I Became the Narrow-Eyed Character in the Little Prince Game-Chapter 140: The Drunkard (4)

What is Responsibility?

The woman, her gaze filled with a strange sense of relief, spoke of its meaning.

"While I was bedridden, I thought about it. I've lived my life no different from a blind fool, so at the very least, I should be the one to put an end to it myself..."

Tears fell down her face.

Was their meaning regret? Or perhaps, self-loathing?

Maybe both, I thought.

"I know I have no right to ask this. But still, I want to ask you for this one thing."

It was less a request and more of a plea.

She had been a woman swayed by blind love, chained by longing—

But at least for the ending, she wanted to be different.

A vow not to throw away today in favor of yesterday’s excuses.

Selena’s tears looked toward a tomorrow that would never exist.

She spoke.

"Please... let me be the one to end this."

A silence stretched between us.

The cold, detached aura that had once surrounded her was nowhere to be found.

The distant, uncaring demeanor had long since crumbled.

Before me, there was only a wilting flower.

Her already frail complexion only growing more withered.

Adulthood was such a pathetic thing.

I was no different.

I couldn't turn away from the reflection of my past self in her eyes.

Drenched in sorrow and emptiness, I gave my answer.

"If that is truly your will."

A single phrase, permitting the conclusion she sought.

A faint smile curled on the drunkard’s lips.

"...Yuda, you’re a truly kind person."

She clutched at the fabric of her blanket.

Her crimson eyes had lost all their light.

And yet, beyond the murky surface—

There was only me.

I was the «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» only thing left in Selena’s world.

"Thank you."

For the first time—

She acknowledged something other than her younger sister.

"You might find this disgraceful, but... that night at the banquet, when I told you that you were my first, that wasn’t a lie."

The first time she had been this close to another.

The first time she had danced with a man.

The first time she had been held by someone, felt another’s warmth.

The first time she had relied on someone who wasn’t her younger sister.

All of it.

"All of it. Without exception."

"......"

"Every one of my firsts belonged to you, Yuda."

The sinner’s confession was too fragile.

As though it would collapse at any moment.

Srrrrrk—

The woman pushed herself up from her sickbed.

She took a shaky step forward.

Though her strength had not yet recovered, where was she planning to go?

Over her hospital gown, she draped a thin coat.

A completely inadequate outfit to face the winter beyond the window.

If she removed just a single layer, her delicate skin would be exposed.

And yet.

The drunkard continued moving forward.

Toward the pure white exit of the hospital room.

"...I should get going now."

With those parting words.

She opened the door.

I watched her retreating figure for a long time.

Until even the faintest trace of her silhouette had faded completely.

At some point.

Three days had passed.

⋆

After her conversation with the snake.

The drunkard left the academy immediately, heading straight for the cult’s base.

She had been granted access as a collaborator—

A research facility where she had once cooperated with them.

A personal space belonging to the one who called himself the Puppeteer...

More than that, it was a local branch of BaoV, a center for their activities.

Within it were stored research data, experimental results—

A warehouse of information.

Selena stood at the heart of that archive.

"......"

Crackle, crackle—

A sharp, acrid scent filled her nose.

Bright red flames danced wildly.

The research facility was engulfed in thick fire.

The floor was drenched in dark crimson blood.

The hallway was littered with the bodies of dark sorcerers and chimeras.

A sudden betrayal from within.

It was the work of the drunkard.

She had eliminated the personnel inside and was now burning the data one by one.

Her shallow breaths faded into the scorching air.

"Haa..."

The research facility had no way to counter the ambush.

After all, their opponent was a professor.

Even if her abilities weren’t suited for combat, Selena was still a member of Galimar Academy—

One of the highest-ranked educators in the continent’s most prestigious institution.

Taking down a single branch of the cult on her own was well within her capability.

Of course—

It came at the cost of severe injuries and exhaustion.

The woman swayed unsteadily, her body in tatters.

Even as she coughed up thick clots of blood, her hands worked steadily, disposing of the remaining documents.

Stacks of papers tumbled amidst the blood, corpses, and flames.

Crackle, crackle—

Not that this will amount to much.

Selena knew.

That this was ultimately meaningless.

The cult was far larger than anyone could imagine, their influence reaching even noble households.

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A mere loss of documents wouldn’t inflict any real damage.

At best, it was just stalling for time.

A desperate moth throwing itself into the fire.

Still.

She wanted to take responsibility for her sins herself.

Even if only to carve away a small piece of them.

Is this atonement?

She shook her head.

She had no intention of dressing up her actions with pretty words.

She just—

The academy.

The place that had unknowingly become her home.

The warmth she had realized too late.

She wanted to cut off even a fraction of the claws reaching toward them.

Spilled water couldn't be gathered again—

But at the very least, before it soaked the ground completely, she wanted to wipe away some of the spreading stains.

The woman’s hands continued to move.

She did not ask for anyone’s help.

She believed she had to tie up this loose end with her own hands.

The drunkard burned, and burned, and burned everything.

"...This is the last one."

The final document.

Her hand hesitated.

The yellowed paper was smudged with blood and soot.

Selena’s dirtied fingers traced over its surface.

[Selena Drunkard]

Her name was written there.

It was none other than her own research records.

The transcendence of providence through Stars and demonic energy.

The project’s official name—Resurrection.

The record of the days she spent trying to bring her younger sister back.

The goal that had consumed her entire life.

Maybe it was the echo of a familiar voice in her ears—

But for some reason, her hands refused to move.

Lianne...

If she threw this away too—

She would have to accept, once and for all, that Lianne was truly gone.

Her heart, hollowed out piece by piece, clung desperately to her sleeve.

Are you really going to give up?

Think about it again.

Don’t you want to see her smile just one last time?

Longing and regret whispered to her.

But—

"I’m sorry."

The drunkard pushed it away.

The lingering attachment she had held for so long.

Her wavering eyes caressed the document one last time before—

She pushed the bundle of paper into the flames.

Before she could even fully process it, the pages disintegrated into ash.

A funeral by fire.

"I’ll be with you soon, Lianne."

With tears streaming down her face, she finally let her go.

The hole left in her heart rippled with empty silence.

It was over.

She had left a letter for the Headmaster, confessing her betrayal and her connection with the cult.

She trusted that he would handle things properly.

She also felt guilty.

Because in the end, Lianne’s death had consumed her so completely—

That she had forgotten.

He had been no different from family to her, too.

She still remembered those days, when the three of them had been together.

"Would you like to study magic under me?"

The benefactor who had pulled her out of the gutter.

And in return, all she had given him was betrayal.

A bitter taste rose in her mouth, twisting her brow—

But she forced down the turmoil, suppressing her regret.

At the very end of the road, an apology meant nothing.

With resignation, Selena turned around.

"......"

Behind her stood figures clad in crimson-black robes.

Each of them had their spells aimed at her.

It seemed reinforcements had arrived from another branch.

At the forefront stood a high-ranking executive—

Someone she had met a few times before.

"A traitor betraying traitors, huh? Did you finally wake up to your guilt?"

The executive scowled as he spoke.

His hostility was blatant.

The power gap between them was insurmountable.

Her stamina had already run dry.

Her body was in shreds.

Even worse, her mana oath burned in her chest, making every movement an agony.

Resistance—

No, fighting back in any form was impossible.

Before long—

Thud.

Her legs gave out beneath her.

She had reached her limit.

As she collapsed to her knees, the cultists rushed forward to restrain her.

Her arms were twisted back, boots slammed into her side.

Yet her gaze remained eerily calm.

Slap!

The executive struck her across the face.

For a moment, her vision flashed white.

The pain spread like fire across her cheek—

But as she absorbed it, a single question drifted into her ears.

A question laced with utter incomprehension.

"Why did you turn on us? I thought we had the same goal. Didn’t you want to bring your sister back?"

The drunkard answered with difficulty.

Her split lips bled, the words slipping out along with the taste of iron.

"I did... Desperately. Even now, maybe I still do...."

"Then I really don’t understand."

Well.

It wasn’t anything grand.

"...I just sobered up."