Chapter 54
I looked at Bishop Luzeff with a bewildered expression, taken aback at being treated like a child all of a sudden.
The contempt Luzeff had shown me earlier seemed to have peeled away, and now he treated me as if I were his youngest little sister.
“Don’t worry about what the ‘Hardtack King’—no, Your Highness the Crown Prince—says. I’m not bothered by it, so there’s no need to worry about hurting me.”
I shrugged and said this, and Kaiden, who had been resting his chin on his hand, patted my head as if I were admirable. Wait… why is everyone doing this?
I slammed the stone knife I was holding into the table.
“I don’t need your approval. And if you act annoying again, I’ll just—cut off your head!”
Kaiden, sensing my tone, quietly pulled the stone knife out and handed it back to me.
“Margaret really has changed aggressively,” he muttered.
Luzeff, who had been keeping a timid distance from me, nodded vigorously at Kaiden’s remark.
“Well, so has the Crown Prince. Isn’t he divorced because he has such a nasty temper?”
Kaiden clicked his tongue as he criticized Asdal. Even a perfect man like Asdal had a flaw—namely, his “ex-wife.”
“That’s disrespectful, Kaiden. And isn’t it a bit awkward to call it a ‘divorce’? You know what happened to the former princess.”
Kaiden blinked, clearly confused.
“…I don’t know. What happened?”
“…You didn’t know?”
She was executed—for attempting to assassinate Crown Prince Asdal.
Asdal’s marriage, like most royal and noble unions, had been a loveless political match. But his former princess’s intentions were far worse than mere lack of love.
Her goal in marriage had been to assassinate Crown Prince Asdal.
It turned out she was involved with Asdal’s half-brother. Asdal married her completely unaware of this.
“It was such a shocking incident that it made headlines even in the Langrid Empire,” Luzeff murmured, letting out a sigh. Kaiden, still puzzled, glanced between us.
“Wait, am I the only one who didn’t know?”
Apparently, after going into hibernation, Asdal had been holed up in his research room for years and never came out.
“You’re probably better off not knowing,” Luzeff said. I nodded in agreement.
Come to think of it, Luzeff had never married because he was a clergyman, and Kaiden, having gone through many hardships, seemed to prefer staying single. Being the second son of the Rohade Marquis likely made that possible. Plus, he was the Grand Mage.
“Except for His Highness, none of you are married,” I observed.
“That’s right. I can understand me and this guy, but the Crown Prince is a bit pitiful. He spent all that time rotting on the battlefield, and now that he finally can enjoy some comfort, he’s brought to a remote island?”
“Exactly.”
I responded to Kaiden with a complicated expression. Enoch had been drafted as a military commander at a very young age and spent a full five years on the battlefield. Then, even after his victories, it took another two years to surpass his siblings and ascend to the position of Crown Prince.
He became Crown Prince through tremendous effort, yet he was dragged here before he could even enjoy his status.
All three men were of marriageable age, yet each had their reasons for being single. Honestly, they were perfect male leads for a novel.
I could understand why Luzeff treated me like a child. I, Margaret, was twenty-seven, while the real Margaret was twenty-two.
In the Langrid Empire, noble marriageable age started at twenty, so Margaret was at her prime. A girl from a family like hers would likely already have an engagement, but the reason she remained single until now was Enoch. She had been determined to become the Crown Princess.
“Miss, you haven’t been engaged either, have you? I suppose you’re the youngest among us?” Luzeff asked, a subtle expectation in his eyes that made me a little flustered. What exactly is he expecting?
I reluctantly nodded in acknowledgment.
“I’m not engaged yet, but I am a noblewoman of marriageable age, so please don’t treat me like a child.”
Kaiden’s eyes widened in surprise as I said “marriageable age.”
“Really? I didn’t think of it that way. Margaret, are you planning to get engaged?”
“If I make it back alive, I suppose I’ll have to.”
“Don’t get engaged. Let’s just stay single together.”
“I’ll handle it myself, so mind your own business.”
Kaiden gave me a charming smile and tilted his head slightly toward me.
“You’re really decisive, Margaret. That’s why I like you.”
He whispered teasingly, and I quickly covered my ears and stepped back.
Again. Once more, he’s showing this ambiguous kindness and meaningless physical affection. It’s really exhausting.
“Excuse me, you two. Don’t forget I’m here too,” Luzeff said, clearly uncomfortable, cutting our conversation short.
“Then just step aside. No sense at all.”
“Why should I do that?”
Kaiden glared at him sharply. Tom and Jerry were at it again.
“Let’s just finish preparing the meal,” I suggested.
I placed the fish I had brought onto a wooden board and began cleaning them. Thanks to Asdal, I had lost my appetite, but I still needed to eat something.
Luzeff and Kaiden exchanged a few more words, quarreled a bit, and then sat quietly beside me to help with the fish.
Yuan-na, who had been talking to Diego in the distance, approached me with a curious expression.
“It’s the first time I’ve seen a noblewoman so skilled at cleaning fish. It’s fascinating.”
Diego, who was sticking close to Yuan-na, peeked at the fish I was cleaning. He couldn’t handle cute animals, but fish seemed fine.
Yuan-na rested one cheek on her palm and smiled at me.
“You really seem perfect at serving others, Miss.”
“Shut up.”
I answered somewhat harshly, but she didn’t flinch. As always, she wasn’t one to be intimidated.
“I have no desire to become your subordinate. So if you keep saying such nonsense—”
I stabbed the stone knife into the table again, just as I had shown Asdal while cleaning fish.
“I won’t stand idly by.”
“You seem difficult to subdue, which makes me even more motivated. It seems fun to break you, Miss,” Yuan-na said, her words missing a few screws. Kaiden reacted strongly.
“Hey, Saint, if you keep talking like that, you won’t get any saintly title.”
“Miss Florene, aren’t you being too harsh to her?”
Both Kaiden and Luzeff spoke up, and Yuan-na laughed, clearly enjoying it.
“See? Everyone else is already in Miss’s hands. All I need is her.”
Her logic was… strange, to say the least. Not exactly rational. Then again, has there ever been a rational person here?
“Miss, don’t try to win someone over so easily.”
“Oh really?”
“There’s a way to gain both the body and heart without forcing anyone, so why choose a path that makes everything difficult?”
“I don’t know how. What is that way?”
“Respect and consideration.”
Even I, lacking social skills, understood that much.
But looking around the island, it seemed like everyone here had even fewer social skills than I did, so I remained silent.
Yuan-na paused, slightly taken aback by my answer. Her eyes widened little by little.
“Respect… and consideration…”
She repeated my words and then asked me again.
“How do you practice respect and consideration?”
“Well… I don’t know either. How do you do it?”
This time even Kaiden joined in.
No matter how I looked at it, Yuan-na and Kaiden seemed cut from the same cloth. Luzeff, sharing a similar view to mine, gave Kaiden a disdainful glance.
I finally threw my hands up.
“I don’t know either, so study it yourselves. And stop bothering me.”
At that moment, Enoch walked into the cabin, perfectly timed.
I couldn’t have been happier. And surprisingly, he was holding two ducklings in his hands.
Kaiden whistled at the sight of the ducks, and Luzeff, visibly delighted, ran toward Enoch with me.
“My goodness, ducks!”
And the person who ran even faster than I did was Yuan-na.
She had seemed so serious about respect and consideration moments ago, but upon seeing the ducks, she completely forgot about it. Considering she probably hadn’t had a proper meal in a while, I understood her enthusiastic reaction.
Seeing Enoch holding the ducklings, she raised both hands and rejoiced like a child. Just like a daughter seeing fried chicken in her father’s hands after he comes home from work.
Of course, I had never experienced such peace, but I imagined it was something very similar.
In the end, everyone prepared the meal together, leaving out the sulking “Hardtack Prince.”
