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?

3. STF-Teenage Version-Intro Part 3 (Last)

Disclaimer: Sofia The First Belongs to Disney.

Comments From the Author:

I have uploaded the all awaited 3rd and final part of this intro!~

I'm so sorry if I'm a little late today...since it's Sunday I have to spend most of my morning in church...with my very active daughter... . ...

Now, next month I'll be starting off with Cedric-Sofia series...I'm not sure how many chapters will there be since I'm still in the middle of it all...the PRESSURE!...If you'd like to see a different pairing after Ced-Fia...please vote your choice of pairing found on my profile page...if you do not have a FanFiction account...you can leave your choice in my Twitter...Deviant Art...Blogger...or on my Youtube Account...I will be accepting votes until the end of September this year...Yes...You've got a lot of time to get people to vote for your next favorite pairing for me to write...the highest votes will be the next pairing series for me to write after Ced-Fia...Remember...VOTE VOTE VOTE!

Here's a list of my social accounts...

Youtube: Natnarf1 (With a Cedric picture)

Deviant Art : Natnarf

Blogger: Natnarf1

Ello: natnarf

Twitter: NatNarf01

Well...I won't keep you guys any longer...

Remember...My next Preview of the next chapter or part will be posted in my Deviant Art and Blogger, a week before the 18th next month...

Happy reading everyone! Enjoy!~

This is Natnarf...

Signing Off!~

---

Hugo's POV

"So...what is Father going to say about my transfer of classes? There's always Big-Bro to take over the kingdom. Sometimes I wonder if my best was ever good enough for him since Big Bro's done pretty much everything and has excelled himself to a much higher level. I mean, I've done better things too, even as being the only one in our family to win the Flying Crown in the Flying Derby Tournament many years ago for our school, only because Prince James of Enchancia sprained his hand and I was the third best rider in our school. Prince James and Princess Sofia were the first two riders. I tried to slow down Sofia at the start of the race, but I think they won due to luck. I had a good momentum when I was flying, until I got side tracked for 2 seconds for not keeping my eyes on the path. Goodness. Why am I worried about this? I should just focus on what's now. The future will only come to me if I focus on the present."

I was riding on Electra, taking her out on a whim from being cooped up all day inside the stables at the school. Electra is our family horse, but she was sent to stay in Royal Prep because she was one of the Winning horses. We do get to take her home during the holidays like Wassailia, but we just have to make sure that we get the proper permissions and such. The route I usually take is near the edge of the Village of Dunwiddy where the forest is beautiful and the sounds of nature seem to help calm Electra. Just as we are approaching the boundaries of the forest Electra stands to a halt with a 'Neigh'. She's trained to sense anything that feels different to her 50 yards away. Soon I was able to feel the different pressure in the air.

"...Hmm?...Roses? How odd." I said as I smelled the familiar scent in the air. "It's not yet the season for the Flower Fest."

I ponder for a few moments, then I heard multiple 'BANG' shots. It was probably some fireworks being shot into the air. Concluded that maybe a festival was being held at the moment. I decided that it was nothing to worry about and tired to turn Electra around. As I was brainstorming on whether to go to a different path or back to the school stables, Electra turned back again, looking at the forest silently.

"Electra? What-"

"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"

A sharp scream rang through the air, and no sooner did she turned around and sped through the air towards the source of the voice. I held onto the reins as tight as my fingers could hold as I've never ridden on her as fast as she is now. The wind now felt like a thousand bees were stinging me simultaneously, but it also felt as if I were having a facial massage. As if my eyes had a mind of its own, it shot at something that was falling down. I made out the arms and legs, and as soon as we were close enough, the rest of the features finally came into view; it was a person falling in their riding clothes. I couldn't see who it was as their back was facing me. As if Electra was able to read my mind, she sped up even more quickly towards the falling figure, and just as Electra's hooves touched the leaves of one of the many trees, the person landed in my arms just in time, in the style that you'd carry a princess.

Electra wasted no time and quickly made an 'L' turn going right, which was where the village was.

"Sofia!" A voice from above me spoke.

I looked up to see who it was, and it was a girl, maybe around my age or so, flying on a half covered-metallic wooden broom. If I'm not mistaken, she must be a Witch, judging by the way her clothes were.

She quickly flew down beside me on my right.

"Sofia! Are you alright?!" She shouted at the person in my arms.

The person's head was on my right, who had their hands in tight fists and the hat was covering the face. They looked up, and I almost didn't have a voice in my throat.

"HUGO?!" It was Princess Sofia of Enchancia, and she was obviously shocked at my presence.

Lucky for me, I didn't show my shocked expression at the start. I quickly cleared my throat and gave my smile as I always do at school.

"Sofia." Flawless.

"Are you alright?!" The Witch spoke up. I totally forgot about her.

"Yeah!" Sofia said.

"I just saw Mom signaling us to retreat. We've gotta get back quickly."

The Witch makes eye contact with mine and motions her head, signaling me to follow her lead. I didn't need to tell Electra as she followed on her own pursuit. I was still carrying Sofia with both arms, it's too dangerous to shift her to sit in front of me.

"Can you hold on for a little bit longer, Sofia? As soon as we get to the ground you'll be able to check for injuries and stretch a bit."

"Yes, I can." She replied back, with a look of reassurance.

Of all of the princesses that I've meant in my life, Sofia's the only one that I never found attractive, but yet she's also one of the hardest to get her to fawn over me. Maybe it's because of her outgoing personality and her interest for outdoor activities that I find it hard to even compete against her. I admit that I never really thought of her as a Princess nor does she even deserve to be respected as one since she was born as a common village girl, and I definitely hated her even more when she and her step-brother James won me over at the Try-out race for the school's Flying Derby team when we were younger.

When the time came for the Flying Derby championships, I knew I was never going to be racing for the school. But as if luck was on my side, James injures his arm just as he finishes the semi-finals, and I was then called in to replace him to ride for the finals. It was my only chance to show my family that I could win the race, and prove that I can be the greatest rider anyone would ever see. After all, it had been at least a hundred years since Royal Prep has ever made it to the finals. But being in the finals meant that I had to work with Sofia, and she had suggested that we do one of the most difficult Team Plays of all time, The Flying Sling-Shot Play, where one rider was to sling shot the lighter one so that he will fly faster towards the finish line, which was more powerful than The Wing Blast Play. I was selfish at the time because I wanted to cross the finish line first as being the first meant being the best, so I kept rejecting her as a team player. It came to the point where I thought winning would be hopeless and impossible that I wanted to quit just before the race started. Winning the race meant a lot to me as I wanted to hear that Winning song the crown would always sing whenever the school's team wins the race, and every male member of my family has heard it, except for me.

I thought Sofia had given up on me, but she came searching for me, even at the very last second, she never gave up on encouraging me to go back. If it weren't for her, I wouldn't even be riding Electra proudly today. It was then that I had gained new found respect for Sofia. It always pains me to see how she never holds anything against me after all of the times that I've somewhat 'bullied' her, even when she said 'Yes' to me just now showing just how much she trusts me. This makes me wonder if I truly deserve being called a 'Prince' at all.

We entered the boundaries of Dunwiddy, but we didn't land on the ground. I see another Witch on a broom, who was an adult, as we stopped right beside her.

"Goodness, Lucinda. I told you both to be careful." She said.

"Sorry Mom. It was the pressure in the wind." The younger Witch said.

"Well, at least this young man came along and saved Princess Sofia." She looked at me and gave me a big grin. "I suppose you don't understand the situation you just got into, huh?"

"Huh?" I was confused. "Is this a 'You shouldn't poke your nose into other people's business' alternative question?"

"Not quite." Her smiled quickly disappeared as she pointed towards the forest.

I never actually got a good look at what all this was about, until I turned to look over at the horizon. A huge tornado, in the color of a rose flower, heading towards this very village. What on earth was Sofia trying to get herself into here?

"Lucinda, have you bombed enough of the area?"

"Yes, Mom. It's all you now." The young Witch makes eye contact with me again. "Let's move back a bit. This could get a little messy."

As we slowly moved back, I manage to shift Sofia to sit in front of me. She wasn't heavy, which was a good thing, but for holding her so long in the same position made my upper arms a little numb. I tried not to show it, but Sofia seems to understand as she looks over her shoulders.

"Thank you, Hugo. Sorry for holding me so long. Hope your arms won't be a burden when you fly back."

Her eyes were filled with kindness and innocence, that you'd almost fall for it. I looked away a bit to hide a bit of my face.

"Don't worry about it." I said as I cleared my throat. "Just try to avoid doing anymore outrageous stunts as much as possible. You are a princess after all."

"I'll try. I can't make any promises though." She says in return.

"THREE! TWO! ONE! HYA!"

The older Witch shouted out and pointed her branch like wand towards the direction of the tornado. I thought she was going to turn the tornado into something ridiculous, like how most Witches do whenever they cast a spell. In my place Albuquerque, most of the people would be terrified of even mentioning the word 'Witch' as they would get 'Hexed' on the spot.

But instead of turning the tornado into another something, a giant wall cement colored trees emerges from the ground going up, in the exact position where I caught the falling Sofia. If I understood this correctly, Sofia was with the young Witch trying to 'Bomb' some of the trees, probably with some potions or spells, so that the older Witch would only turn the affected trees into a giant wall to block the tornado from coming into the village. That's a lot of effort being done, but couldn't she just hex the tornado instead?

"Wouldn't it be easier to just turn the tornado into another object or such? Why go through all of this effort just to block it from coming in?" I asked Sofia.

"My mom can't do that." The young Witch answered me instead. "This isn't your everyday normal tornado. It's protected by a magical barrier, so we have to first trap it."

"How will you trap it? And if it is successfully done, how will you rid of it? It'll just come back if you let it roam freely." I wanted an answer.

"Hehe. Just watch how we do things." She giggles and flies to her mother.

"Is it alright to trust them to do these things?" I asked in doubt. "Aren't the villagers afraid of them? They're witches after all."

"They're a part of the village as the rest of the villagers are, and their whole family has lived in the village long enough to gain everyone's respect and trust, Hugo." Sofia calmly answered. "Besides, Lucinda and her mom aren't like any other of the Witches you see out there."

I decided to remain where I am as I watch how the outcome will turn out. The tornado flies into the wall, not ever slowing down in one spot. The wall then starts curling up into a cylinder form, trapping the tornado right inside it. Must be the mother's doing. The daughter holds out two different wands, one in each hand. She starts shooting fireballs from one of it, sending it towards the tornado. She then casts a round object just above the cylinder wall from the other wand, which looked like a giant lid from a Casserole of some sort. After shooting about 10 fireballs, she quickly slams the lid down on the cylinder.

"What the...what's going on-"

"Most fires are usually magic's worst enemy."

"ACK!" I reacted.

I was in disbelief that the mother Witch was just flying on her broom beside me.

"Aren't you supposed to be over there supporting the cylinder wall?" I was confused.

"I already locked the wall in place, so the tornado won't be getting loose anytime soon. I've already wasted most of my energy just building the trees into a wall, as well as bending it. I'm not as young as I used to be, so I'd naturally get tired out no matter how powerful my spells are.

"Lucinda on the other hand is still young and has a lot more stamina. If I were to hold the lid down in place, I'd be wiped off of my broom from the strong pressure of the tornado. She has so much stamina that doing two spells at the same time is nothing for her, which is why I left her to finish the job. The tornado is full of rose petals, so naturally we're dealing with a magic user who is handles with nature elemental spells. Except for water and fire element spells, all of the other kinds of magic are weak against fire, the most basic knowledge in all of magic. Lucinda's using fireballs to burn all of the rose petals, which is mainly what's holding up the tornado. It'll all be over as soon." She says with confidence.

I looked at the hard working Witch holding down the lid as much as she can handle. Then I felt something tapping on my right hand. It was Sofia. She motions me to lower my head and puts her hand over my ear.

"It's also because Lucinda has an incredible sense of hearing, she'd be able to hear if the tornado is subsiding or still going strong." Sofia whispers.

We watched as we waited for Lucinda to finally open the lid. It felt like an eternity waiting for that moment, and when she finally opened it, she gave us the 'I did it' sign. Just as she starts clearing everything up, a loud of roar and cheer erupted from behind us. It was the villagers who had come out of hiding in their homes, cheering and applauding to the heroes who saved the village from a terrible fate. Lucinda finally regroups to us and we all landed on the ground. I got off of Electra first, then held out my hand to help Sofia down. She's still a princess despite dressed in full horse riding clothes, and if I didn't do it, my reputation as a Prince would be put to sham.

"Sofia! Sofia!"

I hear two other voices coming towards us, whom are both village girls and are in the same age group as Sofia. By the way they called out to Sofia, they're probably a lively pair, maybe even very chatty.

"Jade! Ruby!" Sofia hugs them both.

"You guys did it! You guys really stopped the tornado from hitting us." The one in the green dress said.

"Who knew what would've happened if you didn't come by to the village today." The girl in the red dress said.

"It was mostly Lucinda who did all the hard work. I was more of a drag really. Can you imagine, Me, a horse rider, fall off of a broom in the sky? Heh." Sofia sounded sarcastic.

"You FELL?!" The red one said.

"You're...not...a ghost...are ya?" The green one says as she tries to poke Sofia's arm.

"Haha. I'm alive, silly. Though I wouldn't have been if Hugo hadn't passed by." She gestured her arm at me.

"Salutations, young ladies." I greeted with a polished bow.

"This is Prince Hugo, from the Principality of Albuquerque." Sofia introduced. "Hugo, these are my childhood and best friends, Jade and Ruby." She gestured from the girl in green to the one in red. It kinda makes sense anyway, considering how their names and their colored clothing ironically matches.

"Nice to meet cha'." Jade curtsied.

"It's a great honor to meet you." Ruby followed with a smile.

"By the way, young man."

I turned around to see that it was the mother Witch who spoke from behind me.

"What were you doing passing by around the area? You're from Albuquerque, which is quite a great distance from here to there."

"I was taking my horse out on our usual stroll, an often routine I do whenever I finished school for the day." I replied.

"Even in the mist of the recent phenomenon that has struck some of the villages, you still choose to expose yourself out and about?" She wasn't convinced.

"Yes." I strongly answered.

I know that some of the villages had been affected by the strange phenomenon that has been going around the area, such rose petals falling from the sky, some weird particles flying in the air that we are breathing in, and maybe that tornado earlier might partly be responsible as well. The only reason I'm not afraid is because I still haven't been infected yet. When the phenomenon first broke out, I wasn't aware of it as nobody at home knew of it either, and yet I was always going on strolls over the villages and forests that I never knew were already affected by the phenomenon.

"Young man." She looked at me, as if studying. "I know of your kind, and normally I should just ignore you."

Maybe she knows of how Witches are being treated back at home, which is why her attitude towards me changed all of a sudden.

"But I can sense that you are different from your family."

That greatly annoyed me. I give a bow and turned around, holding Electra's reins in my hand as I prepare to leave.

"You follow what they say that is best, especially as you are one of the male members of the family. I assume you must be confused as to why you and your brother are both titled as 'Prince's instead of only one of you."

I stopped walking.

I waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Waited to hear if she'd continue to talk.

Amongst the noisy cheerful crowd, nobody notices how there's an incredibly intense atmosphere between the Witch and I. It's as if time had slowed everyone and everything else around except for the two of us. Just waiting to hear what else she has to say is incredibly heavy and painful to my ear drums. I turned around to make eye contact with her. What else does she know that lies in her eyes? Are any of the answers that I seek can be found in her? She only stood there, and smiled. She turns around and starts walking away, until a silhouette passes in front of my vision. Everything goes back to its normal pace, everyone else still remained doing their own thing, but there were no signs of the Witch being around.

"Hugo?"

I felt a hand on my arm, turned around and I see Sofia standing there, with a worried expression. She probably noticed me staring into the nothingness.

"Thank you, Hugo. Please be careful on your way back home." She says as she curtsies with a smile.

As always, her smile always hurts my heart, as if saying 'because you're my friend, you'll always be forgiven'. It'd be embarrassing if I started crying on the spot. I take a bow, and and climbed onto Electra. Hopefully, she won't be following me.

---

Sofia's POV

Just as I watched Hugo take off, I see something else in the sky coming into view. I looked hard and see two silhouettes in the distance. It wasn't long before they landed on the ground, spooked some of the villagers as dirt on the ground scattered everywhere in the air, causing everyone to cough.

"Cough! Cough! Sorry about that, everyone. Cough! Cough!" A familiar voice tried to speak up amongst the confusion.

I tried to get a view by fanning the air with one hand, but I was just one small person. The wind started blowing the dust down, and slowly I start to make out the two silhouettes. They were Jamie and Clover on the right, and Princess Vivian riding on her pet dragon, Crackle, who was once small, but is now as big as a horse's stable.

"Vivian!" I jogged towards them. "What are you doing here?"

"I received the help message from your pet rabbit." She then shrugs. "Actually, I was playing with Crackle in our garden when I saw your pet rabbit riding the horse. The rabbit then gave me the letter and I came flying over."

"Oh Vivian." I smiled. "Actually, can I ask you a favor?"

"Hehe. Okay, what's is it?" She giggles as she climbs down Crackle.

"I need to borrow Crackle to burn whatever is left behind from that Rose Tornado, need to make sure that they won't be able to revive themselves to cause another tornado attack against the village." I said.

"Sure. You better ride her yourself though. I won't be able to know where the petals are located anyway." She says and goes over to Jamie and Clover.

I climbed onto Crackle's back and sat on the base of her long neck.

"Hi, Sofia!" She greeted me happily, as always.

"Heya, Crackle. Thanks for coming." I patted her on the side of her neck. "I'll come back real quick, Vivian."

And without waiting for her to reply Crackle quickly takes off and flies towards the forest. I guided her to where Lucinda and I dropped the Bomb potions at. Lucinda's mom made the trees into a wall and then a cylinder, and after Lucinda tidied up the area, there is barely anything left in the area except for some debris from the cylinder wall and some ashes and petals.

"Crackle. Could you get me down to that pile of debris and ashes?"

"I'm on it!"

She quickly lowers herself down, and softly lands on her toes. I quickly took out my wand and summoned my box out, and inside I got one piece of paper. I didn't want having any chances in case some of the Bomb potions were still in these debris so I used made some of the rose petals float onto the paper using magic, then folded the paper to trap them in. I put the folded paper inside the box and took another piece of paper, and scooped some of the ashes onto the paper using the paper's sides.

"Why are you collecting some of them, Sofia?"

"I need Cedric to analyze some of these, maybe he'd be able to find out what's causing these rose petals to create a tornado." I said as I pack everything away and summon my box away.

I climbed back onto Crackle.

"Crackle, how hazardous is your fire?"

"Hmm...Pretty much the most hazardous. Why?"

"Well, could you burn only that pile and not the rest of the forest? We don't want any of those rose petals to start up any tornadoes on its own anything soon, whether large or small ones."

"I'm on it!"

She crouches down like a lizard and breathes her purplish fire at the pile. We watched as the chunks of cement slowly melts down and dries up into a pile of white chalk, while the rose petals burn into ashes while its aromatic scent evaporates into the air. Crackle digs out a big chunk of earth from the ground, then she pushes the burnt pile into the hole, and burying them like she was playing in a kid's sand box.

"Good job, Crackle."

"Anytime, Sofia." She says while happily wagging her tail. "Shall we head back now?"

"Yes. Oh wait!" I hurriedly search through my pockets and got out my already emptied bottle. "Can I have some of your dragon's breath again?"

"Sure. Give me that bottle."

I uncork the bottle and Crackle carefully uses her two nails to grab hold of it. She's done this many times for me, so she knows how much of her breath I need to fill up the bottle, without melting the bottle as well. She's a big dragon now, so she breaths out a small amount of fire through one of her nostrils and into the bottle. I always thought that fire could never be another kind of color nor would it be pretty to look at except when burned inside a fireplace. Crackle's flame was truly beautiful, yet it can be gentle or ragingly dangerous just like the fireworks.

"Here ya go!" She hands me back the bottle.

I took out a cloth and used it to hold the bottle, in case it was hot, and corked the opening before any of its contents could escape.

"Now can we fly?"

"Haha. Of course, Crackle."

We flew back to the village and I announced to everyone to be wary of any surprise attacks or unnatural encounters, and to keep on monitoring over their crops if in case anything new happens. I bid everyone goodbye and Vivian and I parted ways to go back home, to avoid any unnecessary encounters. When I finally reached back home to the castle, I went straight for my bedroom. I wasted no time once I reached the two larges doors to my bedroom and opened them like no one else was watching. I was carrying the sleepy Clover in my arms, and I walked over to the window seat and gently put him on his cushion. Even when he's all sleepy and tired, he still manages to help me out whenever and wherever I needed it.

I still had some free time left before dinner time, so I went and flopped onto my bed like a sack of rice.

"Sigh." I exhaled pretty deeply. "What a rough day. I never expect to deal with so much in one day. It's like watching a play go through my head." I said as I closed my eyes.

First a love confession between two friends, then a background story about Mae and Frederick's engagement, then Jin's secret arranged engagement, and finally Zandar's determination to win Hildegard's heart. As if that's wasn't enough, then who was that mysterious attacker that attacked Vivian right at the school's grounds? Who or what created that Rose Tornado? And more importantly, how and what started this chaotic phenomenon that has affected many people and farm fields across vast villages in the kingdom of Enchancia? And the most important issue of all: why did Dad enroll me into the Advance Princess Course instead of the Harmony Course? If anyone, it should be Amber, since she's the eldest of us three.

"Princess Sofia?"

I hear someone calling me.

"Sofia."

It's getting closer.

"Sofia. Please get up."

I finally opened my eyes, and to see that it was Baileywick hovering over me upside down.

"You're finally awake, my dear. Exhausted I presume?" He says.

I sat up and stretched my sore and tired arms.

"Oh. It's you, Baileywick. YAWN." I covered my mouth with the back side of my hand. "What is it?"

"I actually came up here earlier, but I saw that you were sleeping so deeply that I decided to let you continue."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, it's way passed dinner time so-"

"WHAT?! I slept through dinner?!"

I looked out the window and saw the dark night had occupied the orange background.

"Oh no..." I said very depressedly.

"Don't worry. I told His majesty that you needed some rest after working very hard today checking on the farm fields. I also gave him the note you handed to me earlier."

"Hah. Thank you, Baileywick."

"No problem, Sofia. Now then, would you like to eat something refreshing or something light? Or do you have a different request in mind?"

I was about to list out a menu I had in mind when I felt my bracelet on my hand. I then recalled that I was supposed to do one more thing before the day ended.

"Baileywick, can I have a light course for two people? And I'd like it to be brought somewhere."

"And where exactly is that?" His face was confused.

I was standing by the large window, the place just up the stairs in the hall where we usually held special events, such as Balls or grand events in. Whenever I look out the window from here, I could see the many stars in the clear night sky. It is always at this time that I really truly enjoy what the world and Mother Nature has to offer, making me feel like life is really worth living for to enjoy these gifts given to us, but most of us has taken them for granted.

"Excuse me, Sofia."

I turned around as I placed my hands just on the base of my dress' corset. I was Baileywick, standing as proper as always. I do wish he would just relax, even if for a minute, for I fear that he would one day break his spine for always standing straight for too long.

"I brought him just as you asked. Anything else you'd want?"

"No, thank you. That'll be all, Baileywick. You may retire for the night."

"I'll be on stand by in case you need-"

"No need, Baileywick." I quickly cut in. "Let me change my statement again. I insist that you to leave and retire for the night."

"But Sofia, I-"

"It's an order. Understood?" I said, sternly.

It looked like he was going to protest, but he let out a sigh instead.

"Very well." He says. Then he gives a deep bow. "Have a good night, Princess Sofia."

"Good night, Baileywick." I said calmly, but a little sternly.

I hope he doesn't misunderstand my intentions. This was my only chance to make him get a break. I wasn't going to let him work anymore than he already has for today, let alone work overtime to serve dinner to someone who over slept.

"Please come on up." I called out to my guest.

I hear footstep walking up slowly, first his head came into view, then his upper body, and finally the rest of him. He then gave a slight bow with his hands together as always.

"Good evening, Princess Sofia."

"Good evening, Mr. Cedric." I curtsied.

"You do know you should only bow to those who are of Royalty, right?"

"I know, but I bow to show my respect." I smiled.

"What did you call me for?"

"Well, I haven't had my dinner yet, and I thought it'd be nice to have a chance to enjoy the moon tonight with some company. So, would you care to join me? " I gestured at the two seated round table, furnished with complete silverware and two plates filled with food.

"What?!" Mr. Cedric was taken aback.

He studied the table, then his eyes slowly shifted to me as he analyzed me from top to bottom.

"This is some kind of trick, isn't it? What are you conspiring against me?" He shifted his body by facing me sideways.

"Why would I wanna trick you? I'm just inviting you to be my partner for dinner." I said as I placed my hands on my waist.

"...Are you sure?" His one eye stares at me intensely.

"Would I ever lie to you, Mr. Cedric? The one and only great sorcerer that I truly and gratefully admire in the whole world? Just join me, Mr. Cedric. Besides, I know that you haven't had your dinner yet."

He stared at me as if I was some kind of weirdo, but he decided to give in. He pulled up a chair, offering me to sit. I greatly accepted it and sat down. He then went to the other side and sat himself down, cautiously.

"You don't have to be nervous, Mr. Cedric. We're just having dinner together." I said as I unfolded my Swan folded napkin.

"That's exactly what's making me nervous. Royalty and the castle staff never ever eat meals together, let alone eating Alone To-Ge-Ther." He says while I could feel his eyes staring at me.

"I don't think it's such a big deal. Or else Baileywick wouldn't have even brought you here in the first place." I said as I moved my Dinner plate filled with our main course to one side of table, and placed my soup in front of me and took a sip with my Soup spoon.

"Easy for you to say." He says while pondering over which utensils to pick up on the table.

Our dinner was Chicken slices with salad, and just nearby is a small bowl of Mushroom soup. Whatever we have for our meals depends on the utensils placements. In this case, we have two forks placed on the left of our Dinner plate, the Dinner fork is the largest and placed on the most farthest left away from the plate, and the Salad fork is placed just next to the plate and is smaller in size. The knives and spoons all go on the right side of the plate. The Salad knife is smaller and first in line, followed by the Dinner fork that is a little bigger. Both of the knives' blades are always placed with the cutting edge toward the plate. Lastly is the Soup spoon, placed at the end of the line. We don't eat rice, so we don't have a spoon for it. Unless necessary, we just proceed using the same Soup spoon to eat the rice instead.

"Take the fork farthest on the left, and the knife farthest on the right when you want to eat the chicken slices. The two inner fork and knife are used when eating the salad." I said to him. "Since there's soup being served, you should drink that first before eating your meal."

"Okay..." He answers obediently and moves his dishes in the order I did. "I presume it's this only spoon, right?"

"Yes, Mr. Cedric. That is a Soup spoon."

I watched him as he enjoys his soup, which made me feel happy. I never know what he eats, so seeing him enjoy at least one good set of food in his lifetime makes me feel as if I accomplished something good.

"Merlin's Mushrooms! This soup is good." He says with a grin like I've never seen before. "Tell me, are there usually more utensils than what we have now?"

"Oh yes. There's a whole lot more."

"How on earth would I remember which ones to pick from then?" He's brows wrinkled together.

"Don't worry. It's actually pretty simple. As long as you know what is being served first, then it's easy to follow the order of the utensils."

"You got me." He was very confused.

"Alright, Mr. Cedric. I'll be your teacher for now. You just continue eating your meal while you listen to me." I said as I rest my hands on the table.

"Do I need to be an Apprentice while you're at it?"

"Haha. If you want to, but it'll only last for few minutes." I said as I cleared my throat. "When you are seated, the large plate in front of you is empty. The maids will bring in the food according to order: Appetizer, First Course, Fish Course, Entree, and Salad being last. The way the utensils are arranged doesn't matter, just work your way from 'Outside in'. The first dishes always start with the utensils from the right side.

"Shellfish foods are always, and if ever, are served first, and it's the only dish that has a special kind of shaped fork being placed on the right, called the Oyster Fork. Following that is the First Course, consisting of Soup or Fruit, and you only use spoons. If you do not know which spoons to use, just work your way 'Outside in' on what's being served to you first."

"So...from outside going towards inside...Got it." He says and looking at his utensils in front of him.

"Next is the Fish course. This is sometimes served, but is never served after any other kinds of meat or foods. It has its own knife and fork, placed just after the spoon. outside of the. Next is the Entree, which is also called the Main Course, consisting of other meats and foods, even noodles and eggs, using the Dinner knife and fork pair after the set for the fish. Lastly, is the Salad, and only the last set of the most inner knife and fork is used for that."

"That's a little hard to remember. " He says.

"Sometimes though, you won't be able to recognize the food being served to you. In this case, you can always ask what is it. There's some exceptions on some other foods being served. If there's bread being served, there will be a small plate and knife placed on your far top left. You can't use them for any other foods. Dessert and its utensils will always be given and served once everyone has finished eating and their plates and utensils are cleared. There are no rules for when the drinks can be drunk, but you can only drink them when you finished chewing the food inside your mouth, unless you're choking."

"Wow. So much to remember. I'll never be able to sit properly at the table without making at least one or two mistakes." He was scratching his head.

"Haha. Don't worry. It also took me awhile before I got everything correctly. Amber made fun of me for dropping all of the forks all over the place when I first arrived since I didn't know which ones to use at first. Baileywick frantically went crazy making me practice which ones to use over and over." I paused and took a sip from my cup filled with orange juice. "At least I made it in the end. And I believe you will too, one of these days."

We continued our meals in silence, until we were down to our last few leaves of our salad. I watched as Mr. Cedric choose his utensils from when he switched to his Entree, which is the Chicken slices, and to the salad. He didn't ask for my advise and chose everything correctly. He was going to pick up his cup of water. I put both of my Salad utensils down and clapped slowly

"Well done, Mr. Cedric." I smiled proudly. "You did everything correctly."

"Really?" He says after he gulps his water down his throat.

"Except for one thing."

"...Which is?..."

I pointed towards the Swan folded napkin.

"You forgot to unfold and place that on your lap. What would you have used if you had sauce all over your face?"

"I thought this was a Decor." He was amazed by how it was neatly folded. "Is it usually placed here?"

"That's Baileywick's way of placing it. It's normally placed right on the Dinner plate if you were to eat elsewhere. That should've been the first thing to go for at the beginning before you start your meal." I smiled. "Other than that, you've passed with flying colors."

"Poseidon's Pumpkins ." He tried to sound enthusiastic and propped his head with one hand on the table.

"By the way. Here is the last ingredient you needed." I took out the bottle from my pocket and placed it near the center of the table.

He took it and studied it. His lips softly curled in the corners.

"This is by far the best batch. It's even got sparkles in them, rarely seen."

I took out two folded papers and placed them near the center of the table.

"Hm? What are these?" He noticed.

"When I went to the Village of Dunwiddy, a tornado almost struck the village."

"What about it? Don't tell me you stopped the tornado all by yourself?"

"I did...with some help of course." I staggered.

"Then there's nothing wrong with that." He said.

"The problem was that the tornado isn't made up of wind, but Rose petals."

Cedric's eyes instantly shot wide open the moment I said 'Rose petals'.

"Did you say...Rose...petals?"

"Mm hm." I nodded. "I got some help in destroying the Rose Tornado, and I got some of its samples before we totally destroyed and buried it."

I extended my hand over the two folded papers.

"This one on the left are some rose petals that were still intact. This one on the right contains some of the burned ashes." I retracted my hand. "We used some Bomb potions, so you might find some of those potions in these, as well as some cement debris."

"Bomb potions?" He thought for a moment. "Were...were those made by Witches by any chance?"

"Yes. Have you seen those potions before?"

"I have. But that's where the problem arises. When a Witch creates a potion, it is never made the same way. If it's made by a powerful Witch, then the ingredients can be identified very easily. If made by a beginner, the chances are that the content's ingredients will all look exactly alike. Unless...these Rose Petals and the ones that Princess Amber got are one and the same." His eyes were almost shinning.

If ever you wanted to see Mr. Cedric at his best, it was when he was really confident in what he's thinking and saying. He wasn't never as confident as this before, especially whenever he's around his father he'd always get interrupted by his father in the middle of conjuring or casting any spells. But as the years went by and ever since he earned his father's recognition, he became better and even got acknowledgment from the Majesties from the other Tri-Kingdoms, apart from some members in our family, especially Amber who never believes in him to begin with, unless he's made her tiaras and jewels and accessories.

He was still mumbling to himself when some strands of his thin black hair fell to the front from behind. You wouldn't notice, but he never cuts his hair and tucks them all inside his robe. I quietly stood up and went over behind him. He was so concentrated on his thoughts that he didn't even noticed that I wasn't in my chair. I took out a spare hair brush from my other pocket and swiftly took his hair from his robe and combed straight away.

"WAH!-" He instantly shook as if he was electrified. "W-W-WHAT ON EARTH ARE YOU-"

"Don't move, Mr. Cedric. You have too many knots tangled in the ends of your hair."

"I KNEW YOU WERE GOING TO MAKE SOME KIND OF TRICK! UNHAND ME OR-"

"Either You take better care of yourself or shave your head clean, Mr. Cedric!" I scolded him. "Now sit still and don't move."

I could tell that he was a bit spooked, but he didn't attempt to argue back and remained seated. In actuality, his hair is very soft and thin, and not so tangled. I combed his hair thoroughly just in case there were any knots hidden. Once I went through it all, I began gathering them up and held them all in one hand. It was as long as my hair, just around the chest. His front gray bangs are left untouched as it does distinguish his persona. When I was satisfied, I took out a strong black elastic ribbon and tied it quickly and neatly.

"There! Good as new." I said feeling satisfied. "Now lemme get a good look at you."

I walked around to try get a good look at him, and as expected he was grumpy and his front bangs were covering his face.

"C'mon. It wasn't all that bad." I said encouragingly. "Now stand up and-"

"Thank you for the food, and good night, Princess Sofia." He said and a small bow without waiting for me to finish or looking up to face me.

He quickly shoved the bottle and the two folded papers into his sleeves and walked away heading for the stairs without ever looking at me. I hurriedly followed after him.

"Don't be like that. At least let me see what...you..."

He stopped without warning and turned around to face me. I almost tripped when I came to a stop, with the last of my words trailed off. I was so amazed with how he's turned out with his hair tied up that I almost mesmerized, in a good way.

"What? Why are you staring at me like that?" He looked at me, annoyed.

"...uh...uh...You...uh...you look..." I just couldn't find the right words at that moment.

"Just say it. I look weird, right?" He says, then he starts raising his right up to the back of his long pony tail. "You shouldn't have-"

But I quickly took hold of his arm with both of my hands, making him more surprised than he already was.

"What on earth are you-"

"Don't take it down. Mr. Cedric." I finally got the words in my head to form into my mouth. "It's...It's what I pictured 'Cedric the Sensational' to be."

The nickname 'Cedric the Sensational' came to be when our Buttercup Troop had planned a field trip to visit the Mystic Meadows, a retirement home where all of the greatest sorcerers go to rest. At that time Ruby's mother was sick, so Baileywick was the troop leader for that day, and I brought along Mr. Cedric to visit his parents who were also staying at the Mystic Meadows.

Our goal for that day was to do a good deed so that we could earn a "Good Deeds" badge, and my good deed was to help Mr. Cedric get the Family Wand from his father. The Family Wand is the most powerful wand, handcrafted by Goodwyn the Great's great great grand Sorcerer, and is passed down from Sorcerer father to Sorcerer Son. I had to help Mr. Cedric show how great he is as a Sorcerer by conjuring or cast some the best spells to his father.

We were at a topic on about how great his father was during his time and got to the point on how he got his nickname, and on the spot I made up the nickname 'Cedric the Sen-Sational', and I thought it was very fancy and, Sen-Sational! At the end of the day, with all of the excitement and sideline dramas, just as we were leaving the Mystic Meadows, his father came to him and was given the Family Wand, even calling Cedric by his new given nickname. Only a few of us know of this nickname, and we hope that when more people get to know of his brilliance, that name will surface and be remembered by everyone.

"Y-You..."He stared at me with a look of disbelief with a bit of redness shown on his cheeks. "...Do you even know the position we're in, again?!" And his

"Huh?" I blinked.

I looked at him, myself, and around us, but I saw nothing that was wrong or anything that looked out of the ordinary. He probably just mistook something for another thing. I shook my head in response.

"Sigh, Princess Sofia." He sighed heavily as he takes my hands off his arm. "Please understand what you're doing before you actually do something." And turns around to walk down the stairs.

I try to understand what his words meant as I watched him go down, until he reached to the bottom of the steps. He stops, looking into the direction he's facing.

"You're a young lady now, Princess Sofia. You can't just do whatever pleases you like when you were just new to the palace. Please understand the position I'm in." He bowed one last time and left, without ever looking up to me.

I still didn't understand to what he was pertaining about or to. I decided to just leave it at that and started clearing up the table.

"Let me do the rest, Princess Sofia."

I turned around to see Violet walking over, pushing a food cart in her hands.

"Violet! You weren't suppose to come back until tomorrow." I said as I walked to the side of the table. "Didn't you get to visit your family? Were you asked to stay behind without my knowledge?"

"No, Princess Sofia." She paused. "Oops! I mean, Sofia. I did get to visit my family, but there wasn't enough room for me to sleep in for the night, so I decided to come back here. Besides, I got so conditioned to working constantly that I couldn't stay still when I had nothing to do or work with. Serving you and the family is an honor, and it's one of the things I love doing most in the world." She says while tidying up. "By the way, your bath's ready. Don't wait till it gets cold."

"Haha. Alright. Well then, enjoy the rest of the night, Birthday Girl." I curtsied and waved goodbye.

---

King Roland's POV

Miranda and I were already at the table, eating breakfast. It's a very important meal to start the day. On most days I don't get to completely finish my food, not even my fruits. Reason? It's Baileywick, since he keeps track of my schedule and duties for each and everyday. He's always attending to not only my family and I, but also to all of the castle's staff from the kitchen to the yard sweepers. In fact, he knows everyone's schedule so well that I don't know if he himself has one. I'm pretty sure he's some kind of automatic gizmo somewhere inside of him.

For this morning's breakfast, I had some apples and pancakes, and a glass of grape juice and a glass of water on the side. Hopefully I'll get to finish them all this time. It's hard to through the day with your stomach constantly rumbling for attention.

"Good morning, Daddy."

"Good morning, Dad."

Amber and James, my twins, who were both already at my side. Amber gave Miranda and I each a peck on the cheek, while James only bows to me but gives Miranda a peck. He used to also give me a peck, until he somewhat learned that it was kind of embarrassing as a boy. I was a bit surprised that I didn't notice them come in, I was probably too immersed in my own thinking.

"Oh. Where's Sofia?" Miranda asks.

"She's getting ready, Your Majesty." Baileywick answers.

"Did she get to eat something last night?" I asked.

"Yes, she did, Your Majesty" Baileywick answers again. "She woke up just as when you all were getting ready for bed."

"Ah. Very good." I answered and bit into my apple. Ponder for a second. Cleared my throat. "Still, I think she's working a little bit too hard. I do hope she does rest every now and then, even if there's a phenomenon going on."

"I did tell her to relax, Daddy." Amber spoke as she gets settled into her chair with Baileywick's assistance. "Unlike a certain someone who just runs around with cannons in his head."

"Hey. I work just as hard." James replied.

"Well, I don't see you lifting a finger to any of the books given to you." Amber said, started to raise her voice.

"It doesn't mean that I'm not doing anything-"

"Stop it. Both of you!" Baileywick scolds them both and they immediately stop bickering. It's because of him that I never need to hire a nanny for each of them.

"I received a complaint yesterday from Cedric, Rolly." Miranda says smilingly at me. "Saying that James asked him to cast a spell on making an instant Trench in the ground when it's supposed to be done by James and the rest of the castle's soldiers and knights themselves?"

"Really?" I was surprised, not anymore. "James? Is that true?"

"Ugh! Can't everyone just stop picking on me all in one day?" James wined while chewing on his pancakes.

"Fine. I'll just pick on you tomorrow." I said, jokingly.

"Hey." He wined again.

I know I should be scolding him to work harder as a Prince, since he's the only son I have who would inherit the crown after me, traditionally speaking. But with the recent changes and concerns that crossed my mind about his capabilities of ruling the kingdom, I can't just pressure him to do something he doesn't want to do. I was also once a young boy, and because I was the only son in the family, I had no choice but to accept the crown. I thought it would never work out, but it turned out that I had means and the capabilities to actually take care of a kingdom, but I never laid back or tried to escape from the problems.

My thoughts were interrupted as the doors opened. It was Sofia, all dressed up in her dress as she walks over to the table.

"Good morning, Dad. Mom." She give us a peck on the cheek each as well. "Amber. James." She curtsied to them since they were already into their meals.

"Morning, Sofia." Amber greets her as cheerful as always.

"Gof Mor'neng, Sof." James said with his mouth full, as always.

"James. Mind your manners, again." Baileywick scolds him, as always.

"GLUP! Sorry." He smiled, half-heartedly.

Sofia only giggled.

When I first married Miranda, I was worried if the children would get along. In most of the stories you'd see or hear, most step siblings never got along due to envy or jealousy, like in the case of Cinderella who had to bare with being an all around maid and servant around her house after her biological father died when she was young. I'm just glad that the three of them got along really well, almost as if they were really good friends.

"Sorry I overslept last night."

"It's alright, Sofia. I heard how you worked so hard yesterday that you didn't even get to rest until you got back home." Miranda said. "I hope you always taking good care of yourself in whenever you do from now on, alright?"

"Yes, Mom." Sofia said. Then she turned to face me. "How's the Tri-Kingdom meeting yesterday, Dad?"

"Mm." He swallowed his food down without chewing everything properly. "It's all good, Sofia. Thanks for asking."

"You didn't have to swallow down so fast on my account."

"It's alright. A few cherished words with my dear children, is worth more than a couple of spoonfuls of food in my mouth." I said. She smiled.

I watched as Sofia take her seat next to her mother, not picking up her apple, and went to pour some syrup on her pancakes with her smile on her face. I guess she's going to save that for later, probably going to bring that with her to school. If you got fooled by her smile, try again by looking at her eyes. They say that the eyes are the windows to your soul, and you could clearly see there was something disturbing her. I wouldn't blame her. She did get a surprise notice from her teachers yesterday: the letter of her Advance Princess Course, sitting right in my pocket, signed and sealed, not yet delivered.

"Sofia." Miranda said. "There's something I forgot to tell you, which is a couple of years late actually, so do forgive this old woman."

"Oh. Don't worry, Mom. Nothing's ever told too late than never." Sofia says as she picks up her cup of water and takes a sip to wet her dry lips.

"Well, we've lived here in Enchancia for so long now-"

"Almost long enough." Amber interrupts, but quickly goes back to eating.

"-And even if we're living in a castle, we should remember that we have our own customs and festivals, right?" Miranda finishes her question.

"Right." Sofia answers obediently. "And?"

"Well...this might be a fault in my part, but...we forgot to celebrate one of our very important traditions from our side of the family, your Quinceañera, which is your becoming of Womanhood at 15 years of age, traditionally celebrated from my side of the family."

"Ooh." Everyone said in rhythm, myself included.

"Why did we never get to celebrate it?" Sofia curiously asked.

"The better question is-"

"-Why was it never celebrated?" James interrupts Amber once again by finishing her question.

"James!" Amber was angry, as always.

"I can't help it! I like celebrations!"

"Celebrations that don't include school, that IS." Amber pouted really hard.

"I...kind of...forgot about it, since I, myself, do not even remember." Miranda shrugged. "When I was younger, our family didn't even have the expenses to celebrate any of the kingdom's celebrations, even our own birthdays were just simple: a small cake and one candle in the middle. We simply weren't very wealthy at all back then to even bother, and because I've gotten used to not having such of an occasion, I completely forgot about yours, Sofia. So I apologize to you, Sofia, for not remembering such an important celebration in any young woman's life."

"Oh, Mom. There's no need to apologize." Sofia comforts her mother by placing her hand on her mother's shoulder. This is, of course, a rude table manner, but I guess I can let this slip by. "What matters most is that we're together as a family, whether we live in riches or rags, got a cup cake or a 10 foot tall layered cake, just as long as I've got my family by my side to spend each and every thoughtful day with."

"Thank you, Sofia." Miranda smiles, with a bit of redness still in her eyes.

I waited for a moment for everyone in the room, including the stand-by castle staff, to absorb this wonderful feeling, before horribly making my turn to share my end of what's in my mind. I put both of utensils down, and cleared my throat as loud and as obvious as I could. It caught everyone's attention, especially Sofia's.

"Ehem. Sofia. I have something I'd like to explain to you."

"Yes. I'm listening, Dad." She looked at me with determination.

"I'd like also for everyone here at the table to listen as well." I said as I took out the folded paper in my pocket. "Baileywick. Please."

He came over as quickly and as quietly as possible, Took and folded paper, with concern, and went over to Sofia. I could see that he was worried about my answer on it since he knows about its contents, he read it thoroughly over and over while bring it over to me after dinner last night. Sofia took it. Opened the paper with care. Read through it without taking an eye off it. And her eyes both shot wide open once she reached to the bottom. She stood up from her chair and shot her eyes at me like an arrow in a split second. If it was a real one, I wouldn't stand a change of dodging it.

"Why?! What is the meaning of this, Dad?!" She was angry, but it was controlled to a mild level as she gestured out the paper in her hand.

"What's going on, Sofia?" Amber looked concerned.

"What's that paper, Sof?" James cleared his throat and asked curiously.

"Please sit down." I said calmly.

She looked at while slowly sitting back down into her chair. I waited to see if she'll at least have a bite off of her pancakes, but it seems it won't be anytime soon.

I looked at everyone's faces, aching to hear what I have to say. As a Father. As a Husband. As a King. I stood up and remained in my place.

"Miranda. I have a confession. I have made some decisions on my own without your knowledge, or your approval. I only did it because I wanted to change a tradition made by all of the past Kings of this kingdom, and fix a choice for all of the future generations that will follow after me. So I apologize to you now before I explain myself." I said and bowed deeply in front of her.

"Oh Rolly." She says as she held my hands. It's her way of telling me to stop bowing. "It's alright. I forgive you. I know that whatever decision you make is for everyone's best interests and with good intentions. Now please, tell us what is it that you had decided on."

"Thank you." I gave her a hug. Normally I'm not allowed to do so, but since it's just with the family, I think it can be excused. I don't hear Baileywick complaining either.

"Now then." I cleared my throat after Miranda sat back down. "I'm sure you three are aware that it is now the time where you all advance to the next level of your classes at Royal Prep. It is also during these times that we Kings of our own Kingdom, have the hardest time on deciding whom of our children will inherit the throne once we are no longer able to do so.

In our kingdom, it is a tradition that the first son in the family is recognized to inherit the throne without any doubt or questions. Your Aunt Matilda was the first born in the family, but I was the only son and so it was decided that I be the next in line and not your aunt.

"It is through this tradition that there were less decision making and less confusions, but at the same time this creates many sibling rivalry disputes and political disputes with not just the royal family, but with the people of the kingdom as well.

"Let me explain that part a little bit more. It is only the King who gets to choose who should be the next following ruler. There are times that the people of the kingdom seem to want someone else to rule over them rather than the one the King chooses, just because they think one is better than the other, say maybe one is better in overseeing the secondary problems in the lives of the villagers, while the other is better in combat battle and defense strategics. The villagers will choose the first one just because he takes care of the villagers by noticing the smallest of problems that don't always seem to be a problem with people who are naturally rich in wealth. At the same time, the needs for their protection of their villages and homes is sacrificed, leaving everyone vulnerable to strikes and attacks from enemies and terrorists from outside, thus creating more disputes amongst themselves."

I paused for a moment to see if the three of them understood what I've said so far, and there seems to be no complains or raising of the arms. But just as I was to start again, Sofia raises hers.

"Yes, Sofia?"

"You said only the first son is chosen 'Traditionally', correct?" She asked. "Then why this?" Her eyes gestures at the paper on the table beside her plate strongly.

"I am getting to that part, Sofia." I said. "When my father had to decide if your Aunt Matilda was going to take the throne, she had argued that she wasn't meant to stay on a chair, but to be free as an Adventurer since she wanted to go explore places without having to worry about taking care of a kingdom on her shoulders I had no choice but to accept it even though I wanted to be something else at that time as well. But father said that there wouldn't be anyone left to run the kingdom if he had granted me my wish to be something else other than the next successor. "

It was at that moment memories of my past during those periods of times ran across my mind like many paintings are shuffling like thin cards. It wasn't pleasant to see while trying to talk seriously to the children about the throne. I shook it to remain my composure, but it seems that Sofia kind of noticed it as her eyes had soften for just a moment.

"My father had only made that decision because he had no other options left in his hands. In the years of watching you three grow up, I've tried to be as observant as I could, also with the help of Baileywick in raising you all like a second parent, to see what good traits and abilities you have or developed, or in what situations and scenarios are you most capable of handling and dealing with. This is so that I be a better Judge than be a Follower of traditions without exploring everything that could be beneficial to both the kingdom and its people.

"I had intended to only enroll James to the Advance Prince Course in the beginning and the both of you in the Harmony Course. Both of your papers came to my desk last year, but Sofia's paper only came to my desk this year since she's younger than you both. With the recent phenomenon broken out, this made me change my mind to do what I should've done when I had both of your papers: put all of you in the Advance Prince and Princess Course. I know I already submitted Amber's paper in for the Harmony Course, but I planned on sending a letter to your school that I want to change my decision, if it is still doable. The reason for this, is so that through this method, I'll know who is a better candidate for the throne. Whether we related by blood, or not, I want to see who can handle things as if you're already nominated to be in my chair, the throne. I-"

"I REFUSE TO ACCEPT THIS, DAD!" Sofia stood and yelled. Something I never expected her to do throughout my lifetime. "I shouldn't even be involve in this as I'm not a royal blood by birth!""

"Sofia. Listen to me. I know this will be a long time before it will actually happen, but I believe that in the future, people will start to elect people who aren't even born of royal blood to become their next rulers to rule over them and the kingdom. Look at me and your mother, I married her not because she is not of royal blood, but because I truly love her with all my heart. And deep down inside, she's a good person at heart and in mind. In some of the other kingdoms, their sons who aren't married to any princesses, are married to those who are either rich in Wealth, Power, Wisdom, Beauty, or just because of love, who are just normal civilians and or villagers and aren't even born in a luxurious palace."

I see that Sofia's eyes were reacting to a different response, probably she had realized something familiar that she's heard of before.

"I see that you must've heard something similar related to this topic judging by the eyes responding to my words, Sofia. Is there someone you know who is already on this problem?"

She didn't respond at first, but she slowly nodded a couple of seconds later.

"I'm doing this so that no one will complain about the wrong choice that I'll make in the future, but that doesn't mean that I've taken all of your freedom away. Yes, I my have taken your freedom of choice to be a future King or Queen or not at all, but I haven't taken your freedom to choose how you should live your lives, and to whom you want to marry, or if you want to get married at all. I want you three to do some things from now until it is due time for me to make my decision: I want you to do your best in everything that you do from this point on, but not to the point where it gets too serious, otherwise you wouldn't be able to enjoy your life. And secondly, I want you to think hardly on what you really want to be or do, if you weren't chosen be in the throne. This is just in case that if you are not chosen, and want to pursue a certain career in life, and you'll be able to do it freely once judgment is over. And maybe, just maybe, it may free you from the line up and you'll gain total freedom of your life. Are we clear on this?"

The three of them looked at each other, as if there was going to be a Hailstorm brewing up at the table. I wasn't expecting them to answer, but I wasn't expecting an easy competition or a simple conversation to evade this only request I've got.

This is it. It's now, or never.

---

Sofia's POV

Right after our breakfast the three of us went off to our own to spend the remaining spare time before we were headed off to school. I went out into the back, where I had first dropped my kite just outside the along the coastline. No one from the castle passes by here, as well as being the only blind spot, so the place's basically mine to roam about and own for most of the time, at least during the none cold seasons. I stand near the edge of the cliff, watching the motionless waves crashing onto and backing away the dry beautiful pearl white sand at the foot of the cliff, nearest the entrance of an open 'once-abandoned' cave mine. Every once and a while I would purposely come over here and stand atop the cliff, showing my silhouette over the waters, and around this time, this happens.

"Sofia!"

My eyes diverted over to the area where the flat stones were, and there she was, a face accessorized with only the natural beauty of her golden colored hair that sparkled in the sunlight.

"Hi, Sofia!" She called out to me and waved.

"Oona!" I waved back.

"Are you still free? Sven's been summoned by mom and they could take a while before I get my turn with my first lesson."

"Sure." I said without hesitation and darted away.

I went down the cliff along the carefully manually constructed staircases, who built these are of beyond my knowledge, and I'd rather keep it a mystery. I find it more exciting that way.

I finally reached to the bottom of the steps, but stopped myself before showing myself in Oona's line of sight. Luckily there was a large fallen boulder just between the staircase and Oona, so I would take off my shoes, undid my wand 'bracelet', and transformed them into a pair of earrings, then my wand back to a bracelet. This way, if by chance anyone would happen to pass by and found my shoes, no one would get alarmed and start a frantic 'Search Party' for me.

I stepped into view and making my way over to Oona, to the flat stone rock and went on it. I wasted no time and sat down, letting my feet sink half way into the water, almost part of my own natural instincts and habits. Moments later my feet and my dress magically and quickly dissolved into a set of scaly fins of my own, along with my unchanged wand bracelet and my Amulet. My white-pearled tiara turns into one golden tiara consisting a small centered cute bow with three golden pearls descending in size on either side.

"Whoa. I envy you, Sofia." Oona says.

"Huh?"

"Those clams. They're not normally found in any good condition, not even as a whole."

I looked down and saw that I was no longer wearing a tank top like when I first started out as a mermaid, and in fact had some clams over my chest. I do say, these are really pretty in color.

"That amulet is really something, Sofia. Come on."

She dives into the water first. I follow suit, with a good silent splash.

Oona is a Mermaid Princess, being the youngest, she loves to explore the vast seas, to collect fallen and sunken 'Human' treasures along the sand currents. I found her on my ever first vacation cruise on the Floating Palace, trying to get a close look at us and our palace, then got tangled in an old fishing net because I caught a glimpse of her head. I freed her and swam with her to secret hideaway, learning of her desire to want to learn more of our humanly ways. We've became good friends over the years, her desire to learn and explore more has never gotten anywhere less since the last.

We swam along the soft currents until we reached to an old sunken shipwreck, Oona's secret hideaway filled with all of her 'Human' treasures collected over the years, and it has been filled at least more than half of the last amount I've seen stashed inside since last week, compared to the first time I've seen it.

"So how are you at school?" Oona asks. "Have you...uh...change your 'class' rooms yet? Oh who am I kidding? It doesn't make it any difference to me if you've changed your 'class' and not the room." She giggled.

"Well, I just changed my 'class' status, but I will only get to attend when I get to school later. So there isn't much I could tell you, only have to wait till the next time you and I both surfaced into the back." I shrugged.

"Aw. Too bad." She twirls on the spot. "I was hoping something interesting might help me in my decisions about my comb." She says as she takes her comb off of her hair.

Just like my Amulet of Avalor, her comb also contains powerful magic that protects the wearer from any evil and harm. The last I saw its powerful magic at work was a long time ago, when she was held captive by a Sea Monster magic user, and her older sister, Cora, used the comb's magic to defeat the monster, sending him way out into the distance with a water blast of some sort. No one else has seen him ever since.

"I've only managed to learn a couple of what Cora knows, but it seems to be follow my pace at a certain level, other times it just becomes to strong for me to even hold it without slipping off of my hand." She reaches for her comb on her hair.

With the first wave, she shoots a small narrow ball of water through the shipwreck's circular window. The second wave in the other direction, she manages three hollowed rings over a couple of fishes that happened to swim by.

"So good so far." I said with a clap.

She faced over to me to bow, but a quick bubble shot out from her comb headed for me, and didn't duck quick enough that it also took my pearly tiara out through the cracks of the ship.

"My tiara!" I gasped and swam after it without thinking.

"Let's chase it." Oona follows.

We breached the gap of the ship and continued to push further when something stopped in front of me, and I immediately braced myself as I tried to stop my fins.

"Wah!"

I heard someone else scream just as I felt myself stop. I opened my eyes to see a pink seahorse just inches away from my nose, also bracing himself.

"Sofia!" I felt a hand on my shoulders. "Are you alright?"

"Yes. I think I'm still in one piece." I said as I searched myself to check that I was still intact, flesh and tail altogether.

"Huh?" The pink seahorse spoke up. "Sofia?"

"Yes. It is I." I answered. "Are you injured anywhere?"

"Yes. I'm alright. Not a scale scratched or scarred." He checks himself, but shakes his head and looks at me again. "WAIT. Are you by any chance the 'Sofia' the human, the one who visited us here almost ten years ago?"

I studied him very carefully, but my eyes were just too focused into his eyes. And at that point I know exactly who he was.

"Sven?!"

"The one and only!" He twirled once. "What brings you here, Sofia? Anyway, I'm sorry to be bothering you both, but I need to bring Princess Oona back. Your mother is worried since there are a couple of rich and polished ships that breached just above on the small island a few minutes ago."

"What?" Oona moaned sadly. "But I need to help Sofia, I accidentally blasted her-"

"It's alright, Oona." I cut her short. "I'll be able to find it. You need to hide. Those ships up there might not be from ours, or they could be fishing boats. We wouldn't want your mother to worry. I'll find it on my own. I know where it landed." I put up a smile.

I waved a silent goodbye and swam away without letting her say another word. If I'm correct, her mother must want her to put up a defense barrier in case these ships were looking to explore new fishing. With the epidemic going around, not many fishermen were selling their goods, so some more wealthier folks are fishing for food someplace else just to thrive for awhile. I continued swimming until I breached onto a small island with beautiful while sand on the shore and plenty of large rock and stone boulders to go around. I looked around until something shining caught the corner of my right eye. I went towards it, crawling as silent as my scales could melt over any crunchy sands, and with the tips of my left hand's fingers, I hooked it with just a nail to spare. I carefully sat up and wore on my tiara, like a glove snugly sitting on a fit hand.

"I don't like how very quiet this area is." An annoyed male voice said. "I'd rather be ballroom dancing than relaxing here in the sun."

"But you can't barely even dance for at least 4 minutes on your own." Another male voice said. "Try to at least enjoy the company of a partner if that's not too much. Maybe you could dance with the first girl that you've danced with when we were younger."

"Bah! She was the only one I could dance to a full score's music with, after that she has been dancing with the others just because they never got the courage to ask anyone else. I'd rather just enjoy my own company and savor the delicacy of the food being made into with hard work and effort. No one will ask to borrow eaten food inside of your stomach anyway."

"Can you at least try not to be too distinguishing or detailed about things like that when you're with other people? For as long as I've been with you, even I have my limitations." The second voice said in a mono tone followed with a deep clap, like a book closed together.

"You can bare it. You've managed to bare with the marriage arranged between you and Mae, so you can bare someone like me." The first voice said.

"Because she's more fragile and gentle. You, on the other hand, are a one who always complains, about anything and anyone." The second voice said.

I took this chance to move while they were talking. The voices can at least blend in with the sounds of the onshore waves and my shifting on the sand with my scales. If I'm listening to this correctly, the second voice owner's must be Prince Frederick's. Why they are here is beyond my knowledge, so as long as I could slip back into the water without squealing a sound

"At least I'm honest. Some of the other princes aren't Man enough tell their thoughts and ideas, and leads some of the princesses to believing that their dream 'Prince' is totally perfect in the way they want 'us' to be." The first voice claimed.

"I don't think that you're experienced enough as a Man or a Boy to say such things. I'd suggest that you at least try to converse with Princess Penelope or Princess Clio before you judge." Prince Frederick said.

But before I could hear anything else, I felt something small crawling on my tail's scales. I tried to brush it away with my fingers, which was a wrong and dangerous move, and it tried to fight back with a snap.

"Eep!" I let out a small, but loud squeal, and immediately covered my mouth with both of my hands.

"What was that?" The first voice said.

I was starting to panic, and I tried to leaned my back against a rock with my hair conveniently placed in between, and holding onto my breath for dear life. I shut my eyes tight, my teeth clenching against each other, my right hand holding onto my tail and pulling it as far against the wall, and my left closing into a tight fist. I got no other rocks to cover me, and I'm stuck on the rough dusty sands. One wrong move and I could injure my scales on my tail, leading to some scars on my legs when tI urn back to my human form.

"...You?" A whisper spoke above me.

I didn't dare to look up, hoping that it wasn't me that the voice mentioned.

"What is it, Frederick?" The other voice raised in volume.

"It's just a seagull that just snatched a crab off the watery sand." Fredrick's said.

"Is that all? Bummer." The other voice sounded disappointed. "I think all of this heat is getting to me. To think I thought I heard a girl's voice over here. It probably would've been a genuine mermaid, and we could ask her for any wish we could've ever wanted."

"Are you really thinking or just being selfish?" Frederick's tone got a little agitated.

"Whatever. I'll go tell the Captains to get ready." The other voice said while decending in sound and range.

I quietly let out my breath as I slowly crawled into the waters.

"Be careful next time." Frederick spoke out of nowhere. "I do hope you'll get to school, unscratched, and dry cleaned." and I could hear him walking away.

I didn't dare to turn around and just kept on moving into the shallow waters, and further away. I learn that while there's one mysterious prince in our class who does not care to give his respects to any of the princesses, Prince Frederick is one who remains calm and collected while being true to himself to everyone. I never had imagined two very different personalities ever socializing peacefully at all. Now I've only got only goal in mind, and that's to make it back in time for the flying coach.

"REALLY, SOFIA?!" Everyone stared at me while I was in my only protective defense barrier; my table.

"Yes, everyone. Amber will also be shifting to this class, too." I said. "As soon as the Headmistresses accepts to our Dad's wishes."

"But I don't get it." Jun says. "I expected James to be in the Advance Princes Course. Why send you both here as well?"

"Unless you've got two Princes that you wanna send to the advance classes, your father can't just send all three of you." Maya also added. "Why'd he do it?"

"I..." I was at lost for words.

"It's alright." I looked to see that it was Vivian who just came to my side. "I'm sure the King has a good reason." She says as she pats her hand on my shoulder. "Besides, no one can blame them either since they only knew of this news this morning. All of them weren't themselves when they arrived at the school grounds, even Amber wasn't holding her fan that way she usually does."

"I know this will sound mean, coming from me." Hildegard spoke as she walks over to us. "But you all had the rights and the Voice to speak out your minds, right? Did any of you three try to object in his decision?"

"I did." I answered right away. "But he didn't want none of it and wanted us to take it as a challenge set for the three of us against-"

"Against each other." A voice cuts in. Everyone turns to see that it was Amber was just at the door frame.

"Amber." Clio goes over and escorts Amber to us.

"Thank you, Clio." Amber said, still in a gloomy tone as she goes to stand on my free side. "Please don't put pressure on just Sofia alone, both Sofia and I deserve the share of the pressure, let alone James, if he even agrees with us." Amber bows her head even lower than before. "I've never seen James so bothered in my life, seeing him only behaving like a wild beast at the table just this morning, before Daddy killed the mood and ruined it all for us. Do you mind if I borrowed that for a moment?" Amber asks Jun for a chair next to her and heavily slumped into it. "Sigh. Oh, Sofia. What will become of us?" Her voice was getting weaker and quieter.

I exhaled deeply. Then, for a moment, I quickly gathered my thoughts and concentrated very hardly on the situation, as if it were a 'Life and Death' crisis. Then when I finally got the words that I wanted in my head, I stood up sharply, faced Amber straight and held on both of her hands.

"Amber." I said loud and clear just in case she hasn't given me her full attention yet.

"Y-yes?" I could tell she was a little shocked.

"I know that I may say next may not imply to what I may or may not do in the future, BUT, I think...no, scratch that, I know that this is part of Dad's plan-"

"...his plan?..."

"Dad's plan to test us all, if we can truly be at peace with each other no matter what the problem arises. This is just Dad's way to see if we'll be opened minded enough to realize what kind of trick, trap, or test he's putting us through."

"...Daddy's way?..." Amber was murmuring to herself.

I could faintly hear everyone's voices talking in the background, but I'm not about to let those noises distract me in my words to get through to Amber.

"Even if this isn't part of his plan, I know he wants us to try and see how the three of us would act towards each other if we were like a solo country on our own. I think we should take advantage of the situation and try to 'Make Alliances' and 'Peace' despite of trying to follow Dad's way. What do you think. Amber?"

She was quietly mumbling to herself, even everyone around us was worried at her decision making. If these were normal circumstances, she'd usually choose the most outrageous choices. Maybe she'd choose to wear a full-feathered tiara over a feathered dress, or have on a gorgeous dress that would make her look like a she's in front of a parade instead of dressing up for a Science Project Presentation. I know that there must be, at least, a more serious decision maker inside of her.

"...I..." Amber just barely broke. "...I think Daddy's doing something funny behind our backs, too, Sofia." At last I could see her face brighten up. "And you know what?" She said with her hands on both of her sides with determination. "I'm not going to slump down ever again!" She proudly said. "I'm going to show Daddy that I'm the only Queen, or King, of myself, and no one's going to ever tell me anything that will ever let me feel so low ever again, because, I, AM, Princess Amber of Enchancia! And no ONE is going to tell me otherwise!"

Everyone, myself included, in the room clapped their hands, admiring Amber's first, and one of the few actual and serious decisions ever made, by herself. Amber then stepped down and hugged me, tighter than ever before. I knew that our bonds of being sister will truly strengthen overtime, especially with the upcoming trials that we'll both face ahead in these next few days, months, and even years to come.

It was long before Ms. Flora came into the room and tried to disburse the small, but beautiful...'Destruction', is an acceptable word to describe the situation, I guess? After all of the chaos has calmed down, and after I've had a couple of hours of 'Advance Princess Classes', I took the chance of using the recess to give myself a breather by going to the place where I first found a small cross bridge when I helped a baby bird up back into its nest as a new transfer student all of those years ago. I stood on the small bridge and tried to look for the small bird's nest. With my current height, I could see an old and tattered small bird's nest, the same one that I had first found all of those years ago, was still there, intact, and a few new leaves and small twigs were hovering it, but it had remained untouched after all those years. I thought to myself, 'How long does one bird's nest's structure last on its own without any sudden physical disturbances?', as I walked over to the nest and gently remove the excess leaves and twigs.

"Are you really just doing that cleaning for a good cause, or for attention?" a voice suddenly spoke up from behind.

I turned around and saw James leaning against a tree just a couple of meters away from me. He was giving me a look that I've never seen before, even for his own personality.

"What are you trying to imply, James?" I try to maintain my tone of voice as calmly as I could. "Does cleaning off a bird's nest count as a 'Good Cause'?"

"It depends, Sof." He said in a mono tone. "We are talking about Dad's throne after all."

"You know better than anyone that 'I' do not deserve such a thing considering my poor village living background." I replied as I tried to continue cleaning after the nest with care.

"Precisely, Sof. This is 'Your' way of showing how even the 'once was a poor villager' can do better than a 'born as a royalty' thing." He says mockingly.

I stopped my hands, afraid that my rage might just damage was is left of the nest's holding structure, backed a few paces away and turned sharply at James.

"JAMES. I do not know what is going on in that head of yours, but let me just say it to you, right here, right now, that I DO NOT WANT TO HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH THE CROWN OR THE THRONE OF ENCHANCIA. IF YOU WANT IT SO MUCH AND THAT BADLY, THEN I MIGHT AS WELL JUST STOP DOING ANYTHING, FLY ON A COACH TO THE VILLAGE OF DUNWIDDY, STAY AWAY FROM EVERYONE'S PRYING EYES, UNTIL DAD HAS MADE UP HIS DECISION ON WHO TO PICK!"

I yelled out on the top of my lungs and started walking away, but I felt a stern and strong tug on my left arm from behind and got pulled back, eventually felt myself being unable to move in James' strong grasp.

"If you did that, it would look like that 'I' had threatened you to leave the competition. Then the more the favor will more likely go to your side." He said.

"UNHAND ME. JAMES!" I was really angry, almost at my wits end.

"NO!" He said to me sternly. "You listen to me for just a moment." He finishes. Not saying anything else.

I'd figured that he wouldn't continue until I had remained calmed or gave in completely to listen to him for just a moment. So I finally let my arms loose and let out a deep breath, signifying that I 'Gave In' to what he has to say. He waited for a few more seconds to see if I'd rebel back before loosing his grip around me, giving me some space to breath get a good serious eye to eye contact communication.

"Look. I know that Dad said that he wanted us to just do our best in the things that we'll be doing from now on until he has finally made his decision on who he wants to take over the crown, and the throne. And you and I know that the more Amber and I try to do things, the more favor it'll be on you since you can do most things better than us." He said.

I was about to give him a piece of my mind, but he raised his hand's index finger, indicating me to wait for a moment. I reluctantly lowered my temper and gave him my full attention, with my eyes.

"Now, what if, and this is 'if' you'll agree with me, that you and I decide to pair up, and gain Dad's trust by stating to him that we'll 'Get Engaged' with each other instead?"

He said and paused for a moment, to see if I'll start to raise my voice or something to oppose his suggestion. But I did no such move. Seeing no 'expected' reactions from me, he continued.

"You probably had it figured out already, since we're both non-blood related, and we're probably the most convincingly compatible with each other in all of our aspects and interests, then we could totally pull this off. And when Dad finally does gives us his decision by handing us the crown, then that means that he's fully convinced and that we are interested in each other as an item. We'll then play it off for a little longer so that he wouldn't suspect anything, until we so-so 'officially' break off our 'relationship' and 'engagement' with each other, I'll take the crown and you'll be free as a bird. Simple. So how's that sound to you?"

I waited for a few seconds for him to celebrate to himself about his plan, while I took some deep breaths to myself. Then I looked at him in the eyes.

"James."

"Yes, Sof? So you agree or-"

"You. Are. I-N-S-A-N-E. INSANE!" I spelled out the word with controlled temper with each letter that parted with my lips. "Dad knows us well enough than anyone else, that we only treat each other like any good brother and sister would do. He could easily tell if we're just pretending to have an interest with each other, James. Let's say he does fall for our act, what if he doesn't give us the key right away and gets us married first? We can't fake sign our marriage contract or vows in front of the people of the Kingdom. It'll not only ruin our good images, but Dad's as well, being 'King of Enchancia'. We can't ask Mr. Cedric either to cast some sort of potion or spell to 'temporally' or 'permanently' brain wash Dad's memories about the whole ordeal. We don't know, something could easily trigger Dad's memories and when he finds out he will be furiously mad at us, whether for a short time or forever." I said it all out without pausing, amazingly. "I'd rather just go through all of this with honesty and sincerity, than trickery and mockery, and making Dad looking like a fool in the end. Sorry, James. I would rather be honest than lie to ones I love."

James looked at me in my eyes, hoping to search for a hint of fear or flaw in my sight, as he slowly moved away from me, feeling disappointed with my answer. But the way he looked at me in his eyes didn't change, not a little bit.

"I'll just give you some time to think on your own." He says with an even more calmly manner. "Maybe then, and hopefully, when you finally decide to give me your full and final answer, it'll be of a different tone of choice." He smiled. Starts walking away, like the way he usually does, just a little more calmly.

If anything, this is probably the worst fight that I've ever gotten into with James, or with anyone at all. I better think of a solution before I make any decision that I might regret doing so later on. I decided to go back to everyone and put my cheerful smile, so that no one would notice the uneasy feeling inside of me. But as if time was kind, or cruel, to me, I was suddenly interrupted by someone's tapping from behind my shoulder. I instantly brought my senses back to reality and turned around to see who it was: Hugo.

"Oh." I gasped in surprised and immediately curtsied. "Hello, Prince Hugo."

"Sofia." He replied.

"Thank you again for yesterday, Hugo. If it weren't for you, I would've-"

"Save it, Princess." He says in a calm manner. "I just happen to be nearby, that's all. No need to give your thanks to someone like me-"

"Oh, but Hugo, I am deeply grateful for-"

"Princess." He stopped me again. "It's alright."

"But-"

"Just let her give her 'thanks' to you, Hugo." James abruptly stands in between us with ease.

I had completely forgotten to check if he had left the area before conversing with Hugo, and the tensions between the two highly proud princes was starting to feel intense.

"Oh. Prince James." Hugo tried his best to remain his composure. "I was at the impression that you were finished conversing with Princess Sofia here since I saw you walking away and all."

"I turned away from her for a few steps to give her space to breath, only to find someone else to have taken my conversing post." James quickly replied. "I watched you interrupt her once, and even when she tried to interrupt you as well, you still wouldn't let her give her 'thanks' and interrupted her the second time. Is that how a Prince should properly treat Princesses, whether from their own or from another one's Kingdom?"

I could feel the tension between them grow even tighter, as I tried my best to squeeze in between the two of them and successfully broke them apart with a force of my two hands.

"Please! We're on neutral grounds of other people's property. We wouldn't want to start a fight here and now, or you both will only go home and hear another earful from our parents." I said as quickly as I could and turned to face Hugo first. "Thank you again, and I'm so sorry about James." Then I spun hard and faced James. "I've already given my thanks to him, so he's got every right to say what he wants to say about it. Now let's move along."

But they both didn't move, until Hugo faced me and bowed with a smile, turned around and walked away calmly. I could hear James on the other ear puffed his lungs as he calmly marched away from the scene, only to be left alone, and I was not bothered for most of the time that I was left behind, thinking about this problematic situation that I was in. I was pondering over and over again and again, for most of the time I was, during the durations of my class attendances. Not that I didn't try to pay attention to my new found lessons, or ignore on what I was being asked and told to do, but somehow I also got some moments to myself that were undisturbed to let me think about what I should do. Even when I was eating my food during lunch time, most of the flavors didn't seemed to get absorbed into any of my taste buds as I chewed on them like normally. It wasn't long before I finally realized that school was almost over and I was already in my last class sitting in my homeroom seat. I let out my heaviest, silent sigh I've ever made. How...depressing.

"Finally, I'd like everyone's full attention on what I'm about to say."

Ms. Fauna makes her claim as she finishes cleaning the chalk board. She waves her hand over her teaching materials and neatly closes and stacks them up on one side of the table. She goes over everyone's tables, all of us, from the 'Advance Prince Course', the 'Advance Princess Course', and the 'Harmony Course'. I couldn't bare to take any chances of glancing around, knowing that James' just somewhere nearby, hopefully not, looking at me on my back.

"I wish the class would end soon." I whispered to myself, quietly.

"Got everyone's attention." Ms. Fauna nodded, satisfied. "As you all know, we're holding a Tea-Party here in our school grounds tomorrow, specifically in our dance hall."

She paused for a moment, to see if we were really paying attention to her as she takes a really quick, but spreadable glance with everyone's eyes, mine included.

"The other Headmistresses and I were discussing about this, and we decided not to pursue with the Tea-Party. Instead-"

"WHAT?!" Amber was the first to react as her voice screeched to the point where the very roots of our delicate eardrums rung vibrantly. "You can't just cancel the Tea-Party! I've been organizing it for days! Weeks!"

"Uh, Princess Amb-"

"The orders and catering services and arrangements I've made with the Bakeries simply can't refund any of the orders I've already purchased!"

"Uh, Princess-"

"And the decorations are on their way to arriving here in the morning, simply having no way of telling them to stop flying their shipments over. Much more is that I'll have to pay more than half of the compensations needed just for not telling them to cancel at least a week's notice-"

"PRINCESS AMBER!"

Ms. Fauna gave out a shout we never would have seen, or expected, in our lives. Ever.

"Ehem. Princess Amber. I never said that we were canceling any of the arrangements involving the Tea-Party."

"...You're not?" She finally spoke.

"No. Would you please take your seat so that I may continue with what I had planned to say, before you let out your inner 'wild animal' run loose, and get us all 'disrupted'." Ms. Fauna gestures at Amber's seat.

"Oh...hehe...alright. Ahem." Amber tries to let out a laugh before she regains her posture and elegantly takes back her seat. "I'm all good." She ends with a calm follow up.

"Thank you, Princess Amber. As I was saying earlier, before I was interrupted, that the Tea-Party will not be pursued. Instead, we'll be having a special school Ball-Dance."

In that instant, you could hear whispers amongst everyone almost immediately. I continued to remain in my current position, looking at nothing else but at Ms. Fauna, who doesn't seem to mind the current chit-chat disorder.

"The preparations and location will remain unchanged, but the time slot will be moved to the end of sunset, instead of having it being scheduled at tea time. Just simply so that you could all have more free time to dress up to your most desired image, one that you might want to present yourselves in when you arrive for the School Ball tomorrow. Remember that you and your partner should dress in the same dress code or theme."

The mumbling and murmuring in the room gets even more excited, but Ms. Fauna taps her wand three times on the table and the noise dies down in no more than a second or two, just before anything else gets out of hand.

"I know that we do have a shortage number of boys in this room to get every girl partnered with, but let us start by letting the girls in the room get the Prince next or near them open, and you boys are not allowed to decline nor brush away the first Princess asking for your free hands." She says sternly at us. "You may now scatter out, Princesses."

And mostly immediately, all of the girls in the room start to sprint towards each of the Princes' tables, hoping to grab a spot in their hands. As if time is slowing down in my eyes, I caught a slight image of each of the Princes' faces available in the room.

James, who I've grown up with and accepted as my brother, wants my collaborated trust to convince Dad to hand us over the crown, and when we finally do, I'll back away from the 'line of marriage' and loose Dad's trust that he has for me as his step-daughter.

Hugo, the second son and prince from the Principality of Albuquerque, is a hard-earned trusted classmate and Derby riding partner that I've worked hard to earn my friendship with, is one where some of the other princesses has their eyes set onto. To ask him to be my dance partner would create a lot of chaos in the classroom alone.

Desmond, a once very shy and faithless person is now a courageous and friend-caring prince, now dating officially to once of my closest friends, Princess Vivian. I am sure that picking him would create a lot of misunderstanding with Vivian, and that I do not want happening, even just for one night's dance party.

Khalid, Princess Maya's and Princess Leena's brother, the second of the three Kaldune's heirs. Despite having Maya already in the same course as I am, they still let Khalid take the Advance Prince Course, only because it is in their tradition that all of the children with an already certain future be given the lessons that of the highest priority and royalty. When the time comes that Leena feels that she's ready, she will also upgrade her course and join us other princesses. Khalid's the only one so far that I haven't heard a complaint from about anything, or having a set fate of marriage with any princess.

Jin, brother of Princess Jun from the kingdom of Wei-Ling, is one who has anything and everything in common with James, from the way they act and think, to the way they do and solve things. At the moment, he's marital status is hanging on a dangerous balance, between having to marry someone completely unknown to him, and trying to keep his parents' standard up to level, without upsetting either one off the scale of the bond that ties him and his only freedom called 'trust'.

Fredrick, another prince who is also in an engagement arrangement, but is set to get engaged with Princess Mae due to political arrangement. He is also one who peacefully and silently blends in with the other princes and princesses, while being sociable to those whose interests and intelligences differs from his and creates a balance relationship with them. He is probably the only living human being, to have knowledge about my secret being a mermaid, but I couldn't be sure since he never mentioned my name back then.

Zandar, Prince of Tangu, one of the very few friends whom I can call being closest to. He is James' best friend, whether in or out of school, they are always seen together, playing or creating plans to visit each other via Play Dates, or even doing school projects together. Despite his carefree attitude and able to socialize with almost anyone, I needed to help him get together with Hildegard, as he plans on helping her build up her kingdom in Friezenburg not just an ally, but as someone who wants to take her hand in marriage because he has been in love with her for the longest of time.

And there's that unknown voice with Frederick, one who despises the company of girls due to the fact his first dance with a girl was only experienced through pity. I wonder if I've already exchanged a few words with him, or if I've done any of my outside school activities with him. The fact that he is remained a secret would be very challenging for anyone to guess who he is at all. Along with this mystery man, there are three other princes of whom I've barely exchanged a word or two, maybe a few smiles and curtsies, but never actual conversations or had any projects that could get us to work together.

From amongst them all, my eyes scanned all of their faces once more. Who will I choose as my partner for the Dance, tomorrow? Will my choice create a controversial strong or safe enough to pass a school's Dance? Will my choice affect my after decisions towards our Dad's throne? Will the three of us siblings be able to resolve our problem through a choice that I will be making?

"I'll..." I say as I make a unanimous decision with myself.