The wind brushes on, as the ambient noise of the people echoes through the whole thing. A grand orientation was being upheld in the outskirts of Dunwiddie where everyone in the village was currently attending on, also a few guests from the other kingdoms
It surely was a busy day, with different speakers in front having the stage for themselves to talk about things. Cedric, who sat far behind everyone, had no choice but to attend since he was supposed to be a "Royal Sorcerer" of the Castle
But fear not, for the conniving Sorcerer planned this ahead. He chose to sit far behind for a reason, so that he will be out of everyone's sight, especially from the Royal Family
They were seated in front, since they were to have their presence known throughout the whole thing
"Sucks to be them, hah…" Cedric scoffed as he takes out a bunch of things from his small rucksack
There was a small rubix cube, a jigsaw puzzle for two (in this case, for one), a chessboard (also in this case, for one), a pair of yo-yos, a pair of books and a drawing pad with pencils to match
Most came in form of pairs, but Cedric didn't seem to mind. More for him, or so he would say. He prepared them the night before
"Wait, did I?" He asked himself upon remembering he slept the whole afternoon yesterday. It was just in his table earlier and it gave him the clever idea "Oof, it doesn't really matter…"
Basically, things to get him entertained throughout the whole straight 5 hours of watching and listening to the whole thing. No way in Marshtomp's swamp is the Sorcerer gonna do such thing
And so, the clever man had a clever idea
With his position, no one is gonna bother to check what he's doing, nor see what he's up to. Since he doesn't have anyone with him that attracts attention, this is gonna be a breeze for the Sorcerer
And so, Cedric set to work with his small puzzle. A smile on his face forming as he engrossed his attention to the small pieces of jigsaw with him
One could say that the Sorcerer had successfully pulled it off, getting away with such a clever yet inappropriate thing to do especially in an orientation like this. Certainly unfit for decorums
And with this, Luck had gotten a complete turn as a certain individual spotted him from afar, who unfortunately, has a curiosity of a small kitten
Meanwhile, Cedric was almost finished with his jigsaw – one piece left and he's off to the next one. So far, no one has called him out for it nor was he caught "A perfect plan indeed.."
But all of a sudden, he felt a certain presence from behind him. He knew it very damn well. A presence that has put him in a lot of trouble and has spoiled so many of his plans already
"What'cha have there, Mr. Ceedric?"
Cedric groaned upon hearing this. Hiding everything in his rucksack in a fast swift manner, Cedric turned and forced a smile "O-Oh why hello.. P-Princess Sofia.."
"What are you doing here?" Cedric added while looking away "Shouldn't you be in the front listening to the whole thing"
"They already said that the kids can now leave and play since the affairs are now gonna be way too mature for them" Sofia uttered as her eyes start to squint "Surely, you would know that. You have been listening to the whole thing, right?"
"Nice Afternoon Ha-ha!" Cedric pulled a fast one and changed the subject nonchalantly.
As he returned his gaze upon her, Sofia's eyes were now staring right through his, emanating of pure suspicion and curiosity. She rested her hands on her hips with a playful smirk on his lips
"You looked very busy here so I wanted to see what you we're up to.." Sofia raised her eyebrow as her eyes landed on the rucksack he was hiding behind him
"You're still listening attentively to the orientation, right?"
"W-Why of course!" Cedric said proudly "Why wouldn't I be?"
"Oh I don't know…" Sofia casually sat next to him and rested her hands on her lap
She leans in close with her eyes squinting even more in a full light of suspicion
"Maybe you're doing other things and you're diverting your focus into it..?"
"Well, what else is there to do in such a setting, Princess Sofia?" Cedric looked everywhere but her eyes "Of course I would be listening to this very interesting orientation" Cedric set his focus back on the speaker up ahead, in a full pretense of paying attention for a change
"Hmmm…" Sofia hummed slowly as she leans in close
"What'cha got in the bag, Ceedric?" She softly hummed as she slowly reaches out for the rucksack
Cedric jumped in surprise, moving away from her in addition with a horrified expression on his face "It has a… uh… food in it. I brought munchkins"
And just as instantly, Sofia's eyes lit up of joy and excitement upon hearing the M word
"Oh really," Sofia held her cheeks with her palm as she cuts the distance between them with a fast notch beside him "You won't mind if I have one right?"
"There is literally a bunch of food there, Sofia" Cedric pointed at the table containing the buffet of different delicacies"
"Oh but I want YOUR food" Sofia pouted, her gaze at the ground with her fingers twiddling to each other. Now she was acting quite shy, and sheepish.
"She's definitely up to something… might as well ignore her" Cedric looked away from her and decided to focus on the sh… orientation
Of course, it would be until this annoying squirt finally is out of his tail. And when it happens, it's back to Cedric's variety fun hour again. Cedric hid his scornful chuckle at the thought of this
After a few moments of pure boredom, Cedric pondered perhaps she would be gone now. He turned to his side, and to his surprise – the annoying little squirt was still there just watching him with her sky blue eyes like a puppy waiting for her treat
"You've got to be kidding me…" Cedric hid his face with his palm
"You really didn't think it would be this easy, did you?" Sofia raised her eyebrows with her lips curving to a full smile "I know you're not carrying food, Mr. Ceedric…"
"Then why on earth are you still here then… shoo shoo" Cedric did a shooing gesture which didn't faze the little princess.
Not one bit.
"You literally brought a jigsaw puzzle for two, a chessboard, a pair of yo-yos, a pair of books and a drawing pad with pencils to match… that's like a catnip for kids.."
Cedric was not even surprised of how she knew that.
"Can I please just have one day… just ONE day without you snooping around my business?" Cedric snorted
"I don't know…" Sofia still giggled, but managed to calm down at the last second as she eyed him "Can you have one day without plotting something not inappropriate?"
"Of course" Cedric sighed to himself "She won't take me seriously as usual"
And it was evident, now his spot is surely compromised with a certain princess beside him. And, he's gonna be forced to postpone his plans of pure leisure and have to force himself to listen to the whole thing in front
"Here's the remaining piece, Mr. Ceedric~" Sofia bubbled, as she handed him the missing piece of jigsaw
Cedric turned to her, and for some reason, she seemed to be playing along.
"You do know we have to hide these now right?" he buzzed
"Why so?"
"Because of you, now my spot is gonna attract attention and we're gonna get caught. I'M gonna get caught, you'll probably just gonna be grounded for like five minutes… Oof who am I kidding?"
Sofia rolled her eyes "Bah, you are thinking this way to deep" she pulls out a certain wand from her pocket "I already planned this ahead so I casted an invisibility spell on us so no one can see"
Hearing this caught his attention "You did what?" He checked the crowd, and to his surprise, no one even batted them an eye, nor a holler
"I didn't want us to be interrupte… er.. caught so I did it ahead!" Sofia hesitated for a bit "I even laid out all these things in your table yesterday"
"That was you!?" Cedric blurted in surprise
"Of course that was me!" Sofia answered quickly "You were sound asleep in your couch that afternoon. I was even the one who wrapped you in the blanket... "
"So that must mean you wanted me to carry this to the orientation"
"… and kissed you on your forehead–"
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"What?"
"I said I dismissed you so you can sleep instead" Sofia clarified looking away "And yes, I knew you would carry them to the orientation. I can't really bring things to the orientation, and surely, they'd check what was inside… but they won't have to do so with what Mr. Ceedric is carrying"
"You were the mastermind all along" Cedric winked at her "And here I thought I came up with the idea"
"Sorry to disappoint, My humble Master" Sofia winked back with a playful proud smile
"Still, that was very clever, Sofia" Cedric gave her a nice gentle muffle on the head as he then reached out for the chess board "You ready to be completely defeated by your humble Master" he insinuated as with challenging eyes
"I don't know… are you?" Sofia smiled back, accepting the challenge
And so, the two went on with their afternoon devoting their attentions on something else. With them being invisible, they had all the afternoon for themselves
It turns out Cedric's afternoon wasn't ruined after all, but instead, got even better. And as for Sofia, everything went according to plan..
Especially the fact that he had no idea of what happened when she saw him sleeping that afternoon before..
Sofia's cheeks suddenly went red upon thinking about it~
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"And another checkmate" Sofia boasted as she moved her bishop across
Cedric bowed his head of disappointment "Why does this keep on happening?"
"That makes it 25-0" Another proud boast from Sofia as she giggled to herself "That's why you shouldn't challenge me just like that, Mr. Ceedric"
"Whatever" Cedric sighed, but his resolve to at least have one win over the princess stayed "One more."
And so they started all over again, with the pieces back on the board. Sofia was the first to move and Cedric awaited. While waiting, a certain group of kids from afar caught his attention
"Hey Sofia" he called out, still watching the kids
"mhmmm..?" Sofia hummed slowly
"Why aren't you playing with the kids over there?" He said, pointing at the children playing "Aren't they at your age?"
Sofia was unfazed, not even turning around to see what Cedric was pointing to. It is as if she didn't hear a thing
"Sofia?"
"And another checkmate." She finally responded in a quite serious tone
"What?'" Cedric jumped in surprise, noticing his king was now cornered by Sofia's queen
"How on earth did that happen?"
Sofia finally looked at him with a serious gaze "That's what happens when you get distracted easily, Mr. Ceedric." She uttered "Why would you entertain anything else when you should be focusing on something special and important?"
"Distracted easily?" Cedric repeated, finally realizing how careless he was "I guess you're right…"
"but you still didn't answer the question though" he added "Why not play with those kids instead of hanging out here with me"
"Oh… that's simple" her lips form in a smile as she looks at him "Just like what I said, I only focus on something so much more important and special~"
Hearing this made Cedric silent for a couple of seconds. He was confused over her statement. What on earth did she mean by that?
"Something so much more important and special?" Cedric mumbled while deep in thoughts "That's exactly why I said you should spend time your friends. They are important and special to you right?"
Sofia rolled her eyes, brushing off such an absurdly stupid statement she just heard from her favorite Sorcerer. With this, she only sighed to herself
But it didn't take long before an innocent smile appeared on her lips as she looks at him
"You're as dense as ever~" Sofia hummed softly, leaning on her palm with her eyes sparkling of pure daydream
"Never change, Cedric~"