The next day, Clover felt lost. He noticed the imposter had a fake, not working amulet, but couldn't understand when he tried to talk to her. Whoever the imposter was didn't want the amulet. He had no idea what else to do, but thought maybe spending a day with the Sofia imposter would reveal who it was. Or he could cause them to slip up.
"Sofia!" The imposter turned around to see Baileywick approaching with Clover in his arms.
"What is it, Baileywick?" Her annoyed tone threw him off guard for a moment.
"I-um, Clover was found in the kitchen. I think he's hungry, maybe you would want to feed him?" He held the rabbit out to the girl.
"Of course, thank you," She took the animal and continued on her way, rolling her eyes but enjoying the softness of his coat. "Hungry, hm? I can find some things in my garden, I bet,"
'My garden?Wait, wait, wait. Was this the new gardener? What kind of magic was she using to look and sound like Sofia?' Clover thought.
Once in the garden and feeding on carrots, 'Sofia' ducked into the nearby garden shed and exited a few seconds later looking like Eleanor.
After his meal, Clover had to call in the reinforcement of Wormwood to make a plan to reveal Eleanor's dark secret to Cedric.
"What do you want?" Wormwood yawned.
"Listen, I have a solution to something I know you'll care about. There's another person in this castle using magic. And I'm sure you've noticed how upset Cedric is," Wormwood began to tie the loose ends together, but Clover continued anyway. "Well, that's because the new gardener has knocked Sofia unconscious in her closet and is disguising herself as the princess. She obviously has no idea of Cedric and Sofia's relationship, and if you want Cedric to ever smile again, you need to help me get Cedric to find out about Eleanor,"
The unlikely pair devised a plan for Wormwood to 'accidentally' get out, causing Cedric to witness Eleanor enter the garden shed as Sofia and leave as herself. They believed Cedric's curiosity(and a small amount of hope) would get him to snoop in Sofia's room and find the princess.
"Ugh! Where are you going?" The sorcerer chased after his bird, pausing when the avian swooped into the royal garden, where 'Sofia' could be seen holding Clover.
"Because you hate me," Cedric directed at Wormwood under his breath. He spied from behind a tree and saw the princess put her friend down and glance around to see if anyone was watching. Cedric hid his face behind the tree and when he emerged a few seconds moments later, Eleanor was in the spot Sofia used to be. But how was that possible? Unless.. Eleanor has disguised herself as the youngest princess? But why?
Eleanor left the rabbit in the garden to go inside the palace. When Cedric went to retrieve Wormwood, he noticed the two animals seemed to be conversing, and Clover headed into the castle with Wormwood right behind him.
Obviously intrigued, Cedric followed the pair at no secret. They lead him through the halls and right to Sofia's door, where they looked expectantly at him.
"This again? Are you kidding? It's late and I'm only a Royal Sorcerer. Maids will talk if I go in her room right now," He felt ridiculous talking to the two animals. Beside, what was Sofia really doing if she had the gardener running around for her? She probably didn't want to be disturbed.
Clover began to paw at the door, gradually getting louder. "Stop! Someone's going to hear you- oh, of course. Fine, I'll enter! Just stop making that horrid noise." He knocked lightly and entered after the animals, making sure nobody saw them, and then closed the door.
They lead him to her closet and he opened it without thought, beginning to understand their code. Snapping, the room illuminated with candles in lanterns and a figure could be seen laying on a couch. "Hello?" Nearing the figure, the sorcerer dropped to his knees right next to the furniture. "Who's - Sofia!"
Clover shared a knowing look with Wormwood.
"Are you okay? Wake up, love, come on," He gently shook the princess. He finally understood why the animals were so insistent. "Wormy, go get a wand from my workshop and come find me. I need to notify the King and Queen."
The bird cawed, and Cedric gently picked up the unconscious girl. Clover closed doors behind him as he quickly but carefully began the path to the throne room. He thanked whatever gods were listening when he saw Baileywick in the corridor.
"Cedric? What's happened, is everything alright?" He quickly approached the pair.
"Not at all. Someone's placed a spell on the princess and has been running around disguised as her," Cedric's arms began to grow tired, so he gently laid the girl down on a bench in the hallway.
"Guards! Carry the princess and come with me. Cedric, you come too. We need to inform the King and Queen right away," At that time, Wormwood flew to Cedric's shoulder and dropped the wand in his hand. His mind racked for awakening spells as he filled Baileywick in on all he knew.