Chapter 45: Help
Grace... she was the first person who truly saw Clarsen for who he was.
Not the ruthless beast everyone believed him to be. Not the cold killer who rose through the ranks by leaving trails of bodies behind. No, she reached past all that. She saw the man underneath—the hesitant soul, the one who still flinched at the thought of taking a life, even after becoming a General.
Can you imagine? A man known for slaughtering over three hundred enemies on his own... still feeling guilt. Still pitying the creatures he fought. Only Grace knew that side of him.
She was relentless, brave, and breathtaking in a way that made it impossible for him not to fall. She didn’t stop at his armor—she tore it down, piece by piece, with patience and understanding.
And how did he repay her?
He destroyed her world.
He killed her family. The very people she held dear—gone by his hands. Later, when the truth came out—that Clarsen had been working with the Dark Side—Grace didn’t just lose her loved ones. She lost her name, her dignity, and her peace.
The world turned on her. People spat at her feet, called her a traitor, and claimed she’d always been one of them. That she helped him. Hid him. Loved him.
She had to prove her innocence just to breathe again. To survive.
And through all of that... Eric stood by her. He never wavered, never doubted. When everyone else abandoned her, he was the one who didn’t.
Maybe that’s why...