I go back to the search bar and type in the next name on the list. This school is located in one of the oldest countries in Europe, which the ostentatious architecture clearly indicates. The university’s buildings are towering and imposing, carved with intricate details and framed by scrolling columns. I stare at the images displayed of smiling students riding bikes and sitting in the grass reading, once again trying to imagine myself among them.

An hour later, I’ve finished searching every school on the list. My eyes ache from staring at the screen for so long and my head pounds from the conflicting thoughts bouncing about my mind. This decision feels heavy. Important. It’s no longer just an abstract dream; it’s my one brief chance to experience a sense of normalcy.

I turn off the computer and walk over to my massive four-poster bed. I slide in between the crisp sheets, letting the warm comforter settle over me. As soon as I close my eyes, a slideshow of the photos I was just looking at flash behind them.

Eventually, exhaustion wins against my incessant thoughts, and I sink into oblivion.

CHAPTER THREE

The next morning, I open my eyes just as the first streaks of dawn are spreading across the darkened sky. I toss and turn for a few minutes, hoping to fall back asleep.

Finally admitting defeat, I roll out of bed and walk over to the bay window that takes up a large portion of the wall just past my bed, forming a cozy alcove that juts out from the rest of my enormous bedroom.

I stare through the panes of glass for a long time, studying the immaculately trimmed lawns and colorful gardens spread out before me. A quick turn of the small handle on the inside of the window frame allows a rush of fresh spring air in. The light breeze rustles the white gossamer curtains.

It doesn’t take long to go through my usual morning routine before I’m outside, jogging through the woods at a leisurely pace. Right on cue, I hear footsteps that tell me an agent or two is not far behind. My early morning runs began as a way to appreciate the lack of restrictions my newly healed heart allowed after years of limited physical exertion, but now I employ them as a means of temporarily escaping the other constraints still in place in my life.

My runs started out solo. I would jog along the winding garden paths surrounding the palace since I was both easily exhausted and quickly bored. I grew more adventurous as my stamina gradually increased and began running farther and farther away from the perimeter of the palace as a small means of rebellion.

It didn’t take long for my security team to catch on to the fact I was moving outside the gardens alone, and they started following me on each outing.

I’ve never protested.

I’ve heard the cautionary tales of reporters and stalkers climbing the massive wrought-iron fence that surrounds the entire royal estate in an attempt to sneak inside. That doesn’t mean I make it easy for my agents to keep up with me. One of the maids let slip that my security team draws straws each night to decide who will be responsible for following me on my run the next morning.