"It's good to have you with us, Cedric"
Roland's regal voice made Cedric sit uptight, surrounded by the royal family themselves in the dining table of the castle. There he was, sitting with the royal family for dinner with Amber in his right and James in his left
"What am I doing here again?" he thought to himself, his eyes landing on a certain auburn haired princess from across the table
"Of course… that's the reason why."
"Oooh man, I'm starvin!" James then reached out for the usher board
"Table manners, James." Amber interjected with her eyes closed and unsatisfied expression on her face
Cedric glanced at the blonde princess, who then responded with a gaze of her own. She didn't look that much friendly regardless
"I'm surprised you agreed to have me here eat with your family" Cedric whispered softly to Amber
"Bleh, do I have a choice?" The girl raised her eyebrow in response
"By the way, I like the new threads, Cedric"
Amber notices the new robe that he was wearing. It was different from what he usually wears. It was green, with purple details on the side. It was also ironed and well hemmed
"hah, I gotta look formal for the dinner" Cedric scoffed while lightly tapping his shoulder
"Aww, look at you, getting all into fashion now" Amber playfully teased in a form of a whisper
"Perhaps I should give you an advice on that, Cedric?"
Suddenly, a loud sound from the table caught their attention. It was the small plate that fell to the ground. Miraculously, it wasn't broken
"I'm sorry about that" Sofia smiled in an awfully eerie intent which Cedric only noticed
In an instant, her smile turned into a full leer upon finally catching the sorcerer's attention. Amber also took notice of this as she backs away from Cedric, allowing for some distance between them with a disgusted expression towards him that came out of nowhere
At the same time, Sofia's smile returned to her face
"James, could you scoot over to the side a little bit?"
The prince, who was about to take a bite of the food, turned to her with a surprised expression
"Huh, but why?"
Sofia didn't respond, and the silence was enough for the young prince to comprehend. And as he moved to the side, Sofia then sat in between of Cedric and Amber with the same smile on her face.
"Now shall we start dinner?" Her voice was gentle and friendly despite what just happened
"What are we waiting for!?" King Roland cheered as he opened the usher board to munch on what was inside. The king was always known for his huge appetite, quite the same with his son
And so the family started eating, each with their own manners and such. From the etiquettes, to how they hold their cups and spoons, it was very royal-like
Cedric, however, felt out of place. He never really had to mind such unnecessary things when he ate alone inside his tower. This is definitely a whole new field for the sorcerer to comprehend
It didn't take long before Queen Miranda took notice of Cedric's sudden melancholy in the dining table "Cedric, what's wrong?"
Cedric raised his head up and forced a smile "Nothing is wrong, my Queen!" He then held his utensil that he wasn't familiar of. Back in the tower, he was only served with a spoon and a fork.
Perhaps another one of those things only royals and rich people use
A forced grin stayed on his face, as he scanned the people for inspiration and references on how to do so. On the corner of his eyes, he saw Amber giggling to herself in a subtle way while watching him.
Cedric frowned, he didn't need to be a rocket scientist to know that this girl was indeed making fun of him. In that moment, he then noticed Sofia also staring at him
"What are you looking at, Mr. Ceedric" she shot him a curious glance
"I'm just… glad, that's all" Cedric stated in a fake enthusiasm
"It's always nice to eat with company, you see!"
King Roland nodded upon hearing this
"Damn right, that is, Cedric!"
Upon doing so, he noticed that his food was barely touched, This immediately brought concern over the king with his eyebrows furrowed
"Are you perhaps… not enjoying eating with us, Cedric"
The sorcerer was immediately jolted, as he shook his hands in front of him.
"N-No… it's not like that, your majesty!" Cedric was getting shaky over this "It's just that…"
"Mr. Ceedric doesn't really know how to eat with the utensils" Sofia finished, causing Cedric to be astounded
"Ohh, so that's how it is!" The king chuckled, which alleviated the sorcerer's worries. But in return, he was humiliated in front of the king himself
Amber, who was losing it, let out a snort of laughter, in which they caught on pretty fast. She was cracking up a full series of laughter which the others caught on
Cedric just wanted to sulk back in his tower and never show his face again, that was certainly embarrassing.
But suddenly…
"Don't worry, I'll help you, Mr. Ceedric"
Sofia presented her own spoon to him which astonished the sorcerer. He was confused on whatever she was doing
"What's up with this?"
"I'm helping you eat, Mr. Ceedric!"
"But I can feed myself!" Cedric defiantly responded as he took the utensil the wrong way, which caused the food in it to fall back to the plate
"It's the other way around, Cedric" Roland uttered while holding back a laugh
Sofia heaved out a sigh as she stood from her seat and scooted even closer to Cedric. She then took his hand and moved in slightly
"You do it like this, Mr. Ceedric" she hummed softly while holding his hand tight to guide the utensil
"Sofiaaa, this is embarassiiinggg~" Cedric whispered in a sing-song tone
"Well, I have to teach you or dad will have the wrong idea~" she responded with a sing-song tone of her own
Cedric almost forgot, but if he indeed didn't eat, then King Roland would be thoroughly offended of him not having the proper decency to at least eat with his presence. And the last thing he'd want is to get on his bad side
"So tell me, Cedric" It was Queen Miranda's turn to speak
"How's the magic lessons with Sofia?"
"Oh… umm.." Cedric stuttered, thinking of what words to use
"Sofia is a very fast learner! She doesn't get in the way of my work and well behaved in our sessions!"
Cedric lied, it takes a whole week just to teach Sofia one mere spell and she has a habit of teasing him in the middle of his work, thoroughly annoying the poor sorcerer to shreds. But he had to mind his words, especially in her home turf where the royal family is watching close
"Aww, that sounds wonderful" Queen Miranda responded in a delighted manner
"Sofia told us a lot about yo…"
"Mom!" Sofia interrupted with a sudden blush on her face
"You're all she talks about" Amber followed while fanning herself
"Amber!" she shot her a disapproving and embarrassed look
Her blush had gotten way worse, reaching to her ears. Slowly, she turned to Cedric, who was focusing on his plate this entire time. He then raised his head to them
"Oh, I was mincing my mashed potatoes" he said apologetically "Sorry, what was that?"
Queen Miranda was about to open her mouth, but Sofia pulled a fast one
"Nothing Nothing!" Sofia smiled nervously as she shook her hands in front of him
"Oh okay"
Cedric, then shifted his attention back to his plate, and upon a few more tries, he finally managed to eat a spoonful with the utensil
"I did it!" he exclaimed out of nowhere, in which the royal family responded with an applause
"I swear you're such a goofball, Cedric" Amber uttered with a chuckle
A smile formed on Sofia's face, seeing how delighted Cedric was with such a small thing. She could still remember when she struggled with the utensils at first as well, so she really knew how fulfilling it feels, knew how Cedric felt at the moment
And so Sofia just sat there, stared at Cedric eat his mashed potatoes with a warm smile on her face like a proud wif – friend!
Like a proud apprentice, a proud friend!
The dinner went on, with Cedric's worries alleviated. Now he felt like he belonged in the family, and also reliving how great it felt to eat with company. It had been a while since he ate with his family
The past few months, he had been sulking in his own tower and eating whatever was served to him by the servants. Sometimes, he would even skip meals all throughout just to focus on his work, or just not finding the enthusiasm in it anymore
That is until… a certain auburn haired girl came to his life
He turned to Sofia, who batted him a smile in response
"Thank you, Princess Sofia…"
Sofia could sense Cedric's happiness through. It was certainly amazing how she could tell like a psychic would do. It's like they had a connection of some sort.
Either ways, when she discovered about Cedric's bad habits, it was then that she insisted on him joining her family for dinner. He was stubborn at first, but Sofia always finds a way to convince her favorite sorcerer
And now, seeing him enjoying meals for once was worth it in the end. Somehow, it also brought her joy seeing Cedric being happy
.
.
.
.
"You're welcome, Cedric~"
~D~