Dear Diary,

I've decided to write down the story of how my life changed forever, or should I say my lives. I know, it might sound crazy now, and to understand it, I'll have to start from the beginning. Well, not the beginning beginning, but specifically, my 17th birthday, on August the 15th, 2017.

Oh, I'm sorry, I'm new to this whole diary thing, I haven't even introduced myself! My full name is Princess Zoe Rosetta Collins of London, or Rose to those close to me.
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Gosh, I can't wait for this to be over. I smiled at the photographers, trying not to show just  how much I hated photos, and the flashes of the cameras that left me blinded for hours after.

Honestly, it's annoying, because if I wasn't the crown princess of London, none of them would pay any attention to me. I am a fairly average looking girl, with long, straight, black hair that reaches down to my waist when it's out, although majority of the time it's pulled back in a neat bun at the nape of my neck. My eyes are a striking sapphire, yet a large amount of the English population have blue eyes, so that's nothing special. I guess my overall looks are ok, I was blessed with a clear face, I'm 5"8, and I have a slight hourglass figure, but that's really all I have going for me.

The paparazzi were freaking out today because it was 17th birthday, and I was going to be inheriting my family jewels later on today, which will be a publicised event with the whole of England watching. To say that I was nervous would be a massive understatement, it was the first time that all of England would be solely focused on me for a whole two hours! I mean, I've been in the spotlight before, I practically grew up under the eye of all Europeans, but this is different. The focus is solely on me, and if I mess up, not only will everyone in England know, but it will be on National Television, and the whole world will know!

After about five minutes of the torture, I heard my name being called from around the corner, and I breathed a sigh of relief, glad for an escape. I thanked the photographers, and bid them goodbye, and headed toward the voice.

"Princess!" "Princess!" "Wait, Princess Rosetta!" "Your Highness, Please!"
I sighed as I ignored the calls, and walked elegantly out of the throne room. I followed the voice that seemed to be calling me away, and as soon as I rounded the corner, I was tackled by my best friend, Axel Calloway.

"Rosie!" Axel cheered. "How's my favourite princess doing on her birthday?" He ruffled my hair, causing me to glare at him.

"I'm ok." I shrugged. I couldn't exactly tell him that I was freaking out inside and felt like I was going to puke.

He gave me a look that said don't joke around and I rolled my eyes.

"Fine! I'm nervous, okay? I-" I took a deep breath. "I don't want to mess this up, the whole world will be watching me!"

He sighed and reached over, pulling me into a hug. "It'll be alright Rosie. You don't need to worry about it, because I know you, and I know that you're going to be fine."

I smiled at him, taking in his features. He had sandy blond hair that came to his neck, and green eyes that shined like emeralds in the light, but before you get any ideas, he's like a brother to me.

Axel is a member of my protection. His father used to be my mother's bodyguard before he died, and Axel decided to join my protection so that he wouldn't be sent out of the castle.

Axel and I first met when I was 6 years old. I was running around the castle's east wing, when I ran into his father, Warren in the hallways. The force of the impact pushed me over, and I fell backwards with a soft thump. Before I fell, however, I felt a hand reach out and grab my arm, it was Axel. He helped me to my feet, and I smiled shyly at him, before I heard Warren chuckle. I looked up at him, before blushing and curtsying to him. He just smiled, and pushed me and Axel away. "You kids go get to know each other, and have some fun." He boomed in his loud voice, with a wide grin on his face.

I don't remember much after that. I know we ran off and bonded instantly, becoming fast friends, and we hatched a sneaky plan to cause mischief.

Funnily enough, we're still doing that now. We still run around hatching plans to cause mischief and chaos in the castle.

Thinking about our mischief puts a sparkle in my eye, which Axel immediately picks up on. "What?" He asks warily.

I smile cheekily. "Nothing. Just thinking about the trouble we cause around here."

He laughs. "Yeah, we're real pains, aren't we?"

I smile with him, and pull him down the hall into my sitting room.

"Where are we going?" He asks. "Wait, why are we here?"

I spin around with a giant smile on my face. "I want to show you something." Je gives me a quizzical look, but follows me into my bedroom anyway.

I go over to my bed, and pull out an old chest from under my bed. I smile nervously as I blow the dust off of the top, and put it on my bed. I turned to him with a grin on my face. "Now, Axel. You know how much I trust you, right?"

He nodded cautiously, so I continued. "Great, well, as much as I trust you, I need you to step outside, because the content of this chest needs to stay hidden, just like the key needs to be hidden. So, go into my sitting room, and I'll come meet you out there, ok?"

He looked at me suspiciously before turning around, walking into the sitting room, and closing the double doors.

I sighed as I turned around and stared at the chest. A small smile graced my face just thinking about it.

The chest had been a gift from my father. He had given it to me, telling me to guard it with my life, and to fill it with anything and everything that truly mattered to me.

Of course, as a ten year old, I filled it with things like letters to my friends in other kingdoms, and pictures of my family, and of my friends.

However, just before my twelfth birthday, my father passed away, and I was overwhelmed with grief.

What made it even worse, was that I was constantly being hounded by the press. I resulted to locking myself in my room, and playing around with things that my father had gotten me.

One day, about a week out from my birthday, I was fiddling with the chest, and I decided to unpack it completely, and fill it up with memories of my father. I left in my old letters to friends, and photos of my family and friends, but I took out any worthless items I had put in, and planned to restock the chest with pictures of my father and I, old videos of us, and any sentimental items I had of him.

When I was fiddling around with the chest, I felt a loose panel in the bottom of it. I moved everything out of the way, and started to push, pull and wiggle the panel around, but it wouldn't move, no matter what. I nearly gave up, when I felt a small indent in the shape of a...butterfly? I investigated further, and found that it was, indeed the shape of a butterfly.

I remember spending that whole week leading up to my birthday, trying to figure out what it was for, yet never finding out. I had given up hope, until my birthday. My mother had come into my room really early in the morning, with tears running down her face. She gave me a box, saying that it was my father's birthday present to me. Before I could say anything, or thank her, she left me alone.

Cautiously I had opened up the box, revealing a card, a picture frame and a beautiful necklace, in the shape of a...butterfly. I opened the card first, and he had written the normal birthday greetings, and there was a picture of him and I when I was really young, maybe 4 years old.

I had picked up the necklace and was looking at it, when I accidentally dropped it, and it fell next to the indent. I reached down to look at it, and saw that it was the same size and shape as the indent. Naturally, I decide to try and put the necklace inside the indent, and to my surprise, It fit perfectly, but....it did nothing.

I remember being so upset, but when I pushed down on it, I heard a click, and the whole bottom of the chest opened up to reveal a secret compartment.

At the time, I couldn't believe it. I mean, that was the kind of stuff of movies and books, not real life. Nevertheless, it was real, and packed with letters, photos and packages.

"Rose?" Axel called out from the sitting room. "Is everything ok in there?"

Oh, that's right, I'm gonna tell him. "Yeah, I'll be there in a minute."

I pulled my necklace off, and pushed it into the indent, watching the transformation in awe. It still enchanted me, even to this day.

Once it opened, I pulled out the letter from my father that changed my life, ignoring everything else, and separated my necklace from the chest.

After it closed, I hid the chest back under my bed and slipped my necklace back on, making sure it was hidden under my dress. After all, we can't have people knowing the location of the key, now can we?

I walked over and opened the sliding doors, ready to tell Axel the news that would change both his and my lives forever, even if we didn't know it at that point.
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Ooh drama! Sorry for making you wait, but I have to go to a dress fitting now, unfortunately, so I guess I'll just have to continue this tomorrow! Anyway, how do you sign off on this? Oh well, here goes.

Sincerely,

Princess Rosetta

P.S. Sorry, that's how I sign off on formal letters........ bye!