Chapter 61: The White Puppy
"I beg your pardon? Lord Wiggles and Lord Giggles?"
A blend of both curiosity and bewilderment froze on Aideen’s beautiful face while the Duke’s study fell completely silent. The awkward stillness that stretched between them after Tillian finally uttered the dogs’ names was overwhelming, and the two of them understood it very well.
Once it finally sank into her brain completely, the princess’s lips tried to curl into a smile, but she had to make an enormous effort to hold back any display of joyous emotions just to spare the Duke any further awkwardness. Duke Valentine, however, still noticed her emotions and could not help but release an embarrassed sigh as he tried to explain,
"Well... It was Bella who gave them these names; I never really cared. When I first brought them to the castle, I called them Dog One and Dog Two for almost a month, and they did not seem to mind either."
’Dog One and Dog Two? That is so ridiculous...’
Aideen suppressed another wide smile while Tillian continued,
"At some point, Bella insisted on giving them proper names but since I did not care enough to come up with any, she took it upon herself to name them in my stead... That is how they got their names. Lord Wiggles is the one with a little silver bone on his collar and Lord Giggles is the one with the medallion shaped like a dog’s head."
The princess covered her mouth with her right hand and coughed a few times to prevent a hearty chuckle from escaping her lips, then made another effort to compose herself, and finally asked,
"Why do they have different medallions on their collars?"
The Duke could only shrug his shoulders.
"The blacksmith made them per Bella’s request and then they each chose the one they liked themselves. They have been wearing them ever since."