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."
She allowed her eyes to move leisurely down the Duke's face, tracing the light outline painted by her mana. Aideen briefly paused on his luscious lips admiring their beautiful shape. Her slow examination continued its descent, tracing the contours of his exposed neck and the broad, muscular expanse of his heaving chest, ultimately realizing that his loose silk robe hung open, baring his exquisitely chiseled physique and revealing his unmistakable excitement.
Tillian, on the other hand, found himself unable to move his sparkling eyes away from the princess's blushing face, patiently awaiting her response.
At long last, the woman shifted her gaze back to his face and drew in a deep breath, closing her eyelids in an effort to disengage her feverish thoughts from the alluring sight before her.