Saved By The Mad Duke
Chapter 171: Falling Apart

Chapter 171: Falling Apart

It had been three weeks since Aideen’s powers were sealed and Ahspid secretly left the castle in the middle of the night. Safie, the only person who saw him leave, did not confess to anyone that she saw him; something deep inside her heart urged her to respect the man’s decision, no matter how obnoxious or troublesome he had been during the time he spent with them.

Although Tillian sent out his knights to search for him, the mage was never found, and they could only hope that he reached his desired destination and was not buried under the snow or torn apart by the wandering beasts.

To the duke, much like to everybody else in the castle, Ahspid’s decision seemed inconsiderate and selfish, after all, he was the princess’s trusted teacher, someone who could have helped her cope with the loss of her powers, offered a valuable piece of advice or simple moral support during such trying times.

But he still chose to disappear, leaving nothing but a small ring as the only thing to remember him by.

Now, that ring was secured on Aideen’s finger and she refused to let go of it regardless of the occasion.

"Silly old man," Bella continued to lament over and over, "How could he do something like that? Her Grace is falling apart and I refuse to believe that his decision to leave had nothing to do with it."

The maid was right, Lady Valentine was indeed falling apart.

Every single day, without a change, she spent most of her time in bed, half-asleep, half-awake, her face always turned away from those who wished to look at her, her voice––a mere whisper whenever she was in the mood to speak.

The princess refused to leave the bedroom and barely touched the food that was diligently brought to her every four hours. Bella couldn’t simply lose hope, she was convinced that at some point, the nice smell of the delicious meals cooked by Martin would finally make her feel a little better and promote her appetite.

Unfortunately, most of the meals were wasted.

Aideen kept repeating that the reason for her lethargic state was simply the weakness of her body but Tillian knew that it was a lie. Every time he left the bedroom, he didn’t rush to step back inside when he returned. He stood behind the closed door and listened to his wife weeping, grieving for the loss of both her powers and a dear friend.

It was breaking his heart into a million pieces each time, but no matter how hard he tried, no matter what he said or did, nothing seemed to alleviate that pain. In the end, all he could do was stand there quietly and wait for her to stop.

"Allow her some time to grieve, Your Grace. Heartbreaks come in all shapes, unfortunately, there is yet to be a cure for at least one of them. The only known medicine for sorrow is time. She needs to come to terms with the new reality and you just have to make sure she knows that no matter how much she distances herself out of grief, you are still there when she finally wants to come back."

Everyone around Duke Valentine continued to repeat the same words––his wife needed time and he had to wait. And although he couldn’t admit to others that he, too, was dying on the inside, Tillian’s only choice was to listen to their advice and wait as long as it was needed.

’I have no other option but to trust their judgment,’ he thought repeatedly, "I have never experienced this before; I could never imagine that someone could be this broken, and the mere fact that this is the person I love is shattering my heart too. I feel helpless and lost. I can only pray the heartache Aideen experiences will one day just magically disappear.’

***

Tillian set aside the last signed document, closed his eyes, and rubbed his burning eyelids. It was yet another weekend that he had to spend in the confines of his study, buried underneath the neverending amount of work.

He got up before Aideen was awake in the morning and came back long after she was asleep late at night. And sometimes, the amount of work combined with the overwhelming physical exhaustion stemming from his emotional distress, weighed massively on his body, and he often found himself fast asleep in the chair behind his desk.

Truthfully, he didn’t mind this much work. It kept him from thinking about Aideen’s suffering and diverted his attention from his own heartache. He knew it was selfish to even harbor such thoughts, but he couldn’t help it. At least one of them had to remain strong for the sake of others.

As he moved his tired red eyes towards the round clock on the opposite wall, he noticed that the time was long after midnight and even the candles on the desk lit by Stanis were now almost gone.

"I need to get some proper sleep, I cannot keep going like this."

Rising to his feet, the man let out a long, tired sigh and staggered, slowly making his way towards the door with heavy footsteps. As he finally stepped inside the bedroom, he instantly stopped, his eyes widening at the sight of his bed being empty. His wife was gone.

"Aideen?"

He marched to the bed, his heart drumming inside his chest, but the moment his eyes lay on the empty spot left by the princess, he finally realized what happened––she was taking a bath.

’Her nightgown is here and she left the towels ready... Did she forget about them?’

Picking up the soft, fluffy towels, the duke walked up to the bathroom door and paused, gathering his thoughts. It had been quite some time since he last exchanged more than just a few words with the princess and for some reason, facing her properly again made him unreasonably anxious.

At the same time, he was truly happy that Aideen began to move around their chambers on her own, so regardless of his bubbling emotions, he knew that he had to show her his appreciation for her effort.

Thus, drawing a deep breath to fill his body with a bit more courage, he knocked on the bedroom door, and said,

"Aideen? May I come in?"

And after a few, seemingly endless moments of silence, she finally replied,

"...Yes."