I made the trek from the gazebo to my uncle's office. Over these months, I slowly memorized the entire house and all of its maze-like corridors.

I knocked a couple of times on the large oak door and waited. After a few moment's it swung open and someone stepped out. A strange-looking man with an even stranger expression on his face.

"Princess Ethel." The man nodded, and I looked at him curiously. His light blue eyes trailed over my face slowly, and I felt like an exhibit on display. There was something in his gaze that made me uncomfortable.

He had light-colored hair that swooped over his head in a...