Chapter 56

After a while, Diego filled a wooden barrel—made by Kayden for a pot—with duck meat and water. Then I hung the pot on a pole above the burning firewood.

As the water started to boil, a savory smell spread throughout the hut. Then Arthdal, who had been in the room on the second floor since a while ago, came down.

‘Should I give food to the guy who continues to do nothing for free?’

I was seriously contemplating. After all, people don’t change.

Patiently, I sat quietly and accepted the duck stew that Diego served in a coconut bowl.

Since the table in the kitchen is for one person, we only use it for cooking—though it’s a bit embarrassing to call it cooking. So we all sat on the spacious floor.

Not much lean meat in the stew. There was nothing we could do as we served two ducks for seven people.

It’s fine for me, but I don’t know how other people feel.

‘But I’m happy to eat meat after a long time.’

I tilted the coconut bowl and slurped the broth.

‘I wish there was kimchi.’

With that thought in mind, I was working hard to empty the bowl.

If it wasn’t for Kayden, who was sitting across from me, holding his chin and staring at me, I would be able to keep eating.

I eventually put down the coconut bowl and looked at him.

Then, as if Kayden was waiting, he grinned. He’s really pretty.

“You like ducks, Margaret? I like you.”

cough cough. It wasn’t me but Ruzef who was choking. As he coughed as if out of breath, Diego brought him some water.

Seeing Ruzef calming down a bit, I turned to Kayden and responded.

“I know you do not. Just eat your wings.”

Even after being rebuked, Kayden was smiling happily.

I really don’t know what he’s thinking. So I can’t take his kindness as a good thing.

I looked at Kayden with a sullen face and sighed. The original plot is impossible to change, I wonder if I will be killed in a different way.

‘Yeah, all I have to do is to escape and survive.’

I made up my mind. I will survive somehow. Meanwhile, I heard Enoch and Arthdal arguing.

“Don’t be annoying and just eat.”

“Can’t you speak? You can complain that it’s not tasty. In the past and now, you’re not flexible at all.”

“Stop talking about flexibility. You, who do nothing and only eat, have no right to speak this and that. So shut up that mouth of yours if you don’t want to be forced to shut up.”

At Enoch’s bloody warning, Arthdal finally gave up with a disgruntled face and kept his mouth shut.

Diego and Yuanna were busy eating duck stew.

On the other hand, Ruzef grabbed Kayden by the collar.

As the number of people in the group increases, so does the annoying part, and there’s a lot to pay attention to. This bustling life is the first time I have experienced in my life.

Well, more than I thought…… Group life doesn’t seem too bad.

13. Distrust and Fallout

The sun had risen but Kayden was still in dreamland because he had been watching until dawn. I moved as slowly as possible so as not to wake him.

Diego, who woke up early, had gone out for reconnaissance around the hut, and Archbishop Ruzef had gone out to purify the water.

I repaired the hem of the torn dress by threading a thin tree fiber like a thread through the bone needle I made last time.

It was repaired like rags because it was sewn from tree fiber instead of thread, but still, where am I right now? I got up from my seat after finishing sewing.

Then I moved to the front of the fireplace and prepared to make steam cookers out of bamboo.

“What’s that?”

As Enoch was lighting a fire, he turned to me with a puzzled face. Arthdal, who was sitting in the kitchen, was also looking at me curiously.

I shrugged and said, “This time I will try steaming fish. I’m tired of grilling it. Steamed food is good for your health because it preserves nutrients.”

I used a knife to cut a hole through the bamboo nodes so that air could escape and then filled the lowermost nodes of the bamboo with water.

Then, after making a lid on the top of the bamboo, I put the cleaned fish on it.

“I caught it early in the morning, but there wasn’t enough fish. I have to hunt more.”

I put two bamboos on the fireplace. Now, the water in the lower compartment of bamboo turns into steam and the fish in the upper compartment will be cooked.

“Can I trust you?”

Arthdal, who sat with his legs crossed in front of the kitchen table, looked at me arrogantly.

“How can I believe that the food Young Lady makes is actually edible? Up until now, all the Young Lady had done was speak without evidence.”

Wasn’t it Arthdal who could only speak? He still couldn’t believe that I had caught fish.

Before I could say a word, Enoch was angry at Arthdal’s words. As he sat in front of the fireplace, he looked at Arthdal.

He warned, “Hey, you better keep your mouth shut.”

“Bahwang, is that what you just said to me?”

“Did you eat your ears too?”

[T/N: This means “Are you deaf too?”]

Arthdal asked back, looking at Enoch with a face full of anger. In fact, Arthdal always had that kind of reaction from the start.

Hestia was a kingdom with great financial power, and Arthdal ​​was the crown prince of the kingdom.

So he thought that he and Enoch were of different levels.

‘Because we are in such an extreme environment, our personality, which is the bottom of our humanity is revealed.’

I clicked my tongue and shook my head.

“Hey, crown prince!”

“What, crown prince?”

Enoch looked at Arthdal while maintaining a relatively relaxed attitude.

They both looked at each other without getting up from their seats, and although Enoch, who was sitting on the floor, had a relatively low eye level, somehow he couldn’t shake the feeling that he had the upper hand.

‘Is it because he has the aura of a war hero?’

“I have no intention of respecting anyone who is rude to Margaret.”

Enoch spoke in a firm but calm tone.

“You’re acting as if Young Lady Floné is your fiancée.”

Arthdal leaned his elbow on his lap, rested his cheek against the back of his hand, and smiled as he looked at Enoch.

In the novel 《Things More Important Than Survival》, Arthdal ​​is the most powerful male lead candidate after Enoch.

He is rude with others, but kind to Yuanna. Maybe the author is trying to portray a warm male lead only for his woman.

‘But he is not my type……’

I like people who are consistent.

Like Enoch, who has basic manners, or like Kayden, who has bad manners.

“Despite the fact that Young Lady Floné has changed from what I know, your attitude is truly amazing, Banhwang. Even a dog passing by in the Hestia Kingdom knows that Prince Enoch hates Young Lady Floné.”

Why are you giving such a specific example?

“Do you know how ridiculous it is now to see Crown Prince Enoch on Young Lady Floné’s side?

Arthdal ​​criticized Enoch. The words made me a little upset. I know Enoch hates me, but people can change!

Fortunately, Enoch didn’t even blink an eye and nodded his head.

“It doesn’t matter how you see me. What matters is how Margaret sees me.”

“Enoch, I’m fine, so don’t worry.”

“Are you going to keep calling the Crown Prince like that?”

“I told her to, so you better shut up.”

I sighed in annoyance when I saw Arthdal still looking at me with an irritated face.

It’s so uncomfortable living in the same house with someone who keeps distrusting me.

And what I don’t like more than that is that Arthdal doesn’t do anything. While he was doing nothing, he kept rebuking me.

In such a case, I have to teach him the bitter taste of life.

I got up from my seat and approached Arthdal.

I said, “Your Highness, we have decided that the group representatives will go hunting. One from your group and one from mine.”

“Is that so?”

Arthdal ​​then looked up at me with an anxious face.

“Let’s go hunting together this afternoon.”

He’s never hunted fish, so I have to teach him properly.