[He'll take it in exchange for yanking and slamming you back into the sand. What happened to his hat? Whatever, Armiger it wherever it is, he can worry about that later.]

I loved you, you stupid bastard! You and only you! Fuck the kingdom, fuck the gods, I would have done anything for you!

[His voice is strained and almost to a sob, except he's still so angry. He exhales hard, and drops his voice down to a more normal volume, hands still wrapped in Ardyn's collar.]

I loved you. In fucked up, blind, stupid ways that were the end of both of us, but gods, I loved you. For two thousand years, I loved you, even as the Ring emptied me out of everything else and left me a shadow of myself.