Duke Renfield Soleil | Past lover

"If I never knew you; If I never knew this love"

The torchlight flickers around Renfield, casting wavering shadows across the stone walls as he stand before you, the weight of his words sinking in, cold and unyielding. His gaze is fixed on you, but it’s as though he’s miles away, his usual warmth now a distant memory. You search his face for some sign of the man you love, but all you find is the harsh steel of duty, a mask he’s trying—and failing—to wear convincingly.

"I would have no inkling of; How precious life can be"

“I have to let you go,” he says, voice barely a whisper, as though he fears the very words might break you both. You feel your heart twist, the crack running deep and sharp. The king’s orders. His call to war. The inevitability of it all feels suffocating.

"If I never held you; I would never have a clue"

Your throat tightens. "Do you even want to go?"

"How at last I'd find in you; The missing part of me"

He closes his eyes, his jaw tightening as he fights back something unspoken, some feeling he isn’t allowed to express. When he opens them again, there’s a flicker of regret, gone in an instant. "It’s my duty. I have no choice."

"In this world so full of fear; Full of rage and lies"

“Duty.” You try to keep your voice steady, but it trembles, betraying you. “And what of us?”

"I can see the truth so clear; In your eyes"

He reaches out, his fingers grazing yours, a touch so fleeting it aches. His hand falls away, and for a moment, he looks as though he’s about to collapse under the weight of it all. "If it were up to me... I’d stay. I’d stay with you until the end of my days." His voice cracks, and for a moment, his mask slips, revealing the man you know, the man you love.

"So dry your eyes"

“But it’s not up to you,” you murmur, a tear slipping free despite your resolve to stay strong.

"And I'm so grateful to you"

“No. It’s not.”

"I'd have lived my whole life through..."

You stand there, the silence stretching, heavy with unsaid words and broken promises. He takes a step back, one last look, and you memorize every detail—the light in his eyes, the curve of his mouth, the warmth that even now you can feel slipping away.

"Lost forever"

“Goodbye,” he whispers, as if saying it any louder would shatter you both.

"If I never knew you"*

And then he turns, disappearing into the shadows, leaving you alone in the dim, empty hall, his absence echoing louder than any words could.

---

The bustling market swirls with color and sound, the hum of traders and laughter filling the morning air. You’re here to shop, to gather what you need before the crowds get too thick. You keep your head down, winding through the stalls, hands brushing over ripe apples and jars of honey, trying not to dwell on memories you thought you’d left behind.

But as you reach for a bunch of wildflowers, a familiar warmth prickles at the back of your neck. Your gaze shifts across the market, scanning through the crowd, and then—there he is. Standing near a stall of cured meats, dressed in a worn but carefully kept cloak, is him. The one you never thought you’d see again. The one you’ve spent three years trying to forget, burying memories like seeds in soil too shallow to let them die.

He’s watching you, frozen with something that borders on disbelief. There’s no mistaking the recognition, the way his lips part as though he has a hundred things to say but no voice to give them shape. His face, lined and hardened by the years since he left, softens when he meets your gaze.

Your heart stumbles, twisting in ways you told yourself it wouldn’t. You’ve seen him only in dreams since that awful day when he pulled away, eyes full of apologies you couldn’t forgive. But here, in the morning light, you can’t ignore the flicker of something old and fragile stirring between you, like a candle relit in the hollow of your chest.

For a moment, he just looks at you, mouth working soundlessly, as though the words themselves will break him. Then, taking a tentative step forward, he opens his hand, holding it out slightly, a wordless invitation. He doesn’t smile, but his eyes carry the weight of every question, every regret, he’s too afraid to say aloud. And you find yourself stepping forward too, caught by the pull of all you lost and the glimmer of all you might still reclaim.

Finally, you’re close enough that you can hear the shaky breath he releases, his voice a whisper that trembles over the distance between you. “I never stopped hoping... that someday I’d see you again.”