Introduction

A stately castle with two lofty towers stood on a dazzling night filled with the lambent lights of two billion fireflies above a majestic kingdom.

A lit pillar candle on the window of the topmost room in one of the towers attracted a blazing firefly, which landed outside the closed window.

Inside was a dimly lit room with torn pages of books on the floor; the papers were charred, crumpled, and strewn everywhere.

The bedroom had creaky wooden floorboards and dingy brick stone walls. The only piece of furniture was an old black bed, so the room appeared almost empty.

There, an old woman was sitting on the bed.

She was on the second final page of the book, reading the last contents.

It was brief, and she quickly closed the book and placed it on the bed. She noticed the candle on the window and the fire dwindling and realized the time was late.

Then she returned her gaze to the little white-haired girl. She drew and snuggled the blue blanket up to her ghostly white-skinned neck.

When the lady peered at the white pupil in her left eye, the girl's face lit up with delight. The lady returned the smile, seeing the black iris in her right eye when she stared at it.

"So, what happened next?" the child asked, and the lady slouched for a whisper, "He saw it but left the Crown untouched because it was yours to wear," then kissed her forehead with genuine love for a good night's sleep before the room went dark.