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."
A Bittersweet Lullaby
At that moment, it seemed that only the two of them existed in the world. Everything around them fell both silent and still, and even the flow of time became irrelevant.
Lying on top of the Duke, Aideen's face was dangerously close to his but it remained unmovable as if the princess, too, froze on the spot.
As Tillian carefully observed the lady's face, he could not help but marvel at her breathtaking beauty. Smooth, pale skin with a light tint of blush caused by the tingling touch of cold air; full, reddish lips, slightly parted as if desperate to say something important; perfectly shaped nose, a pair of big green eyes with a strong yellow glow shining down on him like two magical gems; and a frame of long wavy locks that were falling on his shoulders, reflecting the bright silver moonlight with a peculiar shade of both purple and red.