The Greatest Extra Chapter 1- The Prince of the fallen Empire (1)

Everyone must have thought at least once, ‘I want to be the main character in the novel.’

An absolutely reigning Emperor.

A Swordmaster capable of facing tens of thousands of troops.

A Great Wizard who can unveil the truth.

A cold-blooded assassin who rules the darkness.

The main characters of all the novels I’ve read were all attractive. So sometimes I thought, I want to be the main character from a novel too.

Perhaps, I was tired of a life that just revolved like a cogwheel, a continuous cycle.

The desire that I thought would pass by quickly became real.

However, it was impossible to become the main character I desired. I wasn’t foolish enough to genuinely hope for it.

There is no such thing as absolutes.

When I woke up, I had transmigrated into a novel. Yet, I was not the main character, contrary to my long-cherished desire.

Raymond Pilius.

That was the name of the character I had transmigrated into.

He was a villain who faced a miserable death right at the end of the first volume of the novel.

But it was worth a try.

Because I know all the events of this novel.

* * *

“The warm morning sun gently kissed the man’s cheek.

He opened his eyes, yawning. However, he furrowed his brow at the unfamiliar, blurred vision and a sudden pounding headache.

“Oh, I don’t remember drinking.”

It was a hangover.

Instinctively, the man reached out to his side, as if searching for something.

Then, he noticed that something was amiss.

‘When did my living room become this spacious?’

Originally, there should have been a narrow table within arm’s reach, but now there was nothing at all.

“What is this…?”

His mind swirled in confusion as his blurred vision slowly cleared.

“Where am I?”

He found himself in a grand, spacious bedroom adorned with opulence. A full-length mirror stood beside the bed.

The man stepped down instinctively.

Facing the mirror, he saw a plump blond figure with prominent Western features.

“Is this me?”

As soon as he inadvertently voiced his inner thoughts, he heard a voice from beyond the door.

“Your Highness, Prince Raymond Pilius, have you recovered from your hangover?”

The young man’s voice caught him off guard.

“I’m Raymond Pilius…?”

The man, named Raymond, whispered in a small, trembling voice.

There was no way he didn’t recognize this name. In fact, he knew it all too well.

“I’m Raymond Pilius, the same jerk from ‘The Fallen Empire’?”

Raymond Pilius was a character from his favorite novel, “The Fallen Empire.”

When he opened his eyes, he found himself in this fictional novel, but how? Why? He didn’t know the reasons behind this strange occurrence.

However, there was a more crucial fact to consider.

‘The Fifth Prince Raymond Pilius met a miserable end at the conclusion of the very first volume…’

The book didn’t describe how Raymond died, but he vividly recalled the single sentence that summed it up: ‘The most wretched death.’

‘The Event that exterminated the entire Imperial family!!’

A significant event occurred at the end of Volume One, in which Raymond Pilius met his demise.

“Why do I have to…?”

Couldn’t he have transmigrated as the main character instead?

In this moment, his voice trembled with a mixture of irritation.

But after calming himself, he surrendered and slumped into the nearby chair, exhaling a sigh.

It was then.

He heard footsteps outside the tightly closed door.

It sounded rather noisy, as if there were several people out there.

The sound was approaching.

After a while, the footsteps ceased as they reached the door. There were murmurs, but their contents were hard to discern.

“This is Alex, Your Highness. Please excuse me.”

For reasons unknown, Alex cautiously opened the door with a nervous voice, as if he harbored some unease.

A handsome servant entered the room.

Alex wore a robe and a smiling expression, yet Raymond couldn’t help but feel that the smile seemed somewhat forced. His eyes darted nervously around the room.

Following Alex, several lightly armed knights with red capes entered as well.

Their gazes soon landed on Raymond, who sat in a chair, and they displayed a collective reaction.

Raymond initially parted his lips to speak, but then he realized that it might be impolite and quickly resumed his usual demeanor.

‘Is His Highness, the Fifth Prince, already awake at this hour?’

‘Considering how much he drank yesterday…’

These thoughts were shared by all the knights present.

‘I’m glad to hear that…’

Alex, who observed Raymond’s clear eyes despite his indulgence in alcohol the previous night, felt a sense of relief.

***

Every time Raymond drank at night, he would have to try waking him up dozens of times the next day.

Of course, Alex, who was in charge of the process, was beaten because of Raymond’s irritation.

“Your Highness, how are you feeling?”

Alex politely bowed his head and asked about his physical condition.

The absent-minded Raymond turned his head and look at Alex.

‘Did he say that his name was Alex? If I’m the Fifth Prince and this man is Alex…….’

Recalling his memories about the Novel’s settings, he soon remembered Alex’s backstory.

Alex Tilinger, Baron Tilinger’s second son.

For now, he only remembered this much.

However, he remembered that there was nothing special about this character.

“Your Highness?”

When Raymond only looked at him and didn’t say anything, Alex asked again carefully.

“Nothing really. I am okay.”

“I’m glad to hear that. Would you like to change your clothes right now?”

Information about imperial etiquette came to Raymond’s mind.

This was part of the memory that the Fifth Prince, Raymond Pilius, had.

“Your, Your Highness…….”

Raymond frowned because of the short headache, Alex stepped back in surprise while the knights stepped forward.

This behavior of his was very familiar to them. It was a sight they had seen often.

‘How much did I beat them if they reacted like that?’

Raymond thought it was strange, but soon he could see the answer.

One of the fragments from the memory of this body was related to Alex.

‘Crazy.’

In the past, Raymond seemed to have severely beaten his servants whenever he was bored.

Eventually, his servants were replaced each time and finally it was taken over by the powerless second son of Baron Tilinger.

He was beaten so far because he had no strength, and it seems that he had his bones broken not long ago.

Since then, whenever he went to wake Raymond up in the morning, there seemed to be several Imperial knights accompanying him.

“Nothing will happen. Relax.”

Raymond spoke with the softest voice he could. Only then did the Imperial knights back out and Alex walked away a bit.

“Sorry, I’m sorry.”

“I need to change.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

The maids came in and helped Raymond change his clothes.

Thanks to the memory of Raymond Pilius, he was able to act proficiently when he was taken to change his clothes.

However, he was annoyed at one thing.  The maids were too rigid as soon as they started to do their job.

‘How many times have I beat them…?’

Raymond’s memory did not return completely, but it was clear that he had beaten them many times seeing the reactions of the maids.

In the novel, the Fifth Prince was said to be famous for being a scoundrel Prince, so he expected him to be brutal to some extent but not this extreme.

“Ahhhh!”

“Sorry, your highness!”

While putting up the insignia on his uniform, a sharp needle poked his flesh very lightly.

He frowned at the prickly feeling, while the maid, who made the mistake, kneeled down immediately.

Raymond was dumbfounded by her appearance.

‘This…….’

He shook his head with a sigh. Then one of the knights hurriedly stepped forward.

“Your Highness the Fifth Prince! You must not kill the maid! Please, calm down!”

‘Oh, my God, I’ve killed a maid before? How could a tyrant like him still be a prince?’

The moment he thought so, a sentence from the Novel came to his mind.

‘Raymond is the worst man in the history of the imperial family, but because he has inherited the blood of the Imperial family, the noblest of all, he could remain as a prince so far.’

The worst bastard in the whole history of the Imperial Family.

But it’s not yet too late.

He can change that.

“What’s your name?”

The Fifth Prince didn’t pull out his sword for some reason.

Alex’s eyes were filled with fear and the knights gave an anxious look.

He probably thought that instead of pulling out his sword immediately, he would give a bigger punishment.

Seeing the Imperial knights, who seemed to be moving forward at any moment, he had no choice but to sigh at his unluckiness.

“Se, Seria. Your Highness.”

Seria, who was shaking like crazy, showed a lot of stiffness just because the punishment still didn’t appear.

“You look very surprised, go get some rest now that you’re done with changing my clothes.”

As he finished speaking, he picked up the red cape that the knight was holding and put it on his back.

The Imperial Knights were surprised at the fact that no tragedy took place.

Raymond could feel their eyes staring at him.

“I’m hungry. Alex, is the breakfast ready yet?”

“What?”

“I asked if breakfast was ready.”

“Mm, I’ll take it here.”

He went first out.

After Alex went out and the knights soon followed, leaving only Seria and the two maids in the Fifth Prince’s bedroom.

“Is he the same Fifth Prince? Can a person change like this in just a day?”

“Isn’t this a sign that the world is going to collapse?”

Seria pinched her cheek amidst the murmur of the maids. She felt pain. This wasn’t a dream.

The Fifth Prince had changed.

* * *

The palace was quiet.

It was when Raymond was walking where breakfast was prepared that a man dressed in similar robes to Alex followed him and bowed his head.

He opened his mouth with calmness.

“Fifth prince, His……. His Majesty wants to have breakfast with you.”

Ronald Pilius, Emperor of the Pilias Empire.

“His Majesty?”

“Yes, Your Highness. His Majesty will be greatly grieved if you refuse this time as well.”

Alex gave a cold look at the servant who added such words.

The servant, who brought it up, also realized it and hurriedly bowed his head.

“I’m sorry, Your Highness. That was presumptuous of me.”

“No, no, no. Of course, I’ll go if the Emperor calls me. Take me to the main palace.”

“What?”

When Raymond replied, the servant doubted his ears.

‘All of a sudden, the Fifth Prince who had been refusing the Emperor’s meal offer for the last five years after the death of the third empress, finally accepted the invitation.’

Although he delivered the Emperor’s meal proposal, he was rather embarrassed because he knew that only firm refusal would return as usual.

“What are you doing? Guide me. Shouldn’t we arrive before His Majesty?”

The servant once again doubted his ears.

If the man in front of him wasn’t the Fifth Prince, he might have asked back.

Fortunately, he endured such a worst-case scenario, but he couldn’t even make a straight face.

Raymond read the servant’s face and lamented.

‘What a bummer you were…’

In the novel, Raymond was a small villain, and he did not have a significant role.

Like most novels, “The fallen empire” had a few descriptions of Raymond because the story was mainly revolved around the main characters.

“I’ll take you to the palace.”

The servant moved first.

Right behind, Raymond followed together with Alex and three Imperial knights that escorted him out.

The Fifth Prince’s palace was located at the outskirts of the Imperial Compound, so there was a little bit of a distance to walk in order to go to the Imperial Palace.

He had to rush his steps in order to not be late for breakfast.

‘How surprised were they?’

‘Was this a strange reaction caused by a minor collision between the original Fifth Prince’s personality and the new personality?’

Although the compound was wide, they were able to arrive at the Imperial Palace quickly thanks to the mobilization of a carriage.

The Imperial knights’ eyes widened when they saw a golden carriage with a Fifth Prince flag on it.

“In the Imperial Palace, the Fifth Prince came to the Imperial Palace?”

“What the hell is going on here…….?”

The Imperial Knights guarding the main gate of the imperial palace were whispering. They seem to have tried to reduce their voice but…

‘I can hear you, you bastards.’

The carriage was higher than expected, so the Imperial Knights did not see Raymond’s frown.

“No problem.”

With the approval of the Imperial Knights, the carriage carrying the Fifth Prince, Raymond Pilius, crossed the main gate of the palace.

Looking at the back of the carriage moving away, the Imperial Knights opened their mouths with incredible expressions.

“Do you know how many years it’s been since the Fifth Prince crossed the main gate of the Imperial Palace?”

“Since Her Majesty, the empress, died he had been staying at the Fifth Palace for five years.”

“This is so unusual.”

“Isn’t it just a whim?”

At the words of his subordinate, the Imperial knight looked up at the sky, shaking his head.

“I hope so too.”

* * *

Upon arriving from the vast palace, Raymond got off the wagon and recalled the memories of the set-up house.

‘I know a lot about the Pilias.’

The Pilias Empire.

It is the only Empire that survived the great war that ended in the ancient era, maintaining a thorough centralized regime.

The Imperial family’s lineage was established to deal with one of the ancient relics, the Soul Sword.

Therefore, there have been many secret organizations that protected the Imperial family since long ago. But now that they are declining, they did not possess much power like before.

‘I am still not to the point where I’m confident that I know everything.’

But, he knows all the secret settings that appeared in the novel from the Point of View of the main character, so he didn’t need to worry about anything.

When he first read the novel and later came across the settings of the book, there was one common thought.

‘Oh! This writer is terrible at writing the settings.’

He thought so. Funny enough, the volume of the Novel exceeded only one novel.

A novel that has only three volumes in total.

“Im-Imperial Guard…….”

When he was in the middle of his thoughts, he heard Alex’s surprised voice. As he looked up, a man wearing a golden uniform and a mask was leaning against the wall.

It was the ‘Shield’ designated to protect the Imperial family

Looking through the memory of the Fifth Prince, he had never really seen them in real life.