An Assassin's Redemption publishing advert blurb

Formerly cursed to see the world as filled with adversaries, the elf Dronja was the deadliest assassin in existence for centuries. Now free of his curse, he seeks to reinvent his identity and reputation to align with his sense of being a protector of the peaceful that he was born to be. As he travels through the world, in the ruins of a small town recently decimated by a dragon, he stumbles upon Seeche, a half-blooded street urchin. Her home destroyed, she joins him in his travels filled with adventure, fantastic beings, and conflicts local and widespread. Under his tutelage, together they seek and occasionally fight for the most peaceful resolution of these conflicts and Dronja’s own acknowledged redemption.

This is a fantasy novel of reinventing oneself, along with a touch of romance and the founding of a new life in travel and adventure, that reminds the reader of novels by __________.

Backstory: Dronja (elf) had his home destroyed and went out into the world as a young-adult and joined the army. He eventually got caught behind enemy lines and encountered some enemy mage priests, getting cursed to be twisted up inside (turned evil), and then became the deadliest assassin in the world for centuries. Later, when trying to learn more magic, he cast a dispel-magic spell so powerful that it bounced off the target and hit him as well, countering the curse. His first good deed in centuries was to kill his evil mentor, and now he is trying to redeem himself.

Story: Seeche (half-elf) is a street urchin, who Dronja encounters just after her home was destroyed by a dragon. They travel together for a bit before settling down in the capital city. Later, they are tasked to escort a young man back to his lord father in another area. They discover that this lord is under the sway of a dragon who was a past menace, and is now coming back to power. Dronja kills the dragon but now needs to go deal with an invading army that he convinces to turn back through (mostly) non-violent means, redeeming himself.

So the backstory of Dronja is of a full-blooded elf, who for most of his life was under a curse that "twisted him up inside" (I didn't want to do the cliche "he was turned evil" statement without any explanation) that became the deadliest assassin in existence for centuries due to that. He is now free of that curse and seeking to redeem himself. Seeche is a half-elf street-urchin who's home was destroyed in the opening of the story, and is discovered / rescued by Dronja.

They travel to the capital city (which is big enough that it takes 2 days on horseback to cross - means that you can find just about anything in the various markets if you look long enough) and they settle down for a while. The romance portion of the book mostly takes place in this first portion.

Eventually, Dronja (while working under the name of "Trevalt" at a local enchanting shop) is hired to escort a young lordling back to his father across the mountains, and along the way/when they arrive they discover that the lord is under the sway of a dragon who has been a problem in the past (until being defeated) and is coming back to power.

Partially through the assistance of his history as being a former slave to this dragon through a magical tether, Dronja is able to defeat the dragon (very short battle - it's NOT supposed to be the climax of the story) but killing isn't a way to redeem yourself as an assassin so...

He then goes to turn back an invading army (invited in by the dragon) and does so mostly without bloodshed, thus redeeming himself (to himself at least - the name of Dronja has too much history behind it, so he now goes by Trevalt entirely)