Corin didn’t want to be alone.

He sat in the grand dining room, the plates long since cleared, darkness surrounding him, looking at the singular rose in the vase with a deep twinge of sadness in his eyes. He’d lost many lovers before, so he didn’t know why this death had hurt him the most.

He thought the pain would be numb by now. But no, he still hurt. Years later. They had been together for almost a century, a long mortal life spent together. He had cried when he had sucked the final drops of blood from his frail, lifeless body. He had done it to all his lovers. A piece of him was a part of him forever. But that wasn’t enough. 

The rose had been a gift. It glowed faintly, never dimming. Instead of dying, it had simply lost a petal before growing another. When a petal fell, it fell slowly, shrivelling and withering before it hit the ground, a depressing sight and a constant reminder. But the vibrant petals that were still alive gave him hope. Not much. But hope that they could reunite.

He remembered the days they had spent together. Not every detail, but enough to make out his face in the haze and blur of memory. One memory stood out. His blue eyes, the shape of his nose, the light curls in his hair. They were sitting in the grass, the dampness eventually soaking their hands. Their fingers entertaining together. He was laughing, they both were. Corin didn’t remember what they were laughing at. But then they kissed, and he remembered this kiss, full of passion, amplifying their love for each other. The whole scene was lit by the light of love. He had illuminated the best parts of Corin. He was the sun to Corin’s moon.

He had wanted him to live forever. To share his blessing of immortality. But no. What he had once considered a boon was now his bane. That was his curse. He had to live with the sorrows. To love a mortal meant heartbreak. So why did it keep happening? Why did he have to stay young when everyone around him grew old?

Most of the time, Corin wanted to step into the light. To die at the hands of the sunlight, burn him to ashes, dissolve himself into nothingness. But his world didn’t have sunlight like that. It was a gothic hellscape now. He couldn’t die. Even if he tried.

He returned from his memory. His eyes blurred, and he wiped the tears forming at the edges. He knew at this point that he just had to wait. Wait until he could die, and then they could reunite. He didn’t know how long that would be. How long it could be.

Forever was a long time to wait.

But it would be worth it if he got to embrace him again.

Author’s Notes

Hi everyone! This is the first pride story of the month, and we’re starting off slightly depressing! Initially I had planned for this story to be a week long, 3 part story, but instead I went for a SHORT short story, making sure it was under 550 words. It’s meant to be an introduction piece, a short, self contained story that makes you interested in the individual stories of the Universe Of Cards universe! Count Corin is a personal favourite character of mine, so I’m glad he’s getting a lot of love between this AND his upcoming design article!
I hope you enjoyed this story, and until next time!