LOYALTY. | diluc x reader

two - enemies

years had passed since that night in the forest; the night that had changed the way diluc viewed the world. he was so naive before that night, always chasing after his dreams and following his justice driven heart wherever it led him. he was optimistic, extroverted.

you smiled in a melancholy thought as you played with the silver ring attached to the string around your neck that you fished out of your shirt. your smile froze in place as you looked over to your right and saw the same necklace as yours, just with a different kind of ring on it, sitting on your bedside table. the necklace diluc used to wear.

the memory of him throwing that necklace in front of you slapped you in the face and you were reminding yourself to breathe again. you lived in guilt, angry at yourself for what you had done to him. it wasn't like you had a choice, either.

it wasn't only diluc that had changed the night he let go of what bound you together, you had changed as well. your heart had been broken so many times you doubted you had any love left for anybody but the man whos trust you had already broken.

you remembered it like it was yesterday, the fighting against the man who recruited you for the sake of diluc. that same man was in charge before jean came to lead the knights of favonious with the title of the acting grand master. he threatened you, saying he would take diluc away from you if you didn't do nasty work for him, mostly hitman-esk work. he knew diluc was your soft spot so of course he used him as a form of blackmail on you. you knew the man to be the one who dissapointed diluc the night his father died.

he said he would "get rid" of diluc if you didn't join the knights, but it happened no matter what choice you made. if you had told the man no, he would've hurt diluc and you couldn't afford for that to happen. when you eventually said yes, you lost diluc. but at least he was alive.

you told diluc, of course you did, you had to. diluc was so blinded by his hate towards the knights of favonious that he couldn't even listen to you try to explain your situation. he shouted at you, asking you how you could do such a thing knowing what it meant to him.

now you were the one sobbing and begging him to listen to you talk. he wouldn't, though.

–"oh and this?" he began, taking out the necklace from underneath his shirt, "you can keep it, i wont need it anymore" he said before ripping it off his neck as he threw it onto the wooden table in front of you.

the tears that poured from your eyes and the sick feeling you had in your stomach that night was like nothing you had ever felt in your life. you felt so guilty for betraying his trust, breaking the loyalty you had towards each other.

–"diluc, wait, please-!" you shouted after him, only to be met with the harsh sound of your front door slamming.

you knew you couldn't follow him out, he wouldn't listen to you. now you didn't know what to do with the mess of broken glass that the two of you just created. you could try to clean it up, but you would never be able to get the tiny shards that stuck in the crevices of your wooden floor.

perhaps you had no right, but you were mad at diluc just as much as he was mad at you. he wouldn't listen no matter how loud you shouted, he wouldn't take your situation into consideration.

he knew you came from a pretty poor family, and being threatened the way you were by that man left you financially and power tied. who were you back then to try and fight back? back then, you didn't have a choice.

all your sorrowful and sad days had turned into days of anger and annoyance, turning your sadness into rage and using that in battles earning you the title of a higher more respected knight of favonious.