Chapter 101
I looked at Diego and Yuanna passing by me, then looked up at Kaiden, who was still standing in front of the Gate.
He didn't look very good to begin with, but now he was even worse.
He smoothed his hair back, narrowed his brow in annoyance as he looked down at me, and sighed.
"Margaret, I had a really hard time."
He really did look exhausted. Behind him, I could hear the boisterous noise of Yuanna and Diego being greeted.
Kaiden's head tilted slightly over my shoulder.
"I almost abandoned those bastards, but I held back for your sake. So praise me."
Looking at Kaiden's pitiful eyes, it seemed that his words about having a hard time weren't an exaggeration.
He looked at my complexion with a worried expression.
"Did any weird Red Flower bloom here? Are you okay?"
It didn't seem like he was just worried about my health. He stared at me intently as if looking for any traces, and grabbed my cheeks, turning my face this way and that.
I realized that the 'weird Red Flower' he was talking about was Tentationem. It seemed that his group had also discovered Tentationem.
Suddenly, my ankle tickled, so I lowered my head. Eunji, who had been crawling on the floor, wrapped around my ankle and peeked out, looking up at me as if saying peek-a-boo.
I smiled and bent down. Then, I picked up Eunji and put him on my shoulder, pointing at him and saying,
"He ate it all."
At my words, Eunji proudly raised his head and puffed out his nose. Then, Kaiden, who had been staring blankly at Eunji for a moment, had a deep sense of relief spread across his face.
"You're not poisoned. That's a relief."
"Huh? I was poisoned, though?"
"What?"
Kaiden was dumbfounded at my words and opened his mouth wide. I smiled, turning my shoulders confidently.
"I was tied up for about a day, and then I was fine."
"Ti-tied up?"
Is being tied up such a surprising thing? What on earth is he imagining? I asked Kaiden with a puzzled expression.
"How was it on your side? Where did you find the flower? What were the symptoms? Are you really okay now?"
"Ah, were you talking about that flower?"
At that moment, Yuanna, who had returned from greeting Asdal in the distance, asked me. I nodded and looked back and forth between her and Kaiden.
"Don't even mention it. Sir Diego and I were poisoned, and it was a mess. When it was bad, even being tied up didn't help. Physical contact made it a little better, so Lord suffered."
At Yuanna's words, I recalled the original story of the protagonists going crazy after being poisoned by Tentationem.
'Kaiden and physical contact...'
I'm very curious about what kind of physical contact it was. However, both of them didn't seem to want to talk about that part in detail and skipped over it without much explanation.
'What is it, are they really hiding something?'
However, whether he knew my curiosity or not, Kaiden sighed and changed the subject.
"I suffered like a dog because the two of them would get better and then get poisoned again, get better and then get poisoned again. I'm immune to all poisons, so I was fine."
For some reason, I felt like some of the swear words were muted in the middle. Maybe it's not my imagination.
"That flower has the characteristic of rapidly multiplying and increasing its population when it comes into contact with human body temperature. It also seems to gather by sensing human energy even if it doesn't directly touch body temperature."
At Kaiden's words, I finally realized how much they must have suffered.
We at least had the fence of the cabin, but they were exposed to the wilderness without even such a shield.
"We were fine because we didn't inhale the pollen strongly. Eunji ate all the ones that were blooming around the cabin."
I looked at Yuanna and patted her shoulder with a pitiful expression.
"You've worked hard."
"Let's talk about the details when we're all together."
She smiled brightly and went back to Diego and Asdal, who were gathered near the kitchen.
I turned to Kaiden.
"You've worked hard too."
Then, I slightly lifted my heels, stood on tiptoe, and stroked Kaiden's head.
Kaiden, who received my touch, widened his eyes in surprise and raised his head.
"Why?"
"I like this after all."
Then, he stopped and grabbed my wrist as I was about to withdraw my hand, lowered his head, and placed it on his head.
"Do it more."
"What?"
"Pet me more, I feel good."
Kaiden closed his eyes like a cat and rubbed his head against my hand with a happy face. I don't know why, but his cheeks, which had a pleasant smile, were slightly flushed.
I slowly stroked his head. Then, his soft silver hair wrapped around my palm. It was a very ticklish feeling.
At that moment, a large hand reached out from behind me.
When I turned my head slightly, Enoch, standing with a blank expression, was messing up Kaiden's hair in my place. Very roughly, too.
"Huh? Margaret, this hurts a little."
Kaiden's face, frowning without knowing anything, was quite cute, and I burst out laughing.
"Puhaha!"
At my laughter, Kaiden opened his eyes wide and raised his head. He found Enoch and froze with a somewhat shocked expression. Then, he expressed his anger.
"What are you doing!"
I burst out laughing. Enoch and Kaiden grabbed each other's collars and glared at each other fiercely. Then, without saying anything, they created a harsh atmosphere and froze the mood sharply.
I eventually had to step in and mediate between the two.
"Stop it."
As soon as I finished speaking, the two men let go of each other's collars. Enoch clicked his tongue and unfolded his crumpled shirt front.
"Margaret."
Kaiden immediately opened his arms as if acting cute, hugged me, and rubbed his face against my shoulder.
His cheeks rubbed relentlessly against my bare shoulder. His firm embrace hugged me so tightly that I felt suffocated.
I sighed wearily in his arms.
"Enoch, this guy..."
Before I could finish speaking, Enoch took Kaiden away from me as if he had been waiting for it. Then, he tied Kaiden tightly to a wooden pillar in the middle of the living room.
Seeing Luzef, Asdal, and even Diego joining forces to tie him to the pillar made me feel very complicated.
'Kaiden... how did you become a public enemy? Why did you live like that?'
Of course, it seemed that Asdal had joined forces simply because it looked fun.
Anyway, seeing Kaiden, who had become a public enemy, made me feel sorry for him.
"It's very noisy as soon as Lord arrives."
Asdal, who came to me, shaking his hands, muttered.
"Then, now that the situation seems to be roughly sorted out, let's proceed with the report."
Enoch, lowering his rolled-up sleeves, nodded towards Yuanna with an indifferent expression.
"Okay. Shall we all gather around?"
Yuanna smiled prettily and got up from her seat. We naturally gathered in a circle in front of the tied-up Kaiden.
With Kaiden's Monstrous Strength, he could have broken the ropes with force, but he probably didn't want the pillar to break and the cabin to collapse.
I laughed as I watched him grumbling and obediently tied up.
"First of all, I talked to Lady Flone a little while ago, but we found a flower called Tentationem on the way."
"What is Tentationem?"
At Yuanna's words, Asdal asked back with a questioning expression. Instead of Yuanna, I answered Asdal.
"I think it's the name of that Red Flower that was blooming in front of the cabin. The Bishop and I were briefly poisoned, you know."
Only then did Asdal nod as if he understood. I looked at Yuanna again and asked.
"That's what you're talking about, right?"
"That's right."
"But how did you know that flower's name is Tentationem? Do you know that flower?"
At my question, Yuanna looked at Kaiden. Then, everyone's gaze turned to Kaiden, who was quietly tied to the pillar, staring at the air and daydreaming.
Kaiden belatedly noticed our gaze and made a surprised expression.
"What, why."
Yuanna sighed and answered instead.
"I heard that it's a special poisonous flower secretly experimented on and developed by the Rohade family."
"What?!"
I was so surprised that I shouted back. But no one cared. That's because everyone was looking at Yuanna with the same shocked expression.
This is also the first time I've heard of this.
Then, is it possible that the Marquis Rohade family is related to this island?
If it's a poisonous flower that was secretly experimented on and developed, it wouldn't have been leaked to the outside. It's strange that the flower is on this unfamiliar island.
Kaiden explained the properties of Tentationem.
He said that the flower causes mental illnesses such as excitement and hallucinations, and temporarily puts people in an uncontrollable state.
"The Bishop and I didn't experience any hallucinations."
At my words, Kaiden shrugged his shoulders while tied up and explained.
"If the symptoms aren't severe, it just ends with a strong desire to have physical contact and excitement. The toxins naturally disappear over time. However, if the stage of addiction is severe, you'll even see hallucinations. The detoxification happens naturally over time and the seizures subside, but the key is to endure it until then."
Only after hearing his words did I realize why the original <What's More Important Than Survival> was a 19+ novel. It must have been because of Tentationem.
The reason why I didn't see Kaiden being described as being poisoned by Tentationem in the original story must have been because of this secret.
He was immune to poison, so he was more likely to give help than to receive it.
"But why did the Rohade family develop this flower? What were they going to use it for? And why is there a flower secretly developed by the Rohade family on this island?"
As I expressed such doubts, everyone's gaze once again gathered on Kaiden.
It wasn't a positive gaze, so Kaiden made a somewhat bitter expression as he received attention.
But it was a question that had to be asked. I asked Kaiden again.
"Is your family involved in our kidnapping?"
At my barrage of questions, Kaiden blinked his eyes slowly as if embarrassed.