Looking at Caroline, who was still crying while holding him tightly, Max did not know what to do.
Even so, he still raised his hand and gently placed it on Caroline's back.
"It is fine, Caroline," Max said, his voice quieter than before. "Me and my sister are fine for now. And whatever happened in the past was not your fault."
Caroline trembled when she heard those words.
For years, she had carried guilt like a chain around her heart. She had blamed herself for failing to protect Caelira. She had blamed herself for not being there when the calamity struck. She had blamed herself for surviving when her sister's family was torn apart, when the third faction was imprisoned, when children who should have been protected were declared dead.
Even in the Elf Prison, even while being tortured by the second faction, the thought that she had failed Caelira's children had never left her. Now, hearing Max say that it was not her fault, something inside her finally cracked.
