Embracing the Silver Chains: Reincarnated as a Captive Princess
When I woke up, I was inside a dizzyingly beautiful prison. I, Rimuru Tempest, had somehow been reincarnated as the princess of a kingdom utterly destroyed by Shion, the hero who defeated the Great Demon Lord Veldora. He is my enemy who took everything from me.
Shion's eyes are always cold. But sometimes, he shows me a look of such deep pain that it makes my heart clench. His voice, telling me 'You are mine,' is a mix of anger and sorrow that makes my whole body burn. I shouldn't feel this. He'
Embracing the Silver Chains: Reincarnated as a Captive Princess - Morning in the Star Prison Tower — The Silver-Haired Captive Princess and the Crimson Eyes
The sensation of cold silk woke me.
My fingertips traced the smooth fabric. Thin, white silk. The sheets, the pillow, everything was made of the finest silk. A strange luxury for a prison cell.
"...Mm."
A small sound escaped my lips. As I turned over, the white prisoner's garment—cut wide open at the chest and back—rustled faintly against my skin. Shion's taste, they'd told me, this revealing outfit. My hand moved unconsciously to my chest, checking that it hadn't come undone.
Just below my left collarbone. Hidden beneath the fabric, a small star-shaped mark. When I traced it with my fingertip, it was always in the same place. Proof of my reincarnation. Something I'd never had in my previous life.
...My previous life.
My name now is Rimuru Tempest. Eighteen years old. I was the princess of the Kingdom of Caldina.
But before that, I was someone else. A thirty-three-year-old salaryman. Tanaka Taro. Spending late nights staring at a computer screen in some office in Japan. Endless overtime, until one day I collapsed. And when I opened my eyes, I was in this world.
I gazed up at the ceiling.
A transparent ceiling. Made of some kind of magical material. Like glass, but far stronger, and impervious to magic. This was the top floor of the Star Prison Tower. Fifteen stories above ground, seventy-five meters high. Three hundred sixty degrees—walls and ceiling all completely clear—offering an unobstructed view of the imperial capital Valheim's sky.
The light of dawn was beginning to stain the eastern sky a pale white.
In the distance, I could see the triple walls. Forty meters high. Massive fortifications protecting the largest city on the continent. And at their center, a palace of black stone—the Obsidian Palace. That was where Emperor Shion resided.
Shion.
Just thinking his name made something deep in my chest clench tight with pain.
"...No."
I murmured the word quietly. This wasn't pain. At least, not just pain. It wasn't hatred either. It was a far more troublesome emotion.
I rose from the bed and walked over to the transparent wall.
Below me sprawled the streets of the imperial capital, home to one-point-eight million people. The noble district, the commercial district, the industrial district—a city of concentric circles divided by the triple walls. This was its very center. And yet, I couldn't hear the city's clamor at all. Magical soundproof walls completely shut out all noise from outside.
It was a prison of unbearable silence.
The floor was cold stone. But thick carpets had been laid down so my feet wouldn't grow chilled. In the corner of the room stood a silver candlestick, its pale blue magical flame flickering gently. The bed was wide and soft—impossibly luxurious for a prison cell.
But the door had a magical lock.
And outside, two female guards. At all times.
There was no escape.
Three years ago, my homeland Caldina was attacked by the Zaryon Empire. The capital fell in just two weeks. My father and mother both died in battle. I was taken prisoner and brought here. A small nation of three hundred eighty thousand people never stood a chance against an empire boasting one hundred eighty thousand soldiers and a standing army of five hundred thousand.
Three years since then.
I'd been in this room the entire time.
"...Well, at least they haven't killed me."
My muttered words were swallowed up by the quiet room.
If I were still my original self—Tanaka Taro—I would have been able to analyze this situation more calmly. Devise a way out, read the opponent's psychology, formulate an escape plan. With thirty-three years of life experience, I should be capable of that much.
But this body was different.
I stared at my palm. Slender, pale, soft fingers. The hand of an eighteen-year-old girl. Every time I looked at these hands, I felt strange, as if I wasn't quite myself. My memories were still Tanaka Taro's, but the amplitude of my emotions was completely different.
Especially when I thought about Shion.
Five days ago, that man came here for the first time.
In three years before that, he'd never once shown his face.
—Silver hair and crimson eyes.
—The physique of a warrior, standing one hundred ninety-two centimeters tall.
—The hero who defeated the Great Demon Lord Veldora.
The moment the door opened, my breath stopped. He was just standing there, and yet the very air in the room changed. An overwhelming presence. And those eyes.
The eyes of a conqueror. Cold. Merciless.
But deep within them—something else was churning.
" You belong to me."
That voice still lingered in my ears.
I should hate him. He's the enemy who destroyed my country.
So why does my chest feel so restless?
I placed my hand on my stomach.
Thump.
A faint pulse traveled through my fingertips. The Jewel of Reincarnation—one of the cursed artifacts embedded within my body. One of thirteen magical implements left behind by the Great Demon Lord, said to govern death and rebirth.
This was the reason I was being kept alive.
It wasn't me that Shion wanted. It was probably this jewel.
...My mind understood that.
"But—"
I murmured.
Five days ago, the sensation of his hand gripping my chin. The warmth of those fingers. When those crimson eyes peered into me, my heart had pounded at an impossible speed. My body reacted first, and my mind couldn't keep up.
If I were still my original self, something like that would never have happened.
From beyond the door, I heard footsteps.
Click, click. The sound of regular, measured shoes. Not the guards'. Heavier. More oppressive—
My heart lurched.
The sound of a key turning.
The magical lock glowed pale blue and disengaged.
The door opened.
Silver hair. Crimson eyes.
Tall, with a warrior's build.
Shion.
He entered the room without a word. That alone was enough to make the air grow heavy. My breathing shallowed. I took a step backward.
My back hit the wall.
Shion walked straight toward me and looked down. One hundred ninety-two centimeters versus one hundred sixty-two. The height difference was so great that I naturally ended up gazing up at him. His long silver hair was tied back carelessly, and those crimson eyes, deep as blood, held me fixed in place.
"..."
He said nothing.
He simply extended his right hand.
His fingers caught my chin. He tilted my face up, peering into it. Something flickered in the depths of those eyes. Coldness. And—anguish? Longing?
" You belong to me."
A low, quiet voice.
The same words as before.
But today, there was more.
" Tonight, come to my private chambers."
At the words whispered into my ear, a shiver ran down my spine.
His hand released me. Without another word, Shion turned his back and left the room. The door closed, and the magical lock's light flickered back on.
I collapsed to the floor right where I stood.
"...What was that just now?"
The warmth of his hand still lingered on my chin. My heart pounded furiously, as if it didn't belong to me. I should hate him. I should be afraid.
—Tonight.
—Come to my private chambers.
The words spun round and round inside my head.
I wrapped my arms around my own body.
"I don't want to... but—"
My voice trembled.
I don't want to. I don't want to go. His private chambers—who knows what he'll do to me there. But... but I also felt like I had to go. I couldn't defy him. In this prison, everything was as Shion willed it.
I closed my deep purple eyes and took a slow breath.
Apparently, when my emotions run high, the depths of my eyes glow faintly gold. I can't see it myself, but a guard was startled by it once, so I think it's probably true. Shion had looked at it with an expression that seemed to be contemplating something.
"...I am Rimuru Tempest."
I murmured.
Princess of Caldina.
The one who was once Tanaka Taro.
The bearer of the Jewel of Reincarnation.
And now—a captive princess.
Outside the window, morning was about to begin in the imperial capital. Beyond the triple walls, the city's lights were going out, one by one, then two. The markets would open, and people would begin to stir. The daily lives of one-point-eight million people would continue on today as well.
But my daily life would change again tonight.
Shion's private chambers.
What awaited me there?
I was afraid. But—somewhere in my heart, there was a part of me that was also anticipating it.
"...I'm such an idiot."
My long silver hair slipped from my shoulders. Strangely undamaged even within this prison, it shimmered pale blue in the morning light. Gently stroking the strands that reached all the way to my waist, I let out a deep breath.
Tonight.
That word wouldn't leave my mind.
Novelia is an AI-powered platform to read original light novels and fan fiction, create your own in just a few taps, and chat with the characters. New, illustrated episodes arrive daily — free to start.