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 hits the mark.

　　However, the animals I caught were smaller ones. I needed to catch the bigger ones, so I could flaunt them in front of my stupid brothers, whose faces will have nothing but jealousy on them.

　　"Come on, boy." I pat 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 was.

　　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 her, it was total darkness.

　　"Let's get out of here, Starlight." I tried to steer the horse towards 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 the gods," I clutched to it as I made my way towards the light I saw in the distance.

　　The more I walked towards 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.

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

　　Everything that's happening is 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 has never been this dark.

　　I kept on walking until I saw a light in the distance. It was like a breath of fresh air.

　　I hastily walked towards the light. Blindly, I escaped, hitting my head on a tree right in front of me.

　　It was a tricky thing to do, but at last, I managed to leave the forest without hitting my head on a tree.

　　"Finally!" I sighed heavily as I approached the light that got brighter the more I got near.

　　Close to it, I discovered the light was coming from a house. And the closer I got, the more I discovered it was a castle.

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

　　"What's a castle doing in the forest?" I wondered as I approached the great gates of the palace.

　　It was dark out here, so I had to touch the iron gates before I was able to find the entrance of the gate. 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 if the occupants of the palace had 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 will 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 can 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 towards 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 it.

　　"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 I knocked 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 the door.

　　The heavy oak door opened with a noisy sound. It sounded as if the door hasn'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."