Translator: Nox

Chapter 86

I don't know what that means. Looking around, Kaiden also seemed to not understand what it meant.

Prince Asdal didn't seem to have any intention of giving any further explanation.

What is it, showing off with those meaningful words. I looked at Asdal with a bored gaze and eventually decided to ignore him.

Anyway, in the past, Margaret had a large amount of Mana, but as soon as she heard that she had to 'practice' to use it, she quit Magic studies that day. It was obvious that it would be boring and difficult.

Come to think of it, there was something else I heard about my Mana besides that. I looked at Kaiden and opened my mouth.

"I think I have a lot of Mana. That's what the teacher who came to teach Magic studies at the family's mansion said. I also did a Mana test when I took the Academy exam in the past, and I broke the test Mana Orb at that time."

After looking around at the people who were listening to me, I shrugged my shoulders.

"The Professor of Magical Studies who was the examiner at the time said that either there was a problem with the Mana Orb, or I had an enormous amount of Mana. So he said he would bring a new Mana Orb and test me again..."

"And then?"

"I didn't take the test. Enoch was coming out as a special examiner for the Academy, so I just went to see him, but I wasn't really interested in entering the Academy."

Everyone looked at me with a knowing look at my answer.

"What, everyone? What's with that pathetic look?"

"I forgot. How much Lady Flone followed Crown Prince Enoch around."

Asdal sighed and looked deflated.

"That's right. Lady Flone only had eyes for Enoch."

Yuanna nodded in agreement.

'Because Margaret likes Enoch.' seems to be a magic phrase that gives a free pass to Margaret's questionable behavior.

But it's true, so I can't argue... Oh, geez.

"That's all in the past. It's different now, isn't it, Margaret?"

Kaiden, who had been sitting with a dissatisfied expression, urged me to answer.

"Um... well, I'm too preoccupied to care about that now."

"See, Margaret doesn't like the Crown Prince anymore."

I was about to argue with Kaiden's words, but it wasn't wrong, so I kept quiet.

"Anyway, no matter how much Mana Lady Flone had, it's all in the past. Isn't Mana almost zero on this island now?"

"That's right. Because this is an island where you can't use Mana."

"Then the hypothesis that a Monster was imprinted by Lady Flone's Mana doesn't make sense, does it?"

I nodded in agreement to Asdal's question.

"Then what on earth is it?"

Yuanna mumbled, resting her chin on her hand. I don't know either.

Everyone looked at Eunji again with puzzled faces. Eunji, who had come out of her dress pocket, was wagging her tail on my lap and cutely licking her tongue.

While everyone was thinking about Eunji for a while, Enoch's large hand, who I thought was fast asleep, suddenly grabbed my wrist.

Surprised, I stared blankly at Enoch's face as he lay down. He opened his eyes languidly, as if he was feverish.

"Is that true?"

It was a terribly low tone.

His voice was hoarse and rough, whether it was because he was tired or because of the fever. Enoch's gaze, looking up at me with half-closed eyes, was intense.

"Margaret. I asked if that's true."

He called me again when I was blankly looking at him.

"...Yes? What is?"

"That you don't like me anymore."

"Are you so curious about that that you woke up while you're sick to ask me?"

"...Answer me, huh?"

"That's..."

"...No. Don't answer."

Enoch let out a deep breath and quietly looked up at me.

His atmosphere was so pitiful and bewitching that everyone who had been making a fuss fell silent at once and focused on us.

'S-So awkward.'

Cutting through the excessive gaze, Enoch said to me.

"I like you, Margaret. Keep that in mind..."

He made such a bombshell statement and then fell asleep again as if he had fainted.

A terribly quiet silence flowed into the cabin.

I knew that Enoch was looking at me as a woman, but this was the first time I had directly received the feelings he had.

'He should have said these things when it was just the two of us...!'

That way, I could at least think about it seriously! I was so embarrassed that I tore at my hair.

"Well, I expected it."

Asdal replied as if it was nothing. Then Yuanna chimed in as if agreeing.

"It's a thing of the past that he said he hated Lady Flone. It's not strange that His Highness the Crown Prince would fall for the current Lady Flone, right?"

Yuanna said with a hearty laugh.

'No, Yuanna... You shouldn't say that.'

I sighed, washing my face with my hands.

'...Okay. It's better this way. Now I've completely avoided the death flag.'

Luzef and Diego were silent, neither agreeing nor disagreeing, and Kaiden was glaring at Enoch with a frustrated face.

"The Crown Prince isn't in his right mind right now. Margaret, don't listen to him."

Kaiden looked at me with an anxious face and covered my ears with both hands. What's the point of covering my ears so late?

"That's right. Enoch isn't in his right mind right now."

Kaiden sighed with relief at my answer. He lowered the hand that had been covering my ears. I quietly looked at Enoch's sleeping face and continued.

"And Enoch can't do without me right now. There's no one to stop his Berserk state. That's why he said that. Don't misunderstand, everyone."

I looked around and asked, but everyone just nodded their heads perfunctorily. Seriously, these people...

"So. What's going on with this situation? You have to explain it to me."

Diego, who had been reading the room, approached me with a determined face like a general who had taken the lead and opened his mouth.

"His Highness seemed very anxious after Lady Flone disappeared. He kept looking for Lady Flone."

Many stories were omitted from Diego's calm words.

"He acted like a crazy person. The problem is that Monsters swarmed at that time..."

Asdal looked at the sleeping Enoch with a troubled face. Luzef, who had been reading the room, opened his mouth as if taking over the baton.

"We've been speculating why the Monsters suddenly swarmed. I think it's because of the Monster's blood."

"Blood?"

Luzef slowly nodded his head at my question.

"Monsters seem to have the ability to sense the smell of their own kind's blood. Like when we killed the Anaconda at the last base camp, other Anacondas swarmed in the next day."

It was the same as my guess.

"Kaiden and I were missing for two days, but what was it like during the day? Did the Monsters disappear then?"

"Yes. They disappeared somewhere. And His Highness slept soundly as if he had fainted. Then he smelled the blood again and got rid of the swarming Monsters... He was repeating that."

Even though he took a nap in the middle and woke up, the Berserk state continued.

Enoch's symptoms don't seem to be getting better. Usually, these cases depend on willpower...

"Still, it's a relief that we seem to have figured out the behavior patterns of Monsters moving on a large scale. We've also disposed of the Monster's corpses, so it should be okay now."

Everyone nods their heads with slightly more relaxed faces at my words. It seemed like they had relieved some of their worries.

I stared blankly at Enoch's sleeping face and sighed. Fatigue washes over me like a wave.

"First... shall we rest for a while and then talk again? I think we all need to rest."

I'm not the only one who's tired. I'm too tired to even think about dinner, so I want to rest.

But for some reason, Kaiden, who was quiet, was strange, so I turned to look at him, and he had a face full of guilt that didn't suit him.

"Are you okay?"

"I'll apologize again. I'm sorry."

Neither he nor I knew that the incident of us going to the cliff to see Eunji's egg would become this big. I resented him for a while, but not anymore.

"Actually, I was a little upset, but it's not wrong for you to suspect me. The situation has gone a bit absurdly, but no one blames you for it."

Kaiden squeezed his eyes shut with a painful face at my words.

"Margaret, I'm still sorry."

Then he slowly opened his eyes and looked straight at me. The fluctuating red eyes slowly calmed down.

I looked at him, who seemed somehow hardened, and asked.

"Then you don't suspect me anymore?"

"Yeah. I don't."

"But you still don't trust me."

"No, I trust you now. Really."

Kaiden's eyes, looking at me as he said that, were calm without any shaking.

I quietly looked at him and opened my mouth.

"It took a really long time for distrust to turn into trust, didn't it?"

He pursed his lips at my question and didn't answer. I said to him with a firm face.

"You wait too. Until I trust you."

He nods obediently at my words. I looked at him and lay down next to Enoch.

Eunji wriggled and crawled to take a spot by my head and curled her tail into a circle. Kaiden follows me and lies down on my left.

As I lay down looking at the ceiling of the cabin, I heard rustling noises.

The others were preparing to go to bed. The chaotic movements continued, and I closed my eyes to force myself to fall asleep.

"Margaret."

Then Kaiden quietly called me. I slowly opened my eyes and turned my head.

Kaiden was lying on his side facing me. He looked at me with a troubled face for a long time and then carefully asked.

"I can't sleep, can I hug you to sleep? I think I'll be able to sleep well then."

"You're not asking because you think I'll allow it, are you?"

"Yeah. I thought you'd refuse."

"Then just sleep."

He nods obediently at my words. Still lying on his side facing me.

I don't think I've ever rested comfortably since I woke up on this island. I've been tense and threatened with my life, and it's been a series of brutal days.

...I'm so tired.

I closed my eyes again.