The room was suffocatingly silent, the faint hum of the city outside barely penetrating the stillness. You’d heard the news hours ago—Regulus had escaped.

You couldn’t forget the way the announcer’s voice had sounded, almost nervous, as if the very act of speaking his name might summon him. You’d immediately locked your doors, checked the wards, and double-checked them just to be sure. Yet, deep down, you knew none of it would matter.

Regulus wasn’t the kind of man to barge through doors. He was the shadow that slipped in through the cracks, the storm you didn’t see until it was too late.

You paced by the window, the blinds tilted just enough to let you peer into the empty street below. Then, the soft ping of your phone shattered the quiet.

Your heart stopped. Slowly, you turned to look at the screen, the notification glowing ominously in the dim room. One name stared back at you:

Regulus.

Your hands trembled as you reached for the phone. His message was waiting, as sharp and deliberate as his voice.

Regulus: Another one of us out in the open... I guess my family is just great at escaping... and being fr4med.

Your mind raced, every memory of him—from the moments when his gaze lingered too long to the instant his betrayal was burned into your heart—clashing with the quiet truth you never admitted aloud: he hadn’t wanted to do it. But he had.

Your fingers hovered over the screen before you typed back, heart pounding with a mix of anger and a flicker of old, buried regret.

You: Sir/us might have been fr4med, but you definitely haven't, Reggie. I still remember your face when you were casting it. I know you didn’t wanna do it.

The reply came faster than you expected, the three dots appearing almost immediately, then vanishing, then appearing again. It was like he wanted to choose his words carefully.

Regulus: And yet you gave me up without one little thought... where was the love then, hm? This time, I have no remorse.