Chapter 66
13. Distrust and Isolation
The sun had risen, but Kaiden was still in dreamland, having stood the last watch. I moved as quietly as possible so as not to wake him.
Diego, who had woken up early, was scouting around the cabin, and Bishop Ruzef had gone out to purify water.
I threaded a thin tree stalk like thread through the bone needle I had made last time and mended the torn hem of my dress.
Because it was not thread but a very thin tree stalk that I cut and sewed with, the repair was ragged, but it was better than nothing. I shook the dress and got up from my seat.
Then, I moved to the fireplace and prepared to make a steam cooker out of bamboo.
"What's that?"
Enoch, who was starting the fire, turned to me with a puzzled look. Asdal, who was sitting at the kitchen table, also looked at me, curious.
I shrugged and said,
"I'm going to steam fish this time. I'm tired of grilling it. Steaming preserves the nutrients, so it's good for the body."
I used a knife to make holes in the bamboo joints so that air could escape, and then I filled the bottom joint of the bamboo with water.
Then, after making a lid for the top of the bamboo, I put the prepared fish on top of it.
"I caught it this morning, but there's not much, so I'll probably get hungry soon. I'll have to do more hunting."
I said, tying the bamboo together with string and placing it over the fireplace. Now, the water in the bottom compartment of the bamboo would turn into steam and cook the fish in the top compartment.
"Can I trust it?"
I turned my head, checking to see if the bamboo was burning.
Asdal, who was sitting cross-legged at the kitchen table, looking at me arrogantly, smiled unpleasantly.
"How can I trust that what Lady Flone makes is really edible? Hasn't everything Lady Flone has done so far been just talk?"
Isn't Asdal the one who only knows how to talk? He still didn't believe that I was hunting fish.
And it was Enoch who got angry at that remark before I did. He was sitting in front of the fireplace when he turned to Asdal and warned him.
"Hey, you better watch your mouth."
"Banhwang, are you talking to me right now?"
"Are you deaf?"
Asdal looked at Enoch with a dumbfounded expression and asked back. In fact, I couldn't help but understand why Asdal was always reacting that way.
Hestia Kingdom was a kingdom with great financial power, and Asdal was the Crown Prince, the most direct descendant of the royal family.
So he thought that he and Enoch were of a different 'innate class.'
'Being in this extreme environment is revealing his true colors.'
I clicked my tongue and shook my head.
"Listen, Crown Prince."
"Speak, Crown Prince."
Enoch maintained a relatively relaxed and leisurely attitude as he looked at Asdal.
Both of them glared at each other without getting up from their seats, but even though Enoch's eye level was relatively low because he was sitting on the floor, I couldn't shake the feeling that he was superior.
'Is it because of the overwhelming spirit of a war hero?'
It felt like a black panther and an eagle were fighting. A battle between a beast and a bird of prey...
"I have no intention of respecting anyone who mistreats Margaret."
Enoch said in a firm tone and replied indifferently.
"It's as if Lady Flone is the Crown Prince's fiancée."
Asdal rested his cheek on the back of his hand, leaning his elbow on his knee, and smiled as he looked at Enoch.
In the novel <More Important Than Survival>, Asdal was the most powerful male lead candidate after Enoch.
He was prickly to others, but kind to Yuanna. I guess the author was trying to draw a male lead who was only warm to his woman.
'But that's not my taste...'
I like consistent people.
Like Enoch, who is basically polite to everyone, or like Kaiden, who is basically a jerk to everyone.
"Aside from the fact that Lady Flone has changed from what I knew, Banhwang's attitude is really surprising. Even an eight-year-old kid passing by in Hestia Kingdom knows that Enoch hates Lady Flone."
Why do you have to give such specific examples?
"Do you know how ridiculous it looks for the Crown Prince to be protecting Lady Flone right now?"
Asdal suddenly rebuked Enoch. I felt a little wronged by that. I know Enoch hated me, but people can change! What's wrong with protecting me!
Fortunately, Enoch didn't even blink an eye and nodded.
"It doesn't matter how you see me. What matters is how Margaret sees me."
"Enoch, I'm okay, so don't worry about it."
"Are you going to keep calling the Crown Prince by his name like that? How presumptuous..."
"I told her to do that, so I wish you'd shut your mouth."
I sighed annoyedly as I saw Asdal still looking at me with a displeased expression.
Living in the same house with someone who continues to distrust me was too unpleasant.
And what I didn't like even more than that was that Asdal wasn't doing anything. He doesn't do anything, but he keeps lecturing me.
In times like this, I have to teach him the bitter taste of life firsthand.
I got up from my seat and approached Asdal. And I said to him.
"Your Highness, from now on, we're going to have one person from our side and one person from Your Highness's side go hunting, right?"
"So?"
Asdal finally looked up at me with an uneasy expression.
"Let's go hunting together this afternoon."
He's probably never hunted fish before, so I'm going to give him a good time.
