After two hours of chatting, Anneliese left her Mother's room with a contented smile.

Genevieve was overjoyed to be back home, but in her heart was worry.

She waited, and waited, and waited for Preminger to show up, but he didn't.

The Queen went to bed with a worried thought.

The empty stead beside her made a small tear drop from her eye.

"Oh Preminger, where are you?" Genevieve whispered, and fell asleep.


When the Queen woke up in the morning, she was still alone in the bed.

After she got dressed, she noticed her husband on the couch.

Genevieve moved closer to him and said, "Preminger, I need to talk to you."

"No, I don't want to talk to you," Preminger said and stood up to leave.

"Please don't run away again," Genevieve begged, but Preminger started to walk away.

"You're acting like a child!" the Queen burst out angrily.

"Says who?" Preminger said back after turning to face his wife. "A woman who cheats her own husband."

"I didn't cheat..."

"Enough of your lies!" Preminger almost shouted and was about to turn around again.

"Don't you dare to turn your back on me," Genevieve said in a warning tone and stood up.

She took a few determined steps towards her husband, but then stopped, realizing what she was doing.

"You... You were pretending?!" Preminger said in disbelief.

"No, I wasn't," Genevieve assured him. "I had no idea..."

"You were!" Preminger accused and turned to leave.

"Preminger, you have to listen to me. I didn't... Preminger!"

The King rushed out of the room.

Genevieve ran after him, but Preminger shut the door before her.

The Queen leaned against the door and said quietly, "Preminger, please!"

But when all she got as reply was the sound of leaving footsteps, Genevieve burst into tears and buried her face in her hands.

Her legs were hurting, but she didn't care about it.

Because her heart was hurting even more.


Genevieve entered the dining room with the aid of a walking stick.

The two Princesses turned to look at her in surprise.

"Mother?" Anneliese said. "You can walk?!"

"I wasn't pretending," the Queen quickly said.

"I didn't mean that," the Princess said in an apologizing tone.

"I know," Genevieve sighed. "I'm sorry."

"What's wrong?" Adella asked, noticing the Queen's sorrowful voice.

"It's nothing, I just... I had a quarrel with Preminger," Genevieve answered and sat down.

The Princesses looked at each other in confusion and then turned to look back at the Queen.

"I was hoping to find him here," Genevieve added. "But I guess I was wrong."

"He came here for a moment," Adella said.

"He took only one apple and left," Anneliese finished.

"Do you have any idea where he might have gone?" Genevieve asked with a growing hope.

"No, he didn't say anything," Adella said.

"Oh, okay then," the Queen said quietly.