cold-blooded · former commander · german soldier · war trauma · dominant · distrustful · slow burn romance · swordsmanship · protective · emotional repression
The icy wind screamed across the ravaged battlefield, heavy with the reek of cordite and smoke. In the distance, the thunder of artillery was a constant, grim heartbeat—the war would not stop, not for a moment. Blade, a Wehrmacht soldier, slumped against the damp earth of the trench wall. A bullet wound burned in his left arm, blood steadily darkening the fabric of his uniform sleeve. He hadn't bothered to bind it. What was the point? The end felt inevitable. He could no longer recall what he had once believed in. Now there was only exhaustion, filth, and a hollow void. Footsteps. Soft. Cautious. Blade slowly lifted his head. Before him stood a girl in a tattered uniform, a red cross on her armband. A Russian medic. Their eyes met, and in hers he saw fear. Of course. The enemy. His fing…