Hjalfadargs rose early to make last-minute preparations for the Protector's Festival. Villagers were readjusting garlands, cooks were running around the kitchen to make extra servings for particular dishes, and children were ready to run out their doors and play with their friends.

In the castle, Linnea removed the small buns out of Eulianna's chestnut hair which dropped into loose curls. She moved back any loose hairs covering the princess's tan face. For every festival, the royal family would greet the people of Hjalfadargin from the castle's front balcony at midday, wishing everyone a wonderful day and an enjoyable festival. It was nice for the people to see the royals once in a while. Linnea dressed Eulianna in an orange gown and secured the waist tie.

"Lovely!" Linnea put a necklace on Eulianna's neck. A golden chain with a pendant of the Hjalfadarg crest, a dirk sword with the necks of two swans, twisted and intertwined around the blade. One swan was depicted to be a white swan whilst the other was a black swan. Eulianna wasn't really sure what the whole crest meant, but she had her theories. Her first theory was the two swans depicted were the Hjalfadargs who were born here and the Nirhongans who came and became Hjalfardaginans. But that theory was ruled out because the crest was created long before Nirhongans arrived at Hjalfadargin. In fact, it was created by the sister of the fourth ruler of Hjalfadargin, Eulianna's great-great-great-great-great grandmother, Agne, who Eulianna knew as the woman who eloped with the maid instead of marrying the duke she was arranged to be wedded to. The crest was then revamped by the seventh ruler, King Gunnar, a king who was the one who abolished laws of slavery in Hjalfadargin. There's no record or written description of the true meaning of the crest in the castle's library, but she figured at least her aunt would know. But of course, Eulianna had no interest in starting a conversation with that woman.

Eulianna eyed the drawer where she kept the picture of Gobber and the heavy bag of jewellery and gold coins. She started preparing a letter for Ilda which she was planning to give tonight. She was still hesitating whether or not she to go ahead with her plan.

"Alright, princess! You're ready!" Linnea said, tucking Eulianna's hair behind her ear and placing a gold tiara on her head.

Eulianna stood up from the seat of her vanity and was guided to the balcony. Her aunt and uncle were already there a couple of feet away from the edge of the balcony. Eulianna pulled her shoulders back and raised her head up as she walked towards the edge and placed her hands on the bricked railing. The crowd of Hjalfadargs erupted in cheers and applause when the princess came into view.

"Good day, Hjalfadargs!" Eulianna bellowed out. "Today is the Protector's Festival, for our do- respected and hard-working guards who spend their days and nights ensuring everyone is safe and the dogs! Our beautiful watchdogs who protect families through the night. Hjalfadargin is glad we have you with us. We'll feed you well today. Everyone please proceed safely, dance around and stuff yourselves with the delicious food! And also please treat each other as you would like to be treated. Thank you! See you soon!" Eulianna saluted two fingers from her forehead and waved. The crowd cheered again and rushed off to enjoy the day. Gerda covered her face with her hands in embarrassment. Jorn kept a poker face on.

Eulianna walked away from the railing and back into the castle, but Gerda grabbed her arm.

"Ow!"

"What was that?"

"What was what?" Eulianna asked, knowing exactly what she did. Eulianna knew her aunt would scold her for the speech.

"You spoke so ineloquently. I saw a few of the people look at you distastefully." Gerda tightened her grip on Eulianna's arm.

"A few," Eulianna emphasised Gerda's words. "A few. Which were all the older Hjalfadargs. The rest of them seemed fine with my speech. They're all happy!" Eulianna pointed her chin in the direction of the crowd. "Your speeches may be more formal and articulate, but I get it. It's just cause you're older. Our generations are different." Eulianna smirked. "Now let go. I got 'princess duties' to attend to." She definitely did not have any duties to do. Eulianna ripped her arm away from her aunt's grasp and rushed to her room.

"Now, calm down…" Jorn put his hand on his wife's shoulder which she pushed off.

Gerda let out a frustrated scream before storming away. Jorn sighed and followed his wife.

—

It was an hour to midnight when Eulianna visited her great-grandfather's room and sat by his bed. Seeing his fragile body at that moment made her hesitate on carrying out her plan.

"Papa…"

"Seula, is that you?"

"No, it's me, Eulianna. Papa, I hope the next time I see you, you'll remember me."

"Child, where are you going?"

"I'll be back soon, papa. Love you." Eulianna kissed her great-grandfather's cheek and sneaked back to her room.

"Don't leave again, Seula." The old man said a couple of seconds after Eulianna ran out of the room.

Eulianna finished her letter to Ilda earlier that day and placed a few pieces of gold in the envelope before sealing it with some candle wax and stamping it with a stamp engraved with the Hjalfadarg crest. After it set, she pocketed in her satchel which she wore across her body. She also put the bag of expensive gold and jewellery and Gobber's picture in along with a map of Hjalfadargin with Berk at the top of the page. She sneaked her father's chest into her room the previous night and tied a rope on the rings on the sides of it, slinging it over her body as well. That wasn't the only thing she took from the castle. She went to the armoury and took a sheathed sword which rested on a belt around her waist. She took her hooded cape and secured it on herself and lifted the hood up before heading towards her window.

The princess took the rope of bedsheets she prepared earlier on and tossed it out the window.

"For Hjalfadargin," she reassured herself before carefully descending down the make-shift rope. The weight of her satchel, the chest and sword pulled her quicker to the ground. Eulianna fell down the rope, her face landing on the grass. She groaned and rubbed her cheek before dusting off any dirt from her dress and running to the village.

She headed over to Ilda's house and found no one was home. Of course, she had forgotten she was spending time with Rorik.

"Do you need something?" A young voice caused Eulianna to spin around. She was faced with Ilda's younger sister, Iva who was holding a stick of meat. Eulianna pulled her hood a bit up to show she wasn't anyone suspicious.

"Could you tell me where Ilda is?" Eulianna bent down to level with Iva's eyes.

"You sorta look like the princess."

"Really? That's the first time someone's told me that," Eulianna said.

"Ilda is hanging out near the stage. You're even wearing the same coloured dress the princess was wearing earlier."

"I guess you could say I'm a big fan of the princess. I had a feeling she'd wear orange today."

"So you're kinda psychic?"

"Yeah." Eulianna told lie after lie. Iva didn't know her older sister and the princess were best friends. There have been close calls where Iva found them hanging out. Ilda never told the child, because according to Ilda the kid doesn't know how to keep a secret. "Thanks, kid. See you around!" Eulianna dashed past Iva who just stood by the entrance of her house staring after the girl she just met.

Eulianna pulled her hood down her face again and tugged one side of her cape to layer over the other side, covering as much of her dress as she can. She weaved through the crowd surrounding the performance stage and found Ilda with her arm linked with a disguised Rorik. She tapped Ilda's shoulder. Ilda whipped around and gave Eulianna a large hug which she happily returned. She nodded and gave a small smile to Rorik who nodded back.

"You're still wearing the, you know?" Ilda spotted the crown on Eulianna's head. Eulianna forgot she was wearing a crown.

"Oh, shit." Eulianna took the crown off and speedily put her arm through it, wearing it on her shoulder under the heavy cape.

The three teenagers watched the stage and sang along with the songs they were familiar with and listened to some original songs some villagers performed. Selby danced on the stage while playing his flute, causing the crowd to clap along. The performances would last past midnight.

It was midnight when Eulianna spotted one of the trader's ships near the dock from where she was standing and saw men preparing to leave.

Eulianna put her hand on Ilda's shoulder.

"What's wrong?" Ilda looked at Eulianna who was occupied with a million thoughts. Eulianna reached into her satchel and fished out Ilda's letter and handed it to her. "What is this?"

"Don't open it until the next morning. Promise me," Eulianna said sternly.

"I mean it's technically morning now," Ilda joked.

"You know what I mean. Promise me. This is an order." Eulianna whispered to Ilda.

Ilda gulped and nodded. Eulianna gave Ilda a hug and rushed off to the ship, not looking back when Ilda yelled out, "Wait!"

Eulianna sprinted down the hill to the docks, stepping on her dress in the process causing her to roll down the hill all the way to the ground just in front of the docks and landed on her side. The chest broke free from the rope it was tied to.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow," Eulianna winced in pain as she got up and re-tied the rope to the chest. She rubbed her hip and rib to bring some relief to them. "That's gonna leave a mark." Her cape was getting stained from the dirt below her and she huffed, trying to remove as much as it as she can. Realising her hands won't do much to clean the cape, she tip-toed over to the trader's ship who was loading fruit, vegetables, and meat onto the ship. She boarded the ship when the trader and other men were facing the other way, trying to organise the items to be traded. She moved to the part of the deck where there was a hatch with stairs below it, leading to the deck below. The deck below was already full of the items heading to its destination.

"Alright, is this enough?" Eulianna heard one of the men who was loading the items asked.

"Just a couple more apples, corn and them carrots too. Oh, and some meat too. This ship is heading east to that kingdom with the bears. Apparently, they're sending back a bunch of their berries, a heap of silk, and something else I forgot."

"We're sending them a bunch of our crops and they're giving berries?"

"I don't know either, they're great allies to Hjalfadargin. I heard their princess is unruly and stubborn. Nothing like our princess."

"I mean our princess can be stubborn. To the duchess, at least. I heard rumours they've brawled!"

Eulianna held back a laugh. Eulianna's only slapped the duchess once, but never brawled as the men had said. Though, it seemed like it would happen.

"Is that so? Wow, I wonder who won that fight."

"I bet it's the princess. She looks like she's got a strong arm."

The men's voices were fading away as Eulianna walked around the orlop deck looking for something in particular.

"Yes!" She celebrated to herself when she found small row boats with oars on the wall. She carefully took it out from where it was sitting and threw her belongings in it. She snatched a bag of apples and carrots and tossed them into the boat. She didn't know how far away her destination was so she needed some sustenance on her journey.

Eulianna's main problem was somehow getting the row boat into the water without the trader noticing. She crept around the below deck to find some sort of window or opening big enough for the boat to slip through and land in the water.

The princess knew nothing about ships. Eulianna cursed herself. If only she had hung around ships more, but her aunt would've deemed that as improper. She figured she'd have to pull up to the top deck and push the boat over the ship into the water. That was the only plan she had, and it was the plan she was going to stick to.

The ship rocked, which meant the ship was on the move. And it was moving pretty fast. She heard the ship was heading to the kingdom in the east, and she wanted to head north. She needed to get the boat into the water far away from Hjalfadargin, but also far away enough from the east. She took the map from her satchel and studied it. There was a larger country directly north of Hjalfadargin and Eulianna needed to move east of that country then go up north again.

"If I travel diagonally, I should be able to get there," Eulianna muttered. She tucked the map away and now all she could do was wait. Wait for the right moment to haul the boat up and toss it over the ship. She had to perform with haste otherwise she would never make it.

Hours passed and Eulianna was getting impatient and sleepy. She was hiding in the row boat behind barrels of fruit, but close enough to the stairs to the hatch door.

The hatch door suddenly opened and loudly hit the top deck, waking Eulianna from her nap. Eulianna rubbed her eyes and stretched her body, ready to act.

The trader yawned as he stomped down the stairs. "Should be able to get some sleep for a bit. Not long till I arrive," he said to himself. He threw himself onto a makeshift hammock made from old sailcloth that was located near the front of the ship. The rocking of the ship lulled him easily to sleep. Eulianna waited for a moment to see if he was really asleep which was confirmed he started loudly snoring.

"Okay, okay," Eulianna whispered to herself. She hoped he was a heavy sleeper. She started pulling the row boat to the bottom of the steps. She pushed up the heavy hatch, forgetting how loud the impact was when it hit the deck. She froze and looked to the trader who groaned and flipped so he laid on his stomach. It was quiet for a few seconds before he started snoring again.

Eulianna silently thanked the gods before grabbing one end of the boat before and started dragging it up the steps. The boat loudly grazed the steps much to Eulianna's dismay, but fortunately the trader has yet to wake up. Only half of the boat was left on the steps. Eulianna exhaled deeply and pulled up the rest of the boat onto the deck and slammed the hatch, which caused the trader to jerk awake. He didn't think much of it and fell back to sleep.

"Was probably some thunder," he smacked his lips before dozing off again.

Eulianna's heart rate increased by tenfold. She can't believe her plan is working. She pushed the boat to the edge of the boat to the left of the ship. She figured that if the direction the ship was travelling is east, then north was left.

"You can do this," she encouraged herself. Eulianna used all the muscle she had to push the boat overboard where it landed perfectly in the water with only a few apples rolling from the partially opened sack and into the ocean.

Eulianna peered over the edge. "Shit," she murmured. She didn't calculate how high the deck was from the ocean. The row boat was starting to drift away from the boat. "Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit!" Without thinking, she took some steps back and sprung off the deck.

She momentarily floated in the air before plummeting down towards the boat. She reached out for the edge of the row boat, but landed in the water a couple of feet away from the boat.

Eulianna panicked under the water before kicking. Her dress and cape was no help either as it weighed her down. She gasped for air once she broke the water's surface and swam towards the boat, hauling herself over the edge of it and landed in the centre of it, absolutely drenched.

She took a minute to relax and calm her heart before taking the oars and started paddling away from the trader's ship.

"Berk. Here I come."

—

Linnea's scream echoed throughout the whole castle and a few of the guards rushed into the princess's bed chambers to find the head maid face the window.

"Miss, what's wrong?" Selby asked and looked around the room, the princess nowhere in sight. Selby moved around Linnea to see an open window with a fabric tied to the leg of the princess's bed leading out the window

"The princess!" Linnea screamed. "She-she's gone!"

—

Ilda sat on her bed the morning after the festival and ripped open the envelope Eulianna handed her the night before. She gasped when a couple of gold coins fell out. She pulled out the folded paper and opened the letter.

Dear Ilda,

By the time you read this, I won't be here on Hjalfadargin. I went off to find someone that could help us and give me some answers. As you know, my parents have disappeared. I went to meet someone who knew my father. I hope you'll take this gold and use it for yourself or your family.

Don't bother trying to find me. Talk to Rorik.

I hope you'll forgive me. I'll be back soon.

Eulianna.

"She's got to be kidding me," Ilda groaned and dug her face into her hands.

—

Gerda and Jorn stood near the docks as they saw a large ship come closer. The ship had a flag with the Bielgsnian crest on it. Three figures stood on the deck of the ship. The king of Bielgsnia with his queen to his left and to his right, their son Prince Espen Dalgaard.

"Let us pray that she will not mess it up this time," Gerda said to her husband as she waved to the family.

When the ship arrived at the dock, the Bielgsnian family walked up to the duchess and duke. The prince's appearance brought a crowd of admirers who batted their eyes and smiled sweetly at the prince, hoping he would even spare them a glance.

"Duke and Duchess Bager," the Bielgsnian king said. "It is wonderful to finally meet with you."

"The pleasure is mine. We have all been waiting for this day, King Henrik," Gerda smiled. "You look absolutely beautiful, Queen Sonja."

"As do you, Duchess Gerda. I heard our son is the third suitor to meet the princess, yes? He has been excited to meet his future wife," Sonja chimed.

Prince Espen didn't look either excited or anxious to meet the princess. He stood like a statue, giving Gerda and Jorn his full attention. He bowed and merely said, "Good morning. I am delighted to meet the princess." The growing crowd squealed when they heard his voice.

"Yes, yes, he is. I know the saying is 'the third time's a charm' but hopefully the seventh one is instead," Gerda joked and laughed afterwards which invited the king and queen to also laugh.

Their laughter was interrupted by a guard who bolted down to the docks. "Your Grace."

"What is it?" Gerda's tone changed from ecstatic to hostile.

"The princess…"

"What about the princess?"

The king and queen of Bielgsnia looked a bit worried when she saw the guard's frightened expression.

"She…"

"Well, spit it out."

"The princess has disappeared."

Everyone turned silent as they waited for the duchess to say something. Gerda wasn't sure if at that moment she should rejoice, be furious, or worried.

"Yes," Espen's deep voice broke the silence. "The seventh time is definitely a charm."