I ... have my doubts that he was explicitly our lover.
It'd mean telling every male WoL out there "you used to be in a homosexual relationship" or "you used to be a different gender".
A lot of their customers would have a major problem with that, due to unfortunate bigotry. A higher percentage in Japan, too.
At most, I could see them strongly implying it, but leaving it open to interpretation. With another conclusion being "really good friends".