Chapter 3

For an hour or so, things moved in the right fashion.

Catching preys weren’t difficult for me. I only had to use my arrow once, and it hit the mark.

However, the animals I caught were small ones.

I needed to catch the bigger ones, so I could flaunt them in front of my stupid brothers, whose faces would have nothing but jealousy.

“Come on, boy.” I petted Starlight. “Let’s go deeper. The predators have gone into hiding. I think we need to seek them out.”

Starlight neighed, and off we went. He was faster and eager, just like I am.

The deeper we went into the forest, the darker it became, until I was unable to see anything in front of me.

“What’s going on?” I turned around. Sure enough, in a distance, the sky was bright. However, around me, it was total darkness.

“Let’s get out of here, Starlight.” I tried to steer the horse toward the place the light was coming from.

But he neighed, rose high in the air, and threw me down from his back.

I could hear his hooves as he galloped out of the place.

“Starlight!” I called out to him, but I heard no sound from him.

The entire place was quiet. There was no other sound aside from that of my heavy breathing.

“Starlight!” I called out to him as I blindly touched the ground.

I stood up from the ground and blindly dusted my butt.

“Starlight!” I called out once more, but there was no sound.

My feet hit something, and when I felt the ground, I discovered it was my bow.

“Thank gods,” I clutched to it as I made my way toward the light I saw in the distance.

The more I walked toward the light, the farther it became until I was fully engulfed in the dark.

“What’s going on?” I turned around, yet I wasn’t able to make out anything. I couldn’t even see my hands.

Everything that was happening was strange. I’ve been to this forest before, but never have I encountered such a strange thing as this. Never have I been in this kind of predicament before. Even on the nights I spent alone here, it had never been this dark.

Blindly, I walked, with my hands and the bows outstretched, to prevent myself from hitting my head on a tree mistakenly.

At last, I managed to leave the forest.

“Thank gods,” I sighed heavily as I approached the light that got brighter the nearer I got.

Close to it, I discovered the light was coming from a house. And when I got close enough, I discovered it was a castle.

The light I saw was coming from three of the windows of the castle.

“What’s a castle doing in the forest?” I wondered as I approached the great gates of the castle.

It was dark out here, so I had to touch the iron gates before I was able to find the entrance. It wasn’t locked like I thought it was, so I was able I slip in.

“Hello?” I called out but got no reply.

The place was silent. There was no one in the dark courtyard.

“Hello?” I called out once more as I walked closer to the palace.

There was no one around. The large compound only had the palace looming up ahead, with no sign of people around.

“Hello?” I called out once more as I glanced around.

The entire place was so silent it caused me to shiver.

However, as the fearless princess, I was, the silence did not deter me.

Who knows, the occupants of the palace have gone to sleep. Or they are probably in that room with the lights on.

“Hello?” I called out as I walked to the door, half hoping the butler would come and open the door at the sound of my voice.

Yet, as I continued further, I saw no one around, and neither did I hear a sound.

Aside from the sounds of my footsteps, there were no other sounds to be heard. It was as if I was the only one around here.

Who am I kidding?

I’m the only one around here.

There were no guards around. Not even the busy sounds of maids walking around could be heard. The entire place was as silent as a graveyard.

Yikes.

Why am I thinking of a grave in this situation?

I glanced around the place before I hastened toward the door.

The crunching of leaves under my feet made me frown.

However, I didn’t allow myself to dwell further in the thoughts of why there were leaves in a supposed palace.

I reached the doors and knocked on the door.

“Hello?” I moved to the side to prevent being banged on the face with the door.

“Hello?” I knocked on the door once more. This time, I made sure to knock so loudly for them to hear me out.

“Hello?” I called out when I didn’t hear any response.

The entire place was still silent, and there was no sign of people around.

I knocked on the door once more before I mistakenly pushed on the door.

The heavy oak door opened with a noisy sound. It sounded as if the door hadn’t been opened for ages.

“Hello?” I called out, even with the opened door.

The inside was as silent as the outside. However, unlike the outside, there was a dim light coming from somewhere in the palace.

“Who’s here? Hello? I lost my way while hunting in the forest, can I spend the night here? It’s okay if you don’t want me to. I’m just a lost princess searching for a place to keep her head until the morning.”