I’m a Hostage Princess, But My Confinement Is Way Too Cozy - Chapter 55

Volumes 1 & 2 of HPCWTC are available uncensored on ko-fi! ※ This work contains depictions of coercive relationships, explicit language, and other graphic content. Reader discretion is advised.

It was only then he felt the heat radiating from her forehead. Startled, he pulled his face back. The woman’s flushed, moaning face filled his vision. He had thought the redness was from arousal, but the belated thought struck him that she might actually be unwell.

His excitement vanished in an instant. It was strange. The old him would have sated his own desires first, regardless of any pain she might be in, but now he found he simply couldn’t. His c**k, which had been painfully hard and swollen, went limp. This had never happened before, not once, while he had the princess of the fallen kingdom by his side.

At that moment, the voice of the only person he had ever felt any attachment to in his life whispered past his ear.

‘Brother, when you truly love someone, their safety becomes more important than your own desires. You will understand that one day.’

He shook his head, rejecting his younger brother’s words.

That couldn’t be. It was impossible.

What he felt for the princess of a fallen kingdom was nothing but primal desire, not some sticky, weak emotion. He insisted this to himself as he retreated. Almost fleeing the room, he pulled the duvet up to cover her neck, though he himself would not remember performing this small, unconscious act.

***

“Ugh…”

How long was I asleep?

Did Kallist leave?

When I opened my eyes again, it was already dark outside. My head felt fuzzy, and my vision was blurry. It seemed I wasn’t fully awake yet, or maybe I was still dreaming.

Blinking slowly, I ran my hands over my warm, flushed body. It didn’t feel like a fever, but I was definitely hot. Even though I hadn’t inserted any sacred artifacts, a dull, pleasant ache throbbed deep within my lower abdomen. It wasn’t bad enough to desperately need a man right this second, but falling back asleep like this seemed impossible.

I let out a shallow, warm breath and stared up at the ceiling. This feeling wasn’t entirely unpleasant. It was like soaking in a bath infused with an aphrodisiac.

I was just lying there, mind pleasantly adrift and blinking slowly, when a white status window—the kind you’d only see in a game—flashed brightly against my dark field of vision.

[A divine mission from Kinamun has arrived.]

……?

?????

“What the, where did this come from?”

Startled, I bolted upright, rubbing my eyes repeatedly. But the status window that had appeared so abruptly refused to vanish.

“There was no setting like this in the original…”

No matter how much I skimmed the story parts, I was certain there were no status windows in the original novel.

The thought that this might be a break in the world’s setting left me utterly dumbfounded. This isn’t that kind of genre! Why are you being so unfamiliar?

Then it occurred to me: am I dreaming? I’ve had dreams occasionally since possessing this body, so thinking of this as a dream made some sense. I had felt unusually hazy since waking up, after all.

Having roughly concluded that this must be a dream, I reached my hand out towards the status window. My hand just passed through the square box, of course; I couldn’t touch it.

But then, the text in the status window changed.

[Escape from the Castle!

Escape the castle immediately, avoiding ◆★●.

Reward: A hidden event triggering a dopamine explosion

Penalty: Death]

“……”

I was at a complete loss for words.

This had to be a dream. It simply had to be.

No, but even in my dreams, why do I have to have such tiresome ones?

Why on earth should I escape from my cozy nest? And who is this ◆★● I’m supposed to avoid?

And what? If I don’t escape, I die?

The pressure of the word “Death” was so immense that the reward—a hidden event triggering a ‘dopamine explosion’—didn’t even register.

I let out an anguished sigh, tugging at my hair. Even if I wanted to escape as the status window said, how exactly am I supposed to get out of this bedroom guarded by Zeke?

Hoping to escape reality for a moment, I lay back down on the bed, but as if it had been waiting, a crushing headache descended, feeling like a stone was pressing on my skull. It seemed the “Death” penalty was no empty threat.

Gritting my teeth, I sat up and muttered in despair.

“How on earth… There’s no way.”

At that moment, as if a god had descended, brilliant moonlight poured through the window, and the message in the status window changed.

[Follow the moonlight, and a path will reveal itself.]

Just where?

Even though I couldn’t fully trust the status window, I pushed back the covers and got out of bed. I felt dizzy, my vision spinning, and my footsteps were heavy. It seemed I was really running a fever. To think I had to escape in this state. The god Kinamun is truly merciless.

I walked across the carpet to the edge of the room where the cold stone floor began. White moonlight cascaded over my insteps. And then it happened.

Two of the stone slabs silently sank downward, revealing a hidden staircase. I had no idea such a space existed in my bedroom. Startled, I took a slight step back, and the moonlight, as if urging me on, illuminated the path down the stairs.