Once downstairs, outside the tower, Princess Oda put the lock on the door again and flashed me a look.

"What did you think?" she asked, and I knew it was a leading question, but I didn't know what she wanted me to say.

What did I think? I asked myself. I thought that you were cruel to him. I thought that you loved him. I didn't understand.

But of course I couldn't say any of that, so I tucked my chin in.

"He seemed like an ordinary boy, but he's very unhappy and lonely," I whispered instead. I looked at her to see if she was satisfied. She had on no noticeable expression. Then the princess walked through the slightly chilly air, towards the castle. It was already late noon, time went by quickly.

"Did I say something wrong?" I trotted to her side.

"No, you didn't."

"Then why were you so—well, strange back there? Prince Otto is normal."

She whipped her head to look at me, strands of her hair falling down, brows furrowed. I drew my shoulders up, expecting something unpleasant.

"His other side," her voice droned on angrily, "is a monster—a monster!"

I remembered the rumors I heard at the ball about him being possessed by a demon. Was such a thing possible? Or did he have a bad tempter? Or was he pretending, acting that way?

"You must treat him that way, his wild side can appear anytime, and when it does, no amount of cruelty stops him!" Her ice-cold eyes focused on me.

"But—" I stopped myself.

"One day, Karina, you will see for yourself." She started walking again. "One day."

The rumor that he was locked up turned out to be true and I didn't believe it at first. Maybe it was also true that he was bad enough to be locked up.

I bit my lip and kept quiet.

Once we entered the castle, Princess Oda and I split ways. A guard directed me to the ballroom where the other ladies had gathered, and in the wide hallway I noticed a familiar figure standing there, admiring the paintings on the walls.

"Oriana?"

Oriana turned to me.

"Karina! All the contestants have gathered in the ballroom already. I was waiting for you." I smiled.

"Thank you."

Talking with her was different from Oda. She was cheery and polite and I never had to worry about upsetting her. We walked down the hall decorated with paintings of dark-haired royals. Further down there were paintings of the albino siblings. I asked Oriana to wait and inspected the portraits rimmed with gold.

The Queen in the portrait had lustrous black hair and brown eyes. She was stunningly beautiful; she had a small face with deep, sunken eyes and shapely lips. The children looked to be about the same age, and Prince Otto was smiling happily and stood by his mother while Princess Oda, on the other hand, was frowning, sitting in a chair by herself. She reminded me of a forgotten doll.

"A lovely family, aren't they?" Oriana said with a dreamy smile. I wondered about it, but nodded.

"Yes. They are beautiful." That wasn't a lie at least, on the outside they were beautiful. Even the prince was more feminine than me, and Oda did have fine features. Then I remembered. "Why aren't any paintings of the youngest princess?"

"Princess Odette? She's only but a child," Orianna said. "Since children die so easily, they are only officially a member of the Royal Family after they reach the age of ten. Even so, we don't know much about them."

"Is Odette—Princess Odette, I mean," I corrected myself, "a public name?" She looked surprised at my question, and I almost regretted asking it.

"Yes. Royals have both a real name and public name, one they use to sign official documents and one for the public," she informed me. "But that's usually a secret. I only know because of my father."

I only felt more unsure about helping the princess, knowing that she couldn't even trust me with her real name. The fact that the prince was being locked up, too, was not told to the public, but even if it was, nothing could be done. If the King and Queen wanted him locked up, that was to be done.

"Do you have any siblings?" I asked Oriana, trying to change the subject. Her eyes flickered away.

"No, I don't have any siblings and my mother died a long time ago. I only have a father—but we don't get along very well."

"Why?"

"He cares a lot about his reputation, and has high expectations for me." Her eyes seemed to be looking far away. "He bragged to everyone back at my town when I was chosen to enter The Dandelion System and said I would be the next Queen." She gave a small chuckle.

"Sorry for talking about this, where did my manners go? What about you, Karina? Do you have any siblings?"

"I have an older sister, Catalina," I replied. "And a mother and father."

"I've always wanted a sister."

We continued to talk about ourselves as we walked through the hall towards the ballroom.

The grand ballroom was less crowded this time and the tables were replaced by a long ornate table with twenty matching gold and red velvet chairs. At each seat there was a name plate along with an assigned lady-in-waiting. Each contestant had on their best dress with their hair done in coiffures and lips painted.

I walked around the table before I spotted a plate with my name, or to be accurate, Karina Dearcage, written on it in cursive. A petite girl with brown hair braided and looped around her head stood by. When I stopped at my seat, she looked up at me.

"Good afternoon, Lady Karina. My name is Aideen, and I am pleased to be your lady-in-waiting from now on," she introduced with a smile. Her formality surprised me, as she looked very young, with wide eyes framed by curled lashes and a small mole on the left of her chin.

"Good afternoon, Aideen. It's my pleasure too."

It felt strange to have someone waiting on me, as back in my house we only ever had a cook and housekeeper. Only girls from upper classes or of nobility had ladies-in-waiting.

I looked around, where other girls were also meeting their ladies-in-waiting, and all of them were older than Aideen. She pulled out my chair for me and with a nod, I sat down.

Within a few minutes, everyone had gathered. The girls were all eighteen, like me, but we all looked different. Dark hair, light hair. In pretty dresses or plain. Some looked older, maybe from their makeup, and others young. All the ladies-in-waiting, though, stood with their backs straight and hands folded across their stomach.

A tall man dressed in formal attire entered the ballroom and stood on the platform at the front of the room. Immediately voices hush and heads turned to look at him. After the man was sure he had everyone's attention, he turned to a servant, who handed him a piece of paper. The man started reading from it, his voice loud and steady.

"Maidens participating in The Dandelion System, I am honored to tell you all that every single one of you in this room has an equal chance to marry the first and only Prince of Taraxac. The Prince, as most of you know, is now unstable and unwilling to accept his royal position. After being married, however, we believe he will fulfill his lifelong duty."

"The Dandelion System is a system, hence the name, in which an unknown number of Dandelion Seeds will be scattered into the kingdom. No one knows where fate would bring them to—far, far away? Right under your nose? Not only is this a game of smarts, hard work, and luck, but a sure way to find the perfect wife for Prince Otto."

"There is absolutely no way to cheat, so consulting a fortune-teller, asking your family and friends to help, are allowed. However, murder or physical harm unto another Dandelion System contestant will result in your shameful disqualification and probable exile."

"Each of the contestants shall receive one lady-in-waiting who has passed several tests to gain the position. Both the contestant and lady-in-waiting are to live in the dormitory in the Grey Castle. The castle we are currently in is the Main Castle. No other personal maid or family member may live in the castles. Contestants are allowed to, and advised to, visit their family in the day. At night, however, contestants must return to the dormitory. Breakfast, lunch, and supper will be provided in the dining room of the Grey Castle."

"Each contestant shall meet up each week, on Sunday, with the Queen. This is for the observation of each maiden's health, mentally and physically. Contestants will always be invited to all balls hosted in the castle. Contestants may not travel around the palace without permission from the royalty."

"The Dandelion Seeds look like no other regular seed. The seed is made of white crystals, the pappi, or the white feathery parts of a dandelion seed, are made from Prince Otto's own white hair."

"All twenty contestants, we bid you luck, honesty, happiness, and strength through The Dandelion System. You are dismissed."