Chapter 50
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Chapter 50
I bent at the waist and carefully picked it up.
I'd thought it was pure white, but upon closer inspection, it was an egg gleaming with a silvery sheen.
"Is it a bird's egg?"
"It could belong to a Monster."
Kaiden answered leisurely, resting the back of his head against his interlaced hands.
"To be safe, it would be best to set it down."
Enoch murmured. I agreed with his words.
"Then it might be dangerous, so it would be better to place it somewhere far from the Cabin."
I ventured far from the Cabin and set the egg down before finally returning.
When I came back, the Cabin had become quite chaotic.
I entered the Cabin with Enoch and Kaiden, and I was startled to see it in complete disarray.
"What happened?"
I asked Rujeep, who was standing nearest to me.
Rujeep turned to face me, his face flushed crimson. He spoke while desperately suppressing his laughter.
"Ah, Young Lady, it would be best if you stepped outside for a moment. Pfft—if you stay here, you'll witness something most unseemly."
And then I saw him—Diego, leaping down from the second floor in nothing but his undergarments.
Upon noticing me, he let out a startled shriek.
At the same moment, large hands extended from both sides, covering my eyes. It was Enoch and Kaiden.
"What in the world is this, Diego?"
Enoch's voice descended like a frost-laden blade against my ears.
The thunderous sound of footsteps descending the stairs, the chaotic clamor, and Kaiden's uncontrollable booming laughter created absolute pandemonium.
"What's going on?"
"It appears Diego has lost his clothes. He went to bathe in the nearby Valley this morning, but his garments vanished while he was bathing, so he made his way back here clad only in his undergarments."
"Ah, so that's what happened."
I couldn't help but burst into delighted laughter.
The hands covering my eyes withdrew, and my body was turned. Enoch had rotated me away from Diego's view.
"Margaret, surely you didn't...."
At Enoch's narrowed gaze, I offered a sly smile.
"I happened to visit the Valley earlier myself."
At my words, Kaiden, standing beside me, linked his arm through mine and asked with laughter still coloring his voice.
"Was this your handiwork, Margaret?"
"What do you mean by that?"
Rujeep turned to me with a puzzled expression.
I glanced briefly at Rujeep, then caught sight of a large, apple-shaped posterior clad only in undergarments behind his back, and quickly averted my gaze. My eyes have seen too much.
"Do you know what they say, Diego?"
I turned toward Enoch while raising my voice so Diego could hear.
"There's a saying: what you sow, so shall you reap. So why do you abandon all chivalrous spirit and go around committing such perverted acts as stealing women's dresses?"
"Y-Young Lady, did you steal my clothes!"
"I didn't steal them—I merely reaped what you sowed."
I made a rather shameless excuse and burst into cheerful laughter.
Enoch's expression shifted subtly as he looked at me, but I was far too delighted to care.
"I apologize."
Diego's voice followed. I tried to turn around in confusion, but Enoch's firm grip on my shoulder prevented me from facing him.
"Don't look back. It's unsightly."
I obediently nodded at Enoch's words, and Kaiden clutched his stomach in laughter once more.
"I wasn't in my right mind back then either. I've been tormented ever since, constantly replaying that day."
Being on this Island is enough to drive anyone mad. But my understanding stops right there.
"What were you planning to do with my clothes after stealing them?"
"I intended to give them to the Saint."
To Yuanna?
"The Saint has clothes too. Perfectly good clothes...."
Then I suddenly recalled that Yuanna's garments were in a somewhat more deplorable state than mine. But that hardly justified stealing someone's only set of clothing.
I closed my mouth and pondered for a moment before asking him again.
"Why didn't you apologize immediately?"
I crossed my arms and asked pointedly without turning to face Diego.
"That is.... I know it sounds like an excuse, but I was waiting for the right moment to offer my apologies."
Diego spoke in an earnest voice.
I listened to his apology for a moment, deliberating. Should I refuse his apology or accept it?
But it didn't seem right to accept it immediately. I resolved not to return his clothes until this afternoon.
Right on cue, Yuanna and Asdal entered through the Cabin's front door.
"What's everyone doing? Oh my!"
Yuanna looked at me with a puzzled expression, then gasped when she saw past my back. Along with Asdal's shout came the sound of Diego being scolded a second time.
After being lectured by everyone, it wasn't until evening that I finally told him where his clothes were.
Diego's clothes had been under Asdal's bed—though as a refined nobleman, he likely never thought to search beneath the Crown Prince's bed.
"Margaret really is entertaining."
After the commotion ended, Kaiden tried to persuade me to think of other ways to tease Diego.
"Too troublesome."
Teasing someone or seeking revenge requires considerable time and mental energy, so I flatly refused. Diego seemed to understand well enough.
"What a shame."
Kaiden smacked his lips regretfully. That man never does anything halfway.
* * *
After finishing dinner—mushroom porridge—we held a meeting to discuss our plans moving forward.
We gathered before the fireplace and sat on the floor. It would be quite a sight to see high-ranking nobles sitting about so casually on the ground for a meeting.
Those who initially insisted on propriety have now naturally adapted to these harsh conditions. If more time passes, perhaps even their ranks will become meaningless.
I only hope everyone maintains their composure until we escape from this Island.
"Shall we begin?"
Lost in such thoughts, I heard Enoch's voice and lifted my head.
Enoch, who possessed the depth of experience from state councils and tactical meetings, led the discussion.
I expected Asdal to object, but he seemed wholly uninterested in the meeting itself, maintaining a composed smile with his arms crossed throughout.
The same could be said for our group, but it seemed the other party had no shortage of unreasonable individuals either.
"You truly have no inkling whatsoever about the key, Saint?"
At Enoch's sharp tone, I set aside my wandering thoughts and lifted my head. Even after hearing Enoch's reproach, Yuanna shook her head with an unperturbed expression.
"I don't. All I know is that it was at my bedside when I awoke. That's the extent of my knowledge."
Enoch regarded Yuanna's face with an impassive gaze.
I rested my chin in my hand, observing the scene with a peculiar sense of unease.
Enoch is decidedly not the type to fall at first sight. In the original work, I recall he gradually became enchanted with Yuanna over time.
Perhaps that process is unfolding even now?
Enoch, Kaiden, and Rujeep have all shifted from hostile toward me to merely favorable—nothing more.
I must not forget that they may yet become Yuanna's people. I cannot afford to let my guard down.
I observed intently the way Enoch regarded Yuanna.
Yet perhaps the timing was not right, for no matter how carefully I watched, the way Enoch looked at Yuanna was as if....
"You know nothing of the escape gate's location either?"
Enoch pressed Yuanna again.
Ah, yes. It was precisely as though he were interrogating a criminal.
'A criminal, indeed.'
Could the male lead truly regard the female lead with such a gaze?
"You're pressing her rather harshly with your questions, are you not? The Saint has been startled."
Diego spoke as though shielding Yuanna. Of course, Yuanna appeared not startled in the slightest. Enoch tilted his head with a crooked expression.
"Diego."
Enoch's low voice descended through the air like a leaden weight. His golden eyes, fixed upon Diego, gleamed with an oppressive intensity that seemed to constrict the very breath.
In that suffocating atmosphere, I was suddenly reminded anew that Enoch was the Empire's crown prince and the commanding general who had led armies to victory in war.
"You are aware, I trust, that your conduct on this Island constitutes grounds for accountability as captain of the Imperial Guard."
Enoch rested his temple against his finger as he regarded Diego with the question. Diego, having nothing to say, pressed his lips firmly shut.
Yes, it would be strange if he had anything to say at all.
"When we return to the Empire, you would do well to prepare yourself for demotion in rank."
At Enoch's words, Yuanna, who had been pressing her temple repeatedly, looked at him with a crooked smile.
"Demoting Diego's rank simply because he took my side seems like an excessive abuse of power, does it not?"
I had thought demotion was a remarkably lenient punishment, but it seemed Yuanna's perspective differed.
Above all, the dynamic between Enoch and Yuanna was sharp and brutal—less like a romantic line and more like facing a rival.
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