I’m Stuck on a Remote Island With the Male Leads - Chapter 228
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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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Side Story Episode 13
The very situation of someone extending a hand to me was unfamiliar, leaving me somewhat bewildered.
“Come on.”
But the small girl who had offered me her hand for the first time possessed little patience.
She seized his hand without permission and pulled him to his feet.
“Let’s go.”
Then she forcibly led him out through the Garden.
The problem lay in that very act—they had passed through the quiet Garden and emerged into a crowded area.
“Oh my? Over there….”
“Wasn’t he just chased away by Princess Camilla? Ah…. His attire is rather….”
As the whispers of those who recognized him grew louder, Margaret Rose Flone tilted her head and turned to look at him.
“What? Why is a mere servant of yours so famous?”
She still hadn’t realized he was a Prince. Though understandable enough.
When Enoch Aster Klaus Langrid pressed his lips firmly shut and offered no response, Margaret Rose Flone glared at the whispering crowd with fierce eyes.
“What are you staring at? Mind your own business! Keep looking and I’ll bite!”
As Margaret Rose Flone growled out her warning, the whispers among the crowd only intensified.
“My goodness. Why is Lady Flone over there…?”
“Isn’t she the second Young Lady of the Flone Family? Avoid eye contact. She might actually bite.”
“I don’t think she was always like this. Apparently she’s been acting strange recently.”
“How could such a Scoundrel emerge from the prestigious Flone Family…. The world is ending.”
Listening to their conversation, Enoch Aster Klaus Langrid was inwardly astonished. The girl was receiving the same pointed fingers and judgment as he was.
Yet the girl remained composed. She showed no sign of caring what they said.
Enoch Aster Klaus Langrid offered her counsel with a somewhat concerned expression.
“If you continue behaving so rudely, you’ll be ostracized from the Social Circle. Marriage prospects will be difficult too.”
“I know. That’s something I’ll handle myself. I create my own future—I don’t like it when others tell me what to do.”
Margaret Rose Flone scratched her ear as she answered. Her words and actions were utterly unlike those of a child her age.
Enoch Aster Klaus Langrid thought it would be difficult for her to survive in the Social Circle. Yet he couldn’t understand why her words kept circling through his mind.
“Is that something the future you from my dream said?”
At Enoch Aster Klaus Langrid’s question, the girl grinned and nodded.
“That’s right. Cool, isn’t it?”
“Yes. Very cool.”
At his affirmation, the girl’s eyes widened in surprise. As if she hadn’t expected such an answer from him.
Soon the girl’s smile bloomed like flowers in full blossom. Enoch Aster Klaus Langrid thought he had never seen such a beautiful smile in all the world.
Boom—!
It was in that moment that jewel-like fireworks burst into bloom across the dark Sky.
Margaret Rose Flone, Enoch Aster Klaus Langrid, and all the people gathered in the Garden looked up at the heavens.
“Wow, it’s truly beautiful. Isn’t it?”
Margaret Rose Flone asked him with that same smile as before, gazing at him. That smile, more beautiful than the fireworks blooming across the Sky, was visible.
Enoch Aster Klaus Langrid stared blankly at Margaret Rose Flone’s face and nodded.
“Yes. Beautiful.”
Enoch thought that no night was more beautiful than one adorned with fireworks against a night sky so dark that not even an inch ahead could be seen.
* * *
Enoch burst into laughter as he recalled the past.
Yes, the first impression had certainly been that good.
Years had passed since then, and they had reunited as adults, yet Margaret had completely forgotten him and showed no shyness, as if seeing him for the first time.
Moreover, that shyness lasted only briefly before she developed a terrifyingly intense obsession with him.
Thanks to that, Enoch had grown so sick of Margaret that he too had erased their first meeting from his memory.
“Enoch, are you listening to me?”
At the sound of her voice, he lifted his head. Margaret, who had been lounging with him in the Cabin, was pouting her lower lip and looking at him.
Enoch lay back down inside the Cabin, following her lead. Margaret nestled into his embrace.
Dawn was breaking.
“Sorry, I was lost in thought. What were you saying?”
“You said you consulted with the Prince of Asdal. About relationship advice. I thought you were avoiding me. We haven’t seen each other in a month, and you disappeared without even greeting me.”
“That’s….”
Enoch started to speak but swallowed his words instead. This wasn’t the time to discuss the Gift.
“It’s a misunderstanding that I’m avoiding you.”
“Then why did you take Eun-ji with you? Your father seemed to be preparing something.”
“….”
“Fine. Never mind. Don’t say anything.”
Margaret clamped her mouth shut as if sulking and rolled over.
Enoch gazed at her back for a moment, then rose to his feet. He then grasped her side and lifted her up.
“Ah…!”
He seated her on his lap and spoke.
“This is the only way I know how to prove my feelings.”
His hand wrapped around Margaret’s waist gently caressed her back. Margaret straightened her posture and looked at him with a tense expression.
She glanced briefly toward the outside where dawn was breaking.
“Focus on me, Margaret.”
Enoch grasped her chin and turned her face toward his. His breath descended upon her lips, swollen and flushed from the torment of the night.
Breaths intertwined, again and again.
Even endless kissing, licking, and touching Margaret seemed insufficient.
The two of them were pressed together without the slightest gap. Only after sharing each other’s breath so intensely that it was suffocating did Margaret suddenly realize something.
“Changing the subject like this. How cowardly.”
“Wasn’t that what you asked—to prove my feelings? I merely complied. Ah, perhaps that wasn’t enough.”
Enoch asked with feigned innocence and placed a light kiss on Margaret’s lips. Then, gauging her reaction, he kissed her again.
The playfulness became sincerity once more, and his gaze deepened.
Margaret finally raised both hands and grasped his shoulders.
“I’ll let you off the hook. This time, it’s my turn.”
She pushed him down onto the floor and straddled him, laughing.
“I like looking down at you like this too. How does it feel to be pinned beneath me?”
She meant to catch him off guard, but Enoch flushed all the way to his ears and couldn’t find his words. He exhaled a sigh and covered his face with one hand.
I had been the one to pin Enoch down, yet I felt his weight pressing heavily upon me. His body seemed to have grown even more solid than before.
“It seems you have no intention of leaving this place today.”
“…That’s a bit much.”
“Why? I could do this all day long.”
Enoch Aster Klaus Langrid pulled my hand toward him, and I collapsed limply onto his body.
As if he had been waiting for this moment, he consumed me again, savoring me as he indulged in the morning hours.
Our morning, thick with intensity, continued for quite some time thereafter.
* * *
Enoch Aster Klaus Langrid asked me about my childhood.
Specifically, about a dream I had experienced long ago.
“You said you had a dream after visiting the Magic Tower. You mentioned that your future self appeared in that dream and said something to you. What was it again? Something like, ‘Life is fundamentally composed of terribly inconvenient timing.'”
Damn it. That sounds exactly like something I would say. I can’t remember it. Well, it’s more surprising that I remember a dream from childhood at all.
‘Still, it’s strange. My future self appeared in a dream.’
You said it was after visiting the Magic Tower.
What did I do at the Magic Tower?
I was tilting my head in confusion when Archbishop Luzef called out to me.
“Young Lady, are you well?”
Only then did I lift my head.
Archbishop Luzef, the Prince of Asdal, and I were in the midst of selecting attire for the Fireworks Festival happening the day after tomorrow.
More precisely, the Prince of Asdal had whined about wanting me to help him choose a disguise, so I had come to his room.
Archbishop Luzef examined my complexion with a worried expression.
“I’m fine. But since the Prince of Asdal is from Hestia, that’s one thing, though His Holiness the Pope’s face is quite famous, isn’t it? It seems difficult for him to enjoy the festival together with us.”
“I shall ensure it causes no disturbance.”
“No, that’s not what I meant…. I misspoke.”
In the end, I apologized. Then Archbishop Luzef waved his hand dismissively, saying it was fine.
For some reason, the Prince of Asdal remained unusually quiet without adding playful remarks. He was quite composed.
Though the tattered garments he had chosen under the guise of a “tragic artist” concept and the baker’s hat on his head hardly looked respectable.
It seemed the outfit was already settled upon.
Then, suddenly, Archbishop Luzef dropped a bombshell statement.
“Young Lady, should your heart grow weary or should you feel the desire to escape, please come to the Papal Court at any time.”
“Pardon? All of a sudden?”
“I understand that you are struggling these days. The Papal Court shall await you at any moment.”
Ah. It seems everyone is like this because I built a Cabin in the Garden and sleep there. Enoch was the same way.
But it’s really not some serious aftereffects that everyone is worrying about—I only go there to sleep when I’m bored…. Why all this misunderstanding….
Regardless, Archbishop Luzef was very serious. With an expressionless face, he continued calmly.
“You know well that the Papal Court is insular. I shall do my utmost to protect you, Young Lady.”
Protect me from what, exactly…?
“Ha, if you can’t get into the Papal Court, won’t you be confined? Young Lady, come to the Hestia Kingdom instead.”
I have no idea how the Prince of Asdal understands things the way he does and says such things.
And it seems his remark has touched a nerve with Archbishop Luzef. He glared at the Prince of Asdal with a fierce expression.
“What kind of thing to say…. Be careful—Your Highness might end up being the one imprisoned.”
“Oh. A future king imprisoned by the Pope? That does sound rather special. It would certainly distinguish me from other monarchs and earn me a place in the history books.”
There it was again—the Prince of Asdal’s infuriating habit of turning everything into a positive.
Archbishop Luzef, who had maintained his composure and dignity throughout, finally snapped. He yanked the stole from his shoulders and stamped on it repeatedly with visible irritation.
He looked like a man whose temperament had shattered, but I understood his feelings perfectly. Luzef had endured far too much in his role as Pope.
The Prince of Asdal, oblivious that he was the one being trampled, clapped delightedly from the sidelines, which only seemed to inflame Luzef’s temper further.
Finally, he struck the bread hat the Prince of Asdal was wearing.
“Did you just hit me? Is this an international incident?”
“I merely struck a tragic artist, if you will?”
Since the Prince of Asdal happened to be cosplaying as a tragic artist at that moment, there was nothing left to say.
Even children wouldn’t quarrel like this. With Kaiden absent, it was now the Prince of Asdal and Archbishop Luzef who bickered.
At least they maintained some semblance of dignity befitting their stations when in public—I supposed I should be grateful for that much.
I watched their petty squabbling in silence, lost in thought.
I wished every day could be as joyful and peaceful as this one.
Above all, I was thrilled that the Fireworks Festival was now just a day away.
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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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