Once Sofia made it to Madame Colette's sewing room, she knocked on her door.
"Come in, Princess Sofia." Madame Colette said with her French accent.
"Hi, Madame Colette! You wanted to see me?" Sofia said.
"Yes. Your gown is ready, Princess Sofia. I want you to try it on to see how it fits." Madame Colette smiled.
"I can't wait to see it!" Sofia smiled brightly.
Madame Colette went to the back of the room and pulled out Sofia's gown that was in a dress bag. The gown had champagne-gold colored Rhinestones and crystals all over the corset and it had a beautiful sparkly champagne-gold tulle for the skirt. It was puffy, but not too puffy. The gown was simple, yet elegant, much to Sofia's liking. When Sofia saw her gown, she couldn't stop staring at it.
"My gown looks so beautiful, Madame Colette!" Sofia smiled.
"I made sure to incorporate what you wanted, Princess Sofia." Madame Colette smiled.
"Thank you, so much!" Sofia exclaimed happily.
"Go ahead and try it on, Princess Sofia." Madame Colette said.
"Okay!" Sofia said, racing to one of the dressing rooms. She was really excited to try it on. Madame Colette helped with the corset part. Once her gown was on, Sofia stepped out of the dressing room and walked towards a huge Mirror on one side of the room.
Madame Colette smiled at her. "The gown looks magnificent on you, Princess Sofia." She said.
Sofia stared at herself, admiring her gown. "I love how my gown looks, Madame Colette." She smiled.
"I'm glad you like it, Princess Sofia." Madame Colette said.
"I better change back into my other gown. I don't want anyone else to see it." Sofia said, walking back to the dressing room.
Madame Colette hung an empty dark purple dress bag on one of the hooks while helping Sofia with the corset part of her gown.
"I've put an empty dress bag on one of the hooks for you to put your gown in, Princess Sofia. No one will be able to see it." She said.
"Great! Thank you, Madame Colette." Sofia smiled.
Once Sofia changed, she carefully placed her gown in the dark purple dress bag.
"Thanks again, Madame Colette!" Sofia smiled.
"You're welcome, Princess Sofia." Madame Colette said.
Sofia walked towards her room. Amber was waiting for her outside Sofia's bedroom door.
"Hi, Amber!" Sofia smiled.
"Oh, Sofia! Is that your gown for your ball?" Amber squealed in excitement.
"It is. No one will see it until my birthday ball, though. It's going to be a surprise." Sofia said.
Amber nodded. They walked into Sofia's room. Amber sat on Sofia's bed while Sofia put her gown away in her closet. When she came back out, she sat next to Amber.
"So... how was your day with Hugo?" Amber smiled.
"It was great, Amber. It was fun spending time with him, especially since James wasn't there to interrupt us." Sofia said.
"I totally understand, Sofia. And I'm assuming that Hugo gave you that pink flower that's in your hair?" Amber asked, smiling.
"He did." Sofia blushed.
"It's cute how he always puts a flower behind your ear. Do you keep them?" Amber asked.
"I always do, Amber. I would never get rid of them. They're... special to me." Sofia smiled.
Amber nodded. "By the way, did you happen to see Fluke while you were at Merroway Cove?" She asked.
"I did, actually. He asked if you came with me. When I told him no, he told me to bring you the next time I go." Sofia smiled.
Amber smiled brightly. "Then I'll go with you when you go back to Merroway Cove. It'll be great to see Fluke again. When are you going back?" She asked.
"The day of my ball. That reminds me, I better talk to Mr. Cedric about turning him and Oona's band into humans for my ball." Sofia said.
"You can tell him tomorrow. I bet he's asleep." Amber chuckled.
Sofia chuckled and nodded. "I guess so, Amber. By the way, I told Fluke you'd help him learn to walk." She smiled.
"That'll be great. I can spend some time with him." Amber smiled back.
"Hugo told me he wants to take me out on my birthday." Sofia blushed.
"Oh, how cute! Did he say where he's taking you?" Amber smiled.
"No, he wants to surprise me. He said I've most likely never been there, so we'll see." Sofia said.
"I bet it's somewhere beautiful." Amber said.
"I guess so." Sofia smiled.
"James was good the whole time you and Hugo were gone." Amber said.
"Really?" Sofia asked.
"Yeah. I'm surprised he did good, since he hates Hugo." Amber said.
"I'm glad he somewhat kept his promise to me to be good when he bumped into him. Just when we came into the castle, that's when he almost broke his promise." Sofia said sadly.
"When I heard James, I somewhat knew that he was talking to you two. That's why I came." Amber said.
"Hugo and I were happy that you showed up. James still can't take it when I'm with him or Desmond. Thank you." Sofia said.
"You're welcome." Amber smiled.
"So, how are you doing? You're not thinking much about you know who?" Sofia asked.
"I'm getting better. I haven't really thought about Axel much. I'm just so excited to see Fluke again soon." Amber smiled.
"Good." Sofia smiled.
"We better get some sleep. I'll leave you to get ready for bed." Amber said.
"Okay. Goodnight, Amber." Sofia said.
"Goodnight, Sofia." Amber said, walking out of her room.
Sofia went to her trunk at the front of her bed. She opened it and took out a box where she puts all of the flowers Hugo has given her. She put the one he gave her into the box and smiled. 'Thank you, Hugo...' she thought happily.
She put the box away and got ready for bed.
The next morning, Sofia was needed in the kitchen to look at a picture Chef Andre made. It was a sketch of her birthday cake. Sofia got ready for the day and went to the kitchen.
"Good morning, Chef Andre." Sofia smiled.
"Ah, good morning Princess Sofia! I want to show you a sketch of your birthday cake. Let me know if there's any changes you want to make to it." Chef Andre said.
Sofia smiled brightly at the sketch. She loved how the cake was going to look like. "Keep it the way it is, Chef Andre. I love the way it looks." She said.
"Perfect! I'll make sure to make it exactly like the sketch." Chef Andre smiled.
"Great! Thank you, Chef Andre." Sofia smiled, walking away.
'Hmm... I need to talk to Mr. Cedric about turning Oona and her band into humans... I guess I'll tell him after breakfast.' Sofia thought to herself.
Once breakfast was over, Sofia went to Cedric's tower and knocked on his door.
"It must be Princess Sofia." Cedric said, heading towards the door.
"Hi, Mr. Cedric!" Sofia smiled.
"Princess Sofia, what do you need?" He asked.
"I was wondering if you could turn some of my mermaid friends into humans the day of my ball. They're in a band and I want them to play some music for it. Can you do it?" Sofia asked politely.
"Of course, Princess Sofia. Get me whenever you head to where your friends are." Cedric said.
"Great! Thank you, Mr. Cedric." Sofia smiled.
She soon left his tower and was on her way to her room. She was there for a couple of hours until Baileywick knocked and entered her room.
"Princess Sofia, you have a visitor." He said.
She was surprised. "Who came to see me?" Sofia asked.
"Prince Desmond." Baileywick smiled.
When he said that, Sofia couldn't help but smile. She was happy that Desmond came to see her. "Okay. Did he say where he'd be waiting for me?" Sofia asked.
"He said he'd wait for you in the garden." Baileywick said.
"Perfect! Can you tell him that I'll be down in a few minutes?" Sofia asked.
"Certainly, Princess Sofia." Baileywick bowed and went away.
Sofia quickly went to Amber's room to tell her about Desmond. She knocked and went inside.
"Amber! Des is here to see me." Sofia smiled.
Amber gasped. "He is?! How adorable!" She squealed.
"Do I look alright?" Sofia asked. She was wearing a floor length lavender gown that has ruffles all over the skirt. The corset part had a detailed lavender ruffled rose in the center of it. She had her hair down and she was wearing a tiara that matched her gown perfectly.
Amber looked at her up and down. She then smiled. "You look great, Sofia." She said approvingly.
"Luckily, James is in Khaldoun right now. If he knew Des was here, he'd do something bad to him." Sofia said.
"And if Desmond is still here when James comes back, I'll make sure to distract him." Amber said.
"Thanks, Amber." Sofia smiled.
Amber smiled back and nodded. "You better get going, Sofia. Desmond might get worried about you." She said.
"Right. See you later, Amber!" Sofia said as she dashed out of Amber's room.
When Sofia made it to the garden, she saw Desmond pacing a bit. He was wearing a satin burgundy suit with a matching vest. He also wore a black dress shirt underneath the vest and back dress shoes.
"Hi, Des!" She smiled.
Desmond stared at Sofia in awe.
"What's wrong? Do I have something on my face?" Sofia asked.
Desmond finally spoke. "S-Sofia! Y-you look g-great t-today." He stuttered.
"I do?" Sofia asked.
Desmond nodded and smiled. "You do." He said.
Sofia blushed, not looking at him. "Thank you, Des. So... what are you doing here?" She asked.
"I... I want to... take you on a picnic... at... at my... kingdom. Do you... want to... go?" Desmond nervously asked.
Sofia smiled. "I'd love to, Des." She said.
"R- really?" Desmond smiled.
Sofia nodded. "Yes."
"Then let's go. My coach is waiting out front." Desmond said, holding out his arm.
Sofia took his arm as they walked to where his coach was. Desmond climbed on first. He held out his hand for Sofia to take as she climbed on.
"Thanks." She smiled.
Desmond nodded. "Take us back to Knoxland, please." He said to the coachman.
"Yes, your highness." The coachman replied.
Sofia and Desmond sat next to each other and talked for a bit.
"I'm glad you came to see me, Des. I need to... tell you something." Sofia said.
"What about, Sofia?" He asked, looking at her.
"James... he... he knows that you know about him... liking me more than a sister." Sofia said slowly.
Desmond sat in shock. "So... you both know?" He asked.
"Yes... Amber was the one who told him... Hugo and I were there with them in James' room. I'm scared Des... I'm scared about what he'll do to you... he was upset that you never said a word to him... luckily Hugo was there to stop him from going after you." Sofia said worriedly.
Desmond grabbed Sofia's hand and squeezed it gently. She looked at him with worry in her eyes.
"Don't be scared, Sofia. Nothing's going to happen to me. I promise you that." He said, caressing her cheek.
Sofia hugged him from the side. She really hopes James doesn't do anything to him.
"Is there anything else you want to talk about?" Desmond asked, holding her in his arms.
"There are some things, but it can wait until our picnic." Sofia smiled.
"Okay." Desmond smiled back at her.
They made it to Desmond's palace. He got out of the coach first, so Sofia can take his hand while she got out. After she walked down, she held onto Desmond's arm, since he was escorting her to his enchanted garden. When they made it to the garden, Sofia stared in awe. She never seen a garden as beautiful and colorful as Desmond's. It was even bigger and brighter than Vivian's enchanted garden. There were some dancing daisies, bouncing bluebells, and in the center of the garden, there was a giant rose stalk. They could see it from where they stood.
"Des, your garden is so... beautiful." She said.
"It is. I grew everything in this garden." He said.
Sofia gasped. "Y-you grew all this?" She asked.
Desmond smiled. "Yeah. I started to garden ever since we went to that enchanted gardening club when we were younger. And then after we graduated from Royal Prep, I started to grow some mystery gardening plants." He explained.
"It looks a-mazing, Des." Sofia smiled.
"Thanks." Desmond smiled back.
When they turned a corner, there was a blanket on the floor with a picnic basket on top of it. Desmond let Sofia sit first. He then sat next to her and opened the picnic basket. There were sandwiches, fruit, and some giggly wiggly pudding.
"Sofia, can I ask you something?" Desmond asked.
"Sure, what?" She asked.
"You know that James likes you... do you... feel the same way... towards him?" Desmond asked.
Sofia wasn't hesitant in telling him because she trusted him with anything she tells him.
"I do. I'm figuring out my feelings towards him, though. I'm just... a bit confused." Sofia said.
Desmond was a bit heartbroken when she told him that. He tried not to sound hurt. "I... get it, Sofia. Do you two plan on... being together?" He asked.
"I don't think I see myself with James, the more I think about it. I'm still giving him a chance, to see how things go. And there's other princes I want to give a chance to as well. I told James the same thing. At least he said he'd respect my decision whenever I make it." Sofia said.
'I still have a chance with her!' Desmond thought happily.
"Then I'll respect your decision whenever you make it as well, Sofia. I just don't want us to loose our friendship." Desmond said, looking at her.
"I don't want us to loose our friendship either, Des. It's very important to me." Sofia said.
"We will never loose what we have now, Sofia. I promise we won't." Desmond assured, caressing her cheek.
Sofia smiled and nodded. "Okay."
"By the way, did Amber say anything about my suit? You know, for your ball?" Desmond asked.
"I wish I knew. She didn't give any updates on it to me." Sofia said.
"I guess when we go back to Enchancia, I'll need to ask her about it." Desmond said.
Sofia nodded. "And hopefully James is still in Khaldoun by the time we get back. He was not happy when Hugo visited me yesterday and the day before." She said.
"Hugo... visited you? Why?" He asked. He didn't like the idea of Hugo visiting her, either.
"He came to Enchancia two days ago with King Garrick. I'm not sure what he needed to talk to my parents about, but Hugo wanted to see me. Then when I promised him that I would take him to the Mystic Isles the next time I went, I planned on going yesterday because I needed to invite a few people to my ball personally. He decided to come with me to all the places I needed to go to." Sofia explained.
Desmond nodded sadly. 'I wish I went with you... hopefully you can be my special guest when my coronation takes place in a couple years...' He thought to himself.
They soon finished their lunch. On their way back to the coach, Desmond picked a beautiful blue flower to put behind Sofia's ear. He never really does this, but he decided to because he knew the flower would make Sofia's blue eyes pop.
"Wait, Sofia." He said, putting the flower behind her ear.
Sofia blushed at his gesture and looked away. "T- thank you, Des." She said.
"You're welcome." He smiled.
They made it back to the coach and headed back to Enchancia.