The Grand Duke's estate bloomed with light from the highest tower windows down to the deepest pantry doors.
Somewhere high in the rafters, enchanted songbirds started their morning chorus, trained to sing only during breakfast hours.
They sounded gentle today.
The Grand Duke's estate was massive.
Like, "takes twenty minutes to find the right bathroom" is huge.
Like, you could play tag for three hours and still not reach the balcony massive.
But to Jenna, it was her whole world.
It was everything.
"Her castle. "Her garden. "Her spaceship. "Her secret lair. "Her dungeon. "Her indoor universe."
Because the rules were clear.
"No going outside until you're ten," her mother had said with a look that meant not even once.
So the halls?
The rooms?
The spooky corners?
The balconies?
They had to become the outside.
After brushing her teeth, they went back to Jenna's room for breakfast.
Breakfast in her room had gone… fine. Mostly.
She had three bites of toast.
Half a boiled egg.
One sip of milk.
And a spoonful of jam. Straight jam. Off the spoon.
"Jenna—!"Her eternally-exhausted handmaiden/babysitter Lina had nearly dropped the tea tray, "That's not how—at least use bread!"
Too late. Jam lips. Victory achieved.
After brushing her teeth again (with extra bubbles because she liked the fizz), Jenna slipped into her house slippers — soft pink ones with bunny ears — and took off wandering.
Tap-tap.
Flop-flop.
The ears bounced with every step.
Behind her, like a slightly panicked ghost, came Lina, holding a handkerchief and muttering like a war general:
"Please don't touch the vases. Please don't crawl under the piano again. Please no jam incidents—again…"
The halls were long and sunlit.
Shiny enough to see her reflection.
So obviously, Jenna had to race herself.
"Three, two, one—go!!"
She bolted.
Bunny ears flapping, hair flying, arms wide like airplane wings. She zoomed past two maids who ducked aside, barely holding back their laughter.
"There she goes again," said Marie, a bubbly young thing who always had candy hidden in her sleeves — waved and whispered to her friend:
Candy-supplier and secret ally. "Morning zoomies."
"Zoomies confirmed. Target heading east."
Next stop: the laundry wing. Why?
Because it smelled good. Like soap and sunshine.
Also, because the big linen carts made perfect hiding spots.
"Shh," Jenna whispered to Lina as she crawled into a heap of warm sheets, "we're spies now. Enemy nobles everywhere."
"We are not spies," Lina said, trying not to laugh. "You're wearing pink slippers."
A passing laundry maid, Old Man Bergo, poked his head in and grinned.
"Miss Jenna. Are you hiding again? Want me to pretend I didn't see ya?"
"Yes! You saw nothing. We're clouds today."
"Aye, floatin' right past," he chuckled.
There was a mirror room on the third floor.
Technically not a playroom.
Technically.
But the mirrors were tall. And shiny. And could reflect infinite Jennas. Which was amazing?
Jenna twirled. Then bowed. Then ran in circles pretending she was five different people.
"I'm Princess Jenna. You're Princess Lemon. You're Princess Apple. You're Princess—uh—BUNNY."
Lina, sitting against the wall with her face in her hands, groaned dramatically.
"You're naming imaginary princesses after fruit again, aren't you?"
"And vegetables! Meet Princess Turnip!"
By 9:30, she'd migrated to the sunroom, where potted plants stood tall and proud like leafy soldiers.
She tiptoed past them like she was sneaking through a jungle.
One of the old caretakers, Miss Hilda, waved with her dirt-covered gloves.
"Playing' adventurer again, sweetpea?"
"Nope," Jenna whispered. "Today I'm a mushroom inspector."
"Ahh. Dangerous job. Don't let the ferns bite."
Time: 10:00 AM.
Mission: Explore every corner of the house.
Status: Bunny slippers—on. Sidekick Lina—ready.
Energy level: 1,000%.
Jenna stood at the top of the grand staircase, hands on her hips like a conquering empress.
"Today," she declared, "I shall complete…The CIRCLE."
Lina blinked behind her. "The what?"
"The Circle of the House. Every floor. Every hallway. Every secret passage.
I'll touch every wall before lunch. That's the rule."
"Since when?"
"Since now."
"Gotta finish it before they arrive."
The Marble Steps of Doom
She started with the grand staircase. A noble, dangerous descent.
She took each step carefully… then ran back up… then jumped down two at once.
Lina: "You do this every day."
Jenna: "It's different when you call it an expedition."
Lina: "Expedition WOW"
She made it to the bottom, raised her arms like a champion, and whispered,
"Dungeon cleared."
The Long Couch of Elders
Next came the guest sitting room. Four couches. Too many pillows.
Jenna sprinted across them like a wild squirrel.
"Rule is: no touching the floor!"
"That's not the rule. You made that up just now,"
Lina mumbled, reaching out with the emergency handkerchief as Jenna nearly faceplanted into a silk cushion.
From the corner, Old Butler Thomlin muttered from behind a newspaper:
"If the couch legs break again, I'm writing a letter to the Empress."
The Haunted Music Hall
The music room was spooky in the morning. Dim light. Cold floors.
A piano that played by itself sometimes (because of enchantments, obviously).
Jenna peeked inside. Slowly. Dramatically.
"If I die… remember me as a hero."
She tiptoed inside, looked at the grand piano...
Then pressed one key. Pling.
Nothing happened.
"False alarm," she nodded. "The ghosts are asleep."
The Forbidden Office (a.k.a Dad's Desk)
This part of the journey required stealth.
Because Father's study was off-limits unless supervised.
Which meant obviously she had to go in.
She crept in, touched the back of the Grand Duke's chair (just for the thrill), then fled like a gremlin before any guards saw her.
Lina just stood at the door like:
"Why do I even try."
The Soft Lands (Sewing Room)
Half the maids in this room didn't even flinch anymore when Jenna came bursting in, shouting:
"STITCH ME A HERO'S CLOAK!!"
They smiled, threw her a folded scrap of shiny cloth, and let her wrap it around her shoulders like a cape.
Tailor Moa handed her a ribbon.
"For luck," she winked.
"I will not forget this act of kindness, kind seamstress."
The Mini Jungle (Indoor Courtyard)
The sunlight blazed through the glass roof.
Vines dangled. Birds chirped. A tiny enchanted waterfall bubbled like it had gossip.
Jenna poked a potted plant and said seriously:
"This fern knows too much. We must leave no witnesses."
Lina: "…You need sleep."
Snack Resupply Base
The pantry door was slightly open.
Inside, Marie the Candy Maid™ was stacking jars.
Jenna gave her the Look™.
Marie raised an eyebrow and tossed a cookie her way.
Jenna caught it in her mouth like a fox cub and winked.
"Inventory secured. Let's move."
Pillow Mountain
After nearly an entire day of zig-zagging through shadowy corridors, sneaking past imaginary guards, bouncing between stairwells, and valiantly dueling her way through invisible foes with nothing but a rolled-up curtain tassel for a sword…
Jenna finally reached her destination.
Her legs ached. Her brain buzzed with the thrill of missions accomplished — every hallway scouted, every secret corner conquered.
She stumbled back into the playroom like a tiny, triumphant knight returning from war.
Without a word, she dove into the pillow fortress she'd been building all week — layer by layer, cushion by cushion, her grand castle of fluff.
The moment she landed, the outside world faded.
And just like that, the adventurer was home.
Her Room.
Lina sat down beside her with a thump, hair slightly messy, skirt wrinkled from chasing her around.
"Okay," she puffed. "Let me guess. Now we're queens of the couch kingdom?"
"Wrong," Jenna said proudly. "You are the Royal Pillow Guard. I'm the Supreme Blanket Overlord."
"...That sounds exhausting."
"I will now take a royal nap."
And with that, Jenna flopped over, burrowed into the blanket like a sleepy burrito, and closed her eyes, while closing say's.
"I did it," Jenna mumbled, cheek mushed into the pillow.
"I completed the circle. The whole house… is mine…"
"It's been yours since birth," Lina muttered. "But sure. Claim it again."
With one eye half open, Jenna asked in a small, cracked voice:
"Are they… all coming tomorrow?"
Lina didn't answer right away.
She looked out the window, lips pressed tight, then back at the little bundle of energy finally curled into stillness.
"Yes, my little princess," she said, quietly. "They all are."
TO BE CONTINUED...