Though I’m a Homebody, I Found Myself in a Dark Captive Genre

After navigating through the endless expressions of gratitude from the wizards, I returned only to find myself standing before the Grand Duke before I could even catch my breath.

“That hammer.”

It was the first thing he said after a long silence.

Trembling with tension in the heavy atmosphere, I shuddered at the sound of the Grand Duke’s voice.

“Yes…?”

“That ultra-light parthanum hammer.”

“Yes, yes…”

I was on pins and needles.

Though I couldn’t detect any anger in the Grand Duke’s expression, I couldn’t bring myself to lift my head, burdened by my guilt.

After another brief silence, his voice came again.

“Liam, doesn’t it seem familiar?”

Huh? Familiar?

“Yes, Your Grace.”

Liam, who seemed particularly annoying, chimed in, cleared his throat, and began a long, elaborate explanation.

“That hammer was a gift from Sir Bruschetta, a master craftsman from the Kingdom of Millefeuille, to commemorate the late Grand Duke’s birthday. It’s a specially crafted ultra-light parthanum hammer of the highest quality, capable of breaking any magical restraint.”

Wait a minute. I hadn’t anticipated this turn of events.

I stared at Liam with my mouth agape in shock, but he continued, oblivious to my desperation.

“It’s a masterpiece of astronomical value, so much so that even craftsmen have given up on appraising it! Anyway, that parthanum hammer, which can’t be found anywhere else, is a precious item left to the family by the late Grand Duke.”

“Yes, it seems to be exactly that item.”

So, it’s a relic of the late Grand Duke? And… a masterpiece of astronomical value?

I didn’t want to believe it, but the conclusion was that I had used the Grand Duke’s property without permission.

…No way. Please tell me it’s a lie. Bonita said it was just some junk lying around in the warehouse.

I gave up on understanding Liam’s rapid-fire explanation and swallowed my tears.

‘What should I do?!’

But the more I realized the reality, the colder my blood seemed to run.

After all, in the kletan Empire, punishments for theft were notoriously severe compared to other countries.

And here I was, having stolen a noble’s property and used it without permission?

If luck wasn’t on my side, it could even lead to the death penalty.

Moreover, who knows when some fault might be found, putting my life on the line!

‘I need to make amends.’

The instinct of a homebody who just wants to live peacefully and quietly was sounding a strong warning.

“Uh, um! I actually had something to say to Your Grace. I was going to tell you earlier. Haha, hahaha.”

“…What is it?”

“Well… I’d like to transfer one of my wish tokens to Your Grace. Would that be alright?!”

Actually, this wasn’t something to agonize over.

Of course, the ‘unconditional assistance’ of the Magic Tower meant that giving up one of my three wish tokens felt a bit wasteful…

But if things didn’t go well this time, it would be the Grand Duke who would take the fall.

“Princess, the scope of assistance you can request from the Magic Tower through the title ‘Ear of the Magic Tower’ is vast. Are you sure you want to do this?”

The Grand Duke seemed quite surprised by my proposal.

Yes, I understand. I know the value of this wish token well enough without the Grand Duke’s kind explanation.

‘But it’s not more important than my life…’

I want to live.

“Yes! I have three, so giving one to Your Grace seems only fair.”

“Hmm.”

“I, I also want to express my gratitude for Your Grace’s magnanimity in overlooking my unauthorized use of your property…”

In short, this was it.

I’ll give you a wish token! Please overlook my unauthorized use of your property!

As if he had caught the underlying meaning, he narrowed his eyes, looked me up and down, and finally nodded.

“…The Princess is generous. I gratefully accept.”

“Haha, it’s nothing. Then I… um, may I go pack my things now?”

“Go ahead.”

“Yep! Thank you!”

I bowed my head and dashed to my room before he could change his mind.

Even though we seem to be on good terms now, in the world of the powerful, the moment something goes wrong, they’ll pounce!

I will eliminate all risk factors and live the life of a safe homebody!

So sacrificing one wish token is nothing.

……Really.

* * *

To cut to the chase, the comic book was a huge hit.

After having one taken by the Grand Duke, I paid a hefty price to the Magic Tower for a small print run of < Safety Rules for Writing Horror Stories > Volume 1, and it sold out within a week, covering the printing costs and more.

I regretted only distributing it to a few large bookstores in the Grand Duchy of Blaire and the capital, just in case the reception was poor.

“Please give us the opportunity to stock ‘comic books’ in our store!”

The mailbox at the Grand Duke’s residence was overflowing with letters, and some even used rare teleportation spells to visit and request sales rights…

Naturally, demand for the next volume only grew.

“We, we need to work even harder.”

“Let’s grind our bones to dust.”

The artists involved in creating the comic book burned with more passion and dedication than anyone else, focusing on meeting deadlines.

They even finished Volume 2 ahead of schedule and immediately started on Volume 3 without a break.

The Grand Duke, who was in charge of distribution, began to slice his already busy days even thinner. And…

I wasn’t much different.

“Ugh, ugh…”

I woke up at dawn again today.

It was 6 a.m.

I rolled around, but the intense sunlight illuminating the entire room made it useless.

“Ha, please…”

It was fine when the Grand Duke kindly moved me from the dark prison cell (?) I had been staying in, but the problem was that this room faced the sun directly every morning.

Especially now, during the height of summer.

The constant forced wake-ups were driving me to the brink of a nervous breakdown.

‘I, I want to sleep more.’

I tightly shut my eyes and tried to force myself back to sleep, but I couldn’t overcome the relentless sunlight and finally got up.

“I, I didn’t want to live like this.”

A sigh escaped my lips as I spoke.

I thought things would get a bit easier after the Magic Tower business was over, but after a hectic day, I’d return only to find it was already 4 a.m.

And yet, I couldn’t give up on the comic book, forcing myself to read it, only for dawn to break soon after.

Considering that once the sun rose, falling back asleep was out of the question, I felt like my lifespan had been shortened by at least ten years recently.

While I was clutching my head in agony, Bonita entered the room.

“Miss, it seems you didn’t get proper sleep again today.”

She, too, had dark circles under her eyes, reaching down to her chin.

Her karma for becoming the designated hot chocolate shuttle, staying up all night next to the artists collecting gossip.

Bonita, staggering like a zombie, placed a simple breakfast in front of me and kept yawning, unable to fight off her drowsiness.

“Yeah, I’m dying…”

I pointed at the window as if to prove a point.

The thin lace curtains did little to block the intense summer morning sunlight, clearly visible to Bonita.

Staring at the bright window with tired eyes, she muttered in a gloomy tone.

“If only the curtains were a bit thicker, it might be better.”

“Huh?”

“Of course, it’s good for the house to be bright, but for people in special situations like us, there’s a need to live in darkness even during the day…”

“Ah.”

Listening to her, I suddenly had an idea and opened my mouth.

‘Blackout curtains!’