I Became the Narrow-Eyed Character in the Little Prince Game-Chapter 121: What Winter Left Behind (3)

Disloyalty.

The last surviving member of the royal guard sworn to serve the Lord and the seed of a calamity that would one day hasten the world's end.

Not much was revealed about this character in the official setting.

However, piecing together various hints and speculations, the following seemed plausible:

It was a star.

A star that shone brilliantly in the night sky.

Yet—

"It’s dangerous."

The problem lay in its lack of control.

A body inherently imbued with starlight.

Perhaps it was the price of wielding an uncontrollable power.

The radiant hues the girl possessed were not a blessing but a curse that ruined her life.

The light brought nothing but tragedy.

"The child chosen by the stars."

The girl stood out from a young age.

She possessed an innate authority to borrow the power of the stars.

While countless geniuses hit walls and faced despair, with only a select few ever even reaching the stars, this girl was born with one already within her.

Even in the annals of the continent’s history, such a birth had no precedent.

She was, in every sense, loved by the stars.

But—

This extraordinary power was far too much for someone so young.

At an age when neither her body, mind, nor spirit could support it, the ability would frequently go berserk, incinerating her surroundings in pure white.

Wherever the girl stayed, only white wastelands remained.

This was no blessing.

It was a cruel curse disguised under the name of love.

A forcibly imposed destiny tightened around her neck.

"It hurts."

"I want to stop."

"I’m scared."

"It feels like my body is burning."

"Get out of me."

Despite her desperate pleas, the star’s recklessness continued unabated.

In the end, the girl was forced to resign herself.

She was only ten years old at the time.

By then, two villages had burned to the ground, and dozens of people were either dead or injured.

The silver-haired monster trembled amidst the ashes she had created.

It was an exceptionally snowy winter.

At that moment, someone extended a hand to her.

"How intriguing... You’ll prove useful."

It was none other than the Lord.

The old man recognized the destructive authority she possessed and sought to make her the final member of the royal guard.

From then on, the monster’s life plunged into true hell.

The Lord subjected her to relentless violence and brainwashing, attempting to mold her into a tool. But the power of the stars was not something that could be refined through mere oppression.

Ultimately, the girl showed no improvement and was confined to the depths of an underground prison.

Devices to suppress her rampages, thousands of mana-vacuum scrolls, and chains binding her limbs restrained the monster.

Her fate was one of complete powerlessness.

Time passed cruelly.

The monster remained imprisoned for over 13 years. The constant abuse and brainwashing shattered her.

Life held no meaning anymore.

Only despair and the harsh reality of self-torture remained.

Eventually, the girl, having embraced hatred, resentment, and pain, let out a piercing scream and unleashed her final rampage.

The fully unleashed starlight pierced through the underground and set the empire ablaze.

Whoosh—

It was as though she sought to return the pain she had endured to the world.

Burning.

Scorching.

Burning again.

She turned every scene she hated into pure white.

As a result, the long-unresolved War of Usurpation abruptly came to an end.

The rampaging starlight consumed everything.

The Lord who had tried to tame her, the overseers who had subjected her to endless torture and brainwashing, the other criminal organizations embroiled in the war, and even the innocent residents at the bottom of society—

All were wiped clean from the map.

"Everything, disappear."

The unending combustion of the star.

The girl turned one-tenth of the empire's territory into ash before being stopped by the protagonist's party and the allied forces of the continent.

Dozens of swords and countless spells pierced her frail body.

In her final breaths, tears streamed down the monster's cheeks.

"I never wanted this power to begin with."

"Why did the stars choose me?"

"Why did it have to be me, of all people?"

Her silver pupils, filled with hollow resentment, lost their light.

Only the remnants of the shattered girl fluttered in the winter wind.

Is power truly a blessing?

Or is it merely a curse to fulfill divine greed?

This episode provoked much thought.

The story was often praised for its fresh and novel perspective.

Typically, when someone is "chosen by the stars," it is portrayed as an unparalleled blessing or a miraculous ideal. However, this narrative instead highlighted how such overwhelming power could lead to misfortune.

Anyway.

Even as time passed, the story remained vividly clear in my mind.

The episode left a striking impression, and the girl stood out as one of the most tragic figures in the narrative.

As a result, I often referenced her in informational videos I uploaded.

About the Monster of the Stars.

"And now... that monster is right in front of me."

I slowly gazed at the girl before me.

Her long silver hair cascaded down her frail figure.

Her unfocused eyes lacked any glimmer of light.

Her pale white skin bore countless scars from torture, and dozens of tubes injected sedatives into her periodically.

Her arms and legs were tightly bound with chains enchanted by magic.

It was a ghastly sight.

"As I expected..."

Reality was even more harrowing than a human's imagination.

I moved my hand lightly.

Swish.

The iron bars imprisoning the girl.

The thick pillars, as sturdy as steel, were sliced like tofu, and I removed the restraints and bindings that oppressed her delicate body.

My hands moved carefully, worried that I might hurt her.

The girl made no effort to resist; she only stared at me with a vacant gaze.

Clink...

As I removed the last chain, the girl, who had been hanging against the wall, collapsed forward.

I caught her before her body hit the ground.

She was feather-light in my arms.

It felt as though there was nothing but bones.

Well.

Given the harshness of her life, she probably hadn’t even been fed properly.

I supported the staggering girl.

"Please stay still. Right now, you need absolute rest."

The scars left by years of violence were everywhere, so many that just looking at them made me frown.

I gently lifted the girl, who seemed barely conscious.

"From today on, I’ll be responsible for your well-being."

"Responsible...?"

"I’m your new guardian now."

She might have questions.

Why would I extend a hand to the seed of future calamity standing before me, instead of a sword?

Indeed, the rational choice might have been to kill her on the spot.

After all, my mission was to prevent the apocalypse.

But—

I hesitated.

The person in front of me was still a girl.

The roots of her calamity wouldn’t take hold for another five years.

Was it truly justifiable to kill a powerless lamb based on a future that hadn’t even been decided?

Though I had waded through the depths of darkness and been branded with sin.

That didn’t mean I had lost my humanity.

I withdrew my intent to kill.

Instead.

I enveloped the wounded monster with a faint warmth.

For now, I had decided to wait and watch.

"Let’s get out of here for now."

Taking slow steps, I moved toward the exit of the iron cage.

As I did, someone grabbed my sleeve.

It was the girl in my arms.

Her trembling eyes seemed to fear freedom from her restraints.

Her hoarse voice spread into the cold air.

"No... If I go outside—"

"Why not?"

"If I go outside, someone will get hurt again. That’s why I was told I have to stay here..."

"Who told you that?"

"...That man."

That man, she meant the Lord, of course.

Was it the result of prolonged brainwashing and abuse?

The girl seemed terrified of the outside world.

No—more precisely, she feared that her existence would harm others.

Had she been trained to never attempt escape?

"It’s fine."

Strictly speaking, the Lord wasn’t entirely wrong.

He had instilled an extreme fear in her.

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She was, after all, an unpredictable ticking time bomb.

But that problem was something I could handle.

Though her control over her powers was still weak, I could suppress her rampages as they occurred.

It would be a challenging task requiring constant attention.

But I smiled softly.

"You’ll be fine with me."

"..."

Her expression was one of incomprehension.

There would be time for explanations later.

For now, I resumed walking.

"Do you have a name?"

"Disloyalty..."

"That’s a name you’ll discard from now on. If you don’t have another, we’ll create a new one."

From today, I would give you a name.

I bestowed a quiet identity upon the girl who had only ever been called a monster.

That name was—

"Neria... Neria Lightni."

Her new name.

The first seven letters to ever define her life.

"Shall we go, Miss Neria?"

"..."

There was no particular response.

I merely considered her silence a moment to remember and stepped out of the iron cage.

Outside, pure white snowflakes swirled in the air.