The Extra Saved the Terminally Ill Princess and Ran Away - Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Transported by a mere 34 characters.

-Creak.

"Look, Finn! Today, I found some Libera berries…!"

She entered, pushing open the creaking door with a rare, bright smile.

Yet, her complexion remained pale, her breath slightly ragged, and the scent of the forest clung heavily to her. It seemed she'd scoured the woods for those rare Libera berries. Dragging her frail body along.

Clinging to the sliver of hope that feeding me the berries might somehow cure me.

Libera berries.

A precious medicinal ingredient, said to appear for only one hour out of twenty-four, precisely during sunset.

In essence, a forest-grown tonic, the equivalent of wild ginseng on Earth.

And she had found some. Two, in fact. All for me.

…But having read the original story, I knew.

Those Libera berries held no curative properties for my ailment.

'The Libera berries' effect is temporary revitalization and detoxification from various poisons.'

Unaware of this fact, and unaware that Libera berries could only be harvested for a single hour, she must have searched the entire forest all day.

Hoping that the famed Libera berries, known for their medicinal properties, might offer a chance at my recovery.

'It's a good thing this is a secluded forest; otherwise, it would have taken days,'

She carefully placed the two precious Libera berries she'd picked into a basket, smoothing her one and only garment, which served as both her nightgown and outdoor clothes.

"…Oh, right! I heard in the village today that a demon appeared at the Academy the day before yesterday! But it fled, severely injured! A first-year student, the same age as me, defeated it! What was his name…? Ian…."

I didn't need to hear the family name that followed.

It was a name etched into my memory hundreds, thousands of times before I fell into this world.

…Ian Cedric, the first-year who drove the demon away.

The protagonist of Academy Demon Hunter Chronicles, the novel I'd been sucked into.

But just where had this protagonist been and what had he been doing until enrollment?

The academy's entrance ceremony had only been a few months ago. How could he already be letting demons escape?

It was still the early stages of the story.

…Is that so? A demon… If you ever encounter a demon, Your Highness, you absolutely must not go near it. Even if you're curious. Do you understand?

That's what I wanted to say. I knew she was quite curious. Just in case.

But I couldn't speak. I was paralyzed, unable to move a muscle… in a state resembling a coma.

So instead, I flared my nostrils.

The smell of old wood filled my senses. The unpleasant odor made me involuntarily grimace internally.

Cobwebs everywhere, black mold blooming on the rough, decaying wood, all combining into a strange, musty smell that made my head spin.

In a single breath, it was a dilapidated, crumbling shack in a remote country forest. That was my and the Princess's residence.

…No, to be precise, mine and the former Princess's.

***

Finn.

I, Kim Bin, recalled my past life.

Addicted to romance fantasy.

Obsessed with romance fantasy novels, I could devour even the most third-rate stories without a hitch, a true glutton when it came to this genre.

Like any other day, searching for another trashy, third-rate webnovel to consume, I found it.

A character who appeared briefly at the beginning, giving her all to the protagonist, only to have him snatched away by the heroine.

Then, dying from a chronic illness before the first year even ended.

A tragic character in a hellish, angst-ridden story. Imperial Princess Lilisiana.

The Emperor apparently adored her quite a bit, as in the original story, when she died, he had her attendants, knights, and physicians buried alive.

For the sole reason of failing to protect their liege.

I, too, was heartbroken by her death, so I left a comment near the novel's conclusion.

-A character as pure as the Princess deserves better than this ending, author.

The author replied.

-Then why don't you save her?

At that moment, the world blinked.

….
….
…That damned bitch. Petty-minded bastard.

You reincarnated me because of a single 34-character comment, not even 5,700? No wonder you write third-rate, angst-filled trash.

Reproaching the incompetent and narrow-minded author wouldn't change anything now, but I couldn't help but curse them.

Because I was now reincarnated as the Princess's dedicated attendant, destined to die alongside her.

Fortunately, I knew how to save her. A single, but not particularly difficult, method.

The way to save her was revealed only at the end of the story, when the protagonist frantically searched for a cure for the main heroine, who had contracted the same illness.

The Princess and the main heroine both suffered from Cellular Petrification, a disease where the body's cells gradually harden and die, similar to ALS.

The cure required an elixir from an alchemist residing in the eastern mountain range of the empire.

After some digging, I confirmed this information within the novel. All that remained was the simple task of obtaining the elixir and giving it to the Princess.

What about the main heroine, also destined to contract the same illness?

Screw her.

This world already revolved around her. What did it matter if she used the elixir a little later?

The talented alchemist in the east would surely make another.

Besides, whether this world was destroyed by the main heroine's death or I was beheaded because of the Princess's, death was death.

If that were the case, I'd rather live longer.

…Because this was a golden opportunity to serve my favorite character right by her side.

***

"…I know the location of the elixir that can cure Her Highness's incurable disease."

So, I went to the Emperor and told him.

The only way to save her, the very reason I was brought into this world.

I presented a report based on the information I'd gathered and compared over the past month since my arrival.

To her father, the Emperor.

It didn't matter if my proposal wasn't accepted immediately.

In a few years, the Princess's condition would worsen significantly, and then the doting Emperor, who loved burying people alive, would grasp at straws, even if it meant verifying my proposal.

One thing worried me: how would I explain the source of my information, since it came from the novel?

Contrary to my concerns, the Emperor, who seemed to have considerable trust in Finn, readily accepted my report.

Or perhaps it was simply because this world was the product of a third-rate author… Well, such trivial matters didn't concern me.

The important thing was that the Emperor had accepted my suggestion.

"However, this will be kept secret. Only we shall go."

Perhaps he didn't want to burden the frail Princess with unnecessary worry and expectation.

Or perhaps there was someone else who shouldn't know about the means to cure her illness.

The Emperor said the traveling party would be kept small.

Just me, the Princess's dedicated attendant, my parents, the Emperor and Empress themselves, and two knights who also served as coachmen. We settled on that.

That paranoid Emperor. Even after hearing from me that the mountain range wasn't far, he still insisted on staying glued to the Empress… Just as he was portrayed as a lovestruck fool in the novel.

***

…Still, since it was the path to obtaining the elixir, I expected the journey to the mountains to be arduous. Contrary to my expectations, the journey was incredibly peaceful.

When I grew tired of the repetitive uphill climbs, I dozed off. On the downhill stretches, I could even open my mouth and yell "Woooaah!" without a care in the world.

'No way, it can't be this easy to obtain the legendary elixir, can it? This is why you're called a third-rate author…'

…Fine, I'll admit it. I was completely off guard.

But put yourself in my shoes. A world created by a mere third-rate author.

How conveniently arranged this world must be for the protagonist and the main heroine.

So I was careless, and complacent.

As I indulged in such delusional thoughts of effortlessly obtaining the legendary elixir, the author reminded me that this was a third-rate work where everyone except the main couple was forced down a path of misery.

"D-Dark clouds are gathering, Your Majesty!!"

"The downpour is blinding us!!"

"L-L-Landslide!!!"

…Damn it.

The clear blue sky, just moments ago spotless, suddenly turned a deep gray. An unexpected downpour and landslide engulfed us.

The roar of falling rocks and deafening thunder followed.

Caught in the sudden, unexpected disaster, we were helpless as the landslide swept over us.

The knights driving the carriages were thrown off the cliff and fell to their deaths as the horses, startled by the loud noises, bolted.

My parents, in the same carriage as me, were crushed to death by a large boulder. The Emperor and Empress were buried alive under the mudslide.

By some stroke of luck, or perhaps misfortune, I, still relatively small, survived. The boulder that crushed my parents didn't completely crush me.

No, perhaps it was actually pure misfortune itself.

Because... among all those who had set out to find the elixir to cure the Imperial Princess's incurable disease, I was the sole survivor.

I was spared, but my spine was shattered, leaving me completely paralyzed.

***

"…Finn! …Finn!!! sob sob , Finn…! Because of me… Mother, Father…!! Sob…!"

She embraced me, the only survivor, or rather, the only one carried back alive, and wept.

The map found in the carriage wreckage revealed our destination and purpose.

If she had obtained the elixir, even at such a cost, it would have been a different story.

Our sacrifice wouldn't have been in vain.

But that damned author, as if out of spite, added the detail that the alchemist had temporarily evacuated due to the landslide.

…Damn it, I should have written a full 5,700 characters instead of just 34. At least then, I wouldn't feel so cheated.

…Her life afterward was predictable.

The nobles, who had always coveted the frail and vulnerable Princess, pounced like hungry hyenas as soon as the Emperor and Empress, her protectors and shield, were gone.

A sickly Princess without an Emperor or Empress was a feast laid out before them.

If this world were a first-rate webnovel in the typical romance fantasy genre, she, the Princess, would have become the Empress the moment her parents died.

The first Empress in the history of the empire.

But this world was the endless, forced misery of a third-rate author. Such a logical progression was a pipe dream.

The Princess, frail since childhood, lacked any political foundation. With no relatives to support her, she couldn't even scream as she was torn apart by those vile hyenas.

…Everything she possessed.

Only then did I understand why the Emperor had acted so cautiously, readily accepting a mere attendant's report.

Because the nobles beneath him were all enemies, mere beasts.

Because there were so few trustworthy people within the palace.

That's why he had no choice but to trust my report, a report submitted by his daughter's chosen attendant after a month of verification, a report with a certain degree of credibility.

He, as a powerless Emperor, also had to move carefully to avoid the eyes and ears of the nobles.

That's why he chose to act personally. And the Empress, always by his side, naturally accompanied him.

My report, assuring a swift return, must have lulled him into a false sense of security.

That's not to say he was a bad person.

Just a doting father, a lovestruck husband, perhaps a little complacent… but those weren't proof of his wickedness.

More than that…

'The truly wicked ones are the nobles, those greedy, vile bastards.'

Yes, the root cause of all this was singular.

The nobles wished for her death.

Those hyenas yearned for the demise of the frail Princess, the last remaining bloodline of the imperial family.

That's why the powerless Emperor had to act personally, even based on the report of a mere attendant.

'…Truly a fitting backdrop for the heroine of a forced, angst-ridden, third-rate webnovel.'

I was simply astounded by the Princess's circumstances, undoubtedly the worst possible environment for a romance fantasy princess.

Yet, amidst all this, there was a silver lining…

Even those damned nobles, with the Emperor and Empress gone, didn't want to dirty their hands with blood.

Instead of killing the already living corpse of the Princess, they banished her to a crumbling shack in a remote forest.

A place where even the village guards wouldn't patrol.

Likely thinking she would die soon anyway.

And as a precaution, they sent her to a place where no physician would dare approach.

Thus, she lost everything in an instant.

Her status, her wealth, even her beloved parents…

All she had left was the life inherent to any living being…

And one person, her attendant, Finn, the sole survivor of the expedition to find the elixir, now completely paralyzed.

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