Gathered in a small room deep beneath the Perfect Palace, Princess Peg explains that she is the rightful heir to the throne. The current king is her uncle, who usurped the throne and now keeps hundreds of children prisoner. The Night Patrol drags them through the Palace at night, forcing them to clean every square inch. Peg and her companions were saved by Simon, a raven and the True King’s former guard. The current king fears children because “a kingdom full of children would never accept a fraudulent ruler” (214). Determined to rescue the enslaved children, Peg wrote the note and cast it into the chasm surrounding the palace hoping a thief from the Just Deserts would answer the call and help them. Peter vows to be their savior, despite Peg’s skepticism. The fact that the note somehow made its way to Professor Cake via the open sea—waters that have not touched their land for years—gives Simon hope.

Simon tells Peter and Sir Tode the story of The Cursed Birthday, the event that hid the Kingdom from the world. Formerly known as the Isle of HazelPort, the land was owned by a rich man with two sons, Incarnadine and Hazelgood.