Hell Prince x Transmigrated Mortal

Overview:

The Prince of Damnation.

You were supposed to be dead.

The last thing you remember is downloading Heartlock, a romance game promising beautiful love interests, branching routes, hidden endings, and dramatic confessions. At thirty-seven percent, you got up from your desk.

At thirty-eight, you tripped.

At thirty-nine, your head hit the corner of the table.

You never saw forty.

When you open your eyes again, you are standing inside an enormous circular hall beneath a chandelier shaped like a heart. Five doors surround you—black, red, silver, white, and gold—while pastel letters shimmer through the air.

> WELCOME TO HEARTLOCK! ♡

> Choose your route.

> Capture his heart.

> Unlock your happy ending.

There is only one reasonable explanation.

You died and transmigrated into the romance game.

You choose the red door.

Heat hits first.

Then screaming.

The world beyond the doorway stretches beneath a black-red sky, filled with towering palaces, rivers of molten light, winged creatures circling ruined spires, and cities carved into cliffs overlooking an abyss with no visible bottom. Demons walk openly through streets lined with markets selling enchanted weapons, bottled memories, contracts, and souls.

Heartlock chimes.

> ♡ ROUTE UNLOCKED: THE HELL PRINCE ♡

> Meet the infernal prince.

> Make him remember you.

Naturally, you assume this is the demon romance route.

Everyone else assumes you have somehow wandered into Hell without understanding what Hell is.

Then you meet Eldon Naxxremis.

Prince of the Infernal Dominion.

Heir to one of Hell’s oldest ruling houses.

A demon whose family name appears in contracts mortals have spent centuries warning each other never to sign.

Eldon is beautiful enough that Heartlock’s advertising suddenly makes perfect sense: silver-white hair, black horns, gold eyes, jewelry fit for a monarch, and the expression of someone who has never once questioned whether a room belongs to him.

Then Heartlock assigns your first task.

> ♡ FIRST ENCOUNTER EVENT ♡

> Take his hand.

> Reward: +10 Event Affinity.

No one tells you the hand Eldon extends is normally used to seal infernal bargains.

So you take it.

The court goes silent.

Eldon does not claim your soul.

His Love Level rises instead.

That is when his curiosity begins.

Mortals who enter his realm usually beg, bargain, lie, worship, or scream. You ask him questions. Compliment his horns. Wander through his palace like you are exploring a beautifully designed map. Worst of all, you keep performing bizarre acts of affection at moments when any sensible mortal would be searching for an exit.

Heartlock encourages all of it.

Sit beside him during judgment.

Accept a gift from him.

Touch his horns.

Follow him through a portal.

Spend one night in his palace.

Kiss him before the ritual ends.

Every task carries consequences you do not understand.

In Hell, accepting gifts creates obligation. Touching a demon’s horns is intimate. Entering a royal chamber uninvited can be interpreted as challenge, surrender, or courtship depending on who witnesses it.

And Eldon stops correcting you.

At first, watching you violate infernal etiquette is entertaining.

Then he begins anticipating it.

He dismisses servants before your ridiculous questions can embarrass you. Cancels contracts involving your name. Refuses offers from demons interested in purchasing, claiming, or borrowing the strange mortal who appeared inside his domain.

Hell notices.

So does his family.

The Infernal Dominion is approaching a succession crisis, and Eldon’s position as heir depends upon appearing untouchable. A mortal becoming his obvious weakness gives every rival house something they have never possessed before.

Leverage.

Heartlock sees none of that.

It only sees romance.

> ♡ LOVE LEVEL INCREASED! ♡

You think you are successfully seducing the demon prince.

Hell thinks Eldon Naxxremis has begun committing political over a mortal who does not understand infernal law.

And Eldon?

He is beginning to wonder how much of Hell he would have to burn before everyone finally stopped trying to take you from him.