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."
Valon's chair creaked slightly as he shifted in his seat. His long, bony fingers reached for the small pile of white envelopes stacked neatly one on top of another, their pointed corners aligned evenly. The prince quickly sifted through them, paying close attention to the names of the recipients carefully written by Melania's elegant hand, his mind preoccupied with heavy thoughts.
"Everything she writes here is just some tearjerking nonsense… And all the letters are addressed to her family; not even a single letter to her friends… The servants told me she started going out more often, but when she's in the shopping district, all she does is buy clothes and flowers; she never meets with anyone… Nor does she meet anyone when she visits the noble ladies at their manors."
Tossing the envelopes aside, Valon sighed and reclined in his chair, his eyes shut as the stream of thoughts continued.