Umberland

After escaping Everland, Gwen, Pete, and the others seek safety at a castle, but the refuge is fragile and the Horologia crisis has worsened. The cure has failed or changed, and the only possible answer seems to lie in an extinct poisonous apple hidden far away.

Duchess Alyssa takes on the search, heading into a labyrinth in Germany with Maddox, a wild castle gardener, as the castle and its people struggle to survive. Their journey brings them through monsters, traps, and shifting danger while other characters face pressure and unrest back home.

The narrative follows several threads at once, including the quest for the apple and the tensions among the people left behind. As the story moves toward its ending, the stakes keep rising, the world grows more unstable, and the book sets up the next installment with unresolved danger and a cliffhanger feel.