At the school; Estelle, Akito, Vincent, Felicity, and Sofia were each trying their best at Royal Prep. They first practiced royal waving which was rather boring. After that, Sofia stood on top of a stand as Merriweather stood beside her so she could practice her curtsying, and where the first three times weren't that successful. The class clapped and Merriweather approved of the final curtsy.

Vincent was now practicing pouring tea for Flora, and where his first try wasn't a success. Flora shook her head and took note of this. Sofia practiced a royal entrance and took Akito's hands. The others smiled and approved of this. Felicity was proud, but Amber stayed in the shadows and looked angry and jealous of their attention.

"We're doing so well." Estelle said.

"Not bad for amateurs as Mademoiselle Angelique would say." Felicity agreed.

"Yeah, that was basically her own way of showing appreciation." Estelle said.


After school...

The castle servants were all in a rush and moved all around as they had a ball to get ready for.

"Whoa!" Vincent said.

"Oh, pardon us..." Felicity stepped back a little.

"Oh, hello, dears!" Mo smiled as she came with Miranda and Cherry. "How was school?"

"It was great, Mom." Estelle said.

Sofia looked soft. "I just thought being a princess would be easy," she then said to her mother. "But it's really hard."

"We are trying our bests though." Felicity shuffled her feet.

"Yeah, but I still need practice with my teapot pouring skills." Vincent said.

"It wasn't that bad..." Estelle comforted.

"I think I know just what Sofia needs." Miranda smiled.

"I agree." Mo said.

"What is it?" Felicity asked.

"Maybe the kids should join her." Cherry said to Miranda.

"That sounds like a great idea." Miranda smiled.

Cherry and Mo smiled back to this.


The kids wondered what the adult women meant by this, but they were then taken outside in the garden where there are two peasant girls inside a gazebo.

"Jade! Ruby!" Sofia smiled.

"I thought you could use some familiar faces." Miranda smiled to her daughter.

"Are they your friends, Sofia?" Estelle smiled.

"Yes, they're my best friends from the village," Sofia beamed. "Come on, let's go meet them! Thanks, Mom... Jade! Ruby!"

The two peasant girls looked over and smiled, then went to see their old friend from the village. The Fudo siblings and Felicity soon went over to meet the two peasant girls. The two peasant girls ran over and hugged Sofia right away. They then looked curious as the Fudo siblings and Felicity came over.

"These are my cousins from out-of-town," Sofia introduced." Akito, Estelle, Vincent, and Felicity... Guys, these are my best friends from the village; Jade and Ruby."

The kids all smiled and greeted each other once they were properly introduced. They all soon went to a table to continue to talk. They had tea and chocolate cake.

"How many gowns do you have?" Ruby asked.

"Uh... Lots..." Sofia shrugged with a smile.

"We've really missed you, Sofia." Jade gushed.

"I miss you both too." Sofia smiled.

"Oh, how many tiaras?!" Jade asked.

"Five... No, six." Sofia replied.

Vincent then decided to pour more tea, but struggled slightly.

"Here, let me help you with that." James offered.

"Um, thanks." Vincent said.

Jade and Ruby smiled dreamily to James.

"What're you doing here?" Sofia asked her step-brother.

"I'm sorry, I've been a royal dunce," James apologized for his behavior lately. "But I want to make it up to you."

"That sounds rather nice." Felicity smiled.

"How?" Akito and Estelle asked James in unison.

"Well, by teaching you all the royal stuff you need to know for the ball," James suggested as he then went over to Ruby to pour her a cup. "We can start with how to pour the perfect cup of tea."

"That sounds great." Vincent said.

"Prince James poured me tea~" Ruby squealed.

"They seem like fan girls." Vincent whispered to his siblings.

The others nodded in agreement about Jade and Ruby's behavior around Sofia's new step-brother. Amber was then walking by as she held her parasol to block out the simmering sun.

"That's it, you all got it." James's voice smiled.

"There's just one more thing." Sofia said.

"What?" James replied.

"I can't dance." Sofia frowned.

"Is that all? No problem," James replied simply. "We have dance class with Professor Popov tomorrow."

"Is Professor Popov that good of a teacher?" Vincent asked.

"One class with Popov and Sofia will be dancing circles around all of us." James smiled reassuringly.

"Amazing." Estelle said.

"Do you guys know how to dance?" James asked the others.

"DO I?!" Estelle beamed at that question.

"Estelle sure does." Vincent smiled.

"You could call her a Dancing Queen." Felicity chuckled.

"Nice one." James laughed.

"Nice what?" Felicity didn't get that she made a joke.

Sofia then smiled in slight confidence to everyone about her fear of dancing.


Amber looked away, but then smirked as her brain hatched an idea and where she knew what she needed for this idea of hers.

"It was nice to meet you, ladies." Akito bowed to Jade and Ruby.

"It was nice to meet you too, Akito." Jade curtsied.

Ruby also curtsied.

"Take care." Akito smiled as the girls decided to get going after a nice meeting.

"We should get inside." Felicity said.

Jade and Ruby then went back home. Sofia was so happy to see her old friends and went back to the castle with the Fudo siblings and Felicity.