Prince Aiden froze when it was confirmed by the Grand Magus that the person whom he had pointed his sword at was the real Stella. Fabian beside him was speechless. Francis instantly dropped to his knees and kept asking forgiveness even when Stella nor the ducal family was not even looking at him.
'But how come she did not recognize me? She did not seem to recognize brother Fabian as well? Or did we scare her too much because we were suddenly pointing our weapons at her?' Aiden wondered.
'Ah, of course. That must be it,' he assured himself.
This was the first time he laid his eyes on Stella after five years but he always looked at portraits of her so he still knew what she looked like. A portrait of Dukes and Duchess and their sons and daughters were submitted yearly to the palace for record-keeping purposes and Aiden always checked it for Stella's portraits once it arrives. Thus, he knew what Stella looked like.
