It was a beautiful painting, really. Her father and mother, Hector and Florina, were sitting together with a baby Lillina in their arms. Hector held a large grin, and Florina looked… peaceful, as if her fear of men disappeared. It was Lillina's favorite painting- and the only thing left of her parents. However, there was a man staring at it intently. He was about as tall as her father was, with short, green hair. He stood in all white robes, with a rosary dangling from his neck. Lillina stood with him for a few minutes, and the man neither spoke nor even acknowledged her presence.
Lillina's curiosity couldn't take anymore, "Sir?"
He was startled, despite the fact that Lillina had been there for quite some time, "Goddess!"
He looked down at her, "Yes?"
"The way you're looking at this painting… you seem sad."
He sighed as if he heard this before, and his tone sounded like an old man who accepted death, "I always make a prayer for friends who have fallen."
"You were praying? But my dad's been- Wait, you knew my father?"
He looked down at her, then back at the painting, then back to her with a bemused look, "Ah, princess Lillina. Why would you want to speak to an old sinner like myself?"
Lillina stood confused, "Sinner? You're a priest aren't you?"
The man clenched his teeth, "Sometimes those with the noblest of intentions commit the gravest of sins." His tone sounded like he was mocking something, though Lillina didn't know what.
"Mister, I-"
"Renault. My name is Renault."
"Father Renault-"
"Just Renault." he then muttered under his breath, "Damn the fool who follows my footsteps."
"Renault… it seems as if… do you not like me?"
Renault sighed. He forgot how his distant attitude made him seem, "No milady. I just… have a lot on my mind. More than I want…"
"What?"
"Nothing. I- never mind."
Lillina, being the naïve girl that she was, pressed him farther than she should have, "What's wrong."
His voice held a tone of misery that Lillina never heard before, "Too much, really. My troubles shouldn't bother you, dear."
"But I want to help you! I can't stand when people are sad!"
Renault sighed, "I've carried my burden on my own for years. I need not your help now, or ever."
Lillina remained adamant, "That's silly. You shouldn't carry something by yourself. Isn't there anyone you can talk to?"
Renault sighed, "Princess, I will take my leave. I have nothing more to gain from this conversation…"
"Wait!" She grabbed his arm, "Let me help you!"
His patience was growing thin, "I told you, I am perfectly capable of handling myself! You don't want to know what I've done! You don't want to carry the weight I bear! I'm going to carry it, me alone, as I have for all these years! A little girl has no place in my hell" Renault did not want to snap at this child, but she was so young. His nightmare shouldn't be dreamt by a woman so young.
"I'm not such a little girl! I've taken lives! I've watched as those close to me were taken! I… I…"
The anger in both of them melted by her tears. They stained Renault's cloak, a stain Renault never felt.
"I'm sorry, princess… I… I should go…"
"Wait, Renault…" She stood up, "Will you come back?"
Probably not, he thought.
"Maybe. I don't know where I run… only that I'm running."
"From wha… never mind. Just, can you listen to one thing I say?"
He nodded, and she continued, "Whatever pain you carry… whatever burden you shoulder… it will crush you if you hold it alone. I know, I tried to carry my father's weight by myself. I was a wreck, an emotional disaster. It wasn't until Roy gave me a shoulder to cry on that I felt better. That's why I wanted to help you- I could tell you were a man who lived on his own. I could tell… because you had the same gaze, the same pain in your eyes that I felt."
Renault stood there, amazed. Children really do say the smartest things…
"Thank you, milady. But memories are to-"
"Painful? Maybe. But remember the good ones. That's what I do, at least."
Good memories… does he even have them? Yes… somewhere, deep in his troubled mind, there lied good times. Deep beneath the regret, the sorrow, there was joy. So long it had been since he felt it, he forgot what it was. It was a good feeling, if he remembered correctly.
"And if you can't remember any good memories..." She smiled, "Make new ones!"
Renault then started laughing, loud and full of life, startling Lillina,
"What's wrong?"
"All these years of torment... All these years of pain... All these questions... answered by a child! Thank you, princess."
She smiled, "Always happy to help."
Renault bowed and left, leaving the castle and the princess behind. Though he continued to carry his burden alone, he did change one thing. He now tried to make memories worth remembering. Memories that could bring light to darkness. And, in time, he no longer ran from his past.
He ran towards his future.