"I beg your pardon?"
Aideen was sure she had misheard the duke, yet Tillian still repeated his words in a clear, unwavering voice,
"I want you to become my wife, Your Highness."
The princess couldn't help but feel utterly lost once more. She widened her golden-green eyes, slightly parting her lips as she grappled with the weight of the unfolding situation. When she finally found the words to express herself comprehensively, she spoke once more,
"I apologize, Your Grace. I know I'm not that bright, so I don't believe I possess the wit to fully comprehend this. The more you say, the more confused I become."
The woman took a deep breath to calm her agitated state and continued,
"First, I get abducted. Then, I am brought to this castle. I am then told I can learn magic from scratch. And now... Now you are offering me your hand in marriage. I apologize if I am being rude, but this whole situation seems far too complicated for me to understand. And even if we set aside other things, I am still a royal princess. I cannot get divorced to marry another man."
Aideen closed her mouth abruptly, shutting her eyes and placing a clenched fist against her chest. An unexplainable wave of fear compressed her chest like a vine, rendering her head blank and her breathing rapid and shallow.
She couldn't recall the last time she had the chance to speak so freely and with such passion. Consequently, she wasn't particularly surprised that her heart had transformed into a frightened bird, frantically beating against the bony cage of her ribs.
However, what concerned her most, as she finally grasped the manner in which she had articulated those words, was the fear that the duke might be offended by her audacity or, even worse, become angry and punish her similarly to how Count Constantine had punished her before.
To her great surprise, Tillian did not take offense or express anger. On the contrary, his voice softened, and he offered a sincere apology,
"I'm sorry, Your Highness. I now realize that I was too rash with my words. Please, allow me to explain."
Even though he had offered to provide her with an explanation, proper words seemed to have abandoned his vocabulary just before he made the decision to do so.
The lack of words felt torturous. He had spent weeks contemplating what to say to Aideen, replaying the scenario in his head repeatedly, over and over again. Yet, now that the moment had arrived, he found himself at a loss for words.
Finally, Tillian's mind entertained a risky suggestion: revealing the whole truth to the princess, overcoming his anxiety once and for all, instead of resorting to partial deception. However, as his deep red eyes fixed on her pale, genuinely frightened face—with her beautiful eyes wide open yet absent and empty—he ultimately opted for the safest option. At least for now.
With a somewhat disappointed sigh, the duke spoke again,
"I want you by my side, Your Highness, simply because I seek revenge."
"Revenge?"
"Yes, I want to reclaim the throne from the current king, Euris Ruan. Geraldion belongs to Valentines, and the Ruans stole it from us in the most cruel way one could imagine. I simply want what's rightfully mine."
Aideen lowered her head again, a shadow of doubt overcoming her face. Although the royal family never treated her as their equal, and she was a princess only in title, she still couldn't help but feel conflicted about going against them.
It wasn't just the relentless mixture of conflicting emotions that made her feel as if her entire being was shrinking; going against the royal family was way too risky, and she couldn't see how the duke, who wore that title without any real meaning attached to it, could succeed without substantial help.
Seeing the princess's worried expression, Tillian decided to add,
"I understand that this is not something you hear every day, and as a member of the current ruling family, you must be feeling entirely lost and confused. Additionally, I am aware that telling you something this audacious is akin to confessing to planning to commit treason, however––"
"Very well."
The man arched his rye-colored eyebrows in surprise as Aideen's interjection caught him off-guard. The lady pressed on,
"Alright. I still don't understand how exactly I can be of any help here, but if it is indeed something I am capable of, I will help you, Your Grace."
"You will?"
Tillian's shocked voice rose in volume once more.
"You will?!"
Ahspid rounded his excited purple eyes and repeated the same question in an unfittingly cheerful tone.
Unbothered, Aideen carefully nodded and added,
"I… was never a part of that family. I was never a part of anything, really. I was nothing. But if I can become something and have a purpose in life, I would like to take this chance. I have nothing to lose anyway."
She wasn't sure if this unexpected courage was simply her going mad after years of physical and emotional abuse or Prince Valon's continuous experiments on her when she was younger. Perhaps this surge of courageous feelings was a result of the mage's words about the possibility of her being special getting in her head.
Either way, she felt strangely liberated. She wanted to give it a try.
If the only way for Aideen to become "somebody" was to stay by Tillian's side, then she would not mind adopting the role of another "Mad Dog" herself.
Overwhelmed with emotions, Ahspid rose to his feet again and began clapping while the duke still struggled to accept the princess's decision.
All of a sudden, Aideen leaned over the table once more, her eyes emptily fixing on Tillian's face, and exclaimed,
"But, Your Grace! How are we to get married? As a royal princess, I cannot get divorced. For me to be able to get married again, my current husband has to die!"
Hearing her utter those words had an unusual effect on Tillian. Leaning back in his chair, he crossed his strong arms in front of his chest, curled his lips into a grin, and said in a calm, yet cold voice,
"Oh yes. I am aware of that."