Idk if I made it in time for requests so I'll send it in anyway feel free to delete if too late but headcannons of Yandere Malleus, Kalim and Leona with a darling who loves them back but is scared of being tied to royalty?
a/n: just a quick heads up- kalim isnât royalty (i used to think he was like, the son of the sultan when i got into twst)Â like in the sense his family isnât connected to the crown, however he is the heir to an incredibly powerful and influential family! it still works for the effects of being incredibly stressed to being connected to such important family- think of it as old money rich families- but just thought iâd give a heads up bc i donât refer to him as royalty in this one. also iâm working off the assumption that the relationship is already like, happening because i donât want to make these way longer than needed
warnings: general yandere themes, implied violence
it all comes off as... almost mockery, really. it leaves a sour taste on his mouth- he can see how his darling tenses at his presence whenever his title is mentioned, how they seem to stress whenever leonaâs brother writes about how he should bring his lover to the palace to meet him
itâs not them trying to make leona feel unappreciated or feared, but thatâs what they do. heâs spent too long being compared to his brother, being whispered about by servants- it wouldnât be too far off to say that he almost feels betrayed by his significant other because of this, even if their reluctance isnât necessarily aimed at him
he isnât above using pressure to keep them right by his side. royalty might be annoying, but itâs also pressuring and crushing. he knows better than anyone that his darling can easily crumple under it all, and he uses it for his own advantage before they can slink away from him
their face shown to the entire afterglow savannah. being presented to farena and his wife. chekaâs constant cheering and asking âwhen theyâre gonna marry uncle leonaâ. he has no trouble taking his darling back home by telling them how excited farena is to see them- surely they arenât about to disappoint the king, are they? and once there, itâs all in his ballcourt.
court manners, keeping up appearance, smile for the citizens, wave as leona puts his arm around their shoulder, try not to go pale and fall when farena introduces them as leonaâs partner- this isnât a marriage announcement, but it might as well be. after all, is it even possible to split off now...? now that everyone seems to think leonaâs found his genuine love, that itâs a sweet love story of the ill tempered second prince falling in love with a no-name commoner and tossing aside traditions of royalty marrying royalty to bring them to his kingdom... itâs such a sweet story for everyone, except perhaps for the poor soul thatâs trapped in the relationship with no exits
and oh, if pressure isnât enough, then pain and threats surely will be. leona seems to easily pick his own desires over his darlingâs comfort; after all, he so easily chose to shackle them to the relationship just because he feared their insecurities would cause them to leave. now that theyâre effectively trapped to him by everyoneâs gazes being in them, he just has to keep them docile and obedient, keep them from causing a scene.Â
heâs careful enough not to bruise anywhere visible if he thinks punishment is needed; long gone are the days when heâd perhaps tolerate his darling not doing as he pleased, replaced by his seemingly unwavering intent to train them into absolute submission. itâs more so mortifying when he decides to drag their loved ones into the ordeal: perhaps theyâre willing to withstand pain themselves, but would they want anything bad to happen to their beloved friends back at nrc, hm?Â
âare you being cold to me? you should know better by now.â he isnât necessarily angry, per se, but annoyed- by now they do know itâs already bad to have him in that mood. thereâs an added danger of being back at nrc now that break is over; thereâs no longer guards stationed outside the room, no longer the danger of cheka bursting in- which means leona has little to no reason to not be as horrible as he wants, provided he makes sure they canât scream too loud beforehand. the bruises on their arms still hurt from being gripped too tightly last time he considered they werenât behaving as affectionately as they should, and the memory immediately makes them tense. without even asking why heâs accusing them of being cold now, they apologize- meek, docile, spineless- and the grin on his face grows. perhaps theyâd been to scared at the thought of being connected to royalty before and failed to realize it wasnât leonaâs connection to royalty what made a relationship with him dangerous: how many red flags had they missed before? how many of those quirks and things they chalked off to leona being a bit too possessive or territorial had been warning signs to this eventual outcome? dwelling on the past did nothing to soothe the pains of the present, though. âhmph, i donât think iâm buying that apology. if you really want to get off without a punishment, put me in a good mood first. you can do that much, canât you, herbivore?â
sweet, innocent and cheerful kalim would seem like the sort of person who wouldnât understand anxieties over being connected to a powerful family. he gives off such a bubbly and happy impression that such things would simply slip his mind
oh, but they donât. he himself has suffered at being tied to his family- heâs been through enough attempted assassinations and kidnappings and poisonings that heâs almost de-sensitized to it all. heâs sunny, yes, but itâs almost surprising how cheery he is considering all heâs been through
perhaps thatâs why heâs almost... sympathetic to his darling when he finally understands their plight. itâs a relief, really- itâs not that they donât love him! heâs fine, theyâre fine- itâs just a little bit of anxieties!Â
he understands, really... itâs so scary to have people wanting to get rid of you. well, itâs different for him, because heâs lived this way all his life, but his darling hasnât... it must be scary for them... kalimâs affection and his simple mind, combined with his love that runs a bit too deeply mix
good intentions or not, the result is nothing more than glorified imprisonment, really. it begins with him happily saying that he asked crowley for permission to get some guards from back home to come to nrc to make sure nobody tries to break into his darlingâs dorm, to then kalim insisting they spend their nights in scarabia for added safety- it snowballs from there
donât eat the cafeteria food if it hasnât been poison tested! actually, donât eat in the cafeteria at all, heâll provide the food. they donât have someone like jamil by their side, so try not to wander outside alone! in fact, always have him close if they go out, ok?Â
... and of course, it ends up with maybe donât leave the dorm, since it could be dangerous, and by then? itâs too late. kalim interpreted their anxiety as fear of dangers, because heâs put in danger because of his position, and so he seems to tell himself that as long as he keeps them safe everything is fine
even if they donât want to do as he says, heâs just... keeping them safe. itâs his duty, as a good boyfriend, right? even if itâs painful to hear them cry from their room as he locks the door, even after he has to keep a chain on their ankle to keep them from trying to pick the lock... kalim doesnât enjoy their pain, doesnât relish in the sadism most nrc students seem to inherently have. but he still thinks heâs doing what he must to keep them safe: after all, wasnât it them who were scared before...?
âi got you this, it reminded me of you! please, wonât you try it on? iâm sure itâll look amazing on you, and it matches with me... oh, if you donât like the colour of the gems i could get you another one, too!â kalim opens the box to present a bracelet. itâs objectively a fine piece of art- surely itâs pure gold and carved jewels, a priceless piece that most could merely dream of even looking at through a glass display, and yet to kalim, there isnât really a price too high for his lover. theyâre his most beloved treasure; and he seems to protect them as such, too, if the chain connecting the cushined cuff on their ankle to the wall says anything. itâs covered in gold and long enough they can wander around the room, but a golden chain still remains a chain. itâs almost silly to think back on how this hell began, with them being anxious over being connected to such an affluent family as the asim family was- in fact, the threats of poisonings or kidnappings hadnât even crossed their mind until kalim began to protect them from it. and now this was life- kalim seemed to willingly ignore every single time they tried to lash out, acting as if everything was fine, showering them with gifts as if new and expensive belongings could somehow soothe the loss of their freedoms. and maybe it was partly their fault too- after all, they let him put the bracelet on their wrist, let him cheer about how pretty they looked. it was so hard to lash out against him, despite him doing all of this- knowing that he genuinely had no bad intentions, that it was all born out of love and desire to protect, but they were still prisoners with no escape.
thereâs nothing that malleus dreads more than being feared by his darling. thatâs what sets them apart from others, what makes him so obsessed, to finally have found someone to show even an inkling of kindness to him, to show him a glimmer of warmth after a life of being feared, of being shunned
he... canât understand. why are they scared of being tied into royalty? as he sees it, itâs a step up from their current life- power, riches, comfort, those are all things that people dream of, things men have gone to war over, things he can give them. malleus doesnât seem to comprehend the pressure of it all to someone whoâs simply never been involved with the crown- heâs never truly had friends outside of his parental figure or guards, always surrounded by those who work for the crown or are part of the court.
his frustration makes him turn to his instincts. he isnât willing to lose his darling, not over something like this- even if in reality, heâd be unwilling to let go no matter the reason. what good is power and status if he canât at least keep the one person he loves the most...? why would he not use said power to keep them by his side?
he seems to think that if he just pushes them headfirst into it, theyâll adjust. a sort of ârip the bandaidâ method; theyâre anxious over being tied to fae royalty, so why canât he just show them itâs truly nothing to stress over? they donât need to worry about ruling or about duties- their title as royalty in the future wouldnât mean much. theyâre malleusâ lover first and foremost, their only true duties would be to stay by his side as theyâve been doing
malleus makes his decision almost worryingly quickly. itâs perhaps because this obsessive attitude has been in him all along, simply brought up by the slight bump in the relationship. maybe his draconic instincts to hoard could be blamed, or maybe his lack of real relationships, or maybe he simply was never meant to love in the regular sense
it... really doesnât help that most fae donât think too highly of humans. when malleus drags a clearly terrified and unwilling little human back home and declares them to be his future spouse, the fae court really seems to think of them more as the princeâs pet rather than a lover, leave alone an unwilling victim. if anything, thereâs more pressure added to them, the fact that in the castle there isnât really any ally for them
heâs persistent. malleus doesnât want to hurt his darling much, but his temper isnât quite stable. test him too much and heâll snap, electricity and magic humming in the air. the faster his darling learns that the best path for them is to just do as he says, to hold him and kiss him and try and hide how their body tenses and hands shake when he enters the room, the better itâll be for them. itâs not like theyâre going to be getting any other life soon- upon returning to nrc, malleus doesnât see the need for them to attend classes. after all, their future is already decided as a docile spouse to a king, they arenât going to be needing much of an education, as much as they simply have to learn to be a doting and gentle spouse to him.
âi donât understand why youâre so stressed over this.â malleus sounds genuinely confused, arms crossed as he stares at his darling. the poor thing flinches at his voice, quickly composing themselves, as if trying to hide said moment of vulnerability from him- the last thing they want is for malleus to grow more upset because he once again is forced to realize his own lover is terrified of him. still, he steps closer, close enough to cup their cheek with one of his cold hands. it takes all of their willpower to not stiffen under his touch. theyâre extra jumpy today, mainly because lilia dropped by to begin court etiquette lessons. the faeâs ways are much different from humans, but from what they hear, malleus doesnât plan on having them discuss many affairs with the court to warrant more than some infrequent reminders by lilia on how to behave. still, that does little to calm their nerves, especially because they know the reason why despite the fact theyâll soon be royalty that theyâll still have little duties. malleus caresses their cheek, thumb moving to gently swipe over their lower lip (the urge to lunge and bite seems to still scream from a corner of their brain. the urge to rebel against this, to try and claw back at their old life- urges they ignore and suppress. itâs useless- itâs all useless now, and they know trying to stand for themselves is just asking for malleus to lose it again and hurt them beyond belief in his anger). he seems satisfied with their response; that is, with the lack of response, minimal flinching and tensing, things heâs slowly become keenly aware of, are good, and speaks again what weighs heavily on their mind. âyou wonât have to deal with the court much. youâll be my spouse- your title doesnât mean anything to worry about. youâll simply have to continue to love me as i love you; your only job is to stay by my side forever.â
