St. Edith Public School, Brindleton (11:55am)

Headmaster Evan: Thank you for the visit, your majesty. I’m sorry if there are any lacking while you were here. And sorry if any of the students were misbehaving.

Sofia: Don’t be ridiculous, Evan. The students have been angels. I’m happy to meet them all.

Headmaster Evan: I’m glad to hear that, ma’am. Do let me know if you’ll be coming for another visit in the future.

Sofia: Of course. Thank you for the tour today. You’ve done a great job running the school.

Headmaster Evan: You flatter me, ma’am. 

Crowd: I love you, your majesty!

Crowd: You’re so cute, Prince Alfie!

Crowd: Prince Darien! Look over here!

Alfie: The children were so cute. They gave me a drawing when I went to see them in their art class earlier.

Sofia: They are, aren’t they? Did you keep the drawing?

Alfie: *chuckles* Of course! I can’t say no to them.

Sofia: *smiles* I’m glad our people like you. You need to have your people’s approval as the future monarch.

Alfie: I want to be like you and grammy. Our people loves the both of you.

Sofia: Then you need to work hard. Don’t make mistakes.

Alfie: I’ll try my best.

Sofia: Good. I know you can do it. I believe in you. Now, smile and wave for the cameras.

The Wind Palace, Ahtolia (12:30pm)

Attendants: Welcome back, your majesty, your royal highnesses.

Sofia: Mr. Einsley, can you ask the maids to make tea and send it to my office?

Mr. Einsley: Of course, ma’am.

Sofia: Thank you.

Sofia: Alfie, don’t go to your room yet. Your dad and I have something to talk about with you.

Alfie: Is it important?

Sofia: Yes. Come on.

Sofia: Have a seat, Alfie.

Alfie: You both look so serious. Am I in trouble?

Darien: Did you do anything wrong? If not, then no, you’re not in trouble.

Alfie: O...kay? So what do you want to talk about?

Sofia: I’ve talked to your dad about this and he agreed that you should receive a title for your birthday this year.

Alfie: A title? Don’t I already have one?

Darien: Yes, but that’s your birthright. Your mum wants to give you a dukedom.

Alfie: Dukedom? Don’t we usually give those out when we’re getting married?

Sofia: Yes, but it’s up to a monarch whether he or she wants to give the dukedom before or after someone in the family is married.

Alfie: Right, so why do you want to give it to me now?

Sofia: No reason.

Darien: Anyways. Since Dira will be inheriting my title and fortune once I’m gone, your mum will give you a different one.

Alfie: And where is it?

Sofia: I haven’t decided yet. But I’ll let you know when I have. We thought we should let you know now.

Alfie:...okay. Is there anything else you want to talk about?

Darien: Nothing. For now.

Sofia: Yes. You can return to your room and get some rest. We’ll let you know if there’s anything else we want to talk about with you.

Alfie: Sure. I’ll take my leave now. Rest up too, mum, dad.

*door opens and closes*

Sofia: You’ve made sure they’ll be there, right?

Darien: I’ve called them yesterday. They’ll be there a day earlier.

Sofia: Okay. That’s good.

Darien: Are you sure he’s ready for this?

Sofia: I’m sure. It’s now or never.

Darien: I hope it’ll all go well.

King Julius School of Performing Arts, Ahtolia (12:00pm)

Bethany: I still don’t know how she did it.

Arabella: Who are you talking about?

Bethany: Who else? I’m talking about Indirah. I still don’t know how she can manage everything and not lose her mind yet. They just chose her to be the President for the school council. And she’s the President of the theatre club too.

Arabella: Tch. They only chose her to be the President because her family rules this country. If she’d be a normie like us, nobody would bat an eye on her.

Bethany: Are you sure about that? I mean, we’ve seen her work before and they’re good. Like, real good.

Arabella: I think they’re just decent. I can do it better than her.

Indirah: They’re talking about me again, aren’t they?

Rubynee: Yeah, just ignore them. I do that all the time.

Indirah: I am. It’s just annoying that they’re talking about me as if I wasn’t there. We were literally walking in front of them.

Rubynee: That’s how they are, Dira. Especially Arabella. She’s been like that since middle school. She’s just jealous of you.

Indirah: She needs to grow up and actually do something instead of talking shit about me. Her jealousy won’t get her anywhere if she keeps on being like this.

Rubynee: I couldn’t agree more.

Rubynee: That’s Justin, he’s been looking for you since yesterday. Maybe you should go see him.

Indirah: I will. See you in class, Ruby.

Michael: Dude, Dira’s coming here.

Justin: I know, I’ll see you guys later.

Indirah: Hey, Justin. Ruby said you were looking for me yesterday, is everything okay?

Justin: It’s nothing. I just wanted to see you.

Indirah: *chuckles* We just met two days ago.

Justin: *pout* But you left early. You said you needed to practice for your competition next month.

Indirah: Oh yeah, sorry. This competition is important to me. You’ll be there, right?

Justin: Of course. I want to see how good my girlfriend is.

Indirah: *giggles* You’re so sweet.

Justin: Only to you.

Indirah: Not here, Justin. We’re at school.

Justin: Oh, yeah. Sorry.

Indirah: It’s fine. Let’s get to class.

Indirah: What’s wrong?

Justin: It’s nothing.

Indirah: You can hold my hand if you want.

Justin: Really?

Indirah: Yeah, I think that’s fine.

The Wind Palace, Ahtolia (1:00pm)

Maid: Your tea, ma’am, sir.

Sofia: Thank you. You may leave now.

Sofia: So, how was Savaria? You stayed there longer than I expected.

Alfie: It was nice. I went to many places while I was there. Auntie Alex invited me to her place several times too.

Sofia: That’s nice to hear. I’m glad Alexandra treated you well.

Alfie: Yeah...

Sofia: How is Marie? I heard from my aides that you’ve grown very close to her over the past few years.

Alfie: We’ve always been close, mum. She’s a very good friend of mine.

Sofia:...of course. Hopefully it’ll stay that way and nothing more will come out of this.

Alfie: Why? Would it be wrong if we become something more than friends? She’s a Princess and our families have been close since we were kids. Shouldn’t it be fine if we become something more?

Sofia: Yes, she’s a Princess and our families are close. But I don’t think she’s the perfect candidate to be the future Queen.

Alfie: Then who? Who is the “perfect” candidate in your eyes?

Sofia: Someone kind and who is not afraid to be vulnerable. Someone who will not let their anger take over their judgement. And someone who can adjust to whatever challenges that is thrown at her. Someone like...Catalina.

Alfie:...why are you mentioning her?

Sofia: It’s just an example. We need someone like her to be your future Queen.

Alfie: You mean a liar? Someone who keeps secrets? Is that what you want?

Sofia: Alfie...just let it go. It’s been so long since the both of you broke it off.

Alfie: Not long enough for me to forget everything. It still hurts, mum. She betrayed my trust and I had to find out the truth from Gideon out of all people.

Sofia: I honestly don’t understand why you’re so angry at her. She wasn’t the one who did it and you were still a baby when the kidnapping happened. Your dad and I have let it go. So why can’t you do the same too?

Alfie: If she was the one who told me about it herself, we could’ve figured something out. But noooo, I had to find out about it from someone else.

Sofia: I’m sure she has her own reasons why she didn’t tell you. Maybe she was scared to lose you?

Alfie: She chose to keep it a secret. Keeping it from me meant that she didn't trust me. I trusted her, but why couldn't she trust me?

Sofia: Alfie...

Alfie: I don’t want to talk about her anymore, mum. I’m tired. I just got back and I had a long flight. I want to rest.

Sofia: Fine. You’re excused.

The Wind Palace, Ahtolia (12:45pm)

Hugo: Alfie! You’re back!

Alfie: *laughs* Hey, it’s good to see you again.

Indirah: Took you forever to come back. I thought you want to move there altogether.

Alfie: *chuckles* It’s good to see you too, Dira. You’ve...grown your hair long? Since when do you like long hair?

Hugo: She grows her hair out because she has a boyfriend now.

Indirah: Hugo!

Alfie: You have a what? A boyfriend? Aren’t you too young for that?

Indirah: I’m seventeen, Alfie. I’m not a baby anymore. And besides, you had your first girlfriend when you were my age.

Alfie: Yeah, yeah, sure. Where’s mum and dad?

Indirah: Dad went to Grandpa Jeremy’s place. He got sick. Mum’s in her office. She wants to see you, actually.

Alfie: Did she say why she wants to see me?

Indirah: Nope. I think she just wants to see you because she misses you.

Alfie: But she came to visit me frequently when I was in Savaria.

Indirah: I don’t know, Alfie. Just go and see her.

Alfie: I will. Are you going somewhere?

Indirah: I’m going to a friend’s place.

Alfie: A friend or your boyfriend?

Indirah: Seriously, Alfie?

Alfie: *rolls eyes* Fine. Don’t come back late, alright?

Indirah: Urgh, you sound like dad.

Alfie: *sternly* Dira...

Indirah: I know! Geez. Stop treating me like a child! I’m leaving. I’ll be back before dinner.

Alfie: Alright. Be safe.

Hugo: Alfie, you’re back for real, right? You’re not going anywhere, right?

Alfie: Yeap. But I’ll be leaving to Britechester next month.

Hugo: But why? You just got here!

Alfie: *laughs* Don’t worry. I’ll come home when I can. I just have Uni while I’m there.

Hugo: What’s a Uni?

Alfie: University. You go there when you’re done with school.

Hugo: Will I go there when I finish school?

Alfie: If you want to. I don’t think mum would force you to go if you don’t want to.

Hugo: Uni sounds fun. I want to go there when I finish school!

Alfie: *chuckles* You’re the only one who says that. Now, I need to see mum. I’ll catch up with you later, okay?