@zephyroths I did actually consider that, as it seems like the only explanation, but the thing is that it would seem to go against everything he has tried to achieve. He wanted to be independent, he wanted to be free of the court machinations (like a forced, arranged marriage), he wanted to avoid having to serve anyone, he wanted to make his own decisions and forget all the shit going on it that world. That's why needing to go to the academy was such a nasty surprise to him and he was secretly super happy when he found a way to get expelled. Yet at the same time he suppposedly towed his very own island, where he could have lived in peace, right next to the old island where he needed to toil from the morning till the evening so that the women of the family could live a luxurious life in some nice city far away. It makes no sense whatsoever.
Once he found the uninhabited island, was made a baron, and had to start paying the taxes for that "promotion", that new island of his should have been everything he cares for and is responsible for. We know his scumbag sisters still expect him to pay for their luxuries, and he's free to do it if he wants to, but surely that should be it.
Personally, even if his own island still is very much in the middle of basic development, I'd most certain stick to living there and stay far away from the old island and especially Zora and the sisters. They are cancer.