Chapter 186 Vow

"You don't mean...?" Guy exclaimed in disbelief. He hoped, deep inside, that everything was a lie. For Grace to have suffered through something so malicious, something so disgusting, something so absolutely inhumane... Guy just couldn't digest it. For that matter, even the food he'd consumed was attempting to redouble out of his oesophagus.

"The day I menstruated for the first time, my Mas- that man... took me. He forced himself on me," Grace revealed with a low whimper. She paused to collect herself and continued to speak. However, Guy could feel the heavy emotions gushing through her words and her deep-seated fear and anger.

"I had no idea what was going on. I was too young and I didn't know what it meant. I just let him do it, I bit my lips and forged through the pain. 'Maybe it was part of Master's plan?' I would lie to myself," Grace said. "But I knew, deep down, that it was wrong."

"He... did that to me many times, every time I menstruated. After the first time, he would lock me in the hut. He stopped teaching me how to cultivate as well. It went on like this for a year, until one day my menstruation was delayed."

"I didn't know what to do. I didn't have anyone to depend on, so I told that man. When he heard it, he was extremely elated."

"After that incident, a change took place. My treatment took another turn, this time for the better. He would feed me delicious food, and varieties of elixirs, I also received physical therapy regularly. As an impressionable child, my growing apprehension lessened as I believed that my Master was back to normal. I thought that maybe he was angry with me for something I did before, and now he had forgiven me. Yet, I overlooked the fact that he still kept me locked up in this prison."

"Then time progressed, and I started to notice my cultivation dropping at a frantic pace. It was slow at first, but with each month it started to decrease exponentially, until the fifth month when I had returned to my mortal state, but much worse. I couldn't feel the mana at all, I couldn't even cast basic cantrips."

"Once again, I told the man about this. And that was the last time I saw his face," Grace concluded.

"When I next I woke up, I found that I was alone in that house. I was weak, on the brink of death. My stomach was scarred with a brutal burn. My insides were on fire. And worse yet, I could feel that I had lost something. There was an emptiness inside me."

Grace stopped talking and rolled over to her side.

"I remained in the house alone for a week. My mind was blank. I was lost. A part of me was angry with myself for disappointing my Master which resulted in this punishment. 'Why did he leave me? What did I do wrong?' I started to hate myself. It got to a point when I contemplated ending everything. But then I remembered my parents."

"With great difficulty, I managed to recuperate. Thanks to the knowledge that man left with me, and the still intact herb garden, I managed to brew a few healing concoctions and regained some of my strength. But mana manipulation was still beyond my reach. No matter! I just had to return home, to my parents."

"I travelled for days, fighting through the pain from the hasty healing that man did to me. I guess once I had fulfilled my use, my fate didn't matter to him. Though, I am thankful that he at least put me back together in one piece after slicing me up. If he hadn't done that, I would not be here."

"By the time I returned to my village, I found that it no longer existed."

Grace chuckled ominously and said, "What happened, was that a few years after my departure, a mage garbed in black arrived at the village and burnt it to the ground, including everyone present there at that time."

"It couldn't be!" Guy denied it in shock.

"The assumption is valid," Grace responded. "He couldn't leave any loose ends. He was sure that I wouldn't survive his operation. But what of the people from my past? If people started asking questions, they could trace it back to him, right?"

"I lost everything. My past, my present, and my future. At this point, I was nothing but a ghost. I might as well be dead," Grace cried.

"I wanted to end it all," Grace revealed. "Finish what that man did to me."

"But then, I met Markus. He was a little kid, alone. Almost my age when I was taken. Being with him, this emptiness that remained within me started to fill up - I could feel it. Maybe it was the lingering motherly instinct that was growing inside me that found some satisfaction and wholeness when taking care of the kid..."

"It was just us two for a while. But as he grew older and older, the anger, hatred and disgust started to resurface within me. I couldn't sleep, I couldn't eat without throwing it all up, I couldn't even get up due to the lethargy."

"It was then that I stumbled upon Dora and Kano. Those two were even younger than Markus when I found him. Still toddlers, barely able to crawl. After I took them in, the pain within me receded again. A few months later, Marie joined us and we finally settled down here in this building. The villagers had abandoned this place for many years. The woods were dense here, and prone to beast attacks."

"But we had nothing to lose. We moved in, cleaned and cleared the area," Grace explained.

"Now this is all I have, Guy. The children and this place. This was all that kept me going. It was all that I needed. But, that was until you came," Grace said while sobbing loudly.

"I disliked you when you arrived," Grace confessed. "You reminded me of my unpleasant past. You reminded me of him."

At that instant, pieces started to click in Guy's mind. Her murderous reaction when she saw Guy naked with Markus started to make sense to him now. It must have opened up all of her past wounds when she thought that Guy was about to do to Markus what the beast had done to her.

"You're thinking about that time, aren't you?" Grace asked. She could read Guy's facial expressions and deduced them accurately.

"You were different," Grace redirected. "I'd met a lot of mages through my life. Each was equally as bad as the other - they were all the same. Selfish, arrogant, quick to anger, and just as quick to jump to conclusions. But you were the exact opposite. I thought it was a result of a naive mind, but after getting to know you, I realised that it was a result of a mind mature beyond its years."

"You flatter me."

"It's the truth! I was apprehensive about sending Markus to the Academy because I feared he would become like them - cold, uncaring and self-absorbed. You wouldn't believe just how relieved I was when he came back - although I didn't show it. But then he brought you along... I prepared myself for the worst but was pleasantly surprised. I observed as you taught Markus and the other kids, and how you emphasised the use of rationality and morality - being aware of how our actions affect the world and those around us."

Grace sat up on her mattress and gazed directly into Guy's eyes. Her face wore a firm and unbending expression, and she grasped Guy's hand tightly.

"I will let you establish your Sect here only under one condition: You mustn't let the kids joining go astray. Keep them grounded, just like you did with Markus, Jean and Marie. Turn them into exemplary mages."

"Does that even need to be said?" Guy retorted incredulously. "I won't let them go astray. Not in good conscience."

Grace shook her head and repeated, "You don't understand. Magic corrupts. As you grow with your cultivation your personality warps with you. After a point, you are forced to sacrifice the only shred of humanity that tethers you to your mortal self and you turn into an abstract concept given physical form. And once you lose that human identity, you stop treating others as humans as well."

"The way you're raising Markus and the others, I can get behind. In fact, I would have interrupted the moment you started leading them astray, but till now you haven't. However, with a growing body of students, your attention will inevitably become diluted. So, I need you to promise me! Promise me that you won't let ANY child learning under you go astray. Promise me, and I will let you use the orphanage and the surrounding areas to set up your Sect."

Guy gazed back into Grace's eyes and prepared to pledge. "I promise that no member of my Sect will ever, in any way, turn to harm innocents. I will make sure that they become whole individuals with a proper sense of morality."

The duo remained in silence as the vow lingered in the air. It may not be much, it wasn't like it was some sort of soul contract, but the words had weight. At least to Grace, it was enough. She trusted Guy. Why? Grace didn't know the answer to that question.

It might be because he never forced anything on her. He respected her - respected her boundaries, her choices, and her opinions. He treated her as his equal. That was not something you'd find so easily in this world.

Another reason might be because, in an obscure way, Grace also reciprocated the affection Guy kept sending her way. If someone were to hear the words 'I Love You' multiple times from the same person with sincerity, unless the recipient was without emotions, they too would become swayed and develop some feelings for that person.

Proximity breeds familiarity. And Grace was growing intimately familiar with Guy.

After a silent few minutes, Grace snapped out of her focused state and realised that she and Guy were extremely close to each other, AND she was holding on to the man's hands. If anyone were to enter her room at this moment, misunderstandings would surely arise.

She immediately dropped her hands and coughed to cover up her embarrassment.

"I- I should sleep now," she muttered and urged Guy to do the same... in his own room.

"Before I go," Guy said as he passed her door frame. "If it isn't too unpleasant, what was the name of that man who did this to you? Can you describe him?"

"Huh?" Grace choked at the sudden change in ambience. "I am not sure. He called himself Yarrick, though he just told me to call him Master. And as for his appearance... the memories are sort of blurry. I've been trying my hardest to forget..."

Guy furrowed his brows as he digested this information and then revealed a slight smile back at Grace, "It's fine. Good night."