I’m Stuck on a Remote Island With the Male Leads - Side Story 18

The man introduced himself as Kayden and said that my name was Margaret and that we were married. He also said we were stranded on this remote island and couldn’t escape.

Sitting by the fire, clutching my rumbling stomach, I said, “I’m hungry.”

“Just wait a bit,” Kayden replied as he prepared a wild rabbit he had caught. Apparently, even in this cold winter forest, rabbits still lived.

I sat quietly by the fire, eating the rabbit meat he had prepared. Naturally, it was completely unseasoned and tasted awful.

“Enoch was good at seasoning,” I blurted out absentmindedly and then tilted my head in confusion.

‘Who is Enoch?’

Lost in thought, I glanced up and was startled, nearly dropping the meat I was eating. Kayden, whom I thought was far away, was staring intently at me from right beside me.

“Darling, you haven’t regained your memory, have you?” he asked, addressing me with a term of endearment that felt unfamiliar.

“No, it’s just that the name came to mind. Do you know someone named Enoch?”

Kayden looked at me with a blank expression before shrugging. “It’s not an important name.”

If it’s not important, why do I remember it? Though I felt puzzled, I accepted his explanation since he was my husband, after all.

Kayden was handsome and kind. Above all, I felt his love for me in every way.

Cough.

Suddenly, he coughed up blood. Startled, I put down the meat I was eating and moved closer to him.

“Are you okay? What’s happening?!”

When I cried out in alarm, he wiped the blood from his mouth with the back of his hand and smiled.

“Oh, I’m fine. It seems my time is running out.”

His words made my heart sink.

“You’re not… You’re not terminally ill, are you?”

Cough.

Kayden coughed again, this time a dry cough as if caught off guard rather than from blood. Then, clutching his stomach, he burst into laughter.

‘If not, just say so instead of making things awkward for me.’

Scratching the back of my head, I returned to my spot. Kayden looked at me with a bright smile.

“Are you going to keep calling me ‘you’? Call me ‘honey.’ We’re married, remember?”

“Uh… um… ho-honey?”

Feeling a bit awkward, I struggled but finally managed to call him ‘honey.’

“Great. I wish time would just stop like this.”

Do I feel the same way as Kayden? Do I also wish time would stop because I’m so happy? Maybe…

Since we are a married couple, I suppose I share his feelings.

“But we’re married. How did we meet?”

“Well…”

Kayden seemed flustered and trailed off, making me feel a bit suspicious, so I asked another question.

“Do we have children?”

“Yes. We have a child.”

This time, Kayden answered without hesitation.

“What?”

Kayden, as if he had never been flustered, smiled naturally, his charming dimple deepening on his cheek. I couldn’t believe it and asked again.

“We have a child?”

“Yes, we do. You’ll see them once we escape from here.”

“What’s the child’s name?”

“Eunji. It’s a boy.”

“Eunji? That’s an unusual name.”

“…You picked it.”

With nothing to say, I closed my mouth. My naming skills must have been really terrible. I suddenly felt sorry for the child.

“By the way, darling, our Eunji always said he wanted a sibling.” Kayden gently grasped my chin and slowly leaned in toward me.

“Shall we give Eunji a sibling this time?” His breath tickled my lips. Just as I thought his lips would soon meet mine, a thunderous roar echoed from outside the cave, and the ground shook.

“What, what’s that?”

Startled and confused, I turned to see Kayden coughing up blood again. I grabbed his shoulders in alarm.

“Kay… honey?! Are you okay?”

As I called his name, I suddenly remembered how upset he’d been about the title and quickly corrected myself. Kayden’s lips curled into a smile. Wiping his bloodstained mouth with the back of his hand, he looked at me with a face that couldn’t hide his joy.

“Say it again.”

“What?”

“Honey.”

“That’s not important right now. You’re bleeding…”

“I want to hear it.”

“…Honey?”

Kayden approached and hugged me tightly. He looked truly happy, so much so that his happiness seemed to transfer to me. Unable to push him away, I stayed nestled in his embrace.

Panting, panting.

Suddenly, I heard a rough breath from behind me.

“I knew it.”

The familiar voice in my ear made me push Kayden away and turn my head. A man stood at the cave entrance, covered in dark crimson blood.

‘Who is that?’

His voice was familiar, but I couldn’t remember who he was. The man looked fierce, like a demon rising from hell. He held a harpoon in one hand and a severed wolf’s head in the other.

Thud.

He tossed the wolf’s head against the cave wall and brushed the blood off his hands. His golden eyes, shining like the sun, fixed on me. From the beginning, he had been looking only at me, his gaze steady and unwavering.

‘Why is he staring at me like that?’

A bit flustered, I looked back at him.

Step, step.

The man walked toward me with measured steps and an overwhelming presence. He stopped in front of me, his expression stern. Beside me, Kayden clicked his tongue and hugged me from behind.

“It’s been a while, Lord. If you don’t want to lose your hand, you’d better let go of Margaret.”

“She’s my wife.”

“Margaret. Is. Your. Wife?” The man punctuated Kayden’s words, and his gaze slowly shifted to me. His golden eyes studied me from head to toe. The angle was somewhat authoritative, yet his gaze was strangely gentle.

Kayden sighed and shrugged. “Once we leave here, Margaret will forget everything. So will Your Highness. And so will I.”

Kayden looked at me as he spoke, then kissed my cheek softly, with an expression of acceptance. “It was fun for the last time. It felt like playing house.”

The last time? Playing house?

“You and I live in different worlds now. As you said, I’ll quietly wait for the next life.”

I didn’t know what he meant, but Kayden seemed to have no regrets. His gaze, as if he still loved me, hadn’t changed.

While I stood there unable to respond, the dark-haired man approached and asked, “Margaret, are you okay?”

He even knew my name.

“Oh. Well…” I hesitated, glancing at Kayden for reassurance. “Honey, what does all of this mean?”

“Honey?”

At the abrupt interruption, I looked up again. The man, drenched in blood and exuding a fierce aura, tilted his head and repeated the title I had just used.

“You were having fun at the expense of Margaret’s memory loss.”

Enoch’s menacing gaze turned to Kayden. “This can’t be ignored. Can you assure me this won’t happen again, Lord?”

“Hm. Are you asking for a promise not to drag the two of you into the subconscious again?” Kayden replied calmly.

“Promise it at least until the end of the hibernation. This space is unstable and could harm Margaret.”

“You awakened the subconscious. Why did you propose to Margaret in front of me? It’s no wonder my subconscious emerged.”

‘Was he trying to propose to me?’

So, his subconscious self emerged… Wait, what does this even mean? Didn’t Kayden say he was my husband?

“I didn’t expect that kind of reaction. I apologize.”

“If you want a promise, there should be a price. On second thought, I’m reluctant to simply hand over my Margaret to Your Highness.”

I couldn’t understand what they were talking about. I was so confused I didn’t even know where to start with my questions.

The conversation continued.

“Consider it a sort of test,” Enoch replied.

Then Kayden snapped his fingers.

In an instant, the man was thrown out of the cave as if someone had yanked his collar with great force.

It happened in the blink of an eye. I saw him tumble through the air and land steadily in the snow, unfazed.

“Ah!”

I screamed as wolves charged toward him.

“Shouldn’t we help him?”

Judging by the look on Kayden’s face, I decided not to use the term “honey” anymore.

Kayden seemed unbothered by the title and smiled. “This is just one of the trials to move forward. Even if I were the real Kayden, I’d have done the same.”

“A trial to move forward?”

He spoke ambiguously, much like Jenas.

‘Wait, who is Jenas?’

My head throbbed as if it would split, and I squeezed my eyes shut.

“Look.”

At Kayden’s nod, I turned my gaze back outside the cave.

The dark-haired man was surrounded by wolves, his form obscured. I squirmed anxiously, but then—

Thwack!

Yelp!

With a blinding flash, a horizontal slash cleaved through the wolves, slicing them in two with staggering force.

“Tsk. That’s not enough. I’ll have to summon more,” Kayden muttered cryptically as the man strode back into the cave.

“Are we done? I need to find the woman who will be my wife.”

His wife? Me? To that man?

“Margaret, I’m to be your husband, not this wizard.” The dark-haired man reached his hand out to me.

Feeling a bit overwhelmed, I looked from his outstretched hand to Kayden.

So, which of these two is really my husband?