Journal Entry 54

12.07.2026

Bear with me, my dearest journal; my thoughts continue to demand transcription. Two journal entries in two days is not the norm for me. However, I need—and want—to document my feelings.

Upon returning from Zum Alten Anker, I was unable to get my conversation with Zechariah out of my mind. There was something unique and intriguing about the pub’s owner that piqued my curiosity. Who is this man? What is his story? He was born and raised in Rüdersdorf, yet he carried himself and spoke as though he were an esteemed alumnus of Cambridge or Oxford. Perhaps Harvard or Princeton? Regardless, Zechariah made me feel comfortable as I recounted the last day I could remember in Rüdersdorf before my captivity.

I feel guilty for searching his name on the Internet. I truly want to know more about this man, although I do not know why. Every search result led me back to the pub. I found articles and photographs from the day he took ownership of Zum Alten Anker, each showing him surrounded by his wife and children.

I also found an interesting Euronews article about Zechariah from 2019. He had allowed his pub to serve as a makeshift headquarters for search parties looking for two well-known local fishermen who had never returned to the docks. Their final emergency communication indicated that they were somewhere in the North Sea between Dorstenland and Norway. I shall save that story for another journey down the internet’s rabbit hole.

I called the King this afternoon. I wanted to reassure Jonas that I was all right. I held back none of the details about what had happened since my arrival in Rüdersdorf. Jonas thanked me for not discarding the two tracking devices he had given me. He said he could see that I was at the Rüdersdorf Inn and expressed relief that I was safe in my hotel room.

That was until I suggested that the tracking devices might be in the room while I was somewhere else.

My suggestion did not land particularly well with His Majesty. Eventually, I had to beg him not to send members of his security detail to Rüdersdorf.

I swear, sometimes that man has no sense of humor.