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."
We Girls Should Stick Together
Ahspid arched his eyebrows in confusion. He indeed knew who these witches were and that was precisely why he was surprised that the sisterhood of the Crimson Witches had made a decision to join this fight.
Having noticed the mage's uneasy face, Khala laughed and tried to explain,
"Your eyebrows are going to jump off your face if you keep looking at me like this. There is nothing surprising about their desire to be involved. The traveling bandits have been growing tired of the complicated political games Anathaen dared to play with the continent so we have been expecting the conflict to emerge for quite some time. The witches, on the other hand, have their own score to settle with the Holy Church so once they learned about their plans, they expressed their desire to join forces with us. As you all know, war brings many opportunities to those with hidden agendas."
Aideen looked at Ahspid with curious eyes, her face completely lost in questions.