Reborn As An Extra In My Own Novel

Frieren Hohenzollern was a character Kai created for one reason: to push the plot forward.

Initially, there were only meant to be four children in the royal family, but after some thought and the need for Matt to have connections to the Empire's royal bloodline, Kai decided to introduce the most bratty of princesses, Frieren Hohenzollern.

She was only meant to last few chapters, then vanish. To make that possible, Kai had added a lot of hateful traits to her.

A cocky princess. A classist. A hater of anyone better than her.

And it worked, at least for that time.

But after the manhwa adaptation launched and the artist decided to illustrate Reni to be more beautiful than any female lead, fans began to bash Kai for ruining such a compelling character.

In response, his editorial team forced him to bring her back into the story after the first-year meeting and before the fight with Deerheart and to develop her character.

So Kai did exactly that. He made her help Matt win the council elections, then gave her a mysterious twist: multiple souls living inside her body. She later died before her backstory was fully explained, so fans weren't too upset.

But now, Kai found himself tangled in that same situation. Only this time, he didn't want to throw out the plot.

Worse yet, he had fallen for the character he had originally written just for convenience.

'Looks like this is becoming some sort of trend.'

"What is?"

Kai glanced at Morgan, then back at the ground.

'Damn it... Why was I such a shitty writer?'

He was starting to question whether his book had been canceled simply because it was bad.

According to what Morgan had just told him, Reni was born with the Mad King's heritage—that was why she could command spirits so naturally.

Kai had originally intended that lineage for Amy, but back then, he hadn't grasped how deep the lore of Weavers would go... Actually, he didn't even know what Weavers were.

But since this world seemed to be finding ways to fix the plot holes in his story, it now looked like it was trying to merge the fact that Reni had multiple souls with the Mad King's bloodline.

And because of his own laziness, he had created a Weaver, a being born because her father and mother had coincidentally inherited both the blood of a demon and an angel.

Reni was born after the failed attempt to clear the Tomb of Thebes in Nefertari—inheriting the Mad king's blood. But from an age where she shouldn't have been able to think properly, she developed an obsession.

Emperor Akaza wasn't sure whether it was because of the stories she had heard or something inherited from the Mad King's blood, but Reni became obsessed with the knight she saw in her dreams. Because of that, her ability and weaving were directly tied to that obsession.

That meant unless she found that object of obsession, her body would continue to decay until she died. That was how dangerous obsessions were for awakened individuals.

To prevent this, the Empress used the last of her powers to create two variant souls identical to her daughter and locked the real soul inside Reni's Weaver soul sea, which had developed by the time she was three.

By the age of eleven, Reni was sealed within her own soul sea, and her consciousness had split into two fragments, each with different personalities, though still slightly connected to the original.

It was one of those fragments that concealed the fact she had inherited her mother's visionary ability. It was also that same fragment that Kai had been interacting with all this time.

And those same fragments had been looking for a way to kill the original Frieren Hohenzollern. This fact had made the Emperor furious, but since killing them meant killing his daughter, he did nothing.

Instead, he made a vow. Whoever entered her soul sea and saved her would be given her hand in marriage, a fair chance at the throne, and one granted wish.

From that alone, Kai was able to understand his previous dream better. It seemed the pale-looking man he saw had saved Reni in an alternate timeline. But Morgan's words still implied that only he could save her.

That meant the one in his dream wasn't the real Frieren Hohenzollern but one of her fragments that had betrayed the other two and taken over.

Kai placed a hand on his jaw. "Damn demonic humans."

Morgan grinned. "You sure are smart. I like it."

It hadn't been hard for Kai to piece it together, not after all the information he had.

He was already certain that other Weavers existed. Hearing from Matt how Weavers were made, then hearing Reni's story, had helped him connect the dots.

There were, indeed, other Weavers. But making them was difficult because the materials were rare. Only demons and angels could create them.

And judging by how evil the demons were and how secretive the angels were, Kai had managed to discern the two types of Weavers.

One was free.

The other was shackled to the faction that had created them.

That meant the demonic humans needed the Weaver's blood from Reni, perhaps even that of the Mad King.

So, they struck a deal with one of her souls and used a certain technique to remove the others.

That plan allowed them not only to gain the blood of the Mad King and a Weaver but also to keep a close eye on the Empire by planting a new Frieren as an enemy from within.

But something had disrupted that plan, which forced them to take extreme measures, tampering with her soul sea.

Kai covered his eyes with his palm. "Damn demons and their scheming."

He wasn't sure why they hadn't tried the same thing on him. Maybe it was because of the streaming channel he had with the Outer Gods or whatever else was protecting him. But one thing he knew for certain: he wasn't going to let them get away with it.

Morgan waved her hands casually. "Now that I've shared some info, can you trust me?"

Kai lowered his hand. "Trust...? No. Work together? Maybe." He stepped closer to where she stood. "Do you actually think I would trust you?"

She shook her head.

Kai sighed. "But why did you tell me all this? You said earlier it was better that I didn't know, then went ahead and told me anyway."

"Well..." She touched her cheek with a finger. "You wouldn't have trusted me at all without any information. And as for the reason I hesitated—Frieren knows this is her soul sea. Like I said before, you're not the first person to enter here claiming to save her like some noble knight. Some even dyed their hair lilac."

"That means she'll be guarded around most people?"

Morgan nodded. "Yes, especially those who don't act like hollow shells. Things will only get harder from here on out, since you'll need to make her fall for you when she doesn't trust anyone."

Kai frowned. "Fall for me? I don't even know what love is."

Morgan chuckled. "Well, she doesn't either. So I guess you two are perfect for each other."

Kai glanced at Morgan as she was about to leave. "Any other info?"

Morgan waved her hand, eyes still on the door. "I'll send you the location of her company. Get your friends and make a plan. I'm too pretty to do anything myself."

Kai watched as she left the room and shut the door behind her. He lingered for a moment, then pulled out his phone and called Matt and Hari.

-----

"So that's what happened, huh?"

Kai nodded. "For now..."

As if his words were stolen from his mouth, he stopped mid sentence, his gaze turning dark. "Why are the two of you acting awkwardly all of a sudden?"

Matt smiled. "It's just your imagination, Kai."

Kai sighed. 'Maybe I'm getting worked up.' He rubbed his temples. 'Things were rather simple when my emotions weren't in order, but now...'

Things were getting a bit complicated, but it wasn't outside the radius of things he anticipated.

First, he had to meet Reni, because if he didn't meet her, how exactly was he meant to make her fall for him?

Speaking of which, Kai had never actually tried to make someone fall for him. Kai felt his cheeks burn red, and he too had never fallen for someone before.

Inhaling deeply and exhaling heavily, Kai raised his gaze. "You remember the plan, right?"

Matt and Hari nodded.

They had to split up. Kai was going to meet with Reni, while Matt and Hari would complete the mission he assigned to them. Though he didn't quite like Matt sticking around his cousin, especially after he had told him he liked Hari.

'I guess I shouldn't control them. Cordelia was after all female lead, and she was inspired from Hari.'

Things were going to get busy, but for him, his mission wasn't just to make Reni fall for him.

But to understand her—and to understand what the hell love was and why it felt so good.

Kai looked at his wristwatch, then left the dark classroom. It was time to meet the real Frieren Hohenzollern, the greatest prodigy of the modern awakened, and the fiancée of one of the president's sons.

At least, that was the role given to her by the narrative of her soul sea.