"After all, there was never a time when Reg Regalia ever loved me in return."
Even though people around him had whispered that he was the one most favored by the great sorcerer, Somnus had always known the truth.
He wasn't special.
No matter how much affection or attention he seemed to receive, it was never him that Reg Regalia loved.
There had only ever been one reason Reg Regalia had valued Somnus at all and it's because Somnus's bloodline was closer than anyone else's to the long extinct race known as the Spiritfolk.
That was it. That single fact was the sum of his worth.
Somnus had known it well enough.
If he were to confess his feelings, Reg Regalia would almost certainly have rejected him outright.
In the worst case, he might never have been allowed to see the man again.
"But," Somnus murmured with a faint, rueful smile, "even so, I never imagined that confessing those feelings could have cost me my life."
