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Chapter 42
Asdal, who was watching the scene, shook his head in disbelief and pointed out Kaiden’s behavior.
“I clearly remember Lord of the Langrid Empire despised Lady Flone, but I guess I’ll witness all sorts of strange things.”
I could understand why Asdal found it so curious. Even I hadn’t quite gotten used to seeing a madman like Kaiden behave this way.
“That guy sure talks a lot.”
Kaiden muttered in a low voice without even glancing at Asdal.
“Do you have multiple lives? Why are you acting like that to the Crown Prince? What if you end up leaving the island?”
Even if he had a weird nickname like “Biscuit Prince,” he was still the Crown Prince, after all.
“Why should I care?”
Kaiden snapped back irritably. I had nothing more to say and closed my mouth.
“Wouldn’t it be better to give up on the cabin and just go back? Living together would be uncomfortable for both sides. I might be a little interested in you, Lady, but I think handling your reckless personality would be a bit too much.”
Asdal, still wearing that calm expression, smiled at us warmly.
He still seemed to think I was Margaret from the past. Even if I tried to tell him otherwise, how could I prove it here and now? So his reaction was understandable.
Although we were far stronger with our flares and grenades, we couldn’t underestimate them. With Luzeph and Yuanna on their side, we were outnumbered.
Observing the enemy, I realized belatedly that Luzeph was holding a first-aid kit in his hand.
‘Wait… why is that first-aid kit over there?’
Apparently, Luzeph had unconsciously brought it with him. How had I failed to notice it crossing over to their side?
In fact, surviving on this island depended more on the first-aid kit than flares. All the medicines needed for treating injuries were in that kit. Therefore, we absolutely had to get it back.
Though I was slightly flustered, I couldn’t show panic or anxiety to the Biscuit Prince’s group. In negotiations, showing weakness is a basic no-no.
I quickly masked my expression and, putting on a composed face, addressed Asdal.
“Let’s hand over Bishop Luzeph. Then we can leave the cabin behind.”
I deliberately phrased it as if my goal was Luzeph, so that attention wouldn’t be drawn to the first-aid kit.
Luzeph didn’t even seem to realize he was holding the first-aid kit. He just looked at me with eyes full of admiration, clearly moved. I felt a pang of guilt.
“Sorry, but that’s a no.”
Asdal crossed his arms and laughed arrogantly.
“What negotiation? I’ll just take it.”
Kaiden bared his teeth and threatened Yuanna’s group.
“Lord, stay put. That attitude isn’t helping at all.”
Enoch, who had been silently observing, chastised Kaiden. Kaiden, finally noticing my glance, closed his mouth.
“Are you really planning to leave after looting?”
Yuanna smiled brightly, clearly amused. Looting, she called it!
I lifted my chin provocatively and laughed.
“Looting only applies when the things belonged to you. If the items have no owner, they should belong to whoever has the ability to take them.”
Kaiden let out an exclamation, oddly impressed given the situation.
“Are you not going to release the Bishop?”
I asked once more.
Asdal paused, stared at me, and conversed briefly with Diego and Yuanna.
Luzeph stood slightly apart, looking back and forth between us and them, a pitiful expression on his face.
“Or we could just burn it.”
I aimed a flare at the cabin.
“Honestly, we don’t really need this cabin. We can make one ourselves. But it seems like you might need it.”
That last remark seemed to hit home. Asdal raised his hand in acknowledgment.
“Understood. We’ll hand over the Bishop. Keep your promise.”
Luzeph glared at Asdal with a grimace.
“He shouldn’t be doing this to me, Your Highness.”
Though part of him wanted to join us, he clearly didn’t like being abandoned so easily.
“Sorry.”
Asdal’s voice was hollow as he apologized. Luzeph didn’t seem to take it much to heart.
That was when Luzeph fully joined our side.
“Before we leave, I have a question for the Saint.”
Yuanna smiled brightly, clearly waiting for this moment.
“So you’re finally thinking of joining me…”
“More importantly, do you have the escape key now? Where did it come from? Does it mean there’s an exit on this island that can be unlocked with that key?”
Enoch and Kaiden looked puzzled, having no idea what I was talking about with Yuanna.
Yuanna, thinking carefully with her chin in her hand, asked me:
“You’re not planning to stay with me, right?”
“No.”
“What a shame. I actually liked you because you’re a little crazy.”
And you’re not exactly sane either.
“If you’re not going to stay with me, you have no obligation to answer. You’re not my person.”
That was fair. But the key was something I had to confirm, as it didn’t exist in the original story. In the novel, the exit on the island only opens a year later. There was no mention of a key.
So even if I found the ‘door,’ we’d still need Yuanna with the key to escape?
‘At this point, Yuanna seems sketchier than I am.’
Asdal’s group didn’t seem surprised by the key.
“Some explanation is in order. A key?”
Enoch looked displeased at Yuanna, but she smiled without any fluster.
“I already said, if you’re not my person, I won’t tell you. I have to be careful too. You understand the situation.”
Enoch had nothing to argue and quietly looked back at me.
Kaiden and Luzeph then simultaneously looked at me, seeking my opinion. The pressure was immense.
“What’s your plan, Margaret?”
“I’ll follow your opinion.”
“I’ll follow as well.”
Enoch, Kaiden, and Luzeph spoke in order.
‘This is getting… even more stressful.’
I paused and thought. We needed information about the key Yuanna had. And for some reason, she wanted to be with us. More people seemed better for her plans.
“Coexisting with them seems unnecessary. Are you sure you can handle a mad lady like her?”
Asdal asked Yuanna with a look that said this discussion was tedious and unnecessary. It also implied he might consider coexistence if she could handle me.
Yuanna, looking as if it was obvious, smiled.
“Of course. If Lady becomes mine, everything of hers becomes ours. So coexistence isn’t unnecessary, right?”
She wanted everything? A thief!
Sigh…
‘Now that the escape key is mentioned, I can’t just leave.’
The key was a more important clue than the bunker. Being stuck in the bunker without finding the exit was useless.
‘We’ve talked enough. If words don’t work, there’s only one way left.’
Yuanna, Asdal, and Diego were standing with the forest behind them. A large rock was a little distance away.
I could use it to briefly distract their attention.
I pulled out a grenade—or rather, a fire bomb. Kaiden and Luzeph looked at me in shock.
“L-Lady, calm down.”
Luzeph, pale as a sheet, tried to stop me. I ignored him and glanced at Enoch.
“Do you know what I’m about to do?”
Enoch slowly nodded. Kaiden, standing beside him, seemed to understand too, and smirked.
Only Luzeph had no clue, clutching the first-aid kit in confusion.
‘Hope I aim correctly.’
I bit the safety pin of the fire bomb with my teeth, rotated my arm in a warm-up, then took aim and hurled the bomb at the rock.
Boom!
The bomb hit the rock.
Yuanna and her group, startled, turned toward the rock as dust filled the air, blocking their vision.
At that moment, Enoch and Kaiden swiftly moved to their positions.
“Ah!”
“Let go of this!”
Through the dust, Asdal and Yuanna’s voices could be heard.
Caught off guard for a split second, Yuanna’s group was quickly subdued by us—far more easily than expected.
Huh, that wasn’t so difficult after all.
