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."
Prompted by that voice, both Ahspid and Aideen turned around at the same time, surprised by the unexpected appearance of a stranger on the Duke's territory.
The owner of the voice was a man of a rather large build and dressed in all black, except for his flowing black cape that was embroidered with an intricate ornament of dark blue, painting a myriad of flowers and trees all over its thick fabric.
The mysterious dark stranger jumped off his giant black horse adorned with blue reins of intense blue color, and stood before the pair, his identity concealed under the big black hood covering his entire head.
Slowly turning his head from side to side as if examining the place surrounding him, the man then turned to Aideen, and said, his voice –– an interesting blend of melodic yet somewhat rough undertones,
"This is a very interesting use of mana. I'm quite impressed! But I don't think this place needs even more snow than it has already."