The Extra Saved the Terminally Ill Princess and Ran Away - Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Reason for Living (1)

'Even if I was reincarnated, falling in love with a fictional character… isn't that some kind of mental illness?'

Some might say that.

Some, utterly ignorant of empathy, might say that.

I don't entirely disagree. There are many people in the world, and just as many opinions.

…But if I were to meet such a person, I would ask them just two things.

First, have you ever heard of the "Werther effect"?

Also known as copycat suicide, this effect originates from The Sorrows of Young Werther, a novel that prompted numerous readers to emulate the protagonist's suicide.

…It's just a novel, just fiction.

According to your logic, it's just a fictional character.

Yet, some foolish humans choose death, driven by the desire to connect with, to get closer to, that fictional existence.

For me, a foolish human like that, falling in love with a fictional character brought to life isn't strange at all.

And I hope you remember… that you, too, are just as foolish as them, as me.

Second, have you ever experienced truly heart-wrenching love?

You don't have to answer. Your dismissal of my feelings suggests you haven't.

Let me tell you. There are three reasons why I chose to live in this world of Academy Demon Hunter Chronicles without hesitation.

First, whether in Korea or here, my life was equally devoid of family and friends.

Second, but here, there is someone who cares for me, and whom I care for: Lilisiana.

Third, she, who was once just my favorite character, has become the most important person in my life… someone I love enough to die for.

Yes, foolishly, I am truly in love with this fictional character.

Even if death awaits me at the end of this path I've chosen to protect her…

In other words, I, too, am a foolish human, no different from those who embraced death, inspired by Werther.

The only difference between them and me…

Is that I actually saw, met, and felt her.

…That's all.

***

"L-L-Landslide!!!"

I opened my eyes inside the carriage, a sense of déjà vu washing over me as the reincarnation process finished.

The familiar screams of terrified knights filled the air, a chilling echo of the past.

Thanks to Finn's heightened senses, I instantly grasped the situation. I wanted to shout a warning to my in-this-world parents, but it was too late.

…The sound of the carriage roof collapsing reached me first.

That damn author.

You set the regression point here on purpose, didn't you?

…Yes, that bastard was definitely capable of it.

If I hadn't inherited Finn's experience and talent, if my senses weren't as sharp and sensitive…

I would have been crushed and paralyzed, just like before.

As an ordinary person born and raised on Earth, not someone from this world who could gain supernatural powers through training…

Even knowing the future, I wouldn't have been able to escape.

That damn author, pretending to give me a chance, was actually toying with me, setting me up to be paralyzed again.

I really… should have written those 5,700 characters. The regret was biting.

***

"Ugh, ugh…! Gah…!"

"Huff…! Hack…! What the hell is this wooden plank so heavy for?"

To put it simply, I survived again.

The difference this time was that my injuries were limited to a few minor scratches.

The moment the giant boulder smashed through the roof, I managed to squeeze my small, frail body into the space it didn't occupy.

"…Damn it."

That's what I muttered, looking at 'Finn's' parents, crushed beyond recognition beneath the boulder.

They were, in a sense, my parents, but I felt no parental grief.

I never had parents in my past life, and it was difficult to suddenly recognize these two people, whom I had barely interacted with, as my parents.

'Combined with my past life, they're not even that much older than me.'

I only felt pity for these innocent people, killed because of a petty author.

"I don't have time for this."

I scanned the surroundings, searching for traces of the other carriage.

The golden time for oxygen deprivation was about three minutes.

My priority wasn't 'Finn's' dead parents.

It was the Emperor and Empress, who had the highest chance of survival.

Lili's parents.

'…I'm sorry, Finn.'

I offered a silent prayer for his parents as I rushed towards the spot where the Emperor and Empress's carriage was buried.

***

Whoosh…

-Thud thud thud…

"Huff huff huff…!"

In the blinding downpour, a boy tirelessly dug at the earth.

He gasped for breath, but showed no sign of wanting to rest. No, rest was an unforgivable luxury.

The boy's hands were in tatters.

His fingernails were gone, replaced by caked mud and blood.

Yet, he didn't stop.

Even as sharp rocks dug into his raw fingertips, even as the relentless digging, a cruel labor for a young boy, threatened to tear his muscles…

He dug, and dug, and dug.

Because there was someone he had to find, someone he had to save.

Soon, a cry of joy, like a traveler finding an oasis in the desert, echoed through the rain.

"…Found…!! Your Majesty!! Your Imperial Majesty!!!"

He had finally found him.

…The Emperor, her father.

The moment his face came into view, I pressed my ear against his chest.

The three-minute golden time had long passed.

Anxiety gnawed at me. Had I been too late?

…Even with the Sword Saint's talent and experience, my body was still that of an untrained child.

Thankfully, a faint but steady heartbeat reached my ears. A heartbeat so weak, I would have given up if I hadn't inherited Finn's heightened senses.

It turned out that the Emperor…

…had been buried along with his carriage, creating a small pocket of air that allowed him to breathe.

"Your Majesty!! Your Imperial Majesty!! Open your eyes!! Come to your senses!!!"

I dug him out completely, grabbed his shoulders, and shook him awake.

He stirred, roused by my voice.

True to his portrayal as a devoted husband, his first concern wasn't his own well-being, but his wife's.

"Groan… Finn… Is… Is my wife… Is Elizabeth alright…?"

"Ah… about that…."

….

I couldn't bring myself to answer his question.

Of course, it wasn't that I didn't know where the Empress was. I knew.

Or rather, I had found out.

…It wasn't hard to discover her cold, lifeless body beneath the Emperor as I dug him out.

He must have shielded her in that critical moment, trying to protect her.

'He never imagined it would backfire.'

Who could have imagined that embracing his wife to protect her would lead to her suffocation?

I… I, who knew the guilt and despair of losing a loved one because of your own actions… couldn't bring myself to tell him the truth.

"Your Majesty… when I found Her Majesty, she was already…."

"…What? What did you say…?"

The Emperor stared at me in disbelief.

"That's… That's impossible!! I… I protected her with my life!!"

"…"

"I'm alive, so she can't be dead!! Yes…! That's where I was buried, right?! Elizabeth must be there…!"

"N-No, Your Majesty!!"

The Emperor, refusing to believe that the woman he protected was dead, started to move. He knew, logically, that a mere attendant wouldn't lie about the Empress's death, but…

He still needed to see it with his own eyes.

To confirm that the woman he loved lay dead beneath him.

….

…The Emperor's breath hitched, and he collapsed to his knees.

Like a deflated balloon after a grand opening.

"E-Eliza…beth?"

He whispered his wife's name, his voice trembling.

Hoping she would answer… hoping she would react somehow if he, her husband, called her.

But the Empress, Elizabeth, didn't respond to her husband's desperate plea.

Because she was no longer of this world.

"Elizabeth…!! Elizabeth!!! Why!! Why!!!! Why you and not me!!!!!"

The Emperor's anguished cry pierced through the downpour.

I wanted to offer words of comfort, but I couldn't.

I, who understood his pain all too well, knew that any consolation from a third party would be meaningless.

Overcome by self-blame and despair, the Emperor began pounding the ground with his fists.

"*Arghhhhhhh!!!! Why!!! Why!!!!! Why!!!!!"

-I tried to save her. Why…?

That single word, "why," resonated with me, as if it were the Emperor's unspoken thought.

Because he was staring at the Empress's lifeless form with unbearable anguish.

Then, his hands bloodied and raw, he clenched his fists and looked up at the sky.

"God, why!!! You cursed my daughter with frailty…! And now, you take her mother, who tried to save her! You… You inflict such… an ending…."

The Emperor's anguished cry, the cry of a man who lost his beloved wife because of his own actions… continued to echo through the storm.

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