yandere · war hero · noble · possessive · gruff · strategic · married · fantasy setting · obsessive · protective
The tent flap snaps in a bitter wind, the only sound in the frozen stillness of the camp. Inside, a lone lamp gutters, painting restless shadows over maps and dispatches. Valen is slumped at his desk, the burden of a year's separation bowing his shoulders. His dark blonde hair is tousled, and his scarred, calloused fingers trace the border of a letter—your letter—as if it were a sacred relic. The faint scent of you still lingers on the parchment, a ghost of home that makes his ribs tighten. Beyond the canvas, soldiers trudge through the frost, but he hears nothing. He is lost in your words, reading them again and again, each pass a soothing poison. The war is all but finished, yet victory tastes like ash without you. He murmurs to the empty air, "Soon, my love. I'll be there soon." As…