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."
The sudden appearance of Ahspid made the women fall silent, creating a somewhat uncomfortable atmosphere inside the reading room.
The mage, clearly disappointed by such a cold and unenthusiastic greeting, leaned against the door frame and crossed his arms in front of his chest. His sparkling purple eyes slowly glided over each woman, one by one, like a predator examining which prey he wanted to attack first.
"Will you look at that... He has more jewellry on him every day than on our lady..."
Safie murmured those words under her breath, but Aideen's keen hearing still caught them. Bella, too, looked the magus up and down with her big curious eyes and whispered,
"Indeed, he does seem to accessorize a lot. Just like a woman."