A girl approached the castle. A girl with hair as black as the feathers of a raven and eyes like sapphires. She held the hand of another girl with grass green eyes and hair that seemed to be spun out of gold.

Guards notified maids, maids notified servants, servants notified advisors and advisors notified the king and queen. A girl matching the description of the princess and a girl matching the description of the squire were approaching the castle together.

The king and queen were ecstatic. They embraced one another for the very first time and ran to the foyer of the castle hand in hand.

On a floor that looked more like a chessboard than anything else, empty, gleaming suits of armor waited for the girls as the heavy oak doors of the castle opened wide. The announcer - who usually notified the residents of the castle of royal visitors - hesitated briefly, but blew on his bugle nonetheless.

The girl with the golden hair released the hand of the girl with the raven hair as they approached the grand staircase. The girl with the raven hair strode ahead with a prideful posture. Head up high, chest forward. She halted in front of the grand staircase as the king and queen stumbled down.

The queen’s mascara had run down her cheeks and her rouge was now more applied to the king’s coat than to anything else. Their hairpieces were a mess and both had deep bags of sleeplessness under their eyes. When their gaze fell on the girl at the bottom step, they stopped where they stood. Their breaths caught in their throats and the king sobbed.

“Mother, father…”

“Tiffany!” the king and queen cried. The two ran down the rest of the way and scooped the girl into their arms.

“Tiffany, oh my baby, you’re home,” the queen cried.

“Do you have any idea how nervous we were?” the king demanded?

Tiffany frowned and looked at Noah - who firmly stayed where she was - for an escape, but the squire shook her head.

“Mother, father. Listen. I wasn’t abducted. There wasn’t any threat. I just needed some time on my own.

“But the note?” asked the king.

“How?” asked the queen.

“I wrote the note myself, father. And how I left the castle doesn’t matter. What matters is that I’m home.”

The queen wiped a tear from her eyes. “Yes. Of course. Exactly.”

“Safe and sound,” the princess added.

The king pulled back to get a better look at her. “Yes, you are. A bid filthy, but nothing a bath won’t fix.”

Tiffany sighed. “Noah, please help me out here?”

Noah cleared her throat. “Ahem. ‘The one who returns Princess Tiffany to us safe and sound, may wish for one thing, anything at all, and we shall do everything in our power to grant it.’”

The king and queen exchanged a glance.

“Thank you, Noah. Now, I believe I’m officially the one who returned Princess Tiffany to you safe and sound.”

“Yes…” they said in unison, anticipating what Tiffany was about to say.

“May I make my wish?”

There was a moment of hesitation. No one in the room dared to breathe in fear of what was about to happen. The king and queen for the wish Tiffany would make, Tiffany and Noah for rejection.

“Yes,” the king said finally.

A sigh of relief escaped the princess. Tiffany’s gaze fell on Noah, who nodded in encouragement. “I wish that you give me the right to decide who I love and who I marry.”

The king and queen were silent.

*

A few hours later, the people of the kingdom were gathered around the wooden podium in the courtyard of the castle again. The afternoon sun bathed the square in golden sunshine.

Eugene, who really preferred to not be in such a big crowd - or any crowd at all - watched the proceedings from his window as James accompanied him. His chin rested in his hand and he smiled with the sun on his face. He knew what was going to happen, and he felt immensely lighter for it.

The people below speculated loudly about why the king and queen had sent for them again so soon. “I’m sure the princess has been found,” the baker at the front of the crowd said.

“No, she ran away! There’s no way kidnappers would have such a neat handwriting,” the brewster next to him insisted. “Wanna bet for five gold pieces?”

“Sure, I wouldn’t mind winning some gold pieces,” the hunter behind them said. “Why would such a lass run away from home? She must have anything her little heart could desire.”

“Better yet, how would she get out? I mean, with all of those guards, surely someone would have noticed if she tried to sneak out?” the baker asked.

The brewster folded her arms and stuck her nose high in the air. If it was up to her, this conversation was over.

The rest of the crowd quieted down as well when the princess took the stage, followed by the king and queen, followed by the squire.

This time, the princess took the front of the stage and unrolled a small scroll she held in her hand. She took a deep breath and spoke:

“Dear people of Capturia, I have a confession to make. I never was abducted. I ran away from home.”