In times when the wise Empress Maria Theresa sat on the Habsburg throne, and when the streets of Prague still smelled of burnt wood from chimneys and horses’ hooves on the stone pavement, the White Tower stood in the heart of Prague Castle. Many a soul struggled with fate within its depths, many a tear soaked into the cold stone there. And it is to this tower that the legend of an unfortunate lady is tied, whose fate became a warning and a silent whisper for those who dare to love beyond given boundaries.

She was a young woman whose name had long since faded from memory, but her story remained carved into the wall of time. She was married to the knight Ignác Josef Řehoř Zahrádka Sovinský of Aulensfeld. The name sounded noble, but behind it hid an old, cruel man whose heart was as hard as stone. Life by his side was a prison for the young lady, though adorned with gold and jewels. Her days passed in silent despair, in the castle chambers, where her only solace was the view of the distant hills beyond the Vltava.

One day, however, when the shadow of her suffering reached its deepest darkness, a spark of hope appeared to her. In the deep forests around the castle, where she occasionally went for rides accompanied by servants, she met a young hunter. He was a strong man, with eyes full of life and a smile that could warm even the coldest heart. It was a forbidden love, shy at first like a fawn in the forest, but soon strong and burning like a forest fire. Secret meetings in the twilight of the evening, under the crowns of old oaks, became her sole purpose in life. In his embrace, she forgot her old, cruel husband, the burden of her position, all the rules that bound her.

Love, however pure, was mixed with bitterness and despair in the young lady’s heart. She longed for freedom, for a life by the side of her beloved. And so, an evil seed began to sprout in her heart. The thought, at first terrifying and repelled, returned with every heartbeat, with every caress from the hunter. To break free from the bonds of marriage and be with her lover, she resolved to commit a terrible act. In her blindness and desire for happiness, she had her husband murdered. The details of this act remained hidden under a veil of secrecy, but legend has it that it was her hand that indirectly guided the blade of betrayal.

However, the happiness she built on blood did not last long. Truth, like an underground stream, always finds its way to the surface. Soon after the death of knight Ignác Josef Řehoř Zahrádka Sovinský of Aulensfeld, strange rumors began to spread. People whispered about the suddenness of his demise, about the strange behavior of the young widow. And then, like a bolt from the blue, the whole horrifying truth came to light. The lover, the one for whom she sacrificed everything, the one in whose eyes she sought refuge, renounced her in the moment of danger. The betrayal thus became twofold – she betrayed her husband and was betrayed by the one for whom she did it.

There was no escape. The young lady was apprehended and imprisoned in the White Tower at Prague Castle. This tower, part of the northern fortifications, stood between the old Daliborka and the mighty Mihulka, accessible from Golden Lane, and was renowned as a dark and desolate place. Every step on the stairs, every creak of the iron gates behind her, was a blow to her heart. In the dungeon of the White Tower, she endured difficult days full of anxiety and despair. The stone walls witnessed her tears, her weeping, her reproaches. Memories of the hunter, of his betrayal, burned worse than hot coals. She knew her fate was sealed.

And so came the day when her earthly life ended. She was executed, and her soul, full of regret and longing, could not find peace. Since then, an unhappy specter has appeared in the corridors of the White Tower, and sometimes in the surrounding parts of Prague Castle. People who dared to pass by the tower in the late hours reported a quiet whisper, a gentle breeze that seemed to pass through the walls, and an apparition in a white shroud.

It was she, the young lady, who became the White Lady of the White Tower. Her spirit, condemned to eternal wandering, still waited. She waited for her beloved, even after he renounced her, even after he betrayed her. Her specter is a silent reminder of fateful love, betrayal, and punishment that transcends the boundaries of death. And so, to this day, when darkness falls and the wind plays with the leaves on the trees of Prague Castle, some claim to hear quiet sighs and see the flickering shadow of the White Lady, silently and eternally wandering, seeking forgiveness and lost love.