Saved By The Mad Duke
Chapter 75: Painful History

Chapter 75: Painful History

"What do you mean? Whose daughter is she then?"

Despite the intended sense of reassurance that Ahspid’s words were supposed to deliver, Tillian’s mind was focused on quenching his curiosity and learning the truth.

The magus sized him up with a long stare, contemplating whether or not the Duke deserved to learn the truth that easily, but then only shrugged his shoulders, giving in to his own secret passion for storytelling.

"Well, Your Grace, it depends on what kind of rumors you yourself heard about Queen Consort Yuliana."

Tillian scratched his chin, trying to recollect everything he had ever heard about Aideen’s late mother, then redirected his glowing red eyes back to the mage, and replied,

"Just the filthy gossip of the noble circle... The one that berates the Queen by calling her a whore who seduced a royal knight and dared to let him into her bedroom."

"That is the one, Duke Valentine."

"What?! It cannot be! How dare you confirm this so bluntly!"

With an enormous wave of rage overcoming his entire body, the Duke grabbed Ahspid by the color of his black coat, his glare intensifying with each passing second while the mage’s lips were grinning in an insensitive and rather inappropriate manner as if to mock Tillian’s sincere anger.

Widening his eyes as the new feat of anger took control over him in response to Ahspid’s smiling face, he shouted,

"Is this just a joke to you?! Do you want me to end you here and now for defaming my fiancee’s family?! I can snap your neck like a dry twig!"

"I’m sure you can."

The mage snapped his fingers, sending a bright orange spark between the Duke and him which made Tillian recoil, releasing the man from his tight grip. Fixing his disheveled state, Ahspid shot Tillian an irritated glare, then released a long sigh, and shook his head.

"I would advise you not to let the anger take control over you, Your Grace. Just because you still don’t need my help does not mean you should test your limits."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Duke Valentine grumbled, still struggling to control his anger. Ahspid, however, refused to elaborate and changed the topic of their conversation back to Aideen’s late mother instead.

"This is definitely not a joking matter to me, Your Grace, but unfortunately, the rumors are not that far from the truth. The princess’s real father was indeed a mere royal knight, however, Queen Yuliana had no intentions to either seduce the poor fella or share her bed with him."

Composing his emotions at last, Tillian arched his rye-colored eyebrows, his expression overcome with both curiosity and confusion,

"What happened then? And still, how can people be sure that Aideen is not the King’s daughter? Surely, he shared his bed with Queen Consort as well."

Ahspid shook his head again.

"Queen Fleur was too jealous of Yuliana and did not allow the King to sleep with her. Strangely enough, Euris Ruan actually listened to his wife and never touched Yuliana, he only treated her as his beautiful possession, as something he could parade in front of others. She was, undeniably, a lot more good-looking than Queen Regent."

"Yes... I guess the King is infamous for his unhealthy attraction to beauty... Especially the beauty he cannot have. Just like my mother."

The Duke agreed with the mage’s words and the latter nodded, resuming his story,

"Well, the King’s obsession and Yuliana’s constant presence by his side, made the Queen Consort the center of the Capital’s attention. Everyone was talking about her all the time and this, of course, made Queen Fleur even more jealous of the poor foreign woman. One day, completely by chance, she found out that one of her knights was in love with her––the poor young man was doomed from the start. Fleur, seeing this as a perfect opportunity to get rid of her opponent, hired a witch who put a spell on the knight and he... raped Yuliana. Broke into her bedroom, and assaulted her in the most gruesome manner, almost destroying the innocent woman."

Ahspid paused, allowing the gravity of this part of the narration to dissipate in the air surrounding them. Duke Valentine remained silent as well because neither his heart nor his mind were prepared to handle such a painful revelation.

As the initial tension finally seemed to have dissolved, the magus released another sigh, and added,

"Needless to say that the whole incident was buried under a thick layer of well-crafted lies. The knight was executed in secret, Queen Yuliana was sent to spend the rest of her life confined in her personal quarters under the pretense of being sick and needing some peace and solitude. And when the King learned that she was with a child, Fleur Ruan made everyone believe that it belonged to the King, but when the poor woman died during labor, in order to keep up the appearances and avoid potential conflict with Utar, it was said that the princess, just like her late mother, was born sick and had to remain locked in her own quarters. This is, Your Grace, the real story behind the filthy rumors you hate so much."

Once again, Tillian remained speechless. It was killing him that Aideen’s suffering began way before she was even born, and the source of it was one person’s filthy jealousy and greed.

Running his long fingers through the messy locks of his soft blond hair, the man took a few additional moments to compose his complex feelings before asking once more,

"Does Aideen know the truth?"

Ahspid replied with an affirmative nod,

"While it’s kept secret from others, Queen Fleur would not pass on the opportunity to torment the poor princess, I am sure of that. She failed to get rid of her the way she wanted because of the King’s prudent actions so she definitely wanted to carve this into Aideen’s heart to make sure she would always remember her real place. Which, in her twisted mind, was probably next to her dead mother."

The mage threw a quick glance at the tall flower under which Yuliana’s body was now resting, then turned back to face Tillian, concluding,

"All of this is a part of history now. A painful history, but history nonetheless. I am certain that the princess has already come to terms with it, so what’s needed of you is to make sure the past finally stops haunting her while those who wronged her receive the punishment they deserve. This is all you can do now, Your Grace. And frankly, I think that this is all that she needs to move on."

"You might be right, however," the Duke furrowed his eyebrows, his fists clenched as he tried to hold himself back, "now that I know the truth, I don’t think I can be satisfied with just that. I love Aideen which means I don’t want her to simply forget the pain and move on. I want her to be free. I want her to be happy. So now that my hands are unbound by formalities, I will do anything to make up for all the love and care she had never received. And I will do all I can to create the world in which she will always be safe."

Stretching his lips into a condescending grin, Ahspid nodded and replied in a rather melancholic tone,

"Yes. I hope you will succeed, Your Grace."