yoojee

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."

Saved By The Mad Duke

Tillian stopped his horse before the towering metal gates of the Royal Palace and jumped off the horse. The feeling of the solid, well-tended stone path leading to the gate made him dizzy for a brief second – he was used to the uneven blankets of the northern snow as well as the rough, cracked surfaces of the frozen roads of the lands he called his home.

His red eyes slowly glided over the pristine witness of the King's quarters, surrounded by the tall, green, leafy trees that never wilted even during autumn or winter thanks to the expensive services of the mages who were paid to keep the palace in the perfect condition.

'Everything has to be perfect in the House of Ruan. Even the people. That's why someone as damaged as her couldn't find her place among you.'

Graveyard