Aideen Ruan, though a royal princess, was always unwanted due to the circumstances of her birth. Born blind to a hostage concubine, she possessed an intriguing beauty; however, her disability rendered her utterly useless to the royal family. Even when the struggling Count Crueder reluctantly agreed to take Aideen as his wife to secure the royal dowry, her life failed to improve. A year into their marriage, Aideen's inability to produce an heir sealed her fate. The princess was destined for exile to the Temple, consigned to spend the remainder of her days in isolation and abandonment. Contrary to her anticipations, instead of the Temple, Aideen found herself within the cold walls of Duke Tillian Valentine's castle. Duke Valentine, the last scion of the once-revered Valentine family that ruled the Kingdom before the "Fratricide Rebellion", now presided over the desolate Northern lands. Faced with fear and confusion, Aideen expected her life to perpetuate its cycle of misery, only to discover that Duke Valentine might hold the key to a new opportunity, a chance at a life she had never envisioned. "You bewitched my body and soul. Put an intoxicating spell on me, shackled my heart to yours with your magic. If I could exchange my eyesight with you, I would do it just to make you see what a man dying from love looks like."
Instinctively, upon hearing a male voice, Aideen hugged the baby dragon closer to her chest, acting as a protective parent. The owner of the voice was standing behind her and she was reluctant to turn around, all kinds of nervous thoughts rushing through her mind while every second of hesitation felt like an eternity.
The princess' racing heart resonated with the dragon as well; feeling her anxiety spreading over to him, he pressed his head closer against her skin, his cold nose buried deeper under the fluffy red scarf.
At last, the mysterious person resumed their walk towards the woman and the dragon, their footsteps light and slow over the frozen ground of the mountain cave.
'Who would know that I am here? It's not Tillian, the voice sounded too raspy to belong to anyone I know.'