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."
"Yes, the lake, My Lady. I think it is best if we start with something simple."
Ahspid took a step forward, standing right on the thick surface of the frozen lake, then took his black glove off, and slightly moved his fingers, releasing a thin stream of purple mana which adhered to the ice and melted it, causing the water of the lake to push up through the remaining seal of ice on top of it.
"What I am doing right now is not the same as weather manipulation. It is an illusion. If you try to put your hand through the hole I made in the ice, you won't be able to, as there is no hole; the ice is still intact."
"I see..."
Aideen placed her hand on the watery surface of the ice and arched her eyebrows as she realized that there was indeed no water.
"So you think my mana will actually make the ice melt?"