I Became the Narrow-Eyed Character in the Little Prince Game-Chapter 168: The Iron Cage Beyond the Sea (2)

Irene waited.

In a cage where only the sea and the wind were alive and breathing.

She kept waiting for someone who would come looking for her.

The time stretched on the bowstring felt like an eternity.

Whoooosh—

The scenery around her was peaceful.

A lukewarm breeze, pleasantly cool waves, sunlight painted in beautiful hues...

The vividly dyed blue resembled a certain summer day.

And yet, the reason the girl was in pain was because she knew it was all nothing but deceit.

The fox could not escape the sea.

‘How much time has passed...’

A blue field of water spread beneath her.

Irene simply sat there, slowly sinking into it.

To keep her disintegrating consciousness intact, she had to make every effort.

Whenever cruel loneliness gave rise to dark thoughts, the fox muttered to herself to fill the emptiness.

She hummed to shake off the gloom, and at times, with her eyes closed, imagined the world outside.

But it was nothing more than patching up a rag.

The girl was being worn away, little by little, day by day.

‘It hurts.’

Tears fell.

The rippling emotions scratched across her cheeks again and again.

The fox groaned at the hot, burning trails left behind.

Even as she fought miserable nausea and the moment itself, Irene’s situation didn’t change at all.

In fact, it worsened.

‘There’s no one.’

A somber silence.

A thin, still surface.

Whenever she looked down at the reflections dancing on those scales of water, she was forced to realize she was alone.

Because she couldn’t bring herself to accept it, the girl would splash at the water.

So the trembling ripples would erase all mirrors.

Splash—

The fox curled up.

The silence of the sea wind slowly pushed her to the edge.

And yet, even in that state, all Irene did was quietly turn over memories of a certain boy.

Grasping onto the fragments left at her fingertips.

“Miss Irene.”

Irene had to endure.

Because someone was going to come find her.

But for the girl, that time had been unbearably long. freewebnoveℓ.com

‘I... I can’t remember his voice.’

When you forget someone,

They say the voice is the first thing to fade.

With each passing day, the boy’s resonance grew fainter.

Even though she remembered every promise, every dawn, every connection he had whispered—

Only his kind voice was scattering, like ink dissolved in the sea.

And so, the fox had no choice but to clutch her head and plead.

To the mercilessly distant days.

‘I don’t want this... I don’t want to forget, please.’

The fracture deepened.

Even as the girl was swept away by the chasm, she kept living each day.

Longing desperately for someone to come find her.

And then, perhaps around four years had passed.

Irene finally realized she was dangling at her limit.

They say that when isolated in confinement, most people can’t endure even a month alone.

The fox, through her uniquely transcendent mental fortitude, had survived forty times that.

But even she had no way to overcome this non-linear sense of loss.

All she could do was mutter, staring at the horizon.

Even knowing how meaningless it was.

“Yuda.”

Where might you be now?

Are you searching for me from somewhere?

Why is it taking so long?

Just as I miss you, are you also missing me?

Or... have you completely forgotten and moved on?

......Or maybe, did you abandon me?

Squirm, squirm—

Bad thoughts gnawed at her heart.

Irene plugged her ears.

Even so, the faint whispers lingered around her.

As if mocking a foolish beast.

“You were betrayed.”

“See? Burned by humans once, and still you trust them.”

“You were the same when you were young. Fooled by that so-called merchant, and lost your clan and your master.”

“The boy who promised you forever... he's no different. Still a human.”

“You know that, don’t you? That’s what humans are.”

Shut up. Don’t talk like you know.

“He might’ve already forgotten.”

“To him, your existence probably means nothing.”

The girl tried not to listen.

But her heart kept wavering.

Because she knew—he wasn’t someone who would so easily abandon someone.

Even knowing that, the fox cried every time.

That she missed him, that she wanted to see him, or... that she didn’t want to be left behind.

Her ocean roiled endlessly.

“......”

How much more time passed?

Even the sense of counting days had dulled, until it was too vague to guess.

The time that crumbled with the sea breeze now only flowed down as tears.

Irene wanted to let go of everything.

The deep blue scenery was more than enough to break her.

Then, one day, as she drifted in her unfinished ending—

Clang, clang—

Suddenly, a foreign noise struck her ears.

A scraping sound against the iron bars.

“......?”

The girl opened her eyes without meaning to.

A void world, without any sea creatures, birds, or wrecked ships to be found.

Through such a landscape, a distinct sound had echoed.

As if someone were knocking on the bars.

The fox turned her head.

No way... she followed the noise with a dazed gaze.

And caught black eyes beyond the grating.

And then—

“Miss Irene.”

They met eyes.

Like a lie, standing just beyond the bars, a narrow-eyed boy was gazing down at her.

He wavered in her vision, just as she remembered him.

The snake with the faint smile.

But Irene didn’t even have the chance to consider that smile.

Because her focus was consumed by [N O V E L I G H T] just one thing.

“I’m sorry for making you wait so long.”

The voice.

The voice she thought had been bleached away and forgotten.

The voice she had believed she would never hear again.

That familiar sound circled the fox’s ears.

Had a fleeting whisper been the bridge?

That impossibly sweet moment instantly triggered a cascade of memories within the girl.

Like fireworks bursting over the early dawn sky.

“Would you be willing to be tamed by me?”

“I only need a friend, that’s all.”

From that awkward time.

Their first meeting, when she had been wary of him.

“I hope what happened today doesn’t remain as a nightmare.”

“If there’s even a slight chance you’ll be less unhappy, I’ll gladly lend my strength.”

“Because once you tame something, you’re forever responsible for it.”

When everything had felt hopeless.

The moment he had saved her, bringing with him a sliver of light.

“From now on, many things will change.”

“We’re each other’s only one.”

“I will never betray you.”

That dawn, when he promised himself to her.

The summer day when she was finally tamed.

And—

“You’ve improved a lot at cooking too.”

“At this point, I could probably leave the kitchen to you instead of doing it myself.”

“Though you’re a bit spoiled for a maid.”

“Well... that’s part of your charm, too.”

Just the two of them in the dormitory.

Even the sweet everyday moments, made special because they were together.

The stories piled up and overflowed.

Irene couldn’t endure the waves anymore—and finally burst into tears.

Droplets welled up and rolled down her cheeks.

“Hic... ngh...”

Drip, drip—

Each falling drop rippled delicately over the water’s surface.

The tears, burning hot, mixed with the seawater, and soon formed the world where they stood facing each other.

The blue sea was proof of the sorrow she had lived through.

Only then did the fox realize.

Creeeak—

The snake gently opened the gate to the cage—it hadn’t even been locked.

He stood there, unmoved, even atop the water.

As if walking upon it.

Splash—!

The girl sprang to her feet.

A spray of seawater kicked up around her ankles in that instant.

Without a shred of hesitation, Irene threw herself into the boy’s arms.

A farewell that had lasted nearly six years was finally brought to an end.

The fox spoke in a hoarse voice, worn out from crying.

"Why... did you come so late, you idiot..."

"I have no excuse."

The boy gently patted her back.

It was Irene who voiced the reproach, and yet it was also she who denied it.

She shook her head fiercely, as if to say that wasn’t what she meant.

She buried her face in his chest and desperately rubbed her cheek against him.

That familiar scent, and warmth, as always.

Through the red shirt, deep traces of tears had soaked in.

The fox whispered in a voice soaked with weeping.

"Thank you... for finding me, thank you."

A fox who had not been abandoned.

The boy said nothing—he simply held her fragile body in his arms.

The warmth that gently blended between them spread beyond the bars.

That old, ragged sorrow collapsed in an instant.

The snake whispered into the fox’s ear.

"You went through so much."

"......"

"Let’s go home. To our home."

They crossed the sea.

The vast, blue sea.

The snake and the fox sat together in a small boat, sailing against the tide of the ritual they had undergone.

The girl sat in the back seat, clinging tightly to the sturdy back before her.

The warmth that radiated so vividly brought her comfort.

Irene buried her face in his clothes.

‘That cool scent...’

Was it some kind of addiction?

Perhaps it was the sense of safety that scent gave—either way, the fox couldn’t tear herself away from breathing it in.

Her chest naturally pressed against his back.

The soft sensation of flesh melting into flesh was undeniable.

And even knowing that, the girl didn’t stop the impure contact.

Rather, she burrowed in deeper, trying to immerse herself further in him.

She wanted to feel his presence even more.

"Miss Irene."

"I'm sorry for making you wait so long."

The voice that gently melted in her ear.

Just hearing it made her heart settle.

The loss melted away, the tension in her shoulders vanished, her eyes stung, and tears flowed on their own.

She couldn’t understand how just his voice brought such relief.

‘I...’

The fox realized.

That she couldn’t pretend anymore.

Her swelling emotions were surging like waves, ready to burst at any moment.

She decided to finally accept it.

‘I... love you.’

Somewhere along the line, she had fallen in love with him.

Though she’d planned to build walls against everyone for the rest of her life, the only one she came to love was him.

Because he, more than anyone, would come find her no matter where she hid.

Because he wouldn’t leave her alone like a nightmare.

Maybe it had taken her a long time to admit that.

"You went through so much."

"Let’s go home. To our home."

I’ve already fallen for you.

So deeply I can’t escape.

Struggling in the spider’s web only tangles the sticky threads of emotion further.

A terrifying kind of ecstasy and elation blurred her vision.

The pounding beat of her heart still pulsed on.

As if it might reach the boy like this.

‘You wicked person.’

She’d fallen for a bad man.

Even as her heart thudded like it might explode, the girl didn’t let go of the back she was holding.

It was too late to escape these feelings now.

And she had no intention of retreating.

All she could do was pray.

‘Please.’

That the season called you would never end in my world.

With that faint murmur behind her,

The fox quietly leaned her body against him.

The fox who had been trapped in the mental world—

It had already been a week since I brought her out of that cage.

We were able to return to reality without issue.

"Y-Young Master! Miss Irene...!"

The first to greet us when we opened our eyes was none other than the pink-haired girl.

Regia hugged us with a grand burst of tears.

Especially toward the fox, she kept repeating how sorry she was.

Guilt that Irene had sacrificed herself because of her, and worry about me for entering the mental world—

Perhaps she had been tormented by those thoughts all this time, because the pilot’s face was noticeably pale and drawn.

Even though in reality, only a few hours had passed.

"I’m sorry... I-I was too weak..."

"I was so scared something would happen to you both... hic..."

"Thank you for coming back safely... ngh... thank you..."

Who else but her would cry like this?

Even as we let out small chuckles, in the end, we patted Regia to comfort her.

Our protagonist still had a tender, soft heart.

That innocence was part of her charm, after all.

"You’re both in good health."

"At this rate, there shouldn’t be any lingering psychological effects, so you can rest easy."

"As expected of Student Yuda... to succeed even at this."

"It was worth trusting in that recklessness of yours."

Selena’s thorough medical exam followed.

Fortunately, it seemed we were both in good shape.

I’d been especially worried about Irene, since she’d been in the mental world for quite a while—

But she was able to be discharged without any problems.

At long last, we were going home.

"......"

After that came the cleanup at the academy.

The enemy had broken through security directly and even launched an assault on the academy.

Naturally, the staff were on high alert, and every available unit was assembled to investigate the incident.

In addition, the academy was temporarily shut down.

The scale of the event had grown immensely.

"Hmm."

I reviewed the data on the corpses.

The ones the fox had sliced up before—bodies scattered across the scene.

According to the analysis, their identities were as follows:

"Cultists... and the businessman’s dogs, huh."

Villains who’d stirred up chaos in the original story.

It seemed they were finally starting to make their move.

Of course, they weren’t the only ones involved in this attack.

There were others observing from the shadows.

"How repulsive."

More precisely—

A faction that had created a weakness in the academy and leaked information to the cultists.

And then watched the disaster unfold from the shadows.

I sharpened a blade of judgment.

A warning I once heard echoed in my ears.

"Our family has begun to take an interest in you."

"Please... protect my sister."

The House of Duke Vanity.

I had no trouble tracing the mastermind behind it all.

A chilling smile crept across my lips.

"Looks like... it’s about time I wiped them out too."

I couldn’t remember the last time I’d been this furious.

They’d invaded my sanctuary, touched the people I care about—surely, they were prepared to pay the price.

I toyed with the dagger woven from shadows, pointing it as if to mark my target.

The cult, the businessman, Vanity.

"Sir Kyle... it’s almost time for you to step in."

"Leave it to me, Commander."

The red-haired man standing beside me replied.

His usual playfulness was gone—his crimson eyes surged with killing intent.

The blade once called a star had now become the executioner of the guillotine.

I muttered to myself.

"I’m looking forward to it."

We stood at the edge of the final chapter.

The prologue to vengeance was about to begin.