Saved By The Mad Duke
Chapter 69: A Bittersweet Lullaby

Chapter 69: A Bittersweet Lullaby

At that moment, it seemed that only the two of them existed in the world. Everything around them fell both silent and still, and even the flow of time became irrelevant.

Lying on top of the Duke, Aideen’s face was dangerously close to his but it remained unmovable as if the princess, too, froze on the spot.

As Tillian carefully observed the lady’s face, he could not help but marvel at her breathtaking beauty. Smooth, pale skin with a light tint of blush caused by the tingling touch of cold air; full, reddish lips, slightly parted as if desperate to say something important; perfectly shaped nose, a pair of big green eyes with a strong yellow glow shining down on him like two magical gems; and a frame of long wavy locks that were falling on his shoulders, reflecting the bright silver moonlight with a peculiar shade of both purple and red.

He was scared to move or even blink––the mere thought of losing sight of the woman before him even for a second seemed unbearable to him.

He felt lost in that powerful beauty. He felt bewitched.

His arms twitched, aching to pull Aideen into an embrace, yet Duke Valentine resisted, not wanting to disrupt the fragile magic of the moment.

Amidst the stillness, Aideen felt a rush of shyness. The intimate situation born from a minor mishap stirred conflicting emotions within her towards the Duke. She became acutely aware of his breathing that was now so tenderly brushing over the skin of her face, the pleasant musky scent that surrounded him and latched onto her clothes and hair, and even his distant heartbeat, carefully secured behind the layers of clothing. Strangely, she found great comfort in his arms as if they shared a unique and unspoken connection, known to nobody else but them.

Pulled to one another by invisible powers, the couple remained frozen, their minds completely blank, caught in a moment that seemed to transcend the boundaries of their roles. However, the magical spell was broken when the dogs, the same guilty party that caused such magic to happen, approached their owner and started barking, fearing that he and the princess were in distress.

Tillian, suddenly breaking free from the enchantment, finally blinked, carefully placed his hands on the princess’s waist, and silently helped Aideen to her feet, and once they both were standing tall once again, he looked the lady up and down, a strong concern etched on his face, and finally asked, surprisingly coldly,

"Are you alright, Your Highness?"

Shaking off the last remnants of that bizarre moment, the woman nodded and suggested,

"Yes... Thank you, Your Grace, you prevented me from getting hurt."

Unexpectedly self-aware, she then quickly turned away from the Duke, and added,

"I should head back inside, it’s getting rather cold."

Without allowing the man a chance to answer, Aideen practically ran back towards the castle’s entrance, leaving Tillian and his perplexed dogs standing alone under the bright moonlight.

Silently agreeing to the princess’s remark about the weather, though he himself felt an unexpected warmth, Duke Valentine spent several minutes simply staring at the closed door to his castle. Then, he released a disappointed sigh, looked down at the Dobermans, and muttered,

"And how are we going to rectify it this time, fellas?"

***

Back in her room, Aideen dropped her coat on the floor, carefully closed the door behind her, and leaned against it, letting the pleasant coolness of its wooden surface seep through her dress.

Her heart raced, its deafening drumroll exploded in her ears with what seemed like dozens of thunderstrikes per second. Placing her cold, trembling hand against her chest, the princess closed her eyes and took a deep breath, desperate to pacify her messy emotional state.

A wild hurricane of feelings raged inside her heart and she had no other choice but to admit to herself that she was growing attracted to the Duke.

’What a bizarre feeling... I have never even dreamed of having such strong emotions, yet here I am, utterly lost.’

Aideen was still a stranger to love. She had never been loved and that made her believe that she, too, could not offer love to people around her. She simply did not know how. But Tillian was different. Time and time again, he continued to make her experience feelings and emotions she never dared to have, and the woman had to admit that she found nothing wrong with it.

On the contrary, if she indeed could offer love to others, she wanted Tillian to be the first one to receive her love.

However, the complexity of their situation and the unorthodox nature of their relationship cast doubt on the possibility of nurturing deeper feelings.

’He treats me with such kindness and care, it’s only natural I feel this way about him. They say that parched dogs follow those who offer them water, perhaps this is who I am, too. A lonely creature starving for affection. So am I allowed to be so selfish and love him anyway? I will be quiet, I will love him on my own, I can do that, right?’

Slowly and with somewhat heavy steps, Aideen approached her bed and fell on top of it, allowing the softness of the blankets to embrace her and relieve her of her tiredness and stress.

As she hugged one of her pillows, the princess fell into a whirlwind of more conflicting thoughts. Subtle, almost elusive visions of Tillian danced through her restless mind. Going back to that magical moment again, she recalled the warmth of his arms, his cozy scent, his rhythmic heartbeat that seemed to echo her own, and his shallow breathing that lingered on her skin even minutes after their separation.

All these emotional recollections turned into a bittersweet lullaby that embraced Aideen in its serene yet powerful web, and before she could realize it, the lady finally let go of the heaviness that trapped her tired body and drifted into the calm and much-needed slumber.

That night, her dreams, usually so empty, welcomed the man who had already so shamelessly taken root inside her heart.