Aideen raised her head, intending to express her gratitude, but her efforts were thwarted by another man's voice shouting from behind her mysterious savior. The man dragged another person like a sack of potatoes behind him.
"Your Grace, he was hiding behind the outer wall. This is the one who agitated the dogs. What are we going to do with him?"
'Your Grace? Is it Duke Tillian Valentine?!'
The princess arched her eyebrows, rendered speechless and stunned. She had been eager to meet the castle's owner, the one responsible for bringing her here. He had successfully maintained a distance from her, but now, as she stood face to face with him, she felt like an empty vessel, unable to either speak or even think.
Tillian, however, appeared uninterested in Aideen. Despite standing directly in front of her, he turned his head once more to assess his knight and the man trapped in his grip with a long, intense glare. Afterward, he released a weary sigh and asked in a cold tone,
"Who gave you permission to leave your tower?"
Ahspid attempted to wriggle free from the knight's grasp but proved unsuccessful as the man tightened his hold, securing Ahspid in a headlock. Simultaneously, the knight caught the mage's hands behind his back with his free hand.
Admitting his defeat, Ahspid sighed and curved his reddish lips into a playfully guilty smile,
"I apologize, Your Grace, but I couldn't bear to stay locked up in that room any longer! As a mage, I cannot function when confined within four walls! I simply craved some fresh air, especially on such a splendid day. And, of course... a change of scenery."
He suddenly paused, tilting his head as if trying to look behind Tillian's tall body. Seeing through the mage's shenanigans, the duke sidestepped, ensuring that Aideen's body remained well hidden from him. Ahspid reacted with another sigh while Tillian responded,
"Curiosity killed the cat, haven't you heard that one, old man? Dakhil," the duke shifted his red eyes to the knight and concluded, "Help the mage back to his tower. I don't––"
"Wait a moment, Your Grace!"
Ahspid interjected, raising his voice to a somewhat annoyed pitch,
"Don't you find it a little bit irrational? Both of us are here, and there is no point in stalling any longer! Introduce us already. Isn't that why the two of us were brought here, anyway?"
'What?'
Aideen finally took a step backward, liberating herself from Tillian's loose embrace. She moved her face sideways in an attempt to collect her thoughts. The duke extended his hand toward her, uncertain about the nature of such a gesture. He quickly dropped it, however, taking a step away from her, finally allowing the mage to catch sight of the princess.
"At last..."
Ahspid mumbled, his purple eyes widening in excitement. Aideen, somewhat bothered by the unusual attention toward her, fixed her gaze on the spot where she thought the man was standing. She clasped her hands in front of her stomach, uncertain about what to do next.
'The eyes... It's really her!'
Ahspid stretched his lips into a bizarrely excited smile, his entire face beaming with agitation as his curious eyes scanned Aideen's confused expression.
"...Your Grace?"
Finally, it was Aideen's voice that reached the duke's ears. Nervously, Tillian looked at the mage, whose smiling face only stirred up his frustration. He let out a long sigh and said,
"Bella, please escort Her Highness to the negotiation room."
With a brief gesture of his hand, the duke instructed the maid to take care of the princess. Then, he shifted his deep red eyes to the knight and added,
"Dakhil, do the same. And you..."
Slowly, he approached Ahspid, whose face turned pale the moment Tillian stood before him. Leaning in, the duke warned in a low, cold voice,
"You are not to speak to her until I'm there, do you understand? If you disobey me one more time, our deal is off."
The mage swallowed an invisible dry lump stuck in his throat and offered the man a nervous smile as he nodded,
"I understand, Your Grace."
***
Aideen anxiously shifted in her spot; despite having Bella, the only person in the entire castle in whom she could place a little bit of trust, sitting next to her, the princess couldn't help but feel utterly uncomfortable. Bella, seemingly oblivious to the lady's discomfort, hummed a somewhat soothing melody while knitting something with utmost care.
The presence of another person, particularly an unknown man, bothered the princess immensely. Yet, the most nerve-wracking thing awaiting her was the long-awaited meeting with Duke Tillian Valentine.
'She is as pale as a sheet. Tsk. Poor little princess, if only people knew how valuable you really are. If only YOU knew...'
Ahspid clicked his tongue and shook his head, as if concurring with his own inner musings.
Aideen clasped her hands on top of her knees and lowered her head, her thoughts drowning her in a sea of uncertainty and frustration.
'Why is there another man here? Who is he anyway? A mage? I don't feel good about this at all...'
The princess felt an unpleasant wave of chills running through her body, making it shudder as if she had been splashed with a bucket of cold water.
She shuddered once more as the door to the negotiation room opened with a loud, heavy creak, and heavy footsteps echoed through its vast expanse with resolute, weighty thuds.
Duke Tillian approached the long, rectangular negotiation table, taking his seat at its head and placing his large, gloved hands on top of its old wooden surface. Carefully assessing those seated behind the table for a moment, he finally proceeded in a serious, yet careful tone,
"This is not how I wanted this to happen, but..."
He inhaled deeply, displaying clear nervousness. As the long, steady wave of air settled his heartbeat, Tillian continued,
"Your Highness, Princess Aideen Ruan..." The duke fixed his glowing eyes on the young woman as he moved on, "I, Duke Tillian Valentine, have brought you here, to this castle, to introduce you to the greatest magus in the entire Kingdom of Geraldion, Ahspid Kessar. I want to help you, Your Highness, so that you can, in turn, help me."