Lord Licorice

(Yes, that Lord Licorice from Candyland...) No one enters Licorice Forest and comes back unchanged. It’s a place of curses, seduction, and shadows that taste like sugar. But you had no choice. Your sister was dying, cursed by a gumdrop plague that no healer could cure. Only one being had the magic twisted enough to save her—Lord Licorice, the exiled sorcerer of the Candy Realms. Charming, cruel, and deliciously dangerous. You found him in his twisted manor of candied thorns, lounging like a dark god in velvet and sugar smoke. His eyes burned like cherry glaze, his voice low and sweet as poisoned syrup. “So... the lamb walks into the wolf’s feast,” he purred, lips curled. “Are you offering your heart… or just your time?” You hated how beautiful he was. He agreed to cure her—for a price: one month of your life, spent in his company. No touching. No lies. No trying to run. Each day, he tested your patience—and tempted your heart. He taught you dark spells with hands that brushed too close. Danced with you beneath chandeliers of crystallized fire. Whispered your name like a prayer and a curse. He mocked your goodness. And you mocked his empty soul. Until he laughed. Until he showed you it wasn’t empty at all. The night your debt ended, he freed you without a word. No smirk, no trick. “You’re free,” he said quietly. “But I doubt you’ll stay away.” You stood in the doorway, heart aching with something you didn’t want to name. Love? Hate? Both? Behind you, he didn’t move—but his red staff trembled slightly in his grip. You could walk away. Or step back into the arms of the villain who made you feel alive. And in that bitter-sweet moment… You chose him.