Rose woke up in a not-so comfortable state, and that goes without saying. The first thing she noticed was that she was not under the covers, but rather still in all of her royal garb, including her crown, jewelry, and hair accessories. The next thing she noticed, which was a much ruder shock, was that she was not in her own bedroom, but rather in some other kind of bedroom. The bedroom was pink, like her own, but it seemed more fit for a Queen than a Princess. It was grand, clean, and very well decorated. It consisted of a large, king-size bed with drapes and canopies, rosy oriental rugs, an enormous vanity with a mirror that was made out of some kind of light-colored wood, floral wallpaper, and other similar feminine decorations. Whoever put together this room had clearly designed it with quite a fancy for the resident, she decided.

The windows were letting in sunlight, but they were high up on the walls, way out of reach, and were sealed as if with jail bars. This sent a flurry of anxiety into the young Princess; was she being held captive? This is where her initial drowsiness wore off and she practically started panicking. Where was she? Where were her attendants, ladies-in-waiting, and her parents?! This was when she sat up on the bed and noticed the nightstand next to her. The nightstand had drawers, but the top of it held a small alarm clock (which read 7:24 AM), a few towels, and the most intriguing thing—a note. As soon as she spotted the names Bowser Koopa and Bowser Jr. in its signature, she began to feel lightheaded. Taking a deep breath, however, she forced herself to read the note.

When she was finished reading, she felt the need to take another multitude of deep breaths. It had dawned upon her that she was being held prisoner in Bowser's Castle, and that was not an easy piece of news to take. Yesterday's encounter with the youngest Koopa Prince came back into her mind, and she shuddered with disgust at the simple thought that he had probably drugged and dragged her all the way to this very room. She thought about escaping, but decided to actually follow the note's advice and not bother. Slowly, she got up and walked up to the vanity.

Inside, there was an abundance of expensive makeup, hairbrushes, hair accessories, and even jewelry. Wow … she thought as she picked up a shimmering sapphire pendant. There's no way this is fake. Who would go through all this trouble to buy something that Mom would probably never agree to wear? Bowser, apparently. She moved away from the vanity and opened the door to her large walk-in closet. Inside, there were shoes, veils, nightclothes, dresses, and more in, like the note had said, copious amounts. There seemed to be something for any taste; some bright, short dresses in vibrant colors, some "prim and proper" old-fashioned dresses, some of an airy and comfortable fashion (much like the one she was wearing), and some of a darker, more sinister kind (with colors like deep, silky maroon and black lace decorating them)—that's just to name a few. Knowing that she should probably style herself into a more presentable fashion, Rose sighed and got to work.

She made her way to the adjoining bathroom first, to take a shower. Inside, like she had expected, it was completely clean and spotless. The tiles were a pattern of pearly white and a light, sunny yellow. After she showered, she dried her hair and brushed it out with one of the hairbrushes that she had been supplied with. She put all of her hair back in a tight ponytail, which she added a red ribbon to for good measure, and headed back to her vanity.

Then, she applied her usual small amount of makeup and put on the necklace she had been wearing before, which consisted of a thin, delicate rose-golden chain that ended in a small, heart-shaped locket. The locket had a picture of her and her parents inside of it, and she carried it around almost everywhere. She didn't expect to ever need its reassurance as much as she needed it now; and now, she most definitely wasn't letting go of it.

After all of that, she walked into her closet and eventually decided on a long, flowy gown. It was comfortable and airy-looking, and it was decorated with the colors lime green and forest green, with some tasteful ruby decorations. Sighing, she sat back down on her bed and put her Toadstool princess crown back on. This was also her mother's old princess crown, which she wore until she became a Queen and started wearing a slightly different one. Like her locket, Rose treasured this crown even more dearly now. She suddenly felt a pang of hunger; and, as if on cue, she heard a small knock on her door.

"Princess Toadstool, are you awake?" a similarly small voice asked. "Would you like some breakfast?"

Rose didn't quite know who was speaking to her, but she did know that it clearly wasn't Junior or Bowser, and also that she was quite hungry.

"Yes," she responded. "Thank you very much."

She felt a key turning in her door and a meek-looking green-shelled Koopa Troopa entered her door, holding a tray with warm waffles, whipped cream, a large amount of fresh strawberries, and a small bottle of what looked like juice, along with a cup. The Koopa Troopa set down the tray on Rose's nighstand and turned to her with a quaint bow.

"Prince Bowser Junior has requested upon seeing you after you finish your breakfast," he said. "I will come to pick up your tray beforehand. Bon appetit," he turned to leave.

"Wait!" Rose called out. "What's your name?" Rose had always made it a point to learn all of her attendants' names, to feel more familiar with them. Since she knew she would probably be staying here for at least some, if not a large amount of time, she didn't see why she shouldn't do the same here.

"My name?" the Troopa looked surprised, almost astonished, even, that someone was interested in his name. "My name is Temmer, Princess."

"Thank you, Temmer," Rose replied. "You may leave now."

Once again, Temmer bowed, still somewhat shocked, and left the room. And once again, Rose could hear his key turning in the lock of her room and his footsteps walking away. She sighed and begun eating.

Prince Bowser Junior has requested upon seeing you … it was such a pleasant way of saying that Junior was pretty much going to come storming in her room, whether she liked it or not, and probably start taunting or interrogating her in some way. Rose knew she didn't technically have anything to be afraid of; she knew that Bowser and Junior wouldn't have gone through all this trouble to get her to the Castle and have her stay in this room if they had wanted to kill her, so she knew that in the end of it all, she wouldn't have to fear for her life, which was the most important thing to her right now. She picked at her strawberries; she was hungry for them, but she didn't want to finish eating. And, once again as if on cue, she heard the same soft rap on her door.

"Princess Toadstool," she heard Temmer's voice, "if you don't mind me asking, are you finished with your breakfast meal yet?"

Quickly consuming her remaining strawberries, Rose answered, hoping that her voice wasn't as deeply regrettable as she felt. "Yes, I'm finished. You may pick up my tray now, Temmer."

Her door unlocked, Temmer picked up her tray, bowed, and left, locking her door again. It all went by as if in a blur. The next half an hour or so was also similarly seized by her nerves. Where are Mom and Dad? Where are Aunt Dais and Uncle Luigi? Do they know I'm gone yet? What are the subjects of the Mushroom Kingdom aware of?Why am I here? What is going to happen to me? Never before in her life had Rose felt so … helpless. As a Princess loved by her parents and subjects, she always had had some kind of … power in life. And now, she was still a Princess … but what of what use was that now? Princess Toadstool, Temmer had called her. That was the same name her mother had been addressed by so many years ago, and now it was hers. Well, it had always been hers, but now … now she was the damsel in distress. And she knew quite well that she was not any less helpless than her mother had been. Or, at least, that was what she thought.

Then came the knock on her door. The knock was perfectly normal, almost not different in any way from the way her parents would knock on her door … but she already knew who it was.

"May I come in?" An unfortunately familiar voice sounded.

"You're just going to come in anyway, so why bother asking?" Rose countered.

She could hear Junior's exasperated sigh as he unlocked her door. It was in this specific unlocking that Rose noticed that the door had two locks. How had she not noticed that before?

"Does this door have two locks?" Was the first thing she asked Junior when he walked in. Junior had not been expecting this tone, and that question; this led him to just stare stupidly for a few moments before replying.

"Yes," he said. "Weren't you told that this room had security improvements since your mother lived here?"

"Oh, so you finally decided to get improvements," Rose retorted. "After my mother managed to make it out of here what, ten thousand times? Looks like you finally learned; I'm honestly shocked."

Junior regarded Rose with surprise. Was she trying to get on his nerves? He could literally set her on fire this very second—it was then that he realized, with a sinking feeling, that she knew exactly what she was doing—she knew her life wasn't being threatened. He knew that Mario and Peach's daughter would be more trained to these situations than Peach ever was, but still … the young Princess was unexpectedly smart.

"Better late than never," Junior returned simply, leaning on one of the room's walls. "I'm sure you're probably waiting for someone to come save you, but I can assure you that you have no hope. A lot more than just security has been upgraded."

Rose raised an eyebrow quizzically. "Do you think I'm so stupid as to attempt escape out of your Daddy's castle? And do you think my parents are so stupid as to just run to save me without thinking? You're delusional, really," she said.

"Whatever," Junior dismissed. "I came to tell you why you're here—do you want to know or are you just going to keep testing my patience?"

Rose gave a very unladylike snort to this, and shook her head indignantly. "Like I don't already know why I'm here."

"Fine, then why are you here?" Junior challenged.

"I'm here because your father probably wants to take a second swing on trying to take over the Mushroom Kingdom, and since my mother never married him, he's probably going to try and force me to marry you. Seems pretty simple to me," she said, turning away from him ever so slightly.

Junior feigned shock; no, this wasn't the plan, but this was exactly what he and Bowser had wanted her to believe. "Spot on," he said. "Well, since you're already up to date on the events, why don't we get right down to business then?"

Rose gave no response.

"Marry me, and your family will be safe. Your father, your mother, your aunt and uncle; no harm will come to them. Yes, the Mushroom Kingdom will be ours, but no one will be hurt in the process; no property damaged; there will be no war. We can rule your birthplace together, and it'll all be fine and dandy," Junior continued. "and if you say no, well, our two kingdoms will probably rage in war for years and years, killing thousands, if not millions, hurting everyone, and affecting everyone's lives day to day. And guess what? You'll still be here. Here, or in a dungeon if you're unlucky; until one day you agree to marry me. But by then, who knows what could happen? Your whole family could be gone."

"Don't pretend like you care about my family," Rose said. "you could care less about what happens to my Kingdom, and you could care even less about me. I'll never believe that you actually want to marry me. Why would you ever want to?"

"My father wanted to marry your mother for years and years on end," Junior said.

"Your father loved my mother, and even if he didn't, he would still have a pretty fetching wife and a kingdom. If you marry me, the Mushroom Kingdom would still rightfully belong to your father, until he passed away. Basically, you're marrying for money and property here; but the money's not going to you—it's going to your father," Rose replied.

"Everything that belongs to my father now will one day be mine," was his simple response. "you can call me Junior all you want now, but one day my name will be King Bowser Koopa."

"But what about your siblings?" Rose questioned with a hint of sarcasm. "Roy, Ludwig, Lemmy, Iggy, Morton, Larry, Princess Wendy? Oh, how conveniently they're out of your father's pretty little picture now. And how is this fair to them? You're the youngest—how are you inheriting the throne? That makes no logical sense."

"My brothers and sister are living by themselves in the Dark Lands happily," Junior said. "No one ever wanted the throne like I did, anyway. Plus, it's not like they won't inherit anything."

"How confidently you speak for them," Rose replied. "lie to me all you want, but don't blatantly lie to yourself! You know you're on top, and that's great for you—yet all you're doing is following your father's orders."

" 'Training's' a more accurate word, Princess," he growled. "now if you'll excuse me, I've got actual business to attend to. I'll see you sooner rather than later."

"Your father's business," was the last thing Junior heard before he closed and firmly locked the door.