"Okay, that's all for today. Good Night, Buttercups!"
Scoutmaster Helen uttered to the little girls in front as they all nodded and recited their motto in unisons.
"Buttercups Buttercups, all for one! Buttercups Buttercups, we had fun!"
The woman nodded as the girls waved her goodbye.
"Good night, Jade and Ruby" Sofia said to her friends as she took off her hat.
"Good night to you too, Sofia. It's now our second time spending the night in the castle" Ruby uttered
"Well technically… outside of the castle" Jade corrected her
The girls laughed at this.
"Well, time to head back to your respective tents now, girls" Scoutmaster Helen appeared before them
"Yes, mom" Ruby said, as she followed her mother to their respective tent. Jade soon followed suit with hers
Realizing this, Sofia looked up at the sky and took a deep breath.
"Sofia?" a certain feminine voice from nearby caught her attention.
She turned to her and she was another scoutmaster named Freya, a young woman who is in training to lead the buttercups troops one day
She crouched down to meet Sofia's level "What's wrong.. aren't you tired yet?"
"I was just about to head back, Scoutmaster Freya." Sofia smiled and did a curtsy "Well good night~"
And just like that, the girls went back to their respective tents to call it night. Their camping was held just by the gardens of the castle where the nice field was perfect for such an activity.
.
.
But as the night was just about to end, the same cannot be said to a pair of individuals sneaking unto the garden..
One man was wearing quite a lavish and classy outfit with his hair slicked back – all groomed, and the other was carrying a guitar. They were both wearing red handkerchiefs on their collars
"Who are we serenading anyways, Ced?" Prince James asked the man with him "I hope you're not going after Ruby's mom"
"Of course not" Cedric blurted out "It's Freya I want to impress"
"Oh.. that lady beside her earlier" James said "Do you remember what tent she is at?"
"Of course" the sorcerer pointed at a certain tent up ahead "I'm sure it's that purple one over there"
They walked towards the said tent and stopped upon reaching it. The royal sorcerer then turned to the boy with him and nodded at him
"Give me the slow blues" he uttered, looking at the guitar
"Slow blues?" James whimpered "That's way too complicated… I don't know that one."
Cedric grimaced "Then what can you play then?"
"The basic ones." The prince responded without hesitation
"What?!" Cedric yelled out in a form of a whisper. "Then what kind of a backup boy are you if you can't even play that?"
"Hold on a minute, you asked me because there was no one else. I'm doing you a favor here, man" James reasoned out "I'm not no musician either. So it's either this or we head back and forget about this whole thing"
"Alright alright.. just give me something to work on" He turned to the tent and prepared himself
James nodded, as he started strumming some strings that created a beautiful melody that started to echo throughout the gardens. Cedric smiled, preparing himself for what he's about to do
When the tone started to slow down, it was his signal to go
"Dear, my light…" he started to sing "In this cold evening night"
His voice echoed throughout the garden, alongside the music of James's strumming from the guitar. They sure made a scene in that moment
"Your smile is…" Cedric went on "My stars in the sky"
Soon, a few castle servants started to notice and approach them. Even the buttercup girls went out of their tents to check it out
"Isn't that Sofia's Royal Sorcerer?" Ruby asked, witnessing the whole thing
"Yes it is." Jade answered, clearly confused "What's he doing?"
It didn't take long before they garnered quite a crowd. But the woman Cedric was trying to impress didn't even bother to come out of her tent to watch him sing
Despite this, Cedric didn't lose hope
"Oh my light… in this quiet night" he continued to sing in a more slow and passionate tempo this time "Your picture is… my favorite sight"
Still playing the guitar, James started to get skeptical about the whole thing
"I don't think she appreciates this very much, man" he whispered while strumming
"Just do your thing!" Cedric whispered in an aggressive way
"Won't you give us a glance.. all we want is a chance" Cedric sang in a pleading way "One look is all we ask.."
"Then you'd understand, Dear…" He closed his eyes and raised his voice, hoping it will work "How I truly feel for thee!"
James slowed his strumming into a more slow tempo when Cedric finally finished. And when it finally stopped, they were met with an applause from the audience around them
Cedric was flabbergasted seeing this "What the heck?"
"That was very nice, Cedric!" Ruby cheered in amazement "Great performance"
"I'm sure Sofia likes it!"
He spotted Sofia's friends from the crowd. They were those kids in that sleepover of hers
But upon hearing a certain name, his eyes widened
"Wait… Sofia?"
.
.
"What's going on here?"
It was Scoutmaster Helen this time who approached the two.
"Isn't it way too late for all this noise?" She crossed her arms
"Well, madam" Cedric tried to explain "I just wanted to show appreciation to that wonderful lady that I saw earlier." He reasoned out "she goes by the name of Freya.. if i'm not mistakened"
Scoutmaster Helen's eyebrow raised in shock "Freya?" she uttered "Freya is right here behind me"
The woman then stepped aside to reveal the lady Cedric was serenading the whole time. His jaw dropped on the ground in shock
"Hi~" Freya waved in a shy way
"W-Wait… so if you're here.." Cedric slowly looked at his buddy in crime "T-Then who was I just singing to just now?"
"Hey, don't look at me.. I don't know neither!" James shrugged in response "You said this was the right tent"
A sound of zipper was heard from the inside of the purple tent… and a certain girl came out of it. Upon the sight of her, Cedric almost fainted in shock
.
.
"Aw, Mister Ceedric… that was sweet of you to do all that for me~"