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Chapter 15
"Yes...? Why me?"
Margaret looked up at him with a bewildered expression.
"From now on, I'll be careful not to get hurt. So stop doing reckless things like searching for medicinal herbs."
Enoch gently grasped both her shoulders. The delicate feel of her small shoulder blades ‌‌in his palms made him pause ‌‌‌for a moment before he barely regained his composure.
The prejudiced gaze he'd cast upon her peeled away layer by layer. Along with it, an emotion he couldn't easily define stirred quietly within him.
I couldn't yet understand what this feeling toward her was. But at least my desire ‌‌‌‌for her not to be hurt was genuine.
"I was worried." ‌‌
I was relieved she was safe.
She had no idea ‌‌how many thoughts consumed me as I searched for her all ‌night long. Judging by the way she stood there bewildered, blinking her eyes, she seemed completely oblivious.
Then Enoch noticed a large bruise on her ‌‌‌‌cheekbone.
With dirt smudged across her face and given that he hadn't been in his right mind until moments ago, he'd missed this wound. It looked as though someone had struck ‌‌her specifically on the cheekbone.
In that instant, Enoch felt an unexpected surge of anger rise within him.
I'd barely found ‌‌her after worrying endlessly about whether she was hurt, only to discover wounds that looked like she'd been beaten ‌by someone?
"What is...this?"
I couldn't understand why such intense emotion was welling up, but my ‌‌‌mood had become thoroughly unpleasant.
"Margaret."
He carefully brushed her cheek. The sensation of her soft skin clung to his fingertips like silk.
She must have felt pain, as her brows furrowed.
It was strangely beautiful. And at that thought, Enoch suddenly startled himself.
While Margaret's appearance was objectively lovely, ‌‌having suffered so much at her hands in various ways, her looks had never caught his eye.
Yes, that was certainly true in the past, and it should remain so now... ‌‌‌
So why was her beautiful face suddenly coming into focus?
There's only Margaret on this island, but even so, to think I'm now finding her pretty—I must finally be losing my mind.
Yes, this is just temporary madness on my part. It was clear I was unable to judge ‌‌objectively because I hadn't slept.
"You're hurt."
"...Is it bruised?"
"It looks like there's a bruise."
"Oh yes, I just got hurt a bit."
Margaret, looking flustered, covered her cheek with her hand and stepped back. She seemed unaware that this action only made him more concerned.
"It's fine. ‌‌‌Don't worry about it."
"How can ‌‌I not worry?"
At his response, Margaret looked up at him with genuine incomprehension.
"This is really strange. For Your Highness of all people to say such things—your fever must not have fully subsided."
She cast a wary glance at him.
"Anyway, it will heal naturally, ‌‌‌so please don't concern yourself."
Then she smiled and brushed off his words as if they were nothing.
'I'm merely showing consideration to the Young Lady as a ‌‌‌gentleman should. So I hope you don't harbor any false expectations. It would only become bothersome for us both.'
Her response somehow recalled words he'd spoken in the past.
It was true that I had been overly reactive and pushing Margaret during these past hours.
I even found myself wanting to erase all the curses and rudeness I'd hurled at her over these past days.
'I certainly went too far.'
I had been cruel to a woman who was willing to stake her life on something she believed in.
Yet Margaret opened her mouth as if she couldn't care less whether I felt that way or not.
"Actually, I'm so hungry I'm on the verge of starving to death."
She truly seemed famished, her ‌‌expression twisted in discomfort as she wrapped one hand around her stomach.
"Could we go hunting? Of course, after treating Your Highness's wounds first."
Enoch finally let out a sigh. She was hungry—I needed to get her something to eat.
* * * ‌
There were more than a few strange things happening.
The fact that Enoch ‌‌‌had spent the entire ‌night searching for me through the Forest was odd, and it was strange that he'd told me to call him Enoch.
But the strangest thing of all was that he had started calling me Margaret instead of Flone Young Lady.
'What on ‌‌‌‌earth happened while I was gone?'
I opened the first aid kit to properly treat Enoch's wounds. ‌‌
Then I carefully examined the medicines packed tightly inside.
It was a fairly large kit, so it contained a diverse array of medicines. Many were unfamiliar to me, but they all had usage instructions or descriptions written on ‌‌them, so using them shouldn't be a problem.
'I thought this even while reading the novel, but why is something like this here?'
I still had no idea what the author intended by creating this pointless device called a "Korean survival kit."
Enoch followed my gaze as I examined the medicines, and his brow furrowed.
"I can't make out what's ‌‌‌written on any of this."
Of course he couldn't—everything ‌‌‌was written in Korean characters.
I didn't answer his comment. It seemed best to evade the question if I could.
As I sorted through the kit to identify what medicines were inside, I found the disinfectant.
I used it to thoroughly clean Enoch's wound first, then cut a proper bandage and wrapped it around his arm.
Enoch watched quietly as I skillfully navigated the first aid kit and treated his ‌‌wound. Then he took out the medicine I'd used and examined it, his expression darkening.
"How did you ‌‌know that was a disinfectant?"
His question troubled me again. How was I supposed to explain this?
I rummaged through Margaret's past memories and came ‌‌‌‌up with the most plausible excuse I could.
"You know the Eastern Continent across the sea, ‌‌‌right? It looks like it's written in a language used there. I learned that language briefly once."
Enoch didn't seem to believe me, but at least he didn't press the matter.
"Will you not tell me about the bruises on your face?"
He asked again about the marks on my face.
"I fell."
"Is that truly all?"
Was he asking because he already knew something?
Enoch continued to stare at me intently. So I hesitated ‌‌for ‌‌a ‌‌moment.
When I thought about it, there was no reason not to tell Enoch that I'd met Kaiden.
At first, I'd tried to insist that there were only the two of us on this Island. But now that all my original plans had fallen apart, what good was such a lie?
I carefully wrapped bandages around my feet, adjusted my flat shoes, and sighed.
"I met a strange man."
Kaiden certainly had an unsettling look in his eyes, so calling him a ‌‌strange man wasn't entirely off the ‌‌‌‌mark.
In truth, he seemed rather unhinged. The novel had described him as mad, so I wasn't wrong in that assessment.
"A pendant fell from that man's robe, and unfortunately, I was pinned beneath him at the time, so it struck me directly across the cheekbone."
Crack.
The wooden stick in Enoch's hand suddenly snapped in two. I stared at it with wide eyes.
"...You still don't know who that man is?"
Enoch's expression remained composed, but an ominous atmosphere had already begun to emanate from him.
"Oh, now that you mention it...."
I rummaged through my ‌‌‌dress pocket and retrieved the pendant ‌‌I'd picked up then. As Enoch took it from ‌‌‌me, he examined it carefully.
"The Tower of Magic's emblem."
At his words, I examined the pendant's design once more.
At the center of the pendant, crafted ‌‌‌‌with a sun motif, sat a teardrop-shaped amethyst. It was indeed the symbol of the Tower of Magic, just as Enoch said.
"That's right. That man ‌‌‌appears to be a mage."
I answered casually, ‌‌‌then subtly shifted the conversation to ‌‌‌‌another topic.
"By the way, there's something I've been curious about."
As I broached the subject meaningfully, Enoch looked at me ‌with a puzzled expression.
"Do you perhaps have some sort of trauma related ‌‌‌‌to blood? Something where you can't control your anger ‌‌‌‌when you see it...."
At my question, Enoch fell ‌‌‌silent, his face showing an uncharacteristic fluster.
Of course, I already knew he went berserk at the sight of blood, but the real Margaret wouldn't have known that.
"I know it's an impertinent question, but this is ‌‌‌something I need to understand as well."
There was too much at stake to simply overlook it. I would have to continue living with him going forward.
Enoch ‌‌‌avoided my gaze. He hesitated, his lips moving slightly as if testing the words, before finally sighing and answering after a long pause.
"It's a ‌manageable episode. I've actually been controlling it well in the Empire...."
His voice trailed off as he let out a pained sound.
"There's no excuse for it. I apologize to you."
He bowed his head like a criminal, asking for my forgiveness. It was the first time I'd seen him like this, ‌and I was equally taken aback.
"It's not Enoch's fault. It's fine. What I'm curious about is how to control ‌‌it."
Enoch's expression grew troubled once more. ‌‌‌‌As I watched him constantly gauge my reaction, I ventured to ask.
"Surely..., ‌‌‌‌you don't mean you don't know how to control it?" ‌‌‌
"I apologize for saying this, but I'm not entirely sure. The episodes began after I returned from the Battlefield. Since then, I've undergone medication and there haven't been many occasions to see blood in the ‌Imperial Palace."
Just as Enoch seemed about to end his statement firmly, he paused, as if remembering something. After a moment, he spoke carefully.
"Margaret, it seems that when you...calm me down, it has an effect."
"...What?"

---------------
Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read ‌directly on our ‌‌‌‌official site: valirscans.org
---------------