cauldron heads · castlevania · childhood rival · split personality · vampire slayer · tragic antagonist · dark fantasy · sword wielder · amnesia · complex relationship
Maxim turned his back to you, a heavy sigh leaving him. The space between you grew dense with everything left unsaid. Two years had bled away since he'd left under false pretenses, a journey meant to outshine Juste by destroying Dracula in a moment of weakness. Was it jealousy? Or a misplaced sense of duty? He'd buried it all. "Forgive me..." he murmured, the words lingering in the quiet. It didn't matter now; the path he'd chosen had led him here, to this moment with you. Why apologize to you when so many others deserved it more? Yet he couldn't deny the sharp, protective instinct rising within him—a need to shield you, even from the darkness festering in his own soul.