Saved By The Mad Duke
Chapter 33: Forgotten Towels

Chapter 33: Forgotten Towels

"Excuse me?!"

Both Aideen and Tillian exclaimed in frustration at the same time, as the housekeeper’s statement did not seem quite right, and they hoped that they simply heard him wrong. The old man was bewildered by their reaction just as much.

"These quarters are not provided with enough staff to maintain accommodations for two people at the same time. I was instructed to prepare only one bedroom for tonight, and this is it. You are to share one bathroom too. I apologize, but these are Her Majesty’s orders. I was told that since you are to be married in the future anyway, it should not be an issue."

"But this is preposterous!" The Duke took another step towards the housekeeper and continued in a somewhat angry tone, "Even the traditions and common courtesy aside, how can we both share this bed? It is only big enough for one person!"

The silver-haired man only shrugged his shoulders, offered Tillian a stack of clean towels, and concluded,

"I am sorry, Your Grace, but there is nothing I can do. The room you were previously staying in is now locked, and your things were moved here as well. I would advise you not to waste your time on needless arguments and proceed to take your bath as the water gets cold here very fast. Now, please excuse me, but my working hours are about to be over. Have a good night."

The housekeeper bowed lightly to both the Duke and the princess and left the room, unwilling to allow any more room for further discussion of their unexpected living situation.

Tillian turned around to face Aideen but could not utter a single word. His deep red eyes examined the lady’s confused face, but her silence left him at a loss as well.

Their predicament was not really a problem for him – if needed, he could sleep even with the horses, but he could not afford to do that. After all, this was not a place where Aideen could feel safe, and there was absolutely no way he would leave her here alone, especially at night.

"It is alright, Your Grace," the princess finally started, her voice surprisingly calm, "I understand that you might feel uncomfortable with someone else sleeping near you, but I can promise you I will not make even the slightest noise! And since I am a lot smaller than you, I can sleep in the armchair."

"This is not the issue here... No, I cannot allow you to sleep anywhere but in the bed; that is out of the question! I will sleep on the floor. I am used to sleeping in extreme conditions, so do not worry about me. Now, the housekeeper said the water will get cold soon; you should take a bath first."

He placed the towels next to Aideen and took a step back again. The princess wanted to retort once more, but Tillian’s response sounded a little intimidating to Aideen, so she decided that arguing any longer would only turn the night sour, and she did not want to upset the only person in the entire Capital who was on her side.

It was true that she was feeling awkward and even a little bit scared. Even when she was living in the Count’s mansion, she never shared a bedroom with Lord Constantine. The only time they would share a bed was when he would drag her into his bedroom to rape her and then toss her out like one of his cheap, worthless whores.

The Duke grew somewhat restless as Aideen remained silent for quite some time. He, too, realized that even this kind of a solution was not perfect and was putting the princess in a very uncomfortable position, but he failed to find any other option that would have suited them both.

And just when he was about to try and explain his reason for such an arrangement, Aideen’s pale face suddenly turned pink; she then swiftly rose to her feet and nodded,

"Well, I will take a bath then. I will make sure you have enough hot water for yourself too, Your Grace."

Without hesitation, she tossed the blanket that was still covering her shoulders onto the bed, grabbed the nightgown that was hanging from the doorknob on the door leading to the bathroom, and rushed inside, leaving the Duke in a completely dazed state.

"Oh..." he mumbled under his breath as his red eyes fixed on the bathroom door, "so she was not uncomfortable after all... She was embarrassed. How cute."

Tillian let out a light scoff, revisiting the image of Aideen’s beautiful, blushing face in his newly created memory, then fell onto the bed where the princess was sitting right before she ran away.

"Right, I should probably get my traveling coat from the closet and use it as a blanket. Let’s see..."

He got up from the bed and was about to walk to the closet when a sudden realization dawned on him – Aideen had forgotten to take clean towels to the bathroom!

Indeed, there they were – a stack of towels brought to them by the housekeeper, which the Duke had put on the bed, and the princess successfully concealed them when she nervously threw her blanket on top of them.

"Haa... What should I do? Should I call her in here? But what if she is already in the bathtub? Should I wait for her to call me instead? What if she feels embarrassed again and just stays there in the cold, waiting for her body to dry without a towel? I am sure she is capable of doing so..."

Tillian was grappling with the dilemma of either being a gentleman and ignoring the situation to save Aideen from future embarrassment or being rude and decisive and bringing her the towels, even if it meant the princess being in an awkward position once again.

’Well... I guess I care about her too much to remain a gentleman.’

The man took the towels and walked up to the bathroom door. He knocked several times, but no response followed. Shying away any further inner reluctance, Tillian opened the door with an unexpectedly quiet "Excuse me, Your Highness" and froze in place, his eyes wide open at the shocking sight in front of him.