Sofia the First - Teenage Version - Intro

by Natnarf01

Sofia's all grown up into a almost refined teenage princess. Royal Prep is going to host an upcoming Ball, and she needs to choose someone to be her partner for it. While all seems fine, King Roland II has other troubling matters of his own, trying to decide the future of the Enchancian Kingdom. The story will depend on path or character of choice. What do you think will happen?

1. STF-Teenage Version-Intro Part 1

Disclaimer: Sofia The First characters and series all belong to the Sofia The First cartoon show and on Disney Junior channel.

Comments From the Author:

This next few chapters are just going to be the introductions. It's really LONG for an intro, so I have decided to split it into three parts. I have already announced in my News & Updates section in here, but just in case you have not read it, I will only upload a section once a month, unless some emergency comes up and I will upload a few extra chapters. The stories after this intro will be...let's just keep it as a surprise for now.

Nevertheless, I do hope you will enjoy this new FanFic series. I will also update the others with every chance that I have.

I will also post a poll up every now and then, please feel free to go to my Profile page and check out the polls. Thanks!

* If this is your first time in this website and you would like to look at the next chapter, please look just below the 'Follow/Favorite' button. There should be a button with an arrow sign, which will lead you to the next chapter.

Or you can copy and paste the link of the next chapter given to you in your email if you have clicked "Follow" to follow me here on FanFiction.

Happy reading everyone!

Natnarf

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Young Sofia's POV:

I brushed my hair and placed the brush back to my vanity dresser. I got and went over to bed. It's still a bit tad too large for me so I had a small set of stairs to go up onto my bed. Clover was in his usual cushion bed hugging his pre-roasted carrots done by Crackle, Robin and Mia were sleeping on the backboard of my bed, and Whatnaught is at his usual spot, the window seat. It's a great spot to be in when you want to relax, just to getaway from the busy moments in life. I sat up in my bed, got my legs under the covers and gave my body a good stretch, feeling every limb and muscles unwinding in my body.

"Sounds like you've had quite a day by the way you're stretching yourself there." Clover said as I watched him climb onto my bed and making his way over to my side. "Hope you didn't over work yourself."

"We wouldn't want everyone thinking that we gave you a hard time, Sofia." Mia followed.

"I'm sure she just had too much fun." Robin said lastly.

"You're right, Robin. I just had another great day today. I wonder what more surprises would await me tomorrow? " I answered with excitement. Then a yawn followed.

In case you are wondering to whom I was talking to, I was talking to my animal friends, the two birds and the gray bunny. I am able to talk to them normally because of the amulet that my step-dad gave to me. Before I became a princess I used to live in the Village of Dunwiddy as a Village girl. Mom used to work as a Shoemaker and it was just us alone under one roof. One day we were called to the castle to make a new pair of shoes for the King, known as King Roland the second. I don't know what really happened, but the moment Mom put on a shoe on one of the King's foot, they instantly got locked into each others' arms and fell in love, I guess. The next thing I knew was that we moved into the castle the next day and I instantly became a Princess. in a day. That night after we moved into the castle, Dad gave me a welcome gift by giving me the Amulet of Avalor, a family heirloom handed down to him by his mother, saying that it will protect and watch over the person who wears it. Later on I found out that it had possessed magical powers, with a little help from Mr. Cedric who had tried to make me feel welcomed. I saw in one of his spell books describing what the Amulet of Avalor is capable of. "Which each deed performed, for better or worse, a power is granted, a blessing or curse.". I realized that I was able to talk to animals because I had helped a baby bird go back into its nest. Of course I got surprised when I realized this ability given to me, but because of that I had made many wonderful animal friends.

I looked at my amulet and held in tight and close to my chest.

"I really feel so grateful for everything that's happened to me so far." I said proudly. "I am also grateful to have such great friends like you guys. What would I do without you?"

"Um, dress up and clean the room by yourself?"

"Clover!"

"I know, I know. I was just joking." he laughed and nibbled on his roasted carrot.

I looked out through the window at the moon, and my memories had begun projecting to me all of the wonderful memories in my head through the moon, like when you watch a Play. My new family; Dad, Amber and James, the castle's most irreplaceable Steward Baileywick and his brother Nigel, our great Royal Sorcerer Mr. Cedric, and the castle maids and staff who have been there to take care and serve us. Everyone at Royal Preparatory Academy; our Headmistresses Ms. Flora, Ms. Fauna and Ms. Merryweather, Sir Gilliam, and Professor Popov, Mrs. Higgins the librarian, our friends and classmates, too many to name, and my flying Derby Horse Minimus. Then there are also friends that I have from the village, especially my two best friends Ruby and Jade who have always been with me before and after becoming a princess. I know that there will be more people to meet and make friends with, so my list of friends will never run out of space.

KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!

Clover and the others scurried to hide under my bed at the sounds of the knocking on my door.

"Sofia? Are you still awake?" It was Baileywick's voice. "May I come in?"

"Sure, Baileywick."

He opens and closes the door with grace and walks over to my bed with posture.

"Sofia, you are supposed to answer 'Yes, you may come in' whenever someone is at the door." he said with guidance. "And why aren't you asleep yet, my dear?"

"I was just saying my thanks, to whoever's watching over us, for giving me another wonderful day today. I was also thanking them for letting me have so many wonderful people in my life, and hoping to meet even more people, like you for instance." I gestured at him. "For taking such good care of me and our family, especially Dad, or he wouldn't be able to serve our kingdom at all."

"Oh Sofia. It is an honor to serve your royal highness's family. I wouldn't have served any other family than yours."

"Don't forget, you too are part of the family, not just our Royal Steward."

"Thank you, Sofia." Then he swiftly checks his pocket watch. "It's getting late, my dear. You have school tomorrow. I shall leave you to retire for the night."

He bows to me and turns to walk over to the door. He opens it slightly and turns to face me.

"Anything you'd like before I go?"

"Yes. Tell everyone in the castle that I said 'Good night' and 'Thank you'." I smiled. "Good night, Baileywick."

He smiled widely like how I would whenever I feel happy, bowed, and disappeared behind the doors.

Clover and everyone else came out from under my bed. They all went back to their places and slept soundly. From the smiles on their faces, they understood that my message was also meant for them.

"Sweet dreams, everyone." I whispered and turned off my oil lamp on my bedside table.

Older Present Sofia's POV

KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!

I was awakened by the sounds of the knocking on my door, but my senses weren't quite kicking in yet. The door opened without waiting for my answer, and Baileywick comes walking in with some sort of long book in his hand.

"Good morning, Princess Sofia." he says while walking towards the curtains and opens them. "It's such a lovely morning, don't you think?"

"Morning, Baileywick." I replied with a small yawn while rubbing.

I got out of bed and walked over to the window seat. I opened the windows and looked out into the scenery. The sun in the sky was shining brightly and there weren't any clouds to block it, the windy breeze was soothing to my hair as if it was spiritually combining my hair, the sounds of chirping from the birds that were flying in the sky, and the view of the kingdom looked just as wonderful as always, beautiful enough to paint it and hang it up on my wall. It's very...melodious.

"Just the way I like it, and the way it should be and always will be." I said to finish my reply.

"I can't agree more." he said. "Here you go, Sofia." He hands me the thin book in his hand.

"What's this?" I asked as I start opening the book and scanning its pages.

The pages where filled with lists of different kinds of dishes. From appetizers to desserts, from soup to fried rice, and all sorts of other foods that I've had in the castle.

"The chef would like to know if you would want to have anything specifically for breakfast today as he is in a good mood today. I'd take my chances if I were you." He whispered jokingly.

"That's alright." I said as I closed the book in my hands together and handed it back to Baileywick. "Just tell him that I just want the usual, and if he still insists, tell him he can surprise me anything he wants to serve me with."

"Right away, Sofia. Anything else you want or be delivered?"

I looked over at Clover's bowl and saw that it was empty again.

"Could you send someone to fill up Clover's bowl? And some food for my other animal friends too?"

Baileywick knows of my animal friends that usually visits my room, and has suggested that I can request for their food anytime of day, so as long as I have a plate or bowl for them to have the food in.

"Certainly, Sofia. See you at the breakfast table." He went and left my room.

I gaze out into the scenery once more and took in a deep breath.

"It's another day, so it's time to rise and shine again, Sofia." I said to myself enthusiastically.

"G' morning, Princess Sofia."

I turned around and saw my personal maid, Violet, already in my room and holding up my dress.

"Do you want to wear this one today?

The dress that she is holding is colored lilac, and almost looks like an off-the-shoulder gown. The lilac and white ruffles around the shoulders and neckline gives it an illusion that my gown had sophisticated short sleeves. My gown's neckline is sitting just below my collar bone. I have a couple of vertical lines around my bodice, and at the back there's a lace-like corset going crisscross from top to bottom of the bodice, just to give it a tight look even though it's not, and there's a pearl lining around my waistline. My floor length skirt is less plumped 'cause it is filled with pleats all around to make my dress look like it is heavy. To top off the design, from the middle doing down the skirt is covered in more lilac and white ruffles all the around, thus completes the illusion of looking like a I had a lot of petticoats underneath. This is by far the greatest design ever done by Madame Collette, the castle's Royal Dressmaker. This dress is my fifth favorite one since I out grew my first favorite gown, with all of the pearls on it. I still kept that dress on a mannequin as a display in the back of my closet, to remind me of how I first started out as a princess 10 years ago. Yes, it has been that long, which seemed like time had just flown by over night.

"Yes, Violet. I'd like to wear that today." I said as I went over her.

"As you wish, m' lady." Violet smiled.

"Violet?"

"Yes, m' lady?"

"Please just call me Sofia. You've been serving me for so long at least call me like I was one of your friends."

"But m' lady, Mr. Baileywick would never approve of it." She looked panicked.

All of the staff in the castle were all hand chosen and trained under Baileywick's guidance. Any wrong doings or mistakes were always corrected by him.

"Just call me Sofia. It's my order after all. So don't worry. Besides, you're part of the family, so you might as well be treated like one, too." I said as I happily took the dress from her. "Since you're here, I'd like you to do something for me."

I went over to my writing desk, which is also my study nook. I took a piece of paper and dabbled my writing quill into my ink bottle and started scribbling down.

"Yes, S-Sofia? " She mumbled.

"That's a good start. Now then."

I put my quill pen back into its holder and closed the ink bottle with its lid. I gently folded my paper and walked over to Violet.

"Please take this to Baileywick. I need him to get this done right away." I said as I gave her the folded paper. "Now, go on. I'll dress up myself. I need that task done as soon as possible. "

"Of course, m'lady. Er, I mean, Sofia." She says as quickly as she dashes off.

I pick up my dress and start to put it on when I suddenly hear sounds of wings flapping behind me.

"Let us help you put on your dress."

It was my bird friends, Robin and Mia. When I was younger they were very quick and well...young. Now they are almost reaching their golden years, meaning they're getting too old to help me. I could never ask them to help me when they deserve to have their retirement for helping me out all of these years.

"That's okay, Robin, Mia. I'm pretty sure that I can dress up on my own now. After all, I am 17 years old, and you guys deserve to rest once in a while."

I went behind the folding screen and changed out of my nightgown. I finished dressing up and went to my closet and hung up my nightgown. I got and wore on my matching lilac low heeled toe covered shoes. These shoes had a shimmering coating done over, just to replace the lack of pearls that I used to have on my previous dresses, or what they call 'accents'.

I went over to my vanity dresser, sat down and started parting my long hair into halves to brush my hair. I had grown my hair to be no more than mid back length, or I wouldn't be able to maintain it myself. I grew it just so I could keep up with my image to match my age, as suggested by Amber on how to look like a proper princess. I didn't quite agree with that fact at first, but I got used to it as time went by and I grew quite fond of my longer hair. Now I could do more hairstyles than when I had short hair, but I only did simple hairstyles, or at most times, none at all. Nevertheless, as long as I brushed my hair thoroughly everyday and keep it flowing naturally no one would complain. I brushed one side of the hair to the other, carefully untangling all the knots in my hair, then I combed my hair back with my hand for the final touch, so that it will look natural when my hair settles down. I then wore my tiara, which I still use since becoming a princess, perfect with my side swept bangs.

I learned most of these things at Royal Prep, the fashion part I mean, and really felt that I've been given too much consideration just because I was starting out as a new princess back then. I decided that I would try to adjust myself to the proper rules of how a princess' attire and appearances should be, so that I wouldn't burden others just to help me get comfortable to royal life.

I grabbed my bag...no wait, I used to have a bag to grab. You see, a few years ago in one of Ms. Flora's class, she suddenly gave us even more books to have, which meant we have to bring them everyday to school and they're really bulky and heavy to fit in my bag. Instead of getting a new bag, I've been taught by Mr. Cedric on a few tricks on how to carry less, or simply just my wand. He taught me how to make my wand into a bracelet, by saying 'Wandus Mutato Brachiel', and back into a wand again saying 'Brachiel Mutato Wandus', using my index finger as a pointer. When I want to have my things appear in front of me, all I have to do is say 'Buxis Appareo', and a box will magically appear before me. It's a like a storage box and I could store as many objects as I want, meaning all of my books, quill writing equipment, and other school necessities. When I'm done with my box, 'Buxis Defluo', the box disappears, till I need to summon it again. From then on, I never needed to carry anything at all, saving me a lot of hassle and weight.

He also taught me something important about magic spells. Whenever I learn or attempt to try a new spell, I should always research on them thoroughly and carefully. Most of the words used in spells, whether in a regular magic spell or a counter-spell, are mostly made up of Latin, Greek, or on rare occasions Italian words. Most of the times I mess up the spells, and it's due to my lack of knowledge on languages, so I would most often mispronounce the words and get the spells wrong. Like one time I asked him for a dancing spell because I didn't know how to dance and I didn't want to embarrass myself in front of everyone, who were attending my 'Welcoming Ball', and laugh at me. When the time came for me to start dancing to the Waltz, I chanted the words according to what Mr. Cedric had written on a paper for me, and I ended up making everyone in the room go to sleep, even Mr. Cedric fell victim to my spell. From then on, I've always brought with me all three dictionaries; Latin, Greek, and Italian, whenever I learn a new spell. I really respect Mr. Cedric, he's really brilliant, talented, and wise. I don't know why everyone's doubtful towards him, but I'm sure they'll change their minds when they get to know the real Mr. Cedric and acknowledge his true talents. What would our kingdom be without our brilliant Royal Sorcerer?

I took my wand out of my bedside table's drawer and begun waving it around.

"Wandus Mutato Brachiel!" I said the spell slow and steady with confidence. One of the greatest advices that Mr. Cedric has ever taught me when doing magic.

I watched as my wand turned into a lovely bracelet around my left wrist, and it's the most prettiest one I've ever seen done by a wand. Its design matches my amulet, having small purple jewels with silver wires. I turned to see that Clover was still asleep on his cushion, while Robin and Mia were resting on my canopy bed pillows.

"I'll be back soon." I said in a whisper while quietly slipping out of my room walking backwards.

As soon as I heard my door click, I turned around and walked along the corridors, leading towards a large staircase going down to the dining room. I've always admired the huge portraits and paintings that hung along the walls of the staircases, and almost everywhere that you can find throughout the entire castle. Some of them are paintings of stories from some of the famous princesses from all around the world. The paintings along the staircases that I'm walking down are illustrations of Cinderella's story, of how she used to suffer from the hands of her step-family, treating her like a maid and doing all of the chores to maintain the cleanliness of the castle. Her step-sisters were no different, always treating her really badly, as if Cinderella was a nobody. Thank goodness my step-family isn't anything at all like Cinderella's.

I arrived at the royal dining table and everyone was already seated. Dad sat at the end of the table as usual, Mom sat on his left side of the table, James sat after her, and Amber after him. I went towards the table.

"Good morning, everyone." I greeted my whole family with a curtsy.

"Good morning, Sofia." Dad greeted.

"Good morning, Honey." Mom said and I gave her a kiss on her right cheek.

"G' mawnin!" James said with food still stuffed in his mouth.

"James! Manners!" Baileywick was standing behind him from out of nowhere, telling him off again.

"Gulp! Sorry." James apologized. "BURP! Excuse me." he giggled.

His attitude towards food has never changed, and I rather have him the way he is. He's a very fun brother to have, whether as a royal or a commoner.

"'Morning, Sofia." Amber dabbed her mouth with her napkin and came over to hug me. I hugged her back, as tightly as she does.

The three of us didn't really get along at first, James played a prank on me first but soon apologized by teaching me how to properly pour a perfect cup of tea, and showing me how to curtsy. Amber really had me going by giving me Trick Shoes to wear in my first dance class with Professor Popov. We finally made amends when I went to her to ask for help during my 'Welcoming Ball', and she confessed that she was jealous of me because she taught everyone liked me more than her ever since I came into the castle. She helped me find a Counter-spell for the dancing spell that made everyone sleep and taught me how to Waltz, and I helped sew her huge torn on her dress, which I never got to ask how she got it. I feel like we aren't just close siblings, ever-after friends even!

Amber went back to her seat and continued to eat her meal. I went over to the other side of the table, on Dad's right side. Baileywick quickly went over to me and pulled up the first chair and sat me down. I looked at my table and saw a large silver cover on my plate, just to prevent the food from going cold, a glass of grape juice and a glass of water on the top right side, a set of forks and knifes going according to size, and a folded swan napkin on the top left. Beside my covered plate was also another silver cover, and has everything that I have on my set, except the napkin was folded into like a triangle kind of sculpture.

"So you read my note?" I looked at Baileywick.

"Yes, Princess Sofia. Want me to get her now?" He said with a smile.

I nodded and watched him as he went over to the walls with portraits of all of the kings of Enchancia, from the very first king, to the very present king., which is Dad of course. He looks really dashing with his cape on while riding on a horse. Baileywick motions Violet, who was standing just by one of the sides of the door, and they both walked over to my side.

"Aren't you going to eat, Sofia?" Dad asks me, seeing that I haven't touched anything on the table yet.

"I will, in just a sec." I said, gesturing my index finger like the number '1'.

"Have a seat, Violet." Baileywick pulls up the chair beside me.

"M-me?! Sit here?!" Violet was nervous. Anxious even. Or maybe scared.

"Yes, Violet. I ask that you sit beside me. Consider it an order." I said.

"B-but it's right next to you, m'lady! I'm just a-"

"Now, now. What did we just talked about earlier in my room? Please follow the orders you were given." I said facing forward and my eyes closed, pretending to be all strict.

"Y-yes, S-sofia." She managed to say the words out. Can't blame her, she's standing literally in front of everyone.

"Violet!" Baileywick exclaimed. "Sofia! This simply isn't-"

"She's part of the family too, Baileywick. In fact, everyone here should be treated equally, and respect. Besides, today is a special day for her/"

"Gulp! What day is it?" James asked, mouth emptied this time.

"Baileywick?" I pointed to Violet's covered plate.

He nodded. He proceeded to take off the cover on her plate. Under it was a nice large juicy steak, with lots of nice vegetables and a good serving of white rice.

"Oh my goodness!" Violet gasped, and covered her mouth with her hands right away.

A waiter then comes over and places another large plate with a larger cover, placing it in the middle of the table. He gently opens the cover and walks away backwards.

"Oh my." Dad says with a smile.

"Wow." Mom applauds.

"C-hoo!" James said with some food in his mouth again.

"Oh, I see." Amber looked pleased.

"Happy Birthday, Violet!" everyone greeted in unison.

On the plate was a three layered cake, covered in light blue icing and decorated with small bow like designs. All around the edge of each layer of the cake are individual strawberries with small whipped cream like cushions underneath, and on the top there's a small candle, which has yet to be lit.

I then raised my glass with grape juice in it to the center of the table. "To Violet, who has been taking care of me since I got here, and for always working hard to ensure the cleanliness of the castle."

"To Violet!" Everyone followed raising their glasses to the center of the table.

"Oh Princess! Oh my word, my word!" Violet cried with happy tears.

Baileywick finally got her to sit down, unfolded her table napkin and placed it on her lap.

"Enjoy your meal, Violet." He says, and turns to get the cover off my plate. "You too, Sofia." He then cuts a small slice from the top of the cake with the unlit candle and puts it on a small plate beside Violet.

"Let me, Baileywick." I stopped him before he attempts to light the candle.

Mr. Cedric taught me another spell, one that I can use easily while I have my wand as a bracelet. As long as long I use my index finger as a pointer and say the spell with confidence in mind and by heart.

"Ignitious." I said while pointing to the tip of the string of the candle and a small flame lit up. "Make a wish, Violet."

"Oh my dear. Me oh my." She says while trying to stop her tears from falling any further. "Princess, thank you so much. I'm truly grateful, honest."

"Anytime, Violet. Anytime." I helped her wipe her tears using my swan folded napkin. "And as part of my gift to you, I'm giving you a day off to go visit your family back home."

"Really? Oh thank you. Thank you so much." She says. Then she blows the candle.

"Eat as much as you want, Birthday Girl." I hugged her and sat back down in my chair.

I took a good look at my plate and smiled. It had white rice as a border around the plate, inside were minced beef and assorted vegetables, and the sauce was on top, done in writing with the word 'ENJOY'.

"Bon appetite!" and I happily dug into my plate. Delicious as always.

After breakfast, James, Amber and I went straight to the Open-top carriage to go to school. We always use the flying horses since our school is in the clouds. It is a fast way to go to school avoiding getting caught up in traffic.

"I can't wait to see Hildy. I have to tell her about my ideas on the upcoming party project. I want to know what she thinks about them." Amber said excitingly.

"Another tea party? How many more do you plan on holding this month?" James raised a brow while using his arm to prop up his head on the edge of the carriage.

"If you must know, I still have about 2 more this week, and 5 more next week. It's not easy being a Royal Party Planner." She said and smoothly flutters open her maroon fan, fanning herself. "By the way, Sofia. Tell your friends that they should attend to the party this weekend. I'll also arrange dresses for them to wear. I love it when they give praises and compliments about my magnificent parties."

"Hehe. Sure thing." I said. "I have to go check on the villages anyway after school. I will also be passing by the village of Dunwiddy to check on the constructions of the new clinic."

Ever since last year, Dad has given each of us a position to perform some of the duties that he thinks we are most capable of doing. Amber is great in hosting tea parties, banquets, and celebrations that involve food and decorations. She's already held almost 100 parties around Enchancia, and a few others in other the Kingdoms too.

I was assigned to oversee our kingdom's villages, to check that the people receive their necessities, their required resources, to maintain the peace and order amongst the people, and to provide them the necessary protection needed. Right at the moment, the people are asking for medical supplies and attention, so I've been taking immediate actions on building small clinics, so that we can cure the people that are affected by the seasonal outbreak, which is the common flu. I've also asked many people who are knowledgeable on herbs and medicines to create and supply as much as they can and send them to the clinics. I've also asked for Mr. Cedric's help to speed up the growth on the herbs and crops that are needed in making the medicines, and asked him to be on stand by if in case we are going to deal with cases that involve curses or diseases that are beyond medicinal help. I never knew that watching over villages would be really overloaded, but I'm learning many things that I can never learn just by reading books, and have made lots of new friends too.

"How about your duties on Politics and the Military, James?" Amber looked at him with steely eyes.

"...Brilliant!" he says cross legged.

"So you did actually do them by yourself?" She raised a brow.

"Mm...More or less." he shrugs.

"I hope you haven't just push everything to Zandar, Jin, Khalid and Frederick."

"I haven't. I've been busy training our soldiers very hard, and trying to recruit more strong young men into the force. Most of the ones Dad had recruited are getting too old and need to retire. I'm also raising funds to get more advanced and effective weaponry and armor, since most of our men keep destroying most of our gears during combat practices. I sure hope that I could finally request for more cannons."

"And because of that you haven't been able to study on our kingdom's politics topics at all!" Amber quickly shuts her fan and points at him with its edge. "I've been watching you closely and it seems that Zandar has been doing most of the studying for you, and believe me, he might need to get glasses sooner or later."

"Don't worry about it. He said he was going to help me highlight some of the impor-"

"He ISN'T a prince from our kingdom!" Amber cuts him off. "Even though all five of you princes are told to study and work together on these duties, Zandar is doing more than double of his original given duties. He's also has to study both of the same studies that you are supposed to study. And do you know why is that?"

"Because...he was asked to?"

"WRONG! It's because he's the only child in his family, the Only Prince in the Kingdom of Tangu." She scolded him, making most of her front hair fall down in front of her face. She uses her free hand and swiftly combs her hair back into place. "If there's anyone I should really give my gratitude and my respect to, it's him." Amber flutters her fan to herself again.

James' duties are a bit more stressful and intense. Since he's the only male child in the family, he's also the next heir and successor to inherit the crown and become King of Enchancia. He will eventually have to attend even more classes other than the classes that he is attending at the moment, classes that will work on his leadership skills needed once he becomes the next king. Those classes are only for those who are guaranteed to be next in line of the throne, meaning all of the princes in our class are required to attend. If the kingdom has two princes, both of them will still attend, in case something bad happens to the selected heir, then the other prince will take over the position. Those classes are called the Advance Prince Course.

The kingdoms that only have a princess in the family, like Princess Vivian, Princess Clio, will automatically take over the throne of their kingdoms. There are also some exceptions like if the royal family has more than one child but are all princesses, and if the first one is already married to a prince in another kingdom, then the next princess will take the place of the throne in their own kingdom, like Princess Hildegard. They will attend classes similar to the ones the princes are taking, complete with politics and military studies, but just less intense. It's called the Advance Princess Course. Clio and Vivian have already started them last year.

The rest of us who don't have to line up for the throne, we will have to take classes that will help us polish on our prince and princess skills, and eventually will be titled 'Duke' or 'Duchess' if we are not entitled to take the throne. It's called the Harmony Course. Princess Maya and Princess Leena, who are already in those classes, are eagerly waiting for us. They said the classes are very lonely without everyone around. The three of us are still in our regular classes, so we're still waiting for our results to graduate our of our classes and enter the next stage, which is sometime this week. I'm really excited.

"If only I could just study without having to actually read a single text off a page from a book, then I might actually get serious." James exhaled heavily. "I'm more of a man of action and adventure. I'd rather explore the seas, or go hunt and fight dragons, or fly around the world and explore what the world has to offer."

"On your Derby horse?" I asked excitedly. I was also enjoying his enthusiasm.

"Even better, on a magic flying carpet!" James raised his arms in the air.

I giggled.

"Oh, Sofia. You shouldn't be encouraging him." Amber said.

"I can't help it, Amber. You know how much I love the great outdoors as well."

"Oh goodness." She frowns with her arms crossed and her free hand propping up her forehead. "At least you've been working hard on your part, so you can go wild."

"Yoo Hoo! Amber!"

We heard a voice calling out and looked around, and we see another flying carriage coming to our side. It was a teal colored carriage, and the only one who loves that color can only be from one princess, Princess Hildegard. She pokes out from the window of her carriage.

"Oh, Hildy!" Amber squealed in delight.

"Hi!" James and I waved at her.

"Hi, Sofia, James." Hildegard replies.

"It's so good to see you, Hildegard." I added.

"I know." She grinned. "Amber, wanna come over here? Let's have a chat on the way."

"Sure thing, Hildy. I've got lots of things to talk about with you anyway." Amber says excitingly. "Coachman, can we line up the carriages together?"

"Certainly, ma'am." Our Coachman replied. "Ready?"

"Ready!" Hildegard's Coachman gives a thumbs up.

We watched as the two carriages lines up together and the wheels interlock. Our newly improved automatic set of stairs became a straight plank, bridging with Hildegard's carriage's foot rest at the bottom edge of the door. It didn't take long and Amber had walked across the small bridge like stairs and sat safely inside.

"See you two later!" Amber waves at us through the small window.

On the signals of the Coachmen, the two carriages freed themselves from the other, and flew a little ways apart to avoid crashing into one another.

"Finally, some peace and quiet." James says and lays back with his arms behind his head. "Sometimes Amber can be a bit too talkative."

"Same as you." I said.

"Nuh-Uh! She's more talkative! She's got a motor-mouth!"

"Oh, James."

It wasn't long before we finally reached within Royal Prep's territory and landed in front of the school gate. We got out of our carriage and witness as many other carriages and coaches coming from the other kingdoms landing one after another. Some of the princes and princesses hurriedly walked pass us, trying to get to the classrooms early. Some of them waved to us and partnered up with their friends, and some had already begun chatting amongst themselves.

"Wow. What a really lively morning." I said as I observed.

"I know. This kind of excitement is better than all of Amber's noise."

"James." I placed my hands on my hips.

"Good morning, Sofia. James."

I turned around to see Princess Clio and Princess Vivian behind us already curtsied. I curtsied back and James bowed humbly.

"Morning to you both." I said.

"That's odd. Where's Amber? Isn't she supposed to be riding the same carriage with you?" Clio asks noticing the lack of a certain presence.

"She's with Hildegard at the moment. She swapped carriages while we were flying along the way." James replied.

"I bet they went to get some petals along the way. There's a certain area in the sky with an unusual cloud raining rose petals lately. I wonder how's it doing that."

"We also heard of that odd rumor amongst the castle staff when they went out to gather some flowers and firewood, but no one can pin point where the source of it is located." I said.

It was actually Clover who overheard the rumor from the castle staff when he was having lunch in the cabbage patches and told me about it.

"My mother said that she heard a rumor about someone with wings flying in the air as of late, and it's shooting out some weird strikes of light into the air. I wonder if the two are related." Vivian voiced out.

"Maybe. Maybe it's someone with magic powers who is doing it. Our sorcerer did something like that when I first arrived at the castle, and Dad asked him to magically make the sky rain rose petals as part of the welcoming ceremony, but it lasted only for a moment." I said as I recalled that wonderful display. It was then that I really looked up to Mr. Cedric and his brilliant talents.

"Well, Vivian said it's someone with wings, so Cedric is out of the list. He can't fly and the only flying contraption he has is still broken. " James thought. " He can levitate, but he can't go higher than 3 feet off the ground."

"Hmm. Maybe it's one of the head mistresses here at the school. They have wings, and they can do magic." Vivian suggested.

"Could be, but...what reason could they have to make clouds rain petals? Besides, the wings could just be used as a prop or a disguise to cover up their silhouette if ever caught in the distance." Clio said. "Until we hear more of what's really going on, we can't just make any solid conclusions."

"I guess you're right, Clio." I smiled.

Clio usually hangs around with Amber and Hildegard, but if you ever want to know or ask her opinions on something, she'll always give out great and wise answers, even on the most difficult topics. She's truly wise. Vivian was once an outcast, always avoiding people and sitting by herself at the back of the class. I gave her a little push, and she instantly made friends with everyone, with the help of her greatest talent, music and singing. She is part of the school band, and plays her favorite instrument is the Mandolin. I've been to her castle before, and her music room was filled with all kinds of instruments. All of the instrument that you could see in that room, she can play them all: the piano, the harp, the violin, and many more. 10 years passed by like a breeze, but both Clio and Vivian really turned out to be really beautiful people, inside and out.

"Um...H-hi, everyone."

It was Prince Desmond, who had just arrived. He's also one of Royal Prep's smartest students. He's a bit shy and constantly worries about many things, but he's really a good friend to be around. He's also in the school band, and he plays the Accordion. His real passion is gardening, and he always carries a bag of gardening tools just in case he sees a plant in need. He's afraid of many things, but he's always there to help people whenever they're in trouble.

"Hi, Desmond." Clio greets first.

"Hey there, Des." James gives a pat on his shoulder.

"Hi ya." I gave a small wave.

"Good morning, Desmond." Vivian last.

"Uh...Great weather we're having, huh?" Desmond asking while fidgeting.

He's been very extremely nervous as of late, and I haven't figured out why. He's not having any fever, nor has any physical injuries, passed every test and quiz, paying attention in class as always, but he seems to dash off very quickly, and more constantly too.

"Yes, it is." Vivian answered.

"Um. V-Vivian?" he mumbled. "If...you don't mind, could...could we, say., talk for a sec? Alone?"

"Sure." She replied. "I'll be right back, everyone."

"You take your time, Vivian. We'll just go on ahead. I'll see you later in the classroom." Clio waves with a wide grin. "C'mon guys, let's go inside." She hurriedly pushed us through the gates and onto the side of the lawn.

"Huh? You're pushin' us to the wrong way!" James cried out.

"Nope. This is where we're going. Hihi" Clio said with a chuckle.

She didn't give us a chance to ask about her actions. but Clio insists by gesturing us to walk through the gates with her. Following her lead from behind, we walked towards the tall hedges and Clio crouched down just as we reached them.

"Hide yourselves and walk quietly. I'd like to witness this moment." She says.

"Uh...what moment?" James scratched his temple.

"Aren't they just going to talk?" I said.

"You two are obviously dense. Do you both not understand what's going on?"

We both looked at each other and shook our heads in unison.

"Well then, let's follow them and you'll understand." She says and walks silently.

We followed her until she stops, then gestures us to kneel down.

"This is one of the girl's greatest moments in her life." Clio whispers excitedly, almost squealing.

"Which is?" James whispers.

"Following people?" I followed.

"Of course not! It's when a boy asks a girl the most painful question in his life!" Pointing excitedly towards Desmond and Vivian.

We all watched Desmond and Vivian through the small gaps in the hedges, we could see them but couldn't hear their conversation as they were a little further away from the hedges. We carefully observed how Desmond's body movement was; fidgety, looks extremely nervous, almost enough to make you want to calm him down. Vivian was being a little shy, but she was very patient and waited. It wasn't long before he opened his bag and took out a small bouquet, filled with the most beautiful roses ever picked. I would assume that he planted and grew those himself since gardening is one of his best hobbies. He puts down his bag and knelt down on one knee while holding out the bouquet to Vivian. And in that instant, Vivian visibly mouthed the word 'Yes' and gently took the bouquet, her face going all pink and red. Desmond stands up, his face glowing red with the widest grin you've ever seen on him, and lifts Vivian up in the air by her waist going in circles. You could see them both laughing happily.

"It all finally made sense." I whispered excitedly.

The weird and strange behaviors that Desmond has been showing, and the way he is around Vivian. He was in love with her all along.

"Um...Clio?" James said with concern.

I looked at her with her back facing us, her whole body visibly was shaking.

"I...can't...help...it!"

Clio begins to squeal in a really high and long pitch, and she could not long contain herself any longer that she hastily charges through the hedge, running towards Desmond and Vivian.

"Clio!" James and I yelled after her.

But she was too happy that she ran really fast and hugged them with an impact. We were a little amazed with the hole that Clio had made in the hedges as we walked through it, and when we finally reached the three of them, Desmond's face had already redden so much that you could compare him with a tomato.

"Oh, Congratulations!" Clio screamed excitedly. "Vivian, you're so lucky! I knew this day had to come soon or later!"

"Um. Thanks, I guess?" Vivian shyly answered with a small giggle, trying to look at us.

"U-um...w-would you mind letting us go? I-I need to breathe!" Desmond was barely gasping for air.

"No! No! No! I won't let you both go or you might end up breaking up! Eek!" Clio was really in a good mood.

It took a while, but James and I struggled to help set the three of them free. Clio had finally drained most of her morning energy when she finally let them go, causing her legs to go all wobbly. James and I left Vivian and Desmond behind to help Clio to her classroom. Her classroom is on the second floor, next to James' classroom for the first lesson. Thankfully her seat was just on the right side as you enter through the door, she slowly made her way to the chair.

"Phew! I've never thought that I'd waste all of my energy just being happy for someone else." Clio takes out her handkerchief and dabs off her face. "But it's really worth the watch, for me that is."

"I still don't get it though. What were you congratulating them for? All Desmond did was give her a bouquet." James scratched the back of his head.

"You still didn't understand?" I asked, dumbfounded.

"Oh, James! Desmond just confessed his love for her to HER! Now do you get it?"

"Just like how Mom and Dad did!" I exclaimed. "Only, it was more of 'Love at First Sight'."

I remembered it quite well, the moment Mom tried the shoe onto Dad's foot, the instant their eyes locked together. That was truly beautiful.

"Did Desmond then fell in love at first sight then? We all studied and grew up together for many years, but he only confessed today. Does that make it 'Love at Many Years Later Sight'?"

"There's no such thing, James. But It does have a nice ring to it." Clio giggled.

"Do you remember when Sir Bartleby was in Enchancia to attend for the Shield of Valor Ceremony? He also had a thing for Aunt Tilly at first sight during the rehearsals, but he only told her his feelings at the actual ceremony because he wasn't prepared the first time. It's like that kind of situation."

"Haven't you notice Desmond acting strangely nowadays than when he normally does before?"

I nodded strongly. I noticed a huge abnormality in his behavior, just late to realize it.

"Nope, he's always the same to me."

"Well, that's only because you don't see him with her around. Let me tell you myself what I've seen and analyzed about the whole thing. When we were all still kids, the two of them have never actually talked to each other like how the rest of us always mingle with each other, since they were both shy with everyone. The only time that they actually had a full conversation, was when Vivian joined the school band. Desmond was already in the band to begin with, but he would always stay hidden in the background, like the music he's playing. I was a witness there when Vivian joined the band, and you wouldn't believe how they even started. It was not yet time for the actual practice, so they played a few notes on their own. Desmond was struggling a bit with some parts of the notes for a while. Vivian must've heard his notes of confusion, because then she strummed a few notes on her Mandolin while walking over to his side. He was surprised at first, and a bit panicky of course, but he then realized that she was trying to let him hear which notes or sound it was, and Voila! They played together in synchronization! It was like they really hit it off on a good key.

After they played a bit with the music sheets, they strummed a bit of odd notes on their instruments back and forth to each other. I didn't understand what was going on, until I heard a few notes that were familiar. Have you ever heard 'Solresol'?"

"No. What is this 'Solresol'?" I shook my head gently.

"Is it some sort of song?" James followed. "I figured it might be since we're talking about those two."

"Well...It's not exactly a song. It's a language invented based on piano, but using only the 7 keys of a piano. It was invented for people who wanted to communicate with each other who didn't share the same language. Some of those people are Mute, those who can hear but can't talk at all, while some use it as some sort of code, like in puzzles and stuff. There are different ways to express it; using numbers, shaping with your hands like sign language, colors, saying the first two or three letters of each note and combining them into words and sentences, or like the way the two of them did: through their instruments. I've only studied a bit on that before, but gave up because I found it confusing. When I watched those two communicate using 'Solresol' through their Mandolin and Accordion, I was really moved. The way they played their notes, the way the sounds make, it was more than a melody; it was a master piece. If you want to know who are the true geniuses, they are the ones that you'll see in my list. They played many notes that I've never even heard or studied before, and that I find it cute. I think it was from then on that he started liking her, not only as a friend, but as a girl.

Whenever there are upcoming events that required the presence of the school band, they would always find time to practice together: during breaks, recesses, or even after school at each others castles. I've never seen them separated when it comes to music. I don't know about you guys, but that is truly a romantic classic! Eek! Eek! EEEK!"

Clio was squealing with excitement so much that I can't help but feel a smile growing on my face. It's true though, what she said about the after school part. There are times that when I wanted to go visit Vivian at her castle, she would say that she was having music practices with Desmond. I used to think that it was normal since they're in the same band, so they would need to practice with each other even outside of the school band if they want to get comfortable in a different surrounding, and Vivian's music room was the perfect place to do so. Now that I understand a little bit of Desmond's actions, I kinda wanna hold a small celebration for the two of them too. I think Clio had rubbed a bit of her excitement onto me.

"Thank you. See you later."

We heard someone just behind us talked and turned to look. It was Vivian, holding her rose bouquet on one hand and the other waving out the door, walking into the classroom. We all smiled at her sudden appearance. She sees us and shyly waves at us, knowing what we were smiling about and came over to us.

"H-hi." Her face redden even harder. "Oh gosh. It's so embarrassing."

"Don't worry, Vivian. It's nice to have really happy moments like these, even if it is embarrassing." Clio seemed recharged. "Because it will always make you happy whenever you recall them, especially the ones that will carve into your heart"

"Hehe. Thank you, Clio."

"It kinda looks like Clio is the one in love though, suddenly filled with energy when you couldn't even stand on your feet." James smirked. "I still don't understand any of this though. Does it only happen to shy people? Or does it happen to everyone?"

"James! Really?!" Clio snapped her fan at him. "If you're saying things like that, it just means you haven't matured yet! Only boys like you asks these kinds of questions."

"I hope you'll be happy always." I whisper to Vivian and gave her a hug while the two of them bicker at each other. "Make sure not to lose it."

"I won't." Vivian whispers back, returning the hug.

"Hey! Who are you calling 'Immature'?" James started getting annoyed.

"I only said the fact. Otherwise you wouldn't even be asking any of this. Come argue with me when you've finally fallen in love." Clio turned away with crossed arms.

"Heh! Who needs to learn about this 'Love' business anyway? As long as I'm happy with my life I don't need anything else." James says and walks off out of the classroom. I assume he'll be going to his classroom, for Fencing.

"You didn't have to argue with him. He's just enjoying his time while he's still a Prince." I said.

"Sofia. Love's got nothing to do with time. It just comes and goes naturally in your life whether you expect it or not. It also doesn't have anything to do with age. Whether you're a King or Queen, a Prince or Princess, a Butler or a Maid, or just any common folk, as long as you feel your heart starts beating like crazy, whether it's for yourself, or for someone else, as long as your feelings are really strong, then you are in love! 'Certified'!" Clio fingers quoted strongly.

Vivian and I giggled.

"Now how am I supposed to keep these from withering though? The nearest washroom is downstairs, and the class is about to start soon." Vivian looked at her bouquet.

All of a sudden a regular sized blue vase appeared in front of us. I took hold of it and saw some water already filled halfway inside it.

"You can use this."

We looked up and saw Ms. Merryweather hovering over us.

"A beautiful bouquet given with love should be taken care with love as well, and I can see that you care more of the heart of the person who gave you this bouquet than your own, Princess Vivian."

"Thank you very much, Ms. Merryweather."

Vivian slowly unwraps the bouquet and the three of us carefully put each rose into the vase. Ms. Merryweather goes to one of the classroom's windows and cleans the ledges. We finished filling up the vase and Vivian carries it over to the window, while Clio and I carefully neatly fold up the wrapping and tie it with its ribbon.

"Nothing like a bit of water and sunshine to help give these roses a bit more glow and life." Ms. Merryweather said with delight. "You should go find Ms. Fauna later and ask how to preserve these flowers. Gardening isn't my best trait."

"Okay. Thank you again." Vivian curtsied.

"Oh well. I'd better get to class, or I'll be late." I said as I greeted goodbye to everyone.

My classroom is on the first floor, so I hurried down the two front sets of stairs. I arrived at my classroom and found Amber already there in her seat.

"Oh, when did you arrive, Amber?"

"Just a few minutes ago. Where were you?" She was fanning herself.

"Just upstairs with Vivian and Clio. Did Hildegard go through the back stairs? I didn't see her on the way coming down the front." I walked over to the seat next to Amber's, which is beside the window.

"Yeah. Zandar was asking her a few things earlier when we saw each other near the green house."

"Ah. Okay." I smiled widely.

"Hm?" Amber looks at me with a raised brow. "You're smiling more than usual. Did something good happen?"

"How could you tell?" I tried to calm myself by putting my hands on my cheeks.

"I should. We're sisters after all." She says.

"I'll tell you later. It's a long story."

"Deal." She says and opens her bag to get her books out.

I turned my bracelet into a wand and summoned for the box. I took out my three dictionaries, my quill pen set, and four books. Our desks have compartments inside so that we can put things inside and that our working space wouldn't get messy and crowded. I placed everything inside my desk. I summoned my box away and let my wand remain as is it, since it is Sorcery class after all, and we're going to have a test today.

Ms. Fauna arrives in the classroom a little later and we begin our class with a small test. We were tested on how we can make a magically bubble and use a counter-spell to pop. These are one of the spells that I remember and hate to recall. I encountered these when I was still starting out. The headmistresses had invited a former fairy apprentice to school, Miss Nettle, to hold an extra curricular class about Enchanted Gardening. Her main goal was to steal a Spell book that the Headmistresses have and become the most powerful fairy in the world, and she took all of their wands and used the bubble spell to trap the Headmistresses inside to prevent them from stopping her. Desmond, James and I were the only ones attending the class that day, and helped find the Spell book, saved the Headmistresses by using the counter-spell to pop the bubble, and stopped Miss Nettle from causing anymore harm and trouble. I haven't seen her around the campus, until later on, which is another story.

I successfully passed the test, with ease and confidence as always. The class ended and I summoned my box again and put everything away, then turned my wand back into a bracelet again.

"You're really good with the wand, Sofia."

Princess Mae was standing at the side of Amber.'s desk, applauding with grace.

I always love the pink dress that she wears, along with her fedora, which is what you call her hat. It suits her like her personality inside and out. The way she dresses herself isn't too complicated, and always seems refreshingly soft to admire at.

"Thank you, Mae. How did you both do on the test by the way?"

"I pass, as always." Amber waving her wand.

"I did alright, I guess. I don't have to master my skills on magic, all I just really need to do is study hard for the sake of my country. We already have many talented Sorcerers in our kingdom, but we are lacking the knowledge need on the side of our country's economy. I'm not saying that we're poor, but we're just strategically poor." Mae says.

"That is a tough case." I said.

"Wanna join us, Mae? Sofia still has yet to tell me what was making her so unusually happy that happened earlier this morning. We can go sit by the fountain." Amber suggested.

"I'd love to." Mae clasped her hands together.

We went through the hallway to the back of the stairs, where it also leads out to the green house. The fountain is also next to the enchanted wing set, where James did a prank on me by making me ride on it and landed squarely in the fountain on my first day of school. I will never forget that prank, and that Enchanted Swing Set of course, and I've been avoiding it ever since.

We arrived at the fountain, and I sat on the edge of the fountain, a little further away from the swing. Mae sat in the middle and Amber on the other side. I told them about what had happened this morning, from when Desmond arrived, to when we ended up in the classroom upstairs. I left out the part where James argued with Clio though, for the sake of his pride.

"Wow. Who knew Desmond was that kind of boy?" Mae was astonished.

"It can only mean one thing, girls." Amber opens her fan and covers half of her face. "We are no longer children anymore. We're turning into adults."

"Adults." Mae and I said unison.

I've always known that I'm not a child anymore, but every time I hear the word 'Adult', everything in the world starts to flicker in your mind, including the words 'Difficulty', 'Responsibility', and 'Grown Up'. I glanced slightly at Mae, but her reaction seems different than mine, more serious actually.

"What is it?" Mae notices me.

"It's just...you don't seem delighted." I state the obvious.

"Is it about the 'Adult' part? Or was it anything I said?" Amber shuts her fan and looks worried. "I apologize, Mae, I-."

"It's not about that." Mae says looking down. "It's about Vivian and Desmond. I'm kind of...well...jealous, I guess."

"Huh?" Amber and I looked at each other in confusion. "Jealous?" and in unison.

"Remember earlier how I said that I have to study hard for the sake of my country? Well, I will soon govern not only my country, but also Frederick's country."

"Why do you need to do both?" I asked.

"Both...both...both?...Oh-My-Gosh!" Amber's expression had changed. "Don't tell me you're...you're-"

"Our parents had arranged us to be engaged when we were younger, and we'll be officially engaged as soon as Frederick graduates from school. I learned of this from my parents when Frederick had transferred classes." Mae nodded.

Prince Frederick, another one of the princes who is an only child in his family. I hardly get to talk to him. According to James, Fredrick's very wise, kind, humble, and great at sword fencing. He just works too hard that he's hardly seen doing anything else other than studying and fencing. He does join in some of the festivities that the school holds, but other than that, he's still a mystery to me.

"Oh my." I said. I took her hand closer to me and held them in both my hands. "Are you alright with it?

"Couldn't you just back out of it?" Amber did the same with Mae's other hand. "You've got every right to do so."

"Thank you. I really appreciate your concerns, girls." She says and gently pulls back her hands. "But I don't mind. I think it is better this way, you know."

"How is this better?" Amber's expression can really switch with a snap of the fingers. "Don't you want to have a chance of falling in love? The experience to feel what it's like when your heart floats and your body feeling all light that you might float away?"

"I didn't say I didn't want to experience it. I don't really hate Frederick, since he's also in a tight spot like I am. He's never been mean to me, and he does often talk to me-"

"Talk to you? Now that's a rare thing to hear." Amber cuts in.

"I know he doesn't look like the type to mingle with others, or to stop to engage a word or two, but he's really a good listener and has many interesting topics to share with. If you ask me, I'd rather stay with him because my parents knows him very well, rather than fall in love with someone else who my parents don't know well enough that might hurt my emotionally and physically. It's better than having chances on getting your heart broken and hurt. There are some people who never gets to be with the person they're in love with, and chances are when they confess to their desired person, they end up getting rejected, and become sad. On really bad cases, become depressed and end up viewing everything negatively, and never giving themselves another chance, maybe even going as far as to committing suicide. I'm just glad that the person that I'm going to get engaged to is someone I know from a young age, and trust as a good friend."

"Getting engaged to someone who you don't love, but as a friend, maybe something that I might not understand at all." I said with concern.

"Even if you did get married to him, you might never even get to loved at all." Amber says.

"True. I might never get to be loved, but the worse case would be if it is someone whom you don't know at all. That would be absolutely terrifying."

"True." Amber agrees right away. "Or someone who you really don't like or hate with all your might."

"Exactly." Mae says.

It is true that you can't really get the happiness that you want, or the person you want the most to be with you, but every person in the world at least has one destined partner in their life, that's at least what I believe.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" a horrifying voice screamed.

We turned around to find who the horrid cries belongs to, and see Prince Jin running running from the entrance of the back stairs, to the small bridge that leads into a small forest. His face isn't clearly visible, but you could tell that it was him from his Asian styled clothing.

"Wait! Jin!"

Another person comes running, and but finally slows down to catch their breath. It was Princesses Jun, Jin's sister. She's very charming and takes everything very seriously, when necessary. She's very talented in Fan fluttering and studies very hard. Her head piece is what intrigues me the most, 'cause it looks heavy than a regular head band, but it still manages to stay on her head. Maybe there are hair pins all over it attached to her head.

"What happened?" I said as Mae and I quickly went to help her up.

"Why is Jin running and screaming like that?" Amber asks, while fanning Jun to give her more oxygen.

"I told him some things and that made him quite upset. I can't really blame him for it, but I didn't think he would also end up running off too. I have to get him back, before the next class begins." Mae dabs her face with her handkerchief hidden in her sleeves. If you ask me, that sleeve is the best weapon a magician would ever need to store his rabbits in.

"And soon!" Mae says as she pointed at the clock tower.

The next class begins at 10 o'clock, and according to the clock tower, we've only got 5 minutes left.

"I'll go look for him." I volunteered.

"No, Sofia. It's my fault, so I should look for him." Jun attempts to run, but I stop her by holding her down.

"You need to catch your breath, and Jin's probably still upset by whatever you said to him." Amber said. It hurts, but it was the truth. "Mae and I will take you back inside to the classroom. I'm sure Sofia can find him." Amber nods at me, signaling me to go.

I nodded and took off in the direction where I last saw Jin running. I should know what the small forest's like since I've been here once. It was right after I had landed into the fountain and came here to dry off, as well as to hide my embarrassment from everyone else. It was also here that I helped a baby bird back with its mom after falling off from its nest.

I searched in every area that I could think that he would be able to hide in, even in those sharp and very thorny bushes. The forest isn't that big, but there were so many places that you could hide in, even in our grown up bodies. I decided to take a breather by a tree when something wet like droplets of rain fell on the top of my hand. I thought it might rain, so I looked up to check the sky for any clouds, and there he was, Jin sitting up high on one of the branches of the tree that I'm resting at.

"Jin!" I shouted out to him. "Jin! Please come down! Jin!"

"No!" He says. "I don't want to go down!" You could still hear him crying. "I'm not leaving from this spot!"

"C'mon, Jin! Please come down! Or you'll be late for class!"

"I don't want to go to class! Not ever again!" He was crying even more.

Something must really be wrong. Normally Jin wouldn't get upset that easily, nor cry at all. I don't mind if boys need to cry for a reason, but this seems very painful to just stand by to watch.

"Could you at least come down from there?! Just sit here where I am! I don't want you to fall and get injured! I'd never be able to face your sister or your family if anything ever happened to you."

Jin looks down at me. He nods and carefully climbs down the tree. When he got down, I could see that both his eyes were really red and puffy, so much that I don't think a day's rest would be enough to remove those redness.

"Would you like to sit down with me? Until you feel like going back?" I said as I sat at the foot of the tree, patting the space next to me.

"But...but you'll be late for your class." He said while wiping his tears.

"A princess always helps anyone who is in need, even if it means giving up something that is very important to you." It was a very important quote that I learned during one of my Princess tests.

"Well...if you say so." He says and sits down next to me, his bottom on the roots of the trees and his legs arched. "Thanks, Sofia."

"Anything for a friend." I handed him my handkerchief and sat quietly.

The clock tower had started ringing, but I wasn't going anywhere anytime soon. I calmly listened to the sounds that were filling up the forest's atmosphere: the chirping from the birds, the insects creaking, the breeze that calmly blows in the air and through my hair.

"How melodious." I unconsciously said without thinking.

"Huh?...Oh, you mean the forest atmosphere? Yup, it sure is." Jin sounded a little calmer. "I'm sorry that you're missing out on your class for my sake. I'll make sure to pay back the favor."

"No worries. It's just a regular class. I'm little worried about you though. Won't you get into deep trouble for not attending such an important class?"

"Sigh. If only that's the only problem I have to face."

"Would you mind telling me what's going on? Unless it's too personal or-"

"It's alright. I'll tell you. It might help me ease my mind if someone else listened." Then he wrapped his knees close to chest with his arms. "It's like this, Sofia. You know how as a member of an Imperial family, such as the first son, must always be wed and have children in order for the family name and line to continue, right? I have accepted this tradition and promised to follow it, and my parents were really glad about it."

"That's a heavy burden to follow."

"Oh it is. Just now Jun went over to my classroom and wanted to tell me something that my parents only told her about. She said that I deserve to know since it was about me and she didn't want to keep me in the dark." He took a deep breath. "She told me that my parents had arranged my engagement, YESTERDAY!"

"REALLY?!" I said, bursting. "Oh, Jin! Congratulations!...uh...Did Jun tell you who your bride is?"

"What's there to congratulate about?! I don't even know who it is! The fact that my parents arranged it behind my back and not telling me is really not cool! They just ruined my trust!"

I didn't think this would be a topic that I'd hear very soon. An arranged marriage with an unknown person, and only your parents knows who it is. Now that's sad.

"Jin. Maybe instead of rushing everything around, you should go talk to your parents and work it out."

"What?! Are you sure you know what you're saying?"

"Well, you said that they listened to you when you said that you'd promise to get married for traditions, right? Maybe they'll also listen to you again with this matter. Your mother is a good listener. Maybe you might be able to ask her and know the reasons behind your parent's actions. Who knows? It might work."

Jin had his hair grown long, and it was until his waist, braided. It was hanging in the front, and he was playing with its ends while he seemed to thinking on the consideration. It took a while, he then had a look of determination when he finally made a decision. He then stood up like a spring, with his hand turned into a tight fist.

"Okay, Sofia. You've convinced me. I'll give it a shot. I'll go home right away after school and ask my parents straight away." He looked at me with determination.

"Glad to hear it." I put my hands together. "Don't forget, where there's a will there's a way, as long as you've got hope."

I attempt to stand up, then I saw Jin's hand already in front of me, ready to assist me. I held it and he gave me a yank, but he yanked me really hard, that I ended up standing, then landed on his chest, and we both landed on the ground with me on top of him.

"Oops! I must be heavy." I said in embarrassment.

"No, no! I kinda tugged too much." Jin also seems flustered. "Let me try that again, with less force of course."

I got off of him and squatted. He stood up, and this time he gently pulled me up by letting me hold onto his arm. Then we patted the dirt off of our own clothes that got caught onto us when we fell.

"All done!" I said. "So, you still want to go to class?"

"Yeah, right after I escort you back to yours first. I better start behaving like a good prince if I want my parents to change their minds. Shall we?"

He held out his right arm, beckoning me to hold onto it. I silently accepted it and wrapped my left arm around it. We took our time getting out of the small forest, over the small bridge, and into the school building. We walked along the corridor and finally arrived at the door of my classroom. He knocked three times, and the door magically opened. We see Ms. Flora at the Teacher's desk. I forgot that I had Etiquette class.

"There you are, Princess Sofia." Ms. Flora didn't seem at all cross. "And you've found Prince Jin."

"Sorry if I've caused any trouble." Jin let my arm go, placed both of his arms at his sides and bowed deeply, more than a 90 degree angle. I guess this is how they bow in Wei-Ling.

"Jin!"

Jun started running from her desk and hugged Jin, so tight that you think she might choke him to death.

"Jin! Don't you ever run off like that!" She started crying huge tears. "Don't you know how worried I was?"

"I'm sorry." Was all Jin could say to her as he stroked her back to calm her down.

I carefully walked pass them and over to Ms. Flora.

"I'm sorry I missed most of your class, Ms. Flora. I should've found him sooner-"

"It's alright, Sofia. As long as you both are back safe and unhar-ARM! WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR ARM?!" Ms. Flora pointed at me looking horrified.

I looked at my right arm and there was a large cut from my elbow going down asymmetrically to the back of my hand.

"I must've gotten it when I was looking amongst the bushes." I traced my finger along the dried cut. "It's not a deep cut, more of a long scratch. I'll be fine."

"No! No! No!" Jin says as he breaks free from Jun's embrace and takes a hold of my arm to examine it. "You wouldn't have gotten this scratch if I hadn't ran into the forest in the first place. Here, I'll take care of this right now."

He takes out a small pouch from one of his sleeves. It was a golden colored pouch, with a dragon design done in black embroidery stitches, the head in the front, and the tail at the back. He opened it and took out some small items: a small bottle with a cork, a few meters of bandage cloth, some cotton balls, a small bowl and a smaller white cloth ball like object, and places them on the Teacher's desk. He uncorks the small bottle, pours some of it into the small bowl, rubs some onto his hands, and takes a cotton ball and pours another bit of the liquid into it.

"This is made of three-quarters of Alcohol and a quarter of water, so it might sting the cut a little bit." Jin explains as he dabs the soaked cotton onto the scratch.

After he finished dabbing, he sets asides the used cotton to one side of the table and puts back the cork into the small bottle. Next he opens the smaller cloth ball like object. He unwraps the first white cloth, then opens the other white cloth, and inside reveals some kind of green mashed up contents.

"Hold it!" Amber shouts and comes to examine it. She touches it with her fingers. "Is this...some sort of seaweed?"

"Close. It's actually Agrimonia leaves. The leaves of this plant almost looks similar to the Mimosa Pudica, or also called the Shy plant, but with less slits in the leaves. It has many properties: lots of vitamins, suitable for anti-inflammatory sicknesses, and also best for healing external wounds, such as skin diseases, scars, as well as sores in the mouth like sore throat, which you have to gargle of course. It can also be used in magic, for neutralizing spells. I always crush some of these in the morning before I leave for school, because I always end up having scratches and cuts on my body for no apparent reason whenever I'm outside of home."

I watched him as he holds the small bowl and mixes some of the crushed leaves into it, resulting into like some kind of green paste. Using his fingers, he takes a little bit of paste and massages onto the scratch a bit at a time. I could feel some kind of menthol like effect cooling my arm, kinda tingly. After he had rubbed enough, he puts the rest of the paste and covers the scratch like a long toothpaste, and wraps them together with the long bandage cloth around my arm, from top to bottom, to the back of my hand. It wasn't too tight or lose, enabling me to still move my arm around freely as I demonstrate by twirling around.

"It's brilliant!" I said.

"Don't forget to clean it before you go to bed. Here, take my pouch." Jin said as he handed to me his gold pouch with everything back inside. "You'll need some of those leaves again. I have another pouch anyway."

"Aw. Thank you, Jin!" I said with a hug.

At the same time the clock tower had rung, which means that class was over for the morning.

"Sigh. I better face Sir Gilliam now, or I'll be in more trouble later." Jin shoulders had dropped deeply.

"I'll go explain with you." Ms. Flora pats on his hat. "Class dismissed. Take care of yourself, Sofia."

All of us in the class bowed and curtsied goodbye and watch the two of them leave the room. Amber, Jun and Mae immediately rushed over to me.

"So how does it feel?" Amber held up my arm.

"It's fine. The leaves make me feel all tingly 'cause of the menthol effect its giving off onto my scratch."

"I should've gone with you, at least you wouldn't have to look into the bushes yourself." Mae's eyes were all watery.

"And let you end up with scratches too? No way. It's best that only I have them. More than one of us and we'll make all of the teachers in this school go into a panic frenzy." I smiled to reassure her.

"On my brother's behalf, I apologize and thank you, Sofia." Jun bowed the same way Jin did earlier. "I don't know how you did it, but I'm grateful for having a friend like you to help us out."

"Aw. It was nothing." I gestured her to stand up. "By the way, your brother's is really good at this. Does he want to be a doctor or something?"

"Not really. It's just that he's been healing and patching up his wounds for so many years, that he's gotten really good at it. Like he said earlier, he never knows where he gets the scratches and cuts, so he always have to bring a small medicinal kit with him. I even used to have one of my own, but I'm less clumsy than him so I never bring it with me." Then she takes out something out of her sleeve and puts it into my left palm. "Please take it as a token of my appreciation."

It was a long hair stick that she sometimes has on her hair when she's not wearing her comb with some rose designs on it, or the big head piece. It is pointy at one end, and there's a five petaled pink flower with dangling beads as accents on the other end. It looks delicate, but it feels very sturdy.

"I'll do it on your hair for you. Try to remember how I do it so you can do it, too."

Jun gathers all of my hair with just her hands, then she starts twisting my hair clockwise, tightening the twist until it can hold into a bun. I could feel the hair stick poking in and out of the bun, and it was just effortless and comfortable.

"Done! It really suits you, Sofia. I think I should get you more of our kingdom's accessories."

"That's okay, Jun. This one's enough."

Mae had a small compact mirror and opened it to let me see, and I was really happy with the way it turned out. Simple, but elegant.

"Thank you, Jun."

"You're welcome. Oh! I better check up on my brother. Sir Gilliam might be furious with him." She quickly bowed goodbye and dashed off like a mouse with her small quick footsteps.

"One of the seven wonders of the world; her small agile feet." Amber was the only one who would say something like that.

Mae and I both nodded.

We all went to have our lunches with everyone in the main dining hall. We usually sit at the table at the back of the dining hall because it's the biggest table that could fit ten people, five on each side. We lined up along the food showcases and choose our food and got our glasses. At our table, we see that everyone else was already seated: Maya, Clio, and Hildegard are on the left side; Khalid, James, and Zandar are on the other. I decided to take a sit along the boys' row, and was about to greet Zandar when I see Frederick sitting next to him. I almost dropped my tray in surprise. He notices me and pauses on his food.

"Oh. H-hello, Prince Frederick." I curtsied still holding my tray with both hands. "Do you mind if I take the seat next to you?"

"Oh. Go ahead." He says and puts down his utensils. "Hold on a minute."

He stands up and takes the tray from my hands. He places it down and pulls up the chair.

"Please sit." He said.

"Oh. Uh. Thank you, Frederick."

I said nervously and sat down without a hunch. Once he made sure he got me seated he got the folded napkin on my tray and opened it as he handed it to me. Then he sat down in his chair and continued eating from where he left off.

I looked at Mae giving her my astonished expression. She smiled continued eating. As I began eating my food, I could feel the atmosphere emitting from Frederick. It wasn't a strange, but it felt sort of calm, and I mean really calm, as if time would slow down to flow along with him if given a chance. I stole a glance at him, eating in silence, his utensils not making any sounds against each other, and the way he chews his food is motionless. You wouldn't notice if he's even eating at all. His eyes then instantly shot at mine, almost giving me a heart attack.

"Something on my face?" He says in calm tone.

"N-Nope! Everything's fine." I quickly turned to my food and stuffed some vegetables into my mouth. "Tuh-day's luh-onch is muh-hach beh-tah, isn't it?"

"If you say so, I think it's the same as always." He says and continues to eat his meal.

Wow. Mae maybe onto something. I tried to make eye contact with Mae, and she seems to be watching the whole time. So I gestured with my head tilting at Frederick, and gave a solid thumbs up with my right hand while holding my knife. She smiled.

"Where's Vivian? Isn't she supposed to be with us?" Zandar asks.

"If you're looking for her, better do so after they're finished." Clio says while using her knife to point backwards.

We all looked at where the knife is pointing, and through the window we could see Vivian and Desmond having lunch outside, under a tree, in the shade and sitting on a large blanket. They're not eating the food from the cafeteria, but sandwiches.

"Sandwiches?" Hildegard saud. "It's more like they're having a picnic than lunch to me."

"I wonder why they're eating together outside." Maya says after swallowing her food down.

"Oh. You didn't know?" Clio says with a delighted tone. "They officially became an item this morning."

"Pfffffffffth! WHAT?!"

Zandar, Khalid, Maya and Hildegard were all in shock that all of them had chocked and splattered out their drinks, turning the table cloth into a weird piece of art. They all shouted and coughed at the same time. I don't think I'll ever see them this surprised again.

"Geez! Guys!" James had used his tray as a shield. "Do it on the floor next time."

"How-!" Hildegard went.

"Who-!" Maya followed.

"Why-?!" Zandar and Khalid last.

"Desmond confessed, alone together, by the power of his love for her. Do you guys get it?" Clio was waving her fork around in the air in small circles like a wand.

You could hear everyone on the table whispering to each other, some looking shocked, delighted, concerned, and confused. Only Mae and Frederick were silent and just kept on eating their meals. It kinda feels like I'm blocking the connection of their telepathic conversation. I quickly ate the rest of my plate and left the table quietly. I brought my plate to the window counter where we are supposed to drop off our dirty trays and dishes.

"Where are you going in such a hurry?" Zandar appeared next to me with his tray of dirty dishes.

"Oh, Zandar. I was planning to visit Minimus at the stables, before lunch period is over."

"Do you mind if I go with you? I'd like to have a closer look at the famous winning horse."

"Uh...sure?"

Prince Zandar from the kingdom of Tangu, also known as James' best friend. Just like me, he was also one of James' victims who rode on the Enchanted swing on the first day of school. It seemed to me that that prank got them closer together. He is always one to impress everybody with new things and interesting attractions whenever he invites some of us to visit his kingdom on Play dates, like letting us ride flying magic carpets, watch elephants dancing both down on the ground and up in the air, and the kinds of music that are being played there.

"By the way, nice hair stick." Zandar checked out my hair. "Did you do this?"

"No. Jun did it for me. She gave me the hair stick as a gift and did my hair for me."

"You always look great, no matter what hairstyle you arrange on you."

"Thank you." I blushed a little. It felt nice to receive such a comment.

We left the others at the cafeteria quietly and headed towards the stables where our school's Derby team horses are. I'm also part of the school's Derby team, and my partnered horse Minimus. When I first met him he was different from the other horses; he was half the size of all the other flying horses, always worrying about everything, and has not much confidence in himself. Over the last ten years that I've been with him as his rider, the only changes that he had, was that he grew taller by about 5 inches on each of his legs. I think it's great that he grew a bit, because I might be too heavy for of him to even get off of the ground now that I'm a little grown up, which also means a little heavy for Minimus.

We arrived at the stables and see Sir Gilliam feeding some hay to the horses near the entrance.

"Good day, Sir Gilliam." I greeted loudly and curtsied. "Pardon our intrusion."

"Hello, Sir Gilliam." Zandar says with a quick bow.

"Huh? Oh. Hello, Princess Sofia. Prince Zandar." Sir Gilliam says and tosses the rest of the hay in his hand into the feeding area of the horse's stall.

"I'd like to apologize for Prince Jin's absence in your class earlier today." I bowed my head a little.

"Oh. No worries, Princess. I heard from Prince Jin and Ms. Flora about what you did. I give you my thanks for finding him." He bowed with style, his right leg in front of the other.

"No problem."

"So what brings you both here at this time?"

"We'd just like to visit Minimus, if that's alright."

"Ooh, not at all! Go on right ahead. You know where he's stall is, right?" He bows a little gesturing that we were allowed to pass through. "Just be careful not to slip on the floor. The stable cleaners had just finished cleaning up the place and all of the horses had just taken their baths."

The floor was still a little watery, and there were no scattered hay left on the floor. Some of the horses had just got their mane trimmed and their tails brushed. I could see in one corner some damaged horseshoes piled up in a small crate, meaning the horses had all changed their shoes.

"Alright. Thank you." I curtsied.

"Thanks." Zandar says.

Zandar strides to my side as we carefully walked across the floor so that we wouldn't slip.

"You do know that you don't have to curtsy unless they're royalty, right?" He whispers.

"I know. I'm just doing it out of respect, since he is one of our teachers who have been taking care of us over the years."

"Speaking of years, how old do you think he is anyway? He was still around when our parents attended school here too."

"I'd...rather not think about it."

Then we heard Sir Gilliam sneeze loudly.

"Oh. I wonder if I'm catching a cold?" He outs his palm over his forehead. "Nope, no fever. Must be the hay flying in the air."

"Oops." Zandar and I giggled.

Minimus' stall was further inside since he liked being in the warmest part of the stable. It also meant that when the food gets passed around, he would always be the last one to get it and have all of remaining feed of the day's batch. Such a glutton.

"Hi, Minimus!" I stood in front of his stall.

"Oh, Sofia! Ah-theoui!" He spat out some old feathers from his mouth.

Minimus is maintaining his feathers in his wings. His wings had started shedding lately, which is kind of a little late for a flying horse. He found it quite irritating to his skin so he's been cleaning his wings to avoid having rashes.

"Still shedding?" I asked and petted his head.

He nodded.

"He can shed?" Zandar was curious. "Are you sure he's not a reptile?"

"No, I'm sure. It's common for flying horses to shed from time to time. Minimus here is just late, and so he's gonna be at it for a while. See his wings." I pointed at the wings. "They shouldn't look so damp. All of the horses just had a bath, and their wings are usually the first parts to dry. Minimus' wings look like they're in a plaid pattern, which shouldn't be the case. If you should follow a color chart, the darkest color should be the oldest, while the brightest is the newly grown ones."

"Wow. You really know your horse." Zandar says and pets Minimus on the head. "You're lucky to have such a great and caring rider."

Minimus neighs in response.

"'I'll assume that's a 'Yes'. Haha." Zandar lets out a few laughs.

"I have to know about these things if I want to keep Minimus in good condition, whether to prepare him for a race or just bring him out for a run."

I turned my bracelet to a wand and summoned out my box. I took out a basket with a cloth covering on top and summoned the box away.

"What's that you've got there?" Zandar tries to look into the basket.

I took off the cloth and showed him that it was full of carrots.

"Would you like to feed him some?"

"Really? I'd be glad to."

He takes a carrot out of the basket and approaches Minimus. With the carrot in one hand, Minimus delightedly took a bite, while the other hand petting him on the head.

"Thanks, Sofia." Minimus whispers to me while chewing.

Zandar and I continued to feed him until the basket was emptied. I summoned my box again and put the basket inside.

"By the way, that's a really good trick you've got there." Zandar commented.

"Oh. The box? I was taught by our royal sorcerer since I didn't want to get another new and bigger bag when I have so many smaller ones that I have yet to use. I can't imagine myself looking like a turtle, carrying a small house-backpack on me."

"More of a camping bag if you ask me."

We both giggled.

"Maybe I could fit my bedroom inside of it?" I giggled.

"Probably."

I then summoned the box away and turned my wand back into a bracelet.

"By the way, I hope you don't mind, but I'd like you to hear me out on something." Zandar looked serious.

"What is it?" I was preparing for the worse.

"What do you...what do you think of Hildegard?"

"...huh?!" I couldn't help but be astonished. I could feel my eyes starting to pop.

"Please don't look like that. It's...it's kind of hard to even open this conversation to you." He looked so worried.

"Alright, alright." I said and took a deep breath. "Okay. I'm ready. So...what about Hildegard?"

"Well...you know...how I've kind of been studying really really hard lately? I'm trying my best to become the best prince in order to serve my kingdom better, improve the people's livelihood and help the poor who are suffering on the streets to get back on their feet. What I'm trying to say, is that Hildegard seemed only interested in marrying someone who is powerful in both position, wealth, and in knowledge."

"Really? I don't think so." I said my chance to give my own opinions.

"Just let me explain some more. Both her parents are rich and powerful on their own before they got married, and Hildegard wants to follow their footsteps and be just as powerful, so that she can run her kingdom without a bump. As you know, she's the only child left unmarried in her family. If she wants to remain in power, she has to marry someone either from her kingdom who is really wealthy and wise, or a prince from another country who can easily impress her."

"Ooh! That's why you've been studying so hard!"

"I've been studying not only the things that concerns my kingdom, but all of things of each of the other kingdoms and countries. I want to become the wisest person, and maybe then I might have a chance to win her hand. I...I don't want other guys to try and get her. They might not know her as much as I do and attempt to corrupt her and her kingdom."

I knew that he liked to impress Hildegard, but to strive really hard to win the girl that you really like, that's really remarkable.

"Please don't tell anyone, especially James. I don't want to get teased and mocked for trying very hard."

"Don't worry. I promise not to tell a soul." I held up my right hand to pledge.

"Thank you, Sofia. Since you heard me out, could you...you know...help me with one thing?"

"Anything. Just name it."

"...Could you try into getting Hildegard to notice me, even just a little? It-it doesn't have to be done right away. You can take you time."

"If you'd like, I could help you get closer to her, even for just a brief moment everyday."

"Wh-...Really?" His eyes had widened.

"Sure, so as long as you do your part properly, then you both will be really close in no time."

"Okay!" Zandar yelled out in rejoice and started jumping all over the stable.

"He really sure does look happy, Sofia." Minimus leaned his head out on top of the stall's door. "I can't believe you guys are already at the age where love is spreading all over the place. The guardian of love must be somewhere nearby, making mischief."

"Oh, Minimus. I don't think they're doing anything." I petted him. "I think it's just part of human nature."

"How about you? Do you have anyone you like or know someone who might have an eye for you?"

"Don't be silly, Minimus. Who would want to like someone like me? I'm not royal in my blood nor in my background history."

"Who said anything about someone needing to have royal blood in them just to be in love or be liked? Take your parents for example, the king married your mother even though she wasn't rich, nor did she have any royal blood in her. He married her because he loves her, didn't he?"

I nodded.

"That prince for example. He likes...what's her name again?"

"Hildegard."

"Right. He likes Princess Hildegard." Minimus pauses for a second. "Wow. Her name matches her difficult personality actually. Anyway, from what I understood from the prince's story, he wants to watch over and take care of Hildegard because he really cares for her, and that itself is his way of showing his love for her."

"But he says he has to study hard and become the top."

"I was getting to that part, Sofia. It's because that's what Hildegard's requirements and standards seems to be for him since he must've known her for a long time. And it's because he understands what is needed to meet her requirements, he is working very hard to achieve it because he loves her. Now do you get it?"

"Oh. I see." I said, but still not satisfied.

"Is there something else that isn't convinced in your mind?"

"There's is one thing. It's about some of my friends' arranged marriage."

"Ah. There's another common topic. Go ahead, Sofia. Hit me with it."

"Alright. There are two cases. The first case is that there are two people who each plan to run their own kingdoms since they are the only child in their family. Their parents have arranged the two of them to get engaged, and for some reason the two of them accepted their engagement to each other when they both found out about it. How can be alright with it?"

"Hmm. This is a hard case. Did one of them saying anything about how they thought about it?"

"The princess did. She says she didn't mind getting engaged to him because he is someone she has known for quite a while, and that is it also a good way to help both of their kingdoms to improve and recover."

"Ahh! So that's it!"

"Uh...what's it?"

"I get it. The both of them aren't getting married out of love for each other, right? Because their love is for their kingdom! It's because they love and care for their people so much they will do everything to achieve their goals. They both know what's in it for each other, and the fact the Princess trusts the Prince is enough for her to know that she'll be in great hands. I'm sure that in due time they will find it in each other to learn to love one another."

"Okay. You're really good at this, Minimus." I stroked him along the back of his neck.

"Oh, that feels nice. Neigh!"

"Haha. Okay, now for the second case. It's also an arranged marriage, and-"

"Wait, I got this. Lemme guess, this one is engaged, but they don't know who they're engaged to, correct?"

"Bingo!"

"That's another common case, especially in the country of Wei-Ling."

"Hey! The one I was going to mention is the Prince from the imperial family of Wei-Ling!"

"Well, that's a case I should probably know the answer to this one. In his case, it's the parents."

"Huh? He's engaged to his parents?"

"No! No! No! What are you thinking, Sofia? I mean it's the parents who are the problem on this issue here. Most of the people in Wei-Ling strongly love to follow traditions and superstitious beliefs, especially families that are high in status and wealth, and some of the beliefs involve extending their family name and a must have son. Am I right so far?"

"Yes."

"Ahem. Alright. The Prince's parents wants what best for him and for the kingdom. They might've known some past stories about unsuccessful marriages and unfaithful spouses, so they are arranging his engagement for him to avoid repeating the same mistakes. However, the Prince might not want to agree with it, and if he's not going to think this thoroughly and properly, he might revolt against his parents and even run away."

"RUN AWAY?!" I yelped and quickly covered my mouth.

"Yup. But this kind of way of engagement is also another story that has been repeated in failure. Some parents solve the problem by force, others just simply disown the child and hopefully the next child in the family takes over the position."

"Oh my goodness." I whispered this time."Even going as far as disowning their own child, just to keep the tradition going? Isn't that cruelty?"

"I'm afraid so, Sofia. Still, we're not sure what that Prince friend of yours is going to do. Hopefully it'll end in a peaceful manner." Minimus says and begins cleaning his wings again. "Ugh! The itchiness is back again!"

"Sofia!" Zandar returns to my side. Exhausted from all the jumping. "Shall we get going? The next class will start soon."

"Oh! It's that time already? Alright, let's go. Bye, Minimus." I petted him on the head.

"Bye. You're a good horse, you know that?" Zandar does the same.

We both also said our goodbyes to Sr Gilliam and left the stables.

"Hey Sofia. When are you going to know your results?"

"Huh? Results? Ah! You mean about my classes?"

"Yeah."

"It should be soon. I wonder if they're going to be announced today?"

As we walked back, a sudden thought hit me. I turned my head to look back at the stables. Where in the world did Minimus ever became so wise about such things?