Chapter 86

Diego made a sad face at her question.

“Well, you……”

As he showed signs of telling the truth, Kayden quickly intercepted him. “You didn’t say a word, Saintess. Don’t you remember anything?”

What Yuanna said while suffering from hallucinations seemed to be her trauma at first glance. There was no need to remind her of old memories in a situation where she couldn’t remember them at all either.

“I don’t remember anything after that strange flower wrapped around my ankle.”

At her words, Kayden sighed and looked at Diego and Yuanna alternately.

“That red flower is a unique poison flower called Tentathionem that was secretly tested and developed by the Rohde family.”

The two looked at Kayden with surprised eyes.

Kayden continued explaining without hesitation. “The toxicity of poison from Tentathionem flower is more acute than chronic. That’s why when you get addicted to this poison, you impulsively develop mental disorders like arousal and hallucinations, and you get temporarily out of control.”

“Arousal and hallucinations…… so these are the symptoms Sir Diego and I went through last night?”

As Yuanna asked with a haggard face, Kayden nodded.

“That’s right. Some of the neurotransmitters in humans can cause excitement in the brain. The plant emits a similar addictive substance that comes out of this flower. Only the low body temperature of a non-poisoned person can degrade the function of this substance. That’s all I know.”

Diego, who was listening to Kayden’s explanation, asked him with a serious face. “Why did the Rohde family make such a flower? What are they going to do with it? And why is the flower developed by the Rohde family here?”

“I don’t know that either. I’m not very close with my family. But it sure is suspicious.”

“And Lord Kayden, are you speaking informally with me now?” Diego frowned and asked, somewhat dissatisfied.

Kayden shrugged—as if it wasn’t something to think about right now—and replied in a lazy tone. “Given you guys put me through a lot last night, do I still have to speak formally to you?”

Diego eventually shut his mouth without any rebuttal to Kayden’s words.

“There may be a connection between this island and the Rohde family.”

Kayden agreed with Yuanna’s words and nodded his head.

“It’s just a speculation, but it’s possible.”

“Apparently, the Lord is immune to the flower’s poison.”

At Diego’s words, Kayden rested his chin on his palm and traced his memory.

“I can’t remember clearly now, but I was the subject of experiments when I was young. It made me immune to any poison.”

“What kind of experiment–”

“Sir Diego. It is rude to ask such a question directly,” Yuanna rebuked.

Then Diego scratched the back of his head with a puzzled face and asked her, “Do you feel much better now, Saintess?”

Kayden clicked his tongue and looked at Diego who seemed busy taking care of Yuanna.

Kayden, who had been watching him quietly, asked bluntly, “But why does Sir Diego care so much about the Saintess? Do you like her?”

“Isn’t this good compared to what you do to the Young Lady Floné?”

And Yuanna, who returned to her original condition, smiled happily. Kayden was speechless at her words, so he quietly shut up.

“And Sir Diego takes care of me, you say? Not like that. It’s because Crown Prince Arthdal and Sir Diego feel sorry for me. I don’t want to say things like this, but the situation is……”

She spoke bluntly as if talking about insignificant things. Without any response, Diego quietly straightened Yuanna’s messy clothes.

‘I think there’s something annoyingly tangled up.’

Kayden deeply regretted asking based on slight suspicions, and quietly listened to her explanation.

“When I was attacked by monsters, both of them abandoned me.”

“We did not. You fell off a cliff while being attacked by a tarantula monster, so I thought you would have died instantly.”

“But I survived.”

When Diego immediately refuted her, Yuanna raised her hands and shrugged.

Hearing her words, Kayden marveled for a moment.

‘……is it common to fall off a cliff and survive?’

He couldn’t help but think about it seriously.

“Even before you came, we were already dealing with monsters. I didn’t have time to go look for you back then,” said Diego.

“Yes, I understand.”

In response to Diego’s continued rebuttal, Yuanna nodded her head. It wasn’t sarcastic, but it seemed she really understood Diego.

Kayden crossed his arms and silently watched the battle between the two.

“That’s why I said I would give my life to protect you, Saintess.”

“No, I’m really fine.”

Yuanna sighed. Then he pointed at Diego and turned to Kayden, asking for his consent.

“See? Even though I said I understand, he’s still like that. Maybe he didn’t want to save me in the first place. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have to feel that guilty.”

Yuanna shook her head with a tired face. Hearing her words, Kayden also clicked his tongue.

Yuanna brushed her hair roughly and looked at Diego.

Even Kayden couldn’t help but be a little embarrassed by how rough she was. As if looking in a mirror, she was familiarly frivolous, just like him.

“Hey, it’s annoying, really. I don’t really blame you. I would have done the same thing if I were you. We all met for the first time at that time.”

Yuanna sighed and looked at Diego.

Kayden had a gut feeling that, although she spoke as if nothing had happened, the situation was more serious at the time.

After watching the confrontation between the two for a moment, he raised his head and looked up at the sky.

Quite some time has already passed. Will he be able to get to his destination within the scheduled time?

Kayden was trying to cut off the flow of conversation in moderation, but a sudden thought came to him, and he looked at Diego.

“But anyway, don’t you have a lot of flaws as a knight? You also stole Margaret’s dress while she was bathing.”

Everyone knew that Margaret took revenge by stealing Diego’s clothes. Yuanna shrugged nonchalantly, as if reluctant to defend him.

Diego slowly knelt before them with an anguished look on his face.

“You’re right. I was not chivalrous as a knight. At that time, I wanted to relieve the guilt I had towards the Saintess, even if it was in a wrong way.”

Tears rolled down Diego’s cheek to the tip of his chin and then fell on his fist in his lap.

It was an upright attitude that could be said to be the embodiment of chivalry.

However, Diego’s reaction was a little mysterious to Kayden. It didn’t seem like he was taking care of her simply because of guilt.

‘There seems to be something more personal.’

Yuanna didn’t know what to do with that idiot, so she just looked at him with a sigh.

Likewise, Kayden looked down at Diego, tired as well.

Diego seems to be in a state of confusion with the guilt of doing something that goes against his beliefs as a knight and his unknown feelings towards Yuanna.

He seemed to have lost his mind because he could not handle the mixed emotions.

‘Thinking about it, I don’t think there’s anyone here who isn’t crazy. Aren’t I the only one who’s sane?’

Kayden shrugged and nodded his head as he pondered the thought.

He had to find out what happened in the past on the Saintess group’s side. That way, he was likely to be able to get praise from Margaret for doing a good job.

After some time, the three finally arrived at the place where Yuanna first woke up. It was a gravel field with a huge river ahead.

“The Crown Prince and I also woke up not far from here.”

Diego said as he looked around the gravel field. Kayden stood on a large boulder, looking down on the gravel, and rested his chin.

“The key was lying on the ground, within my reach. Weird…… there really doesn’t seem to be anything special about this place.”

Yuanna was standing in the position where she had first woken up, paying close attention to her surroundings.

Diego, who went far and briefly looked around, came back to them and reported the situation. “I looked around over there, but I don’t think there’s anything special.”

At that time, Yuanna, standing by the water and looking into the water, bent her waist. She put her hand into the water and pulled something out.

“Oh? I think there’s something special.”

“What?”

What Yuanna picked up was some kind of thin cloth. And the cloth was engraved with pictures and letters.