Saved By The Mad Duke
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."
That Kind Of Laughter
Aideen completed the task of sorting through the Duke's correspondence and shifted her focus to the documents awaiting Tillian's signature.
With Ahspid's absence, she found herself grappling with the practice of magic in solitude, devoid of his guiding presence. The absence of his mentorship proved disheartening, for in his tutelage, Ahspid always sought to elevate her skills by introducing new challenges to her practice.
Nevertheless, even in his absence, the princess persevered. Freed from the constraints of shared study sessions, she delved deeper into her husband's affairs, dedicating herself to assisting him in his daily tasks within his study.
Aideen remained hesitant to venture beyond the realm of basic document sorting or putting the Valentine seal onto papers authorized by Stanis. Yet, her journey was one of continual growth; each document she encountered presented an opportunity for further education, a chance she never squandered.