Marie

  After css, she returired to her room and dropped her bag on the floor. Her roommate sat at her desk looking annoyed.

  "What's wrong?", asked Marie, dropping onto her bed.

  "Your servant was just here."

  "Theo?" Is his shift at the undry already over? "What did he want?"

  "Paper to write a letter and to know when you're ing back. You shouldn't just let your servant e in here, Marie! He is a servant! He even wao wait for you here! Really. I sent him away."

  "Sent him away? Why? He could have waited for me here." Marie hugged her pillow. "Do you mind?"

  "Yes, yes! I don't want a servant to e into our room just like that. If you want him to do something for you, that's something else, but like this? That is eous. I reminded him of his pce!"

  "You did what?" Now Marie sat up.

  "I told him that servants are not allowed to stay in the rooms of their masters and mistresses! That is nht! And you just let him use your stuff? Besides, he disturbed my priva the process! My servant is never here, as you know unless she brings me something I asked her to do!"

  Marie got up from her bed, pushed the bag aside, and crossed her arms. "You could have told me that long ago instead of b my servant! How would I know it bothers you so much? See you ter." Grimly, she left her room and made her way to the servants' rooms to che Theo. She had to ask a few servants on the way where exactly his room was. She had never been there before and got lost searg until she actally ran into the men's shower. With a red head and apologizing, she ran out. A man had just showered. The dition of the room shook her. The tiles were broken, the showers old and there was no privacy...

  Eventually, she found Theo's room.

  When Theo opehe door for her, he looked sad. Very sad. "Is everything alright?", asked Marie.

  "e in first, Marie." He made room for her and Marie ehe small, cold room. The room arsely furhere was a narrow bed, a simple equally narrow closet, a small table, and a chair. Marie sat down on the chair and looked at Theo scrutinizingly.

  "My roommate kicked you out?"

  Theo sighed. "And she wasn't very friendly. But I'm fine. I took the paper and a pen from you. Mine is broken..." Theo sat down on his bed and poio a pencil lying oable along with a letter.

  "Keep the pen. Is there anything else? You've been so quiet tely. Is something b you?"

  "No. Not really."

  "Not really?" Marie stood up and sat dowo him. "Then there's something. What is it?"

  "It’s not important..."

  "It's important to me!", disagreed Marie.

  "I'm jealous of someone, nothing else. It's all good." Theo didn't look at her. Instead, he looked at the chair Marie had just sat on. "At first I was jealous of the princess... I thought you were in love with her."

  "In love?" Marie ughed. "How did you e up with that..."

  Theed his shoulders. "You talked so much about her. Like back then, with the boy from your css you liked."

  "Yes. Until he ruined my school books with ink when my magic showed."

  "He was jealous. They all were."

  "I know. But I'm not in love with the princess." Marie giggled. "Definitely not."

  "Yes. I know." Theo sighed. "It was a stupid thought."

  "You said 'first', Theo."

  ?August.“

  "August? Why are you jealous of August?" Why? Is he afraid that I won't spend time with him now?

  "No. It’s not important."

  "Of course, it's important, Theo. What are you talking about? Why? Or is it secret?"

  "No. It's not secret, but..." Theo took a deep breath and finally looked at her. "I like you."

  "I like you too." Marie ruffled his hair, whereupon Theo looked away again. Does he like me? As in...

  "No. Not like this! I'm in love with you!" Theo blurted out. "But... You don’t like me that way. Am I right?"

  Good heavens. "Theo? You are a brother to me. My best friend. Of course, I love you, but not like this."

  "I know. Besides, I'm a servant."

  Marie embraced him sympathetically. "I'm sorry. Very much so. I love you, Theo."

  "Thank you." Theo sobbed softly and Marie hugged him even tighter.

  Agathe

  Agathe looked out of one of the many windows of the castle and watched as Sophie left the property with packed suitcases. Herr Mühe had dismissed the elderly dy on the orders of the queen. Herself. Sophie had not prevented her daughter's kidnapping, so Agathe sent her into retirement. A mild punishment for the carelessness of the old servant.

  After several interrogations, it came out that the former servant did not know what had happened. She thought she had fallen asleep. What exactly had happened remained unclear. Had she been drugged? Or was she too old for her job as a servant? Housekeeper?

  As soon as Julia was back, Agathe wao find a new housekeeper for her. In addition, muards would apao the academy. She would not allow anything like this to happen again. Not to her little girl. Her gem. Her powerful witch.

  No. It could never happen again.

  It should never have happened.

  This showed once again what Agathe had already learned as a young girl:

  Elves are cruel. Malignant.

  Julia

  Josefine hid uhe duvet in the guest room and was sobbing softly. Her uroked her back. He, too, seemed sad. Of course, they were. Josefine had lost her mother. Julia looked sadly into the guest room. There was nothing she could do, so she left them alone.

  Leopold helped out in his parents' shop and Marko and Finn helped Flora i. Sine elves were just waiting to lock Julia and her friends, they didn't dare to go outside anymore. Again and again, elves stood at the door and every time Hanno came running out of the shop and shooed them away. At first, Julia had tried to talk to them, to make them realize that they were all i danger. It fell on deaf ears. Instead, the 'guests' had tried t Julia out of the house until Marko stood in front of her as a growling wolf, and Hanno and Leopold rushed to their aid.

  Julia, who felt frustrated, went into the living room where Peter was sitting. Flora had given him paper and pens and he drew with a trated face. Julia had been surprised when he asked for paper. She had never seen him draw. She sat dowo him and looked at the drawing he was making. A horse with a rider.

  "I didn't know you could draw!", she said, puzzled.

  "I loved drawing as a child... I was bored, so I thought, why not."

  "It looks great. Real!" Julia was amazed. The horse looked as if it would jump out of the picture at any moment. "Why did you stop drawing?"

  "I don't know." Peter put the pen aside. "I had pletely fotten how much I loved drawing."

  "Peter..." Julia sighed. "If you love something, you don't stop. This drawing is beautiful. Did you draw like that as a child?"

  "Yes. I remember wanting to be a painter for a while." Peter ughed.

  "A painter? Not magi?"

  "Both." Peter leaned ba the sofa. "Once, I told mom about it. I think she got angry. A prince is not a painter, she said. Or something like that. I was eight or nine years old. I don't remember it very well. And then, at some point, I stopped painting and drawing."

  "You drew like that when you were nine?" Julia took the drawing in her hands. "You're a genius, Peter! An artistiius!"

  "If you say so." Peter took the drawing from her. "Do you think that would be something for me? Being an artist?"

  "Peter! Are you crazy? Do I believe that? You are an artist! Did Mom force you to stop drawing?"

  "It's possible. I 't remember." Peter crumpled up the picture. "I don't think that would be something for me." He threw the crumpled paper against the wall. "What do I know about the profession!"

  Julia stood up, took the drawing, and smoothed out the paper. "Sometimes you don't have to know, you have to do it."

  If mom forbade him to draw, she didn't reize his talent. Or didn’t appreciate it. Why is she so blind?

  "I think you'd be a great artist, Peter. Whether you make it your profession or not." She handed him the drawing.

  Peter looked at his work. "If you think so. Good. I won't stop drawing! Would you like that?"

  Julia hugged him. "That's what I wao hear! But Peter. Draw for yourself and not for me."