"Did she go back?"

"What about Philip? Did she see him again?"

The man looked into the distance, remembering where he had stopped. Slowly, he shrugged and looked down at his children mischievously.

"How about we take a break? I will continue the story tomorrow."

The children looked at him with disappointment. "No," they all but shouted in unison.

"Please, Father," the youngest one, Caroline, pleaded her father with a pouting look. "Just a little bit more, please?"

The man looked at his child, a smile playing at the tip of lips. As he stared at his daughter, he couldn't help but shake his head in amusement.

"Alright," he said and leaned back into his chair. "Where did I stop?" he thought out loud.

"She said goodbye to Philip," the boy, Jonathan, answered quickly. Although he tried to hide it, he was still as excited to hear the end of the story as his sisters. But he would never admit that.

"Ah, that's right," the man remembered. "So, as I already told you, Adelaide had to leave the forest because her father wanted to see her. But leaving the forest also meant saying goodbye to Philip. After finally saying goodbye to her friend, Adelaide returned home to pack up her things and leave the forest behind..."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Adelaide, stop staring," Aunt Kara quietly told me as we passed through yet another village.

Two day ago, we had packed up our belongings and left the forest. To say that I was anxious and excited at the same time would be an underestimation. Although my thoughts were still clouded because I knew that I would never see Philip again, I couldn't help but feel excited to finally see the world, meet other people, and most of all, get to know my father.

It had been years since I had last seen him, I couldn't even remember how he looked like. But soon I would finally meet him.

"I just can't help it, Aunt Kara," I said excitedly. "Have you smelled the bread earlier, oh it smelled so delicious."

"Now that I think of it, we should buy something to eat and take a break once we have left the village behind," Aunt Iris said.

"Oh, please, can I go to the bakery there?" I begged Aunt Kara.

She hesitated for a moment, before nodding. "Alright, we could all use a break."

Excitedly, I didn't wait for my aunts, knowing that they would only be a few feet behind me, and ran towards the bakery, passing by a flower seller. I stopped shortly when the scent of peonies surrounded me. Without hesitating I walked over to the older woman, selling flowers.

"They look wonderful," I said astonished.

"Thank you," the woman replied kindly. "Would you like to buy a bouquet?"

"How much those one cost?" She told me the prize and I turned around looking for my aunts. "I will be right back!"

Turning around, I headed towards my aunts who, by now, had reached the bakery. "There you are, Dela," Aunt Melody said. "Do you want anything else."

I looked at what they had taken so far, two loafs of bread, and shook my head. "No, I am fine," I said and waited for Aunt Kara to avert her attention back to the baker.

"Will you come with me, Aunt Melody, I have to show you something," I whispered, not wanting for Aunt Kara to hear me. Aunt Melody looked at me curious and nodded.

Quickly, I dragged her to the flower seller and pointed at the peonies. "Don't they look lovely?" I asked her.

"In deed," Aunt Melody replied, but she was already too busy examining the flowers. A knowing smile made its way up my face.

"There you are, where have you been of to?" Aunt Iris said as she suspiciously eyes the bouquet of flowers Aunt Melody had bought.

"Melody," Aunt Kara said disapprovingly. "Please don't tell me that you bought them."

"Oh, come on, Kara," Aunt Melody said dismissively. "It's not like I bought a house, besides they weren't that expensive."

Aunt Kara let out a sigh and looked at me with raised eyebrows. "This was your idea, wasn't it, Adelaide."

Taking out a flower from the bouquet, I walked over to Aunt Kara and gave it to her, but not before pressing a kiss on her cheek. "Don't be mad, Auntie."

Aunt Kara looked at me, trying to keep up her disapproving look, but I could already see the smile tugging on her lips. "Well, I suppose it's alright," she finally gave in. "But next time you ask me first, all right."

"Promise," I said. Walking over to Aunt Melody, I took the bouquet in my hands and started to walk ahead.

"Get that bird away!"

I turned around, surprised by the sudden outburst, and started to look around for the owner of the voice. I had to stiffen a laugher when I spotted Ray flying in circles above a woman who hold berries in her hand.

"Not again." I heard Aunt Iris mumble as I quickly headed to the woman.

"I am so sorry," I quickly apologized.

The woman looked at me confused. "What are you talking about?"

"Ray, he tends to do that," I explained pointing towards the raven who had sat down on a nearby bush. "Is everything alright?"

"Yes, yes, the bird just didn't want to go away," the woman mumbled, still a bit confused as to what was going on.

"Alright, then, I am really sorry." I was about to turn around, but a thought crossed my mind. "Here, for you," I said and gave her a flower from the bouquet. "Goodbye." Turning around, I headed back to my aunts who had watched the encounter from afar and were know shaking their heads in amusement.

"Let's go!" I said and walked ahead, Ray following me closely.

After we had left the village behind us and taken a quick break, we continued our journey to the castle. I could already see it from the distance, but it would take us the whole day to finally reach it.

"Do you think we will be able to reach it before the dark?" I asked no one in particular.

"I don't think so," Aunt Iris said. "Probably tomorrow."

"Oh." I let out a disappointed sigh. Looking ahead towards the castle, I thought about how it would be like to finally meet my father, when suddenly a strange sound reached my ears. Turning around, my eyes light up with excitement, an idea starting to form in my head.

Waving for the farmer to stop the horses, I walked over to him.

"Adelaide, what are you doing?" I turned around and smiled at Aunt Kara, but didn't answer her. Instead I turned back to the elderly man, who was observing us curiously, and put on a bright smile.

"Good day, sir, if you don't mind me asking, where are you headed?"

"To the castle, I have to deliver the hay for the horses," the man explained, not sure what I wanted.

"Oh, my aunts and I are headed the same way," I said excitedly. "But we probably won't reach it today," I added with a sigh.

"Oh, but I could give you a ride," the man offered kindly. "You can sit on the back of the wagon, if you would like."

"Thank you," Aunt Kara said, stepping forward. "But we don't want to be a burden."

"No, no," the man quickly waved Aunt Kara off. "It's no trouble, really."

"Aunt Kara, please," I begged. "I am too exhausted to walk any longer, please."

Aunt Kara let out a sigh and turned back to the man. "Would you really be willing to bring us to the castle?"

"I am headed there anyways, so what difference would it make if I bring you there too. Besides, it's a far too long walk to the castle if you ask me."

"Aunt Kara?"

"Alright, alright," she finally gave in. "Thank you, sir."

"It's no problem, really, by the way my name is Jonas."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Jonas," I said. "I am Adelaide."

With Jonas help, we might it to the castle before the sun had even set. During our journey I had stared to talk to him and get to know him better. As it turned out, Jonas and his wife, who were both fifty years old, lived just a little bit outside the castle. For the past ten years he had delivered the hay for the stables.

Jonas had two daughters, who both moved away when they got married. Now it was just him and his wife, Irene. He also told me that he felt bad because he had to leave his wife alone at home.

When we finally passed the castle gates and Jonas stopped the wagon, I was more than excited to finally feel the ground underneath me. Hoping off of the wagon, I turned to Jonas with a smile.

"Thank you so much," I said. "If it wasn't for you we wouldn't have reached the castle before tomorrow."

"It was my pleasure. Maybe I will see you around," he replied with a smile.

"That would be really lovely."

After my aunts had thanked him as well we said our goodbyes and started to walk to the castle entrance. Stopping abruptly, I quickly turned around and ran back to Jonas.

"Did you forget something?" he asked surprised.

"Yes," I said with a big smile. "Here, take them," I said while holding out the flower bouquet.

"But-"

"For your wife," I told him. "I am sure she will love them."

Jonas smiled at me surprised. "Thank you, you truly have a good heart."

"Adelaide, let's go!" Aunt Kara called for me.

"I better get going now, but I really hope to see you again, Jonas, goodbye."

Turning around, I headed back to my aunts, before the four of us finally headed to the castle entrance where four guards kept watch. Aunt Kara handed one of them a letter, probably from my father. The guard took a look at it before nodding, allowing us to pass through.

As we entered the castle, I couldn't help but look around astonished. It looked nowhere near what I thought it would. It was even more beautiful than I imagined it to be. From the corner of my eye, I noticed Aunt Kara speaking to a servant, she probably told him to inform Father of our presence.

But I didn't pay them much attention, I was too busy staring at the beautiful ornamentations on the walls. It looked foreign, yet I felt like I had been here before. All in all, it was a strange feeling standing there.

"This is it," I thought. "This will be my new home from now on."

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