'Jack Bulton, look what a tough guy. He'd better find a spot as a colonel in the army, wouldn't he, Edgard?'

The butler hid behind the weekly newspaper that Lilian held open in front of him, before pulling a funny face at Eugène. He had now become his regular chess partner since Robert was too busy with royal affairs. But he was not very good at it, kept forgetting what each pawn was for and therefore allowed himself to be captured by the experienced Edgard every time. Lilian folded the newspaper in half again and placed it next to the other copies. She read five different newspapers every day to, according to her, 'better informed of every daily detail. She curiously read the headlines on the front page of the next newspaper.

'Ideas Royal orders welcome' was written in slightly too large bold letters with a drawing of a sullen-looking Siel Eggers underneath. Lilian clapped her hands in delight.

'Hosting a competition for the best knowledge of tea parties!'

Edgard laughed as he cleared his opponent's bishop. 'A king doesn't learn much from that. You'd better play a game of chess against me, whoever wins becomes king.'

But the housewife immediately dismissed the idea. 'What good is it for you to play chess? I don't think King Lodehart himself can do it, etiquette and a tea party will get you much further.' She nodded vigorously to convince herself that she was right. While she poured herself another cup of cold cherry tea, Eugène finally gave in and let the lady's sword come down on his king. Checkmate. He sighed and rubbed the hair from his eyes and threw the pawns back into the chess box.

'What kind of things should a king be able to do?'

Lilian suppressed a slurp. 'Giving speeches, inviting people, looking after his queen and sewing a coat of arms onto his armor.'

Edgard raised his eyebrows very high. "A king must be able to convince his country, alleviate poverty and wage wars."

'And which tests are included?' Eugène closed the cursed chess box with an inward joy. All three stared thoughtfully at the toes of their shoes.

"Lady Tilliante!" Lilian suddenly shouted so loudly that Eugène forgot to withdraw his hand out of fright and the lid mercilessly crushed his index finger.

"The silent daughter of Baron Tubaak, who has lived in the tower of the brain teasers for almost three years," the housewife continued enthusiastically, not noticing her butler, groaning, putting his swollen finger into her cup of cold tea.

'Those old guys have just started a new leaf.' Edgard said.

Lilian gave the flapper a withering look. 'A little respect for those wise men, please. They have often saved our country from destruction with their ingenious plans.'

Eugène nodded as he slowly stirred the cherry tea back and forth. His great-grandfather was a brainiac. He was one of the scrawny, old trolls who hid in the dungeons of the Grijsgierslot and gathered all kinds of knowledge there. For centuries they moved away from sunlight and wore long woolen coats to protect themselves from the cold and damp of their hiding places. The brainteasers were used during the war to devise battle lines and ruses. They were world famous. But nowadays they were only concerned with old, decaying literature and strange, smelly concoctions that turned their white spiky hair a blue cast. It even seemed that they could do magic by now. Any being over 110 years old could voluntarily spend a year in the Forgetting Pit where the brain teasers eventually fished him out and allowed him to share in their infinite knowledge. But many died because they could no longer remember their own identity or, if they survived the pit of forgetfulness, they were already too old to stand on their bony legs. In addition, the weak candlelight in the dungeons made them blind far too quickly, meaning they could no longer decipher the formulas. Eugène thought she was creepy anyway.

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"And what does that test entail?" Edgard asked curiously.

Lilian laughed ecstatically. 'Tilliante has been silent for almost three years. The candidates have to get her talking again.'

"How come she's been silent for so long?" Eugène scratched his rusty brown hair and licked the last drops of tea from his finger before wrapping a napkin around it. The housewife took another tiny sip of her tea, which tasted just a little bit different, and started to talk.

'Tilliante is a stunningly beautiful young lady with golden blond hair down to her ankles and although every man loved her, she unfortunately lost her heart to Hendrik Deerclaw. He is a monarch who made advances to all seven of his ladies-in-waiting, but according to rumors he was willing to throw them all into the moat in exchange for the love of the beautiful Tilliante. To prove this, he wanted to make a marriage bed from the wood of the thickest oak in all of the Leaf Forest. Tilliante came along to assist him with such a dangerous assignment.'

"What's so dangerous about cutting down a tree," Edgard interrupted.

'In the Leafy Forest live the Acornwitches, who live in trees, eat their leaves, worship trees and think that a god lives in every tree. They defend every living branch in their forest at all costs. But Henry was determined and managed to cut down the oak. Out of anger, the Acornwitches pulled out all his angel hair and colored his eyes black. Hendrik has looked like a prince from hell ever since. That is why Tilliante's father refused him as a son-in-law and now wants to marry off his daughter to a fat sugar prince who does nothing but gobble chocolate pies and listen to fake operettas. That fat guy is willing to marry her if she sings him an engagement song. Tilliante finds the idea terrible and decides to go on a silent strike until her father lets her marry Hendrik Deerclaw. However, Tubaak stands her ground and that is why Tilliante has gone to live in the tower of the brain teasers where she can continue to remain silent undisturbed.'

Both butlers were silent, moved. Lilian blushed slightly.

'That's why it seems like an ideal test to get her working again in any way possible. Perhaps they can convince her to marry the sugar prince, or her father, to give her hand to Henry. But to get to the fortress of the brainteasers, the candidates have to go through the Leaf Forest to cross the tree bridges and since the murder of their oldest oak, the acorn witches won't allow anyone to set foot in their forest.'

'It won't be that simple,' Edgard added, 'but I think it is a worthwhile assignment.'

Eugène nodded in agreement and stood up. "Shall I report this assignment, ma'am?"

"No, I'll do that myself, darling, thank you." She fished her coat off the coat rack and proudly paraded out the door. Her eyes twinkled.