Sofia made her way down from the carriage, finally arriving to the castle after a whole day at school. James and Amber went in but she didn't feel tired yet and so she decided to play around with her friends at the garden. When she reached there, they weren't around yet. Clover, Mia and Robin were still probably somewhere else
What caught her attention however is a certain man sulking on a corner holding what seemed like a brunch of bananas in his hand. Sofia got curious and made her way to him
"Hey Mister Ceedric!" the man raises his head up to meet the friendly smile of the girl
"It's you... great" he muttered in a passive tone, clearly not amused seeing her
"What's wrong?" she sat next to him on the bench
"Just some stuff" he scoffed annoyingly
"Where'd you get the bananas from?"
"You ask too many questions" Cedric hissed at her, giving Sofia a slight glare
He turned away for a couple of seconds. But when it simmered down, he turned back to her
"Look, Princess Sofia. I didn't really have a great day today, okay?" he told her carefully "My bad"
"It's okay, you didn't mean it" she smiled at him
"I went to the magic tournament earlier, expecting myself to do better than I did last year" he rested the banana in between them on the bench "Turns out I did terribly... worse even" he went on
"And all I got is this mere conciliation price" Cedric lifted the brunch of banana and put it back again "And the other Royal Sorcerers were either grandmasters or as old as my Father already. Meanwhile it's just my second year.."
"What a treat..." he sarcastically added
Sofia was patiently listening to him. She could sense the frustration coming from her Royal Sorcerer "Do you enjoy being the Royal Sorcerer, Mister Ceedric?"
"Nah, I don't." he explained without hesitation "But hey, it's a living. A way to use the only thing I know. Magic"
"Oof, who am I kidding? I'm not even good at it" he added
Suddenly, Cedric felt a touch from his hand and turned to the side. He was greeted by the warm smile of Sofia as she reached out for the banana and plucked one out. She then ate it in front of him
"This banana tastes good, Mister Ceedric" she commented in joy, eating the banana "I think this is the best banana I've ever tasted"
Cedric just watched her eat, wondering how something so simple could make her so happy like that. The princess then plucked one out, peeled and offered it to him
"You should try it too!" she said
He hesitated at first, but eventually took the banana and ate it himself. She was telling the truth all along, the banana was indeed good.
And so, they stood silent for a couple while, eating the bananas on the bench. The sun was setting and it casted a beautiful orange hue on the surroundings
"I for one..." he heard Sofia mumble and looked at her "I think it's nice that you didn't win, Mister Ceedric"
Intrigued, Cedric asked "Why is that?"
She wiped her mouth "Because if Mister Ceedric didn't lose... we won't have this moment right now with the two of us enjoying this yummy banana"
The afternoon was passing and it will be dark soon. The cold was beginning to kick in and it would bring chills to anyone. But no cold air or evening wind could sway the warmth Cedric felt hearing Sofia say that to him
Lost for words, he just spaced out on her for a couple of seconds. His worries seem to fade away and his uncertainty crawled back to whatever cave they were from.
He then took a bite from a banana, and it was indeed good. Especially eating it with Sofia beside him.
He turned to her and he was met with a kind smile "See, I told you~" her eyes sparkled of joy, completely lifting his mood up entirely
"You're right.." he smirked as he looked up ahead and catch the beautiful sunset, with the cold breeze of the afternoon, with the bananas and the warmth of Sofia's company. Nothing else better than this
Cedric smiled "Losing that darn tournament wasn't so bad at all.."
