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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

"What do you mean? Whose daughter is she then?"

Despite the intended sense of reassurance that Ahspid's words were supposed to deliver, Tillian's mind was focused on quenching his curiosity and learning the truth.

The magus sized him up with a long stare, contemplating whether or not the Duke deserved to learn the truth that easily, but then only shrugged his shoulders, giving in to his own secret passion for storytelling.

"Well, Your Grace, it depends on what kind of rumors you yourself heard about Queen Consort Yuliana."

Tillian scratched his chin, trying to recollect everything he had ever heard about Aideen's late mother, then redirected his glowing red eyes back to the mage, and replied,

"Just the filthy gossip of the noble circle... The one that berates the Queen by calling her a whore who seduced a royal knight and dared to let him into her bedroom."

"That is the one, Duke Valentine."

Painful History