Chapter 109
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Chapter 109
Fortunately, the magic circle completed just before my legs gave out beneath me, and the finished formation seeped into Enoch's shoulder.
I collapsed onto the ground, watching as the torn and gaping wound gradually knitted itself closed.
"Margaret!"
Both men caught me simultaneously.
"I'm fine. Just a bit exhausted, that's all. I'll be okay after some rest."
I leaned my back against a wooden pillar and sank to the floor, exhaling heavily.
The moment I saw Enoch and Kaiden, my tension dissolved, and all the fatigue that had accumulated layer upon layer came crashing down at once. On top of that, I'd expended magical energy, so the aftereffects hit me even harder.
I sat there with a weary expression, gazing down at my smooth belly as the wound completely healed. The rib cage that I'd thought had cracked before no longer ached.
"This Island seems to have unusually fast recovery."
As I spoke, I covered my mouth and yawned. Drowsiness was creeping over me for some reason.
Enoch pulled on his tattered shirt and looked at me, while Kaiden, who had sat back down beside me, nodded in agreement.
"True enough—hair and beards don't grow here. And seeing as we can't use magical power, it really does feel like an entirely different spacetime."
We really are in a different spacetime.
'I feel a bit dizzy.'
Suddenly, vertigo struck, and I pressed my hand to my forehead.
Both Enoch and Kaiden looked at me at once, as though they'd been carefully observing my every movement.
"Are you alright?"
Kaiden asked me. Was he asking if I was okay? I stared up at him blankly.
Now that I think about it, how long have I been on this Island?
It feels like four months have already passed. When will I be able to escape?
The bag containing the wooden plank I'd been marking dates on—Kaiden had been carrying it. Did he lose it?
Sigh.
For some reason, I felt heat rising throughout my body.
Come to think of it, since arriving on this Island, I've endured every hardship imaginable alone, and except for when Diego stole the dress, I'd never been seriously ill.
'That's what was strange about it.'
"Margaret."
Enoch's large hand gently lifted my chin. His golden eyes filled my vision.
"Your condition isn't good."
Enoch examined my face thoroughly, assessing my complexion. Kaiden placed the back of his hand against my forehead and spoke.
"You're running a fever. Your forehead is burning hot. This is quite serious."
If he said it was quite serious, then my condition must truly be bad. I blinked slowly and leaned against the wooden pillar with a languid heaviness.
"I'm fine. I'll be okay after some sleep."
"Are you sure there's no other injury? Maybe you've been poisoned or something?"
Kaiden fussed over me, examining my body. I felt exhausted and shook my head slowly.
"That's not it. I'm fine."
I wonder if Enoch is blaming himself, thinking I got like this from treating him. It really just feels like the flu.
My eyelids grew heavy as if weighted down by lead, and I couldn't muster the strength to keep them open.
"I'm fine... It's just... feels like the flu..."
"Margaret?!"
At Kaiden's urgent call, I lost consciousness.
* * *
I drifted back to awareness gradually.
My body trembled with cold, a chill so intense it felt unbearable. It was as though I'd been cast naked into a snowfield in the depths of winter.
No matter how extreme the temperature fluctuations, I shouldn't have felt such bitter cold in a tropical climate.
"Margaret, are you awake? Are you alright?"
"Damn it, my body's still freezing. Can't I use my magic anymore?"
"If you use magic here, Margaret could be in real danger."
Kaiden and Enoch's urgent voices echoed back and forth. I felt thick arms wrapped around me from both sides—shoulders and waist.
I forced my trembling eyelids open. As my vision gradually cleared, Enoch's face came into focus.
My lips quivered from the cold, and as my body shook with it, the arm around my waist tightened further.
"Margaret, are you still cold?"
Kaiden's urgent voice came from behind me.
"I'm conscious now."
Enoch asked me anxiously from the front.
'What is this situation?'
Even with my eyes open, I couldn't grasp what was happening.
Enoch stood before me, bare-chested, his arm draped across my shoulders, while Kaiden behind me seemed to be embracing my waist. I could feel his bare skin against my back as well.
But my confusion lasted only a moment. My head spun terribly and the cold was unbearable.
"So cold...."
My lips had gone numb with cold, trembling without words.
As I shivered and curled inward, both men pressed their bodies closer against me. Their warm skin met mine without gaps.
Both men, stripped of their upper garments, held me from front and back, maintaining their body heat.
"Silver Earthworm, we need more fire."
At Kaiden's voice, I lifted my head with effort. Beside us, Silver Earthworm was busily breathing flames onto the firewood.
Silver Earthworm stopped breathing fire at Kaiden's words and bounced up from his spot with a horned face that seemed to ask why he wasn't already doing that.
When our eyes met, Silver Earthworm fidgeted and spun in circles before eagerly setting the firewood ablaze again.
"Margaret's body seems to be getting even colder. If this continues...."
"Don't say ominous things."
"Damn it."
Kaiden finally cursed aloud.
I leaned my cheek against Enoch's warm chest. Kaiden, embracing me from behind, buried his face in my shoulder and pressed his moist lips against it.
I could only feel the warmth of his breath against my shoulder; I was too numb to fully register the sensation of his lips.
Fortunately, both men had naturally high body heat, and thanks to them, the cold seemed somewhat more bearable than before.
'But... this embarrassing position.'
I wished I could disappear into a mouse hole. Yet this method was undeniably effective at raising my body temperature.
It was obvious who had suggested this approach, though it was somewhat surprising that Enoch had agreed to it.
I struggled to compose myself. I had to say something. I clenched my teeth and forced strength into my trembling lips.
"What is this..., ahem."
As I opened my mouth, my voice came out hoarse and ridiculous, so I closed it again and cleared my throat. How mortifying in this atmosphere.
"Margaret? Are you alright?"
"How does your body feel?"
Kaiden and Enoch rose simultaneously, then took turns examining my face with concern. The moment they stepped away, a bone-chilling cold rushed in to fill the void.
"Margaret."
Enoch called my name again in a gentle voice, and I grasped his arm while trembling uncontrollably. He looked down at me with a puzzled expression.
'What should I do? This is embarrassing—should I say it or not?'
As I wrestled with the decision for the hundredth time, a gust of wind swept through, and the cold that penetrated to my very bones drew a silent scream from my lips.
I hastily wrapped myself in Enoch's jacket and Kaiden's robe, but even that proved insufficient.
"Um, couldn't you do what you were doing earlier?"
"What?"
Enoch and Kaiden exchanged puzzled glances as they looked down at me.
I hunched my shoulders and grimaced, shivering from the cold. Goodness, why couldn't they understand?
"I'm cold, so... could you hold me?"
I spoke more clearly this time.
With those words, a moment of silence descended.
'If shame could kill, I'd be dead right now.'
As the silence stretched on, self-recrimination began to creep in.
'Why did I say that? Damn it.'
Then, breaking the silence, Kaiden let out an exclamation and rolled me onto my back.
"Wow, Margaret. You could've just asked me while looking at me, couldn't you?"
"...I don't think I misheard."
Enoch's sigh followed immediately after.
They seemed unable to shake off the lingering effect of my words, but I had no mental capacity to care about that. So in the end, I cried out while holding back tears.
"Just hold me already! I'm cold!"
At my exasperated outburst, both men's faces registered surprise. Then Kaiden burst into laughter.
My field of vision was already flooded with skin tones, so I didn't know where to look—and now he was taking his sweet time about it.
I turned my head away with a tearful expression. Still, as I spoke, my mind was gradually becoming clearer. Though the cold remained.
We seemed to still be inside the Barrier. We lay on the bare earth with a large leaf serving as our blanket, but the bedding was far from comfortable.
Enoch lay down before me again, draped his arm across my shoulder, and gently patted the back of my head. I rested my cheek against his bare chest and tried to suppress my embarrassment. For some reason, I felt a different kind of heat rising within me.
Then Kaiden embraced me from behind, nuzzling his face against my shoulder like a cat and laughing.
"Ah, this is wonderful. Margaret asked me to hold her."
"Margaret might be uncomfortable. Don't be too rough with her."
Enoch immediately moved to restrain him. Somehow, each word carried weight and sounded almost menacing. It was as though carefully suppressed anger was leaking out momentarily.
From behind, I could hear Kaiden grumbling about how Enoch was keeping him in check.
I suspected that while I'd been unconscious, they'd been bickering like this the whole time. Was that why both of them were now holding me close, sharing their body heat?
Enoch paid no mind and continued to gently pat the back of my head.
'What's with all this tension between them?'
Anyway, it was warm, and that was enough. Thanks to that, I'd survived another day.
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