Saved By The Mad Duke
Chapter 102: Vision Exchange

Chapter 102: Vision Exchange

Completely caught off-guard, King Yuraon jumped to his feet, instantly abandoning his previous engagement which, apparently, was reading a book while snacking on tiny cookies that were also favored by Safie.

Widening his eyes, the young man wiped the crumbs off his face, his voice genuinely bewildered as he asked,

"Excuse me? Whatever do you mean?"

No less flustered and frustrated, Aideen tried to pull Ahspid behind her back, offering the King an apologetic bow,

"Forgive me, Your Majesty, I could not stop him! You might not know this but Ahspid is quite a character and does these things all the––"

She could not finish her apology as the mage covered her mouth with his gloved hand and hugged her from behind, restricting her movements while he chimed in,

"No more nonsense, My Lady! Your Majesty!" He offered the king a wide grin and continued,

"Your help is urgently needed in Her Highness’s magic lessons! And since we are obviously not interrupting anything important," he moved his eyes to the leftover crumbs around the King’s mouth, concluding, "we might as well engage you in something useful for now."

"Is that so?"

Yuraon expressed unexpected interest in the unfolding events, his face beaming with genuine excitement of a bored child who was finally invited to join some fun activities. Walking up to the newly arrived pair, he nodded,

"It will be my honor, truly!"

Unwilling to tolerate such audacity any longer, the princess bit Ahspid’s hand which made him immediately pull it away, and almost shouted,

"This is not true! Ahspid, how dare you deceive His Royal Majesty? I simply need to touch his skin to see if I can discern something extraordinary about his tattoos again!"

Yuraon arched his dark eyebrows for a second, then stretched his lips into a wide grin and started taking his loose black shirt off, his glowing blue eyes still firmly fixed on the flustered lady.

"Well, if you simply must, then who am I to say no to the lady of the castle?"

The mage released a weary sigh and shook his head disapprovingly, briskly positioning himself between Aideen and the young King.

"There is absolutely no deceit, Your Highness. This indeed will serve as a helpful practice for your ability to control the mana flow."

With the lack of trust still harbored within her, the woman raised her eyebrows, her voice undeterred,

"What do you have in mind?"

"I want you to channel your magic vision through your mana into me. This will allow me to see exactly what you see, My Lady."

Now, the princess was overcome with curiosity.

"Is this even possible? I’ve never heard or read about anything like this before."

Ahspid’s response, however, was completely opposite of what she hoped for. Shrugging his shoulders, he answered rather playfully,

"I have no idea, Your Highness, but it will not hurt to try!"

Aideen offered him a disappointed look but had to think twice before rejecting his idea.

’If something like this is indeed possible, then Ahspid can verify my assumption, and that already will be a big step forward. He is right, it will not hurt. It’s a learning process, after all.’

Stepping away from the mage, the lady looked Yuraon in the eyes and ordered,

"Your Majesty, please remove your shirt. There is something truly important we must do."

Curling his lips into another wide smile, the young King nodded and started unbuttoning his shirt,

"Your wish is my command, My Lady."

Once he removed his shirt, exposing his strong upper body, Aideen suddenly felt embarrassed as the fresh memories of their last encounter resurfaced in her mind. She hesitated to proceed and Yuraon noticed it.

Slowly, he took a big step closer to her, closing the gap between them, then gently took her hand in his and brought it closer to his chest, offering her some verbal reassurance,

"Do not worry, My Lady. Think of me as an inanimate object and just do what you have to do."

Ahspid, too, rushed to assist.

"Yes, this is exactly what you have to do, Your Highness! Just think of him as a sheet of paper or a page from a book and simply read it! Let whatever you see carve into your memory and save it there for me!"

"Alright..."

Aideen nodded and carefully placed her hand on the King’s exposed chest, closing her eyes tightly, mentally preparing herself for another wave of unpleasant sensations that were already familiar to her.

And she was right to do that.

The moment her skin made contact with Yuraon’s the past experience repeated itself. However, while her mana began to flow within every shape of his tattoos, unlike the last time, the visions she received were more prominent and clear; and unlike the last time, every single runic writing was written in that unfamiliar burning color.

When the princess made sure her magic vision captured everything she could, she withdrew her hand, feeling its skin tingling with the painful burning sensations as if she had just touched a boiling teapot.

Taking a deep breath in to calm her emotions, she turned back to Ahspid and whispered,

"I think I got it... I think I got everything."

"Very well."

The mage, too, came closer to Aideen, then took the same hand she used to touch Yuraon’s skin with and continued,

"Now, focus on what you have just seen, Your Highness. This will feel like... Well, like mana exchange. I will channel my mana into your hand while you will have to treat your hand as a canvas and draw or write everything that you’ve seen exactly as you’ve seen it. Down to every single detail and sensation. Can you do this?"

The woman nodded in agreement. Satisfied with that short confirmation, Ahspid removed the glove from his right hand and commanded,

"Very well. Let’s begin."

The moment he uttered these words, Aideen felt something bizarre touching the skin of her palm. It was something refreshing yet unsettling; familiar yet indescribable. Just like Ahspid himself, his mana was extraordinary.

And thus, the princess followed his instructions. Carefully and with enormous precision, she began to mentally outline everything she saw and felt, struggling to leave no details left forgotten.

This, however, proved to be harder than she had expected.

Not only was it mentally challenging to both use her mana and mentally write and draw the elements of Yuraon’s tattoos, but it was also physically draining as every single rune she repeated insisted on burning itself into every fiber of her being.

’She is handling it better than I expected but she has to stay strong till the end. I won’t be able to see anything unless she gives everything to me. I believe in you, princess.’

Ahspid patiently watched as Aideen struggled, admitting that her dedication and strength were more than simply outstanding.

King Yuraon, too, noticed the lady’s struggle but was too scared to intervene.

At last, after what seemed like hours of exhausting work, the princess opened her eyes and offered the mage a faint smile.

"Well, this is it. It was the last one."

With that, she closed her eyes again and fell on the floor.