The interior of the cabin is almost entirely bare. The air is stale and musty and the floor and walls are painted in a fine layer of dust. The only furniture of note is a plain wooden table. Perched on that table is a pristine blade. The blade is your implement. You'll need it if you want to do this right.

You take the blade from the table. It would be rather difficult to slay the Princess and save the world without it.

The door to the basement creaks open, revealing a staircase faintly illuminated by an unseen light in the room below. This is an oppressive place. The air feels heavy and damp, a hint of rot filtering from the ancient wood. If the Princess really lives here, slaying her is probably doing her a favor.

Her voice carries up the stairs.

"Who's there?"

She sounds.... dangerous. It's almost as if she's the one in charge down here. But it's all part of the manipulation. Right?

You walk down the stairs and lock eyes with the Princess. There's a heavy chain around her wrist, binding her to the far wall of the basement. She's so coldly beautiful... you begin to wonder if she really is a threat to the world.

The Princess squints at you.

"And there you are. Are you here to kill me or something?"

You haven't decided yet.

"How about you drop the knife, and the two of us just... talk?"

...Yeah. Sure. You can decide what you want to do after you talk to her. Maybe she really is a monster. But killing someone in cold blood isn't very becoming of you.

The blade tumbles out of your trembling hands and drops to the floor with an unceremonious clang.

"Thank you. Maybe now we can just... talk."

Against your better judgement, you step forward to speak with the Princess face-to-face. Unarmed.

She primps her nails, her feelings of annoyance showing on her face.

"So here we are. What an awkward start to a relationship."

As she says this, though, her hand falls back into her lap, and she looks off to the side with a more solemn expression.