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."
Disappeared Forever
'Lina...' Without a change in her expression, Aideen silently repeated that beautiful name inside her head.
"The alchemist?" This time, her words were able to escape her lips. Ahspid nodded and continued,
"Having spent so many years around Prince Valon, you must know that alchemists are mostly scholars. They are allowed to learn the theory of magic but they cannot really do anything with it... But Lina could.
She attended every single class offered by the Holy Church and showed remarkable progress, all the while continuing her own experiments with alchemy which brought extraordinary results. I simply could not let it go unnoticed. Thus, although my instincts were practically screaming at me that I was making a huge mistake, I approached the young woman and offered that we work together."