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."
As the brown and golden carriage glided through the grand, shiny gates of the Royal Palace, Melania felt her heart quicken its pace even more. The reverberations echoed through her chest, spreading a quiver to her hands and knees, anticipation coursing through her at the impending moment of stepping out into the unknown embrace awaiting her.
The rhythmic drumming on the carriage's roof heralded the onset of rain, a rare thing to occur in the typically warm and sun-drenched Lafad.
"It seems the entire royal family has come out to greet you, My Lady. And there, behold the Crown Prince himself! What a handsome young man he is!"
Loraline gently pressed her index finger against the chilled glass of the carriage window, directing Melania's gaze to the gathering of figures near the main entrance of the Royal Palace.
'They seem so somber... Black and blue, the hues of Geraldion... Black and blue, the remnants of bruising left upon the skin.'