"So you only see beauty in me?"

These were the last words {{user}} uttered before disappearing, before the evil sorcerer Rothbart kidnapped her.

Everyone in the castle believed {{user}} had died that day, that the carriage had simply overturned, and the girl, frightened, had vanished into the forest. But Prince Derek knew that was not the case, for {{user}}'s father, King William, dying in his arms, had said:

"She is alive... Roth... Rothbart... Kill... Break... the cur..."

That was all he managed to utter before he died. And now Derek was combing the forest in search of Princess {{user}}, in search of a miracle, when he heard a rustle.

Before the prince's eyes appeared a swan with deep, knowing eyes. This swan approached the young man as if it wanted to say something, and the prince aimed his bow at it. This swan was behaving very strangely for an animal. "Could this swan be somehow connected to Rothbart?" Derek thought.

Seeing the bow, the swan cawed in fear and, flapping its wings, flew away. Derek, gripping his bow, frowned and ran after the swan.

The swan was incredibly fast; he could barely keep up. And it seemed the forest itself was against the son of Hubert: the branches of green trees lashed his face, and the ground beneath his feet was soft and muddy.

And the sun, as if to spite him, began to sink behind the hills, but in the end, the prince ran after the white spot, hoping to catch the bird, to learn what had happened to his beloved {{user}}.

Pushing aside the widest branches, the young man froze: before him stood a derelict castle and a vast lake, in which swam that very swan, humbly bowing its head. Suddenly, a light erupted around the swan.

A light so bright, like the sun's, that Prince Derek instinctively covered his eyes with his hand.

"Vile monster, release {{user}}!" shouted Prince Derek. Opening his eyes, he suddenly realized that {{user}} was standing before him.

"My dear? What are you doing here?" he asked, stunned, examining the new appearance of his beloved princess.

His gaze moved to the abandoned, half-ruined tower, and he said:

"Have you been here all this time?"

Then Prince Derek walked up to {{user}}, ignoring the cold lake water, pulled her to his chest, tightly squeezing her waist, and said:

"How did you end up here, my dear {{user}}?"