The Princess and the Noble's Secret Heart

Previously

…One evening, as I sat drafting a reply, lamenting the tedious preparations for Prince Theron’s upcoming visit, a thought struck me. The Raven had mentioned his own reclusive nature, his preference for the quiet solitude of his studies. He had hinted at a past that was… complicated. The rumors surrounding Lord Valerius, the kingdom’s most renowned scholar, were abundant. He was brilliant, they said, a master of ancient languages and forgotten histories, but also a recluse, rarely seen outside his secluded estate, his family disgraced generations ago for some unspecified treason. Could it be? The raven, a bird of intelligence, of mystery. The open book, a symbol of scholarship.