Saved By The Mad Duke
Chapter 71: Awkward Handwriting

Chapter 71: Awkward Handwriting

’What’s with all this commotion? The castle seems unusually busy today.’

Aideen peeked out of her bedroom, bothered by the continuous footsteps echoing through the usually empty and quiet castle hallways. She was used to the lazy and peaceful atmosphere, especially during the weekdays when both the Duke and his order of knights were out on patrol, however, today, although it was only Tuesday, the castle seemed to be full of life.

"Safie, please go to Martin and give him the list of dishes he needs to prepare for the evening. What a disaster! I cannot believe His Grace did not warn us about their arrival, and now he wants a whole feast for dinner!"

Bella’s irritated tone bounced off the corridor walls as she and her friend marched forward, their heads filled with a long list of responsibilities that suddenly sprang on them.

’Their arrival? A feast?’

The princess finally stepped out of her room, standing in the way of the maids, and asked, her voice filled with soaring curiosity,

"Bella? Is something the matter?"

"Oh, Your Highness! I assume he hasn’t informed you as well, how typical!"

The maids paused in their tracks and greeted their lady. Bella took a deep breath, letting her body catch a little break from all the running around she had been doing since early morning, and continued,

"We are having guests today, My Lady. From the Capital."

"From the Capital?!" Aideen nearly shouted these words, utterly shocked by the maid’s response but Safie stepped in, offering some consolation as she explained,

"Goodness, Bella, you are scaring Her Highness! They are not nobles, My Lady, they are mercenaries! From the Black Flame Guild!"

"Oh..."

The younger maid’s words seemed to have indeed calmed the princess’s stirred emotions but she was still both very curious and confused.

"Why are they here? Did something happen? I know Sir Stanis is their leader, is he needed back in the Capital?"

Bella shook her head, seemingly disproving her lady’s assumption.

"To tell you the truth, Your Highness, we have no idea why they are here. There are only five of them from what we’ve gathered but they’ve arrived with a rather large carriage. We are very confused and a little bit concerned since nobody comes here with carriages unless they are His Grace’s traders..."

The maid wanted to continue but Safie gingerly shook her head and placed her index finger against her lips, signaling for the woman to stop talking. In her eyes, the princess already looked bothered and worried enough, and Bella’s uncontrolled lament only made their lady look even more distressed.

Accepting her friend’s silent warning, the first maid released a tired sigh, and nodded,

"Well, we can only wait for the lord of the castle to provide us with a proper explanation himself. I’m sure it’s nothing serious, Your Highness, so please resume your usual activities and let us know if you need anything."

"Alright, thank you."

Both maids offered their lady a brief bow and rushed away, returning to their busy schedule. Aideen waited for them to disappear behind the corner, then, too, released a long, slightly disappointed sigh, and went back to her room, closing the door behind her.

Returning back to her small wooden desk which Bella moved closer to the fireplace as the princess was now using it quite often, the woman could not help but contemplate the maids’ words some more.

’Although I don’t know how Tillian works with the Black Flame Guild, I still can’t help but feel anxious. Bella said they’ve come with a carriage and they have never done that before, so what does it mean?’

All kinds of frantic thoughts attacked her already restless brain and the princess had to make a mental effort in order to quell another surge of anxiety, redirecting her mind to something else, something more pleasant.

Picking up a light quill magically enhanced by Ahspid to endure her tight grip, Aideen dipped its tip into the ink bottle and tried to focus once again.

Before she ventured out to the hallway, attracted by the surprising level of commotion, the lady was busy practicing her writing; and although it was an important and admirable task, the writing she was actually perfecting was hidden from others because Aideen was somewhat embarrassed by it.

’Alright, one more time... It starts with the capital T...’

Pressing the quill lightly against the surface of a new sheet of paper, the princess felt her entire body tensing up as she resumed her practice.

Today, she asked the mage to allow her a whole day of rest from their usual lessons, convincing him that she needed more time to practice writing. Her winning argument was that she did not want to lose momentum and the man, not really driven by motivation to teach daily in the first place, gladly agreed to such a sudden change of plans.

And while Aideen indeed had already spent many hours covering countless sheets of paper with ink, she could not help but feel guilty as the only thing she was perfecting was the outline of Tillian’s name.

Once she finished writing the final letter of the Duke’s name, the princess carefully placed her ink-stained hand on top of the page, infusing the writing with her mana, and when the letters became palpable, she furrowed her thin, elegant eyebrows, and sighed, shaking her head in dissatisfaction.

"Still not good enough. Unlike Ahspid’s, my handwriting seems too awkward. I don’t mind it for everything else, but his name must be written in perfect lettering. I need to work harder, I need to practice more!"

With a confident and determined nod, the lady picked up her quill again, prepared to continue when the door to her bedroom called out for her attention with a loud knock.

"Your Highness? May I come in?"

’Tillian?!’

Startled, Aideen jumped to her feet, nearly knocking over the desk. Moving frantically and anxiously, she started gathering the scattered sheets of paper, desperately trying to hide their contents while the strong blush of embarrassment had already made its way to her neck, cheeks, and ears.

At last, once she ensured that the results of her writing practice would not betray her real feelings, the young woman hastily wiped her dirty hands with one of the handkerchiefs she had prepared exactly for such purpose, then fixed her appearance, cleared her throat, and finally responded,

"Yes... Please come in, Your Grace!"