The love interests were bad. The backup plans are worse.
♡ Book. Whispers in the Dark (WITD): Subtle Devotion, Lingering Shadows.
♡ Word Count. 1,555
You’re not an idiot.
You know by now that the main love interests will not tolerate competition. Not from their noble families, not from the church, not from the gods themselves. Certainly not from random side characters that you, in your infinite apathy, have decided to flirt with as an escape plan.
That’s why your new strategy is simple: pick men who are strong enough to survive.
Because let’s be real, your past attempts? Disastrous. The commoners you tried to seduce? Their corpses were unrecognizable by the time your ‘fiancé’ was done with them. The knights? Cut down in broad daylight, their armor melted to their flesh. The poor priest you smiled at for too long? Declared a heretic and burned at the stake.
You need powerful allies. Men who can actually put up a fight.
So here you are.
Testing your luck with monsters in their own right.
And you think you’ve finally outsmarted the system.
♡ Yandere! War Hero who should be the perfect solution to your ongoing nightmare. A battle-hardened general, the strongest knight in the empire, beloved by the people, and—most importantly—someone the Crown Prince actually respects.
♡ Yandere! War Hero who is your best chance at survival. Because if you’re going to seduce someone, it better be a man so powerful that even the Crown Prince wouldn’t dare to casually execute him out of petty jealousy.
♡ Yandere! War Hero is silent as you place a hand on his chest. It’s purely mechanical. An experiment. A half-hearted attempt at survival.
“Marry me.”
His eye twitches. Just a fraction. The scar running down his jaw pulls slightly when he smiles. The kind of smile that’s seen too many battlefields and decided life isn’t worth taking seriously anymore.
“Bold.” He tilts his head. “Do you make a habit of seducing tired soldiers?”
You stare at him, unblinking. “Do you make a habit of dying for a crown prince who doesn’t even like you?”
♡ Yandere! War Hero hums. “Fair point.”
It should’ve ended there. He should’ve laughed you off. He should’ve chalked it up to a desperate princess-to-be looking for a way out. Instead, he watches you the way he would an enemy formation—calculating, assessing, like he’s already five steps ahead of you.
And then, his gloved fingers reach up, brushing the side of your face. “Alright, then.” His voice is soft, amused, almost teasing. “Try me.”
♡ Yandere! War Hero who does not immediately fall for your charms like a weak-willed idiot. You are almost relieved.
♡ Yandere! War Hero who starts lingering around you. Not in a romantic way, but in the way an apex predator watches an unguarded piece of meat.
♡ Yandere! War Hero who doesn’t touch you, doesn’t flirt, doesn’t even try to talk to you outside of necessary interactions. He only waits.
♡ Yandere! War Hero who does not elaborate.
♡ Yandere! War Hero who lets you keep pretending you have options. For now.
———
♡ Yandere! Master Thief who is supposed to be your wildcard. The one person the Archduke can’t easily eliminate, because the bastard can’t catch him.
Yandere! Master Thief who is infamous. A legend whispered through the criminal underworld, the man who steals everything—gold, secrets, reputations.
♡ Yandere! Master Thief laughs when you proposition him. Loud. Raucous. Like you’ve just told him the world’s funniest joke, “So you’re looking to get stolen, sweetheart?”
“Princess,” he grins, resting his chin in his palm. “You’re adorable.”
“I’m serious.” Your voice is flat. “If I’m marrying anyone, it’s you.”
His smirk sharpens. “And why’s that?”
You gesture vaguely at his whole existence. “Because you’re not a noble psychopath with an overinflated ego and too much power.”
The thief raises a brow. “Not a fan of royalty, huh?”
You stare. He laughs again.
It’s supposed to be a game. You’re supposed to string him along just enough to make the Archduke lose interest. But the thief is too clever for his own good. He plays along a little too easily, indulges you a little too happily—and before you realize it, he’s not just humoring you.
He’s invested.
“You’re an interesting one, princess,” he murmurs, his lips brushing against your ear as he pockets yet another one of your possessions—this time, the ring the Archduke gave you. “Don’t worry, I’ll take good care of you.”
♡ Yandere! Master Thief who pushes you against a wall one night, breath warm against your ear, and murmurs, “Tell me, what’s worse? Being kept in a gilded cage… or waking up one morning to find out you never really had a choice?”
♡ Yandere! Master Thief who disappears before you can ask what the fuck that means.
You don’t have time to process it before the Archduke orders his execution. But the thief is already ahead of him. Already laughing from the rooftops. Already slipping past every locked door. Already gone—except for the letter he leaves on your pillow, written in the same teasing script as always:
You’re a terrible liar, my love. I’ll be back soon.
———
♡ Yandere! Enemy Spy who was once a ghost, an enigma, the empire’s greatest enemy. A man who has buried himself so deep into the enemy’s ranks that even his true name has been forgotten.
♡ Yandere! Enemy Spy where you’re certain he is the safest bet yet. He has no reason to be obsessed with you. You have no reason to be on his radar. He’s an enemy of the empire, for crying out loud.
Which is why you don’t flinch when you sit beside him in the darkened corridor, both of you pretending not to exist as the Supreme Mage’s footsteps pass dangerously close.
“You could be executed just for breathing the same air as me,” the spy muses.
You sigh. “I’d rather take my chances with you than with him.”
Yandere! Enemy Spy who immediately recognizes what you’re doing. Who lets you slip into his world of whispered secrets and veiled threats. Who watches you with dark, unreadable eyes as you try to weave him into your escape plan.
♡ Yandere! Enemy Spy who finally, finally reacts to you after weeks of cold indifference.
The spy is silent. When he looks at you, it’s with unreadable eyes—like he’s looking at something fragile. Something dangerous. Something he doesn’t quite understand.
“This is a mistake,” he finally murmurs.
But it’s already too late.
♡ Yandere! Enemy Spy who does not look like a man who has fallen in love. He looks like a man who has figured something out.
The first sign is the way the Supreme Mage starts watching you with something colder than usual. The second is the sudden disappearance of a few imperial informants. The third is the spy’s voice in your ear, soft and dangerous:
“I was going to leave this country without a trace.” His breath is warm against your neck. “Then you went and made yourself my problem.”
You don’t need to turn around to feel the weight of his words.
You were supposed to be his cover. Instead, he’s burning his entire mission just to keep you.
———
♡ Yandere! Demon Assassin who has served the Demon King for centuries, a ruthless, efficient killer with no equal. He has no desires, no ambitions, no life outside of his work.
“Hey.” You press the knife against his throat, unimpressed. “Be my boyfriend.”
The assassin blinks at you.
The moonlight barely catches on his eyes, but you can see the surprise flicker there.
Then, slow. Amused. “Is this a marriage proposal or an assassination attempt?”
“Both, if you say no.”
He chuckles, low and dark. “What a terrifying woman.”
The Demon King’s wrath has been growing. He’s noticed your little game. He’s noticed your preferences. And now his most trusted assassin has noticed, too.
And yet, the assassin doesn’t kill you. Doesn’t report you. Instead, he laughs. As if he’s entertained by the whole thing.
You should have suspected something when he didn’t immediately gut you. You should have seen it coming when he started letting you win against him.
It’s only when the Demon King himself calls for the assassin’s execution that the final piece clicks into place—when the assassin smirks, kneels before you in front of an entire burning battlefield, and declares, “I was always going to betray him for you.”
The realization is a slow, creeping horror.
Your only options now are a yandere overlord or his yandere executioner.
There is no winning.
Only surviving.
────────────
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General TAG LIST of “Whispers In The Dark”: @keisocool , @elvabeth , @elloredef , @mjsjshhd , @lem-hhn , @yuki-istired
❤︎ Fang Dokja’s Books.
♡ Book 1. A Heart Devoured (AHD): A Dark Yandere Anthology
♡ Book 2. Forbidden Fruits (FF): Intimate Obsessions, Unhinged Desires.
♡ Book 3. World Ablaze (WA) : For You, I’d Burn the World.
♡ Book 4 [you are here]. Whispers in the Dark (WITD): Subtle Devotion, Lingering Shadows.
♡ Book 5. Ink & Insight (I&I): From Dead Dove to Daydreams.
