from the mainland. Moments later, it transformed into a massive firework that dominated the heavens.
“What, what is that…!”
Marcel, about to issue the order to enter the island, looked up at the sky in bewilderment.
Diego Bastian Vilterheim had seen that firework before.
On Alea Island itself.
Diego Bastian Vilterheim hastily rescinded the order to enter Alea Island.
“Wait. We hold position here. We’ll enter only after Your Highness Crown Prince arrives.”
If Margaret Rose Flone was here, then Enoch Aster Klaus Langrid was surely with her.
“What? What are you talking about! Do you know something about that firework?”
“It’s a signal. Sent by Lady Flone.”
“Wait, Lady Flone…? What. A noble lady sent such a signal? No, more importantly, how did she even get here? How did you recognize it?”
Questions poured from Marcel. Yet Diego Bastian Vilterheim offered no clear answers to any of them, instead issuing a brief command.
“I’ll explain once His Highness arrives. Turn the ship around.”
* * *
Gathered on the Sandy Beach, we listened as Yuanna Lucy recounted the story of the dimensional rift.
A thousand years ago, a crack appeared in the dimension, and the fissure began to widen gradually.
“A rift caused by the overuse of Magic Power and Divine Power—how fascinating.”
It was Enoch Aster Klaus Langrid who spoke upon hearing Yuanna Lucy’s account. His words were indeed quite intriguing.
This world was one where Magic Power and Divine Power existed, and people’s dependence on these forces was extraordinarily high.
When people fell ill, they sought Priests rather than physicians. The advancement of culture and technology had likewise relied almost entirely on Magic and Divine Power.
Consequently, those who possessed these powers—the Mage Association and the Papal Court—naturally accumulated authority, and soon fell into corruption.
Jenas had exploited this social structure and humanity’s desires to dominate the Peony Faction for over a thousand years.
According to Yuanna’s investigation, the dimensional rifts grew progressively larger as these two groups monopolized and abused their power.
“If that’s true, perhaps this world would be better off without Magic Power and Divine Power altogether.”
Prince of Asdal murmured as he listened to Yuanna’s account.
Indeed, one of Jenas’s purposes in attempting to collapse the dimensional rifts was to use the backlash to erase all Magic Power from this world.
Of course, his scheme to strip every person of their Magic Power while he alone retained it to dominate everyone was nothing short of madness.
“Is there a way to seal the dimensional rifts?”
Enoch Aster Klaus Langrid posed the question, and Yuanna Lucy nodded in response.
“I can seal them.”
“How?”
I asked her with some surprise. Yuanna Lucy then smiled with a bitter expression.
“If the rifts were created by the abuse of power, then eliminating that power would be the best solution.”
“Is that possible?”
“Yes, I can do it. My Divine Power is special. You’ve all heard that I’m a Saint who appeared for the first time in a hundred years, haven’t you? It seems I was born for this moment.”
Yuanna Lucy made her momentous announcement, sweeping her gaze across everyone before continuing.
“My Divine Power possesses not only healing but also purification. And that purification power is far greater than you might imagine.”
Purification power? Was that why Yuanna Lucy had been placed on the list of test subjects?
Now that I thought about it, Jenas did seem to regard Yuanna Lucy as particularly special.
“Oh, and Margaret Rose Flone, I read the letter you sent last time. About the Magic Stones Jenas created to use in a world without Magic Power—please destroy those directly. I don’t think I’ll be able to control those.”
Just thinking about Jenas gave me a headache. I rubbed my throbbing forehead and asked her.
“But no matter how divine that power is, using such tremendous force through a single body must exact a price, mustn’t it? It doesn’t seem like ordinary power.”
At my question, Yuanna Lucy smiled softly.
“Oh, I like how you worry about me, Margaret Rose Flone.”
“Don’t joke about this.”
“Don’t ask about such things. In our current situation where there isn’t even a single alternative, knowing won’t change anything.”
My heart sank at her words. The fact that she wouldn’t tell me only deepened my worry. There was a saying that great power came with great responsibility, after all.
Seeing my expression filled with concern, Yuanna Lucy looked flustered and squeezed my hand tightly.
“There’s no need to worry like that. I mean it.”
Whether these words were merely empty reassurance or the truth, I supposed I would only discover when that moment actually arrived.
Then Enoch Aster Klaus Langrid shook his head against my shoulder and pointed at Eun-ji, who was obliviously delighted by herself, asking.
“Then what happens to Eun-ji? If Magic Power disappears, the Magical Beasts of this world will….”
“All the Magical Beasts will disappear.”
“What?!”
“But regarding Eun-ji, I’m not entirely sure either. She swallowed a Magic Stone, after all. And that Magic Stone is supposed to be a power that remains intact even after the dimensional rifts collapse.”
‘You understand that Magic Power exists in our bodies like air, right? When the dimensional gate opens, it collapses. Since the flow is disrupted, ordinary people won’t be able to use Magic Power. And it seems they wanted a power to handle it perfectly.’
‘This Magic Stone is precisely the thing that manipulates that collapsed Magic Flow. While ordinary people can’t even touch Magic Power, they planned to use these Magic Stones to dominate the Continent. …Until they learned the experiment had failed.’
Recalling what Kaiden had told me before, I nodded.
“That’s right.”
Hearing that story again, I became concerned that Eun-ji had only swallowed seven Magic Stones. It would be good if she consumed the remaining ones, presumably stolen by Archbishop Linnehaon.
“The real problem isn’t Eun-ji, but actually Margaret Rose Flone.”
“Me? You mean me?”
“Margaret’s Mana flows differently than ours. She’s a soul that has crossed dimensions once.”
Yuanna Lucy, speaking those words, studied me intently with a troubled expression.
“It’s the same reason why she was the only one who could use Magic on Alea Island. It’s the same reason why Anata’s system designed for the island didn’t work on Margaret. My purification power might not work on her either.”
As I listened to Yuanna Lucy’s words, I suddenly recalled the moment when the Peony Faction used Magic Stones and cracks appeared in the sky.
My head had ached terribly, as if my body was reacting to those cracks.
“If it doesn’t work, isn’t that a good thing? That means Lady Flone alone possesses Magic.”
At the Prince of Asdal’s question, Yuanna Lucy looked at me with a pained gaze for a moment.
“That’s… not right. We can’t seal the dimensional rift that way. That’s what Jenas wanted.”
Until now, I had only thought about it in my mind. That I had to cross dimensions. But now was the time to reach a concrete conclusion.
Why did it have to be me? If I hadn’t crossed dimensions during the Experiment and lived in Korea, wouldn’t I have been spared this sacrifice?
No. If that were the case, we might all have died on the Experiment Island already. Besides, didn’t Yuanna Lucy sacrifice herself on the island to save all of us?
I spoke to Yuanna Lucy with a determined expression.
“I understand what you mean. Saint, please fulfill your role to the end. I’ll do mine. Let’s all give Jenas a big middle finger.”
Then the Prince of Asdal asked what a middle finger meant. Too lazy to explain, I was avoiding his gaze when Enoch Aster Klaus Langrid suddenly grabbed my arm.
His grip was excessively strong. My arm hurt a little, but I couldn’t say anything. It was because of his crumbling expression as he looked at me.
“Absolutely not.”
“What do you mean, not?”
I was a bit flustered and tried to make excuses, but Enoch Aster Klaus Langrid’s face was very firm.
“You’re planning to sacrifice yourself. You’ve always done that.”
“We’re all making sacrifices.”
Just moments ago, hadn’t Yuanna Lucy said she would sacrifice herself? She hadn’t stated it directly, but she too was sacrificing something.
And wasn’t Kaiden also sacrificing himself? Carrying such a great evil as Jenas within himself.
“Enoch, there’s nothing more important than survival. If we must choose between the sacrifice of many or the sacrifice of one, you know what the answer is.”
First, everyone must live. Everything else comes after.
After hearing my answer, Enoch Aster Klaus Langrid clenched his jaw as if angry and stared at me intensely.
Just then, a massive Magic Circle appeared before us. And one by one, Mages from Kaiden’s Mage Tower arrived above the Magic Circle.
Yuanna Lucy and the Prince of Asdal, who had been watching our interaction, quickly excused themselves as if relieved.
Enoch Aster Klaus Langrid and I sat facing each other in silence for a moment.
“You say there’s nothing more important than survival, yet why are you trying to sacrifice yourself?”
After a long silence, Enoch Aster Klaus Langrid spoke. He slowly reached his hand toward my cheek. His firm fingers touched my face.
“Whatever you’re planning, I’ll do it instead.”
“That’s not possible.”
I urgently grabbed his arm. I could never bear to see Enoch Aster Klaus Langrid sacrifice himself in my place. Never.
“Why? Margaret, why is it acceptable for you to sacrifice yourself, but not for me?”
Enoch Aster Klaus Langrid looked at me as if he couldn’t understand.
“I could give my life for you. Because you’re more important to me than my own survival.”
In that moment, I suddenly realized that I had been thinking about him far too much.
When did it start? When did I begin to care for him?
I now understood that this feeling wasn’t something that would pass with the seasons, nor was it merely a Suspension Bridge Effect.
Like watercolor bleeding into water, like clothes gradually soaked by drizzle—so slowly, so imperceptibly, I came to love Enoch Aster Klaus Langrid.
I could not bear to witness him sacrificing himself for my sake.
Was it from the moment I first opened my eyes on this Island? Or when he first protected me from the Magical Beasts? Perhaps when he wandered through the Forest teeming with Magical Beasts all night searching for me? Or when we kissed under the pretense of Tentationem?
Was it when I realized he still cared for me even after learning I was Lee Jin-ju, even knowing I was Margaret Rose Flone who had treated him poorly in the past?
Perhaps it was from the moment before we entered Jenas’s Cabin, when he confessed beneath that beautiful night sky drenched in Moonlight.
“It may well be a fleeting emotion born of circumstance, as you say. If you wish to deny it, you’re free to do so. But that doesn’t erase the time we’ve spent together until now.”
That was the man Enoch Aster Klaus Langrid was—speaking thus, yet holding back from fully expressing his heart, fearing it would become a burden to me.
Even now, he has never forced his feelings upon me, instead waiting with patience, never wishing to burden me.
And in this very moment, without a shred of hesitation, he declares that my life is more important than his own survival.
But this time, it would be meaningless for anyone but me to make the sacrifice. I could not accept Enoch making an unnecessary sacrifice solely for the purpose of taking my place.
Because of this, separate from my love for him, I could not accept his heart.
“Enoch, you have no reason to sacrifice your life for me. You heard it from the Saint herself. This is something I must do.”
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————