Chapter 170 - The Ballad of the Masked Duchess

After months of research, I finally closed the last leather-bound journal and leaned back in my chair, watching dust motes dance in the afternoon sunlight streaming through the university library windows. The story of Duke Alaric Thorne and his masked wife Isabella was far richer than the simplified ballads sung in taverns or the romanticized tales mothers told their daughters.

I massaged my temples, my mind awash with the intricate details I'd pieced together from personal correspondences, court records, Elara's fashion house archives, King Theron's journals, and dozens of other primary sources. The real Isabella and Alaric were so much more complex than history had painted them.

"Find anything interesting today?" Professor Harlow asked, pausing beside my cluttered desk.

I gestured to my overflowing notes. "I think I finally have enough to start writing their true chronicle."