I Became the Narrow-Eyed Character in the Little Prince Game

Ruska couldn’t comprehend what was happening.

Yuda and Emilia had appeared so suddenly.
Before he could even question it, the assassins surrounding him had already been beheaded.
Their cleaved bodies lay strewn like sandcastles swept away by the tide.

The boy could only watch, dazed.
It was simply too unreal.
"Were you surprised?"

The narrow eyes approached with calm composure.
What had just happened?
Ruska thought for a moment, but quickly let go of the question.

At this point, it hardly mattered.
He merely blinked his powerless eyelids.
"……"

The boy’s consciousness seemed about to snap at any moment.
Winter was always this precarious.
His body flinched involuntarily with occasional muscle spasms.

Beyond that, he couldn’t even lift a single finger.
He lay collapsed, exhaling weak breaths.
"Ruska…!"

A voice brushed past his ear.
With difficulty, Ruska opened his eyes.
Beyond his blurred vision, a head of bright blue hair fluttered.
Trembling blue eyes looked down at him.

His sister was clutching his broken body.
"W-What do I do? There’s so much blood…"
Wrecked.

That word fit him all too well.
The boy stood at the edge of his ending.
Even aside from the wounds, he could feel his heart overheating with mana.

The price of breaking the contract was about to arrive.
The sensation of his muscles collapsing spread vividly through him.
"Haha…"

Ruska laughed.
It was a way to shake off the thoughts rising inside him.
In that moment, he tried to piece together his final thoughts.

‘Strange.’
He had resolved himself to this ending from the start, so why did fear rise now?
He was forced to reflect on the reason his heart pounded so loudly.

And then he realized.
Thump, thump, thump—
This beating was proof—he was still alive.

His unfocused pupils lingered on the moment granted to him at the end.
And in his vision, someone precious remained.
"Hold on! I’ll… I’ll definitely heal you…!"

Her voice tried to reassure him.
But Emilia’s pupils trembled honestly.
Beyond that blue shimmer, countless emotions stirred.

Loss.
Grief.
Anxiety.

Fear.
Even someone as proud as her seemed clumsy when it came to saying goodbye.
Ruska tried to hide the ache blooming in his chest.

Tears trailed down his cheeks like thin drops of rain.
‘Finally.’
Finally, it was the end.

A wretched life.
From the beginning, a happy ending had never been something they were allowed.
Ruska had ignored that reality for far too long.

But now, it was time to move forward.
"Sis…"
He had always felt sorry.

That because he’d been a shackle, she hadn’t been able to leave.
That his existence had ruined her life.
That’s why, someday… he wanted to set her free himself.

To break her out of this damned fate.
‘Still, maybe… it’s a blessing.’
To see his family’s face at the end.

Compared to the resolve he’d built up, it was a fortunate way to go.
The boy let go of lingering regrets.
Like a season slipping away before it could be grasped.

‘I won’t hurt anymore.’
There were many things he hadn’t achieved.
He hadn’t uncovered the truth behind their parents’ death.

He hadn’t reclaimed the name of Vanity stolen by their uncle.
But he decided to leave those behind with the family he could trust.
His sister would never give up like he had.

He was only sorry for pushing that burden onto her.
"Sis, you…"
The boy decided not to cry.

Though his expression poured down like a sudden storm,
In his heart, he wanted to say goodbye with a bright smile.
To the world he had loved.

To the family he cherished.
To the life that had hurt him.
To every version of himself.

"…you’re free now."
The boy spoke.
Of the end.

Sssrrr—
His eyelids, drained of strength, lowered.
And the world went dark.

The night came, and the primordial darkness reached for Ruska.
His breath, already faint, was about to end—
"Ah—sorry to interrupt the moment, but…"

Thunk—
Someone pressed their hand against the boy’s solar plexus.
A strange lightness bloomed outward.

From that point of contact came an unfamiliar sensation.
His eyes hadn’t opened, so he couldn’t confirm anything, but he could feel that something was happening.
His sister’s startled voice reached his ears.

"Y-Yuda…?"
The boy who had stood nearby the whole time.
Yuda Snakeus.

He seemed to be doing something now.
Creeeeping—
It was a strange feeling.

Something soft was digging into his core, gently relaxing his muscles.
The mana that had been rampaging inside him slowly calmed.
The pain that had filled his body was being pushed back.

Even his labored breath began to return.
"Ugh… uh…?"
Finally, his vision cleared.

Ruska realized the crushing fatigue on his shoulders had vanished.
When he looked down without thinking, there wasn’t a single wound left on his body.
His broken left arm, the thigh where an arrow had pierced him, the gash on his forehead—

It was all gone, as if it had been a lie.
"What… is this…?"
Even after the designated time had passed, his heart continued to beat.

The boy realized—his pulse had not stopped.
His heart hadn’t exploded.
The Oath had been nullified.

"H-How…?"
Ruska murmured dazedly.
Emilia, sitting beside him, was also staring at the snake in disbelief.

Even as the twins’ gazes fixated on him, the boy only smiled.
With the same teasing nature he had shown since their first meeting.
Yuda raised his index finger to his lips.

"Shhh."
As if even this miracle were nothing to him.
"I did tell you to trust me, didn’t I?"

His voice held a strangely calming resonance.
Ruska, still looking up at him blankly, finally ran out of strength and lost consciousness.
It was none other than his sister who caught his head.

Afterward, the situation was cleaned up.
Ruska, having completely exhausted himself, lost consciousness on the spot.
Emilia and I moved him to the academy infirmary.

The ravaged scene we left to the faculty, who arrived just in time.
The Vanity family… a mess sparked by their betrayal.
I felt the need to sort everything out.

Even though we had saved Ruska and put out the immediate fire, this was merely the signal flare.
Now that this operation had failed, their movements would only grow bolder.
And since we were heading into the final act anyway, there was no reason to hold back.

‘Things are about to get troublesome.’
A beast caught in a trap is always dangerous.
You never know what fangs it’s hiding.

That’s why swift suppression was key this time.
But before taking action, I needed to understand the broader picture.
I was about to overturn the entire board.

‘Vanity.’
I needed to understand them.
Not just from the knowledge I had of the original story, but through the voice of someone who had lived it.

So I spent some time speaking with Emilia.
About everything she had hidden until now—her pain, and what she had borne.
"…Everything… has been ruined."

The vain girl confessed.
The thorny path they had been forced to walk.
The family stolen by traitors.

The uncle’s grip that had always bound them.
And finally, the sacrifice of her younger brother, who only wanted to set her free.
The girl's subdued gaze shimmered with shadow.

As if reflecting the very nature of life itself.
‘I see.’
Emilia Vanity—an extra in the original story.

Behind the so-called villainess, such a tale had existed.
A girl surrounded by traitors on all sides, walking a dangerously narrow line of life.
Her originally sharp personality made more sense now.

She had simply been afraid.
"I had no one to rely on."
That faint emptiness shone in her blue eyes.

Her hand held her brother’s on the hospital bed.
For just a moment, I thought I saw her shoulders tremble.
I gently stroked her blue hair.

Slowly, I added a quiet whisper.
"You may rest easy now."
"……"
"I’ve completely undone the Oath that bound your brother."
They no longer had any reason to be shackled.

Because my hand had reached them.
Ruska’s leash was broken. Emilia remained safe at the academy.
In the original, everyone had met their ruin—but this world’s story was far different.

I smiled faintly.
"You're both free now."
"Why… Why would you go this far for me…?"

"Because I made a promise."
I replied firmly.
The vow I had made just days ago, to a certain boy.

"I promised that, when you were in danger, I would be there to support you."
"……"
Emilia had no words.

She simply clutched at my sleeve, desperately holding back her tears.
I gently embraced her.
Until that faint trembling came to a stop.

"I will stay by your side."
For a time, silence blanketed the hospital room.
Night had fallen before I realized it.

Leaving Emilia asleep by Ruska’s bedside, I stepped out of the infirmary.
The corridor, veiled in black, held not a hint of moonlight.
As I dug into my pocket, my fingers pulled something out.

"Hmm."
A communication crystal.
I’d picked one up at the scene—it seemed to belong to one of the assassins.

Likely damaged in the chaos, it was half-cracked.
Worse, the signal had already been cut off from their side after confirming the operation’s failure.
I gathered shadow at my fingertips, coating its smooth surface.

The surface cracks slowly filled in.
Then, a signal sparked back to life in the once-dead light.
—{Wuuung.}

The crystal reactivated.
I reconnected the severed signal and attempted a transmission.
After a few beeps, the display flashed blue.

An alert signaled the connection.
Ding—
—{……}

On the other end, only silence.
But I was sure.
They were listening—just not speaking.

I wanted each and every one of them to hear this.
The core figures behind the attempted abduction.
"Merchant. Baob. Vanity."

Murderous intent filled my voice.
With my eyes half-lidded, I stepped beneath the dawn.
My loosely worn coat flared in the wind.

"You’ve touched things you should never have laid hands on."
My people.
The place I reside.

The story I love.
I had waited for this—finally, a loose thread to unravel.
A clue that would allow me to erase them from this world.

"Let your imagination run wild—what kind of price you’ll pay."
Whatever they imagined—I would return something far greater.
With that calm declaration, I ended the transmission.

And crushed the crystal with one hand.
Clatter—!
The shards scattered.

Perhaps, they were ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) the very hell that would await the sinners.
I turned slowly, taking a quiet breath.
At the end of my gaze stood a familiar silver-haired woman.

"Captain."
It was none other than the vice-captain—Neria.
In that dead silence, she shimmered like a beautiful reaper.

Behind her transparent pupils, a cold winter surged.
"All operatives are in position."
"As expected, you work quickly."

"With your command, we can begin the purge immediately."
"It’s about time the name 'Vanity' was erased from the continent."
I smiled ominously.

Just like the days, four years ago, when I butchered the underworld.
"It’s the season of extermination."
A short, scornful laugh.

I stepped forward into a darkened world—
Forcing down the surge of exhilaration within.