There, standing before Sofia, was both Hugo and Desmond. They were bickering with each other, not noticing Sofia yet.

"What are you doing here?! What do you mean what am I doing here?! I'm here to see Sofia!" They hollered in unison to each other. They got along okay when they went to Royal Prep, but it all went downhill as time went by.

Suddenly, Baileywick cleared his throat. "Young royals, Princess Sofia is here." He said. They didn't hear him.

Sofia knew what to do and whispered to Baileywick. "Baileywick, you can leave. I know how to stop them from fighting." She said. She knew if they hear her, they'll stop.

"Are you sure Princess, Sofia?" He asked, uneasily.

"Yes, I'm sure. Go on." Sofia assured him.

"Call me if you need assistance." Baileywick said.

"Will do." She said as Baileywick bowed and left.

Sofia waited until Desmond and Hugo stopped yelling at each other. When they finally stopped, they gave each other death glares.

"Um… hi guys. I wasn't expecting to see you two today. What are you guys doing here?" She asked. Sofia really hates when guys fight over her, especially ones she doesn't like. She's trying to be as calm as possible, since she does like them. Sofia normally sees either of them separately and with their parents if there's any royal business that needs to be taken care of.

"S- Sofia? H-how long have you been standing there?" Desmond asked nervously. He really isn't the type of person to fight with anyone. But when it comes to Sofia, Desmond would do anything for her.

"Oh… long enough. So you came here because..." Sofia asked, trying to hide her blush.

"I have some things that I want to talk to you about." Desmond then looked at Hugo with a death stare. "Privately." He said.

"I have much more important things to tell you, Sofia." Hugo said, returning Desmond's death stare to him. "Alone." He said.

That's when they all heard James. "Hey Sof, who came to see you-" He started to ask, but he froze in his place. James couldn't believe that his 'rivals' were Sofia's visitors. 'Did they just come all the way here because of Sofia's letters she sent them?! Ugh...' He thought to himself.

Sofia turned around and saw James just standing there. "J-James? W-why are you here? Shouldn't you be d-doing your daily training?" She asked nervously. Sofia knew that having all three princes in the same room would be trouble, even though she wants them to be friends again.

Hugo wasn't scared of James because he did graduate from the Corinthian Sports School. He's just as in shape and strong as he is. He had his arms crossed when James was walking behind Sofia. Desmond on the other hand, was a little scared of James. Desmond is smarter than James though, having graduated from the Institute for Science and Alchemy. It was obvious to him that James stopped being friends with him because of Sofia. He just looked down at the floor.

"James? James, Answer me!." Sofia was getting a little impatient as she walked towards him.

James snapped out of his thoughts. "I'm not going to train today, Sof. Not when those two are here to see you." He gestured to Hugo and Desmond.

Sofia sighed. "James, we've talked about this already. Now is not the time for you to be here. Go and do your training." She said.

"But-" James tried.

"Please, James. Do it for me." Sofia pleaded. She stared into his dark green eyes. He couldn't say no to her.

"Okay, okay. How can I say no? But if they do anything to you, get me." James said in a serious tone.

"I promise you that I will." Sofia smiled and hugged him tight.

"Good." James returned her hug. He looked at Desmond and Hugo, giving them a signal that he'll do something bad to them if they do something to Sofia. Hugo just rolled his eyes and Desmond gulped hard. "I'll see you soon, Sof." He said, releasing Sofia. He was reluctant to leave her but left for her.

"See you, James." Sofia said.

Sofia turned back around to face Desmond and Hugo. "I'm sorry about James… he's still…" She said.

"A little overprotective of you?" Hugo said.

"Yeah…" Sofia blushed. "Anyways, you both came to talk. Who came here first?" She asked.

"I did! No! I did!" Hugo and Desmond said in unison. They started to fight again.

'I'll ask one of the royal guards.' Sofia thought and went up to one of the royal guards in front of the castle. He bowed in respect to her. "Excuse me, do you know which one of those Princes arrived here first?" She asked, pointing to Hugo and Desmond.

"Yes, Princess. The young prince with dark brown hair. The other young prince with strawberry blonde hair came just behind him." Said the guard.

Sofia curtsied. "Thank you, sir." She said. She went back to where Hugo and Desmond stood. They were still fighting until she tugged on both their arms. "Please, stop fighting you guys. I asked one of the guards on who arrived first. He said that it was Hugo." She said.

"Ha! I told you!" Hugo said to Desmond. He looked defeated.

Sofia turned to him. "Hey Des? Why don't you talk to Amber? I know she'll be happy to see you. I'll get you when I finish talking with Hugo, okay?" Sofia said gently.

Desmond smiled brightly and nodded. "Okay." He said.

Sofia wasn't sure where Amber was and called for Baileywick.

"You called me, Princess Sofia?" He asked when he arrived.

"Do you know where Amber is? I forgot to ask James when he was here." She asked.

"Yes, she's in her room. She's very excited to work more on her gown for your ball, Princess Sofia." Baileywick smiled.

"Great! That's good to hear." Sofia smiled. "Can you escort Desmond to Amber's room, please? I'm sure she'll enjoy seeing him. Hugo and I have some things to discuss." Sofia said.

"Of course. Come along, Prince Desmond." Baileywick said.

Desmond followed Baileywick, leaving Sofia and Hugo alone.

"Excuse me, Baileywick?" Desmond asked. He really has changed. Because of Sofia, he's not afraid of too many things anymore. Desmond is still somewhat timid, but has much more confidence than he did when he went to Royal Prep. He's still polite and has manners, like when he was younger.

"Yes, Prince Desmond?" Baileywick asked.

"I-Is King Roland available today? I want to speak with him before seeing Amber." Desmond asked. He hoped that the king wasn't busy because he wanted to talk to him regarding a proposal to possibly start a courtship with Sofia. He thought that it would be better to do it sooner rather than later, mainly because of Hugo and James.

"We can check now if you'd like? The king is usually in his study signing documents at this hour. But with your presence, I'm sure he won't mind." Baileywick said.

"Perfect! Please, lead the way." Desmond said.

Soon, they arrived at King Roland's study. Baileywick knocked.

"Enter." Roland said. He was finishing reading one of the documents on his desk

"Your majesty, I've brought Prince Desmond. He asked to speak to you." Baileywick said.

"Thank you Baileywick. Please, take a seat Desmond." Roland said. Baileywick bowed and waited outside the door. Desmond did as he was told.

"What brings you here Desmond? Our kingdoms don't have any issues to discuss." Roland said. He knows that Desmond is heir to the throne of Oxford, since he's an only child.

"W-well your majesty, I-I wanted t-to talk about S-Sofia. I-I know t-that she won't be able to start courting until she turns 18, b-but would it be okay if Sofia comes over to my kingdom f-for 2 weeks for a possible courtship between us? O-once she's 18 of course." Desmond asked nervously.

King Roland just smiled. He liked how Desmond actually went and talked with him instead of writing a letter. "Of course, Desmond. I'm glad you came to talk to me instead of writing a letter about the matter. Do you want me to tell Sofia now or do you want it to be a surprise for her once her birthday ball comes around?" Roland asked kindly.

Desmond thought for a moment. "I think it would be fun to surprise her at her ball. D-do you think Sofia will accept my request, your majesty?" He asked. Desmond really hoped Sofia liked him more than a friend.

"I'm positive that she'll accept, Desmond. Why do you ask?" Roland said.

"Because there's certain princes out there that will most likely do the same request I'm doing now, to Sofia." Desmond explained.

"No need to worry about that, Desmond. Luckily for you, you're the first prince to ask this request. The other princes would need to wait until those two weeks are up." Said Roland.

Desmond felt relieved hearing that. "That's a relief." He smiled.

"Anything else you need or want to talk about?" Roland asked.

"No, that was all your majesty. Thank you." Desmond said while getting up.

"Again, thank you for talking to me. I really appreciate it." Roland said, smiling while shaking Desmond's hand.

"Anytime, your majesty." Desmond said.

"Baileywick?" Roland said.

"Yes, your highness?" Baileywick said as he arrived.

"Please lead Prince Desmond away." Roland said.

"Yes, your majesty." Baileywick bowed with Prince Desmond behind him.

"Let me escort you to Amber's room." Baileywick said.

"Thank you." Desmond smiled.

Meanwhile, back with Sofia and Hugo…

Desmond and Baileywick left Sofia and Hugo alone.

"Sofia, can we go out into the garden?" Hugo asked.

"Sure, I'd love to!." Sofia smiled. Out of the three princes Sofia likes, Hugo's the one she likes the most. In her eyes, Hugo always acts and behaves like a true prince towards her. Well, except when Desmond or James are around since they constantly want to tear each other apart. Sofia likes him for who he is, even though they weren't always friends. When they first met, Hugo was mean towards her because he didn't believe that a princess should do Flying Derby and he made fun of James for helping her with riding a flying horse. Both Sofia and James proved him wrong when they beat Hugo during the tryout race. Then when James sprained his wrist, Hugo took his place to race with Sofia to win the Flying Crown. That's when Sofia discovered the real Hugo and why he acted the way he did when they met. They've become good friends since then, but they grew closer when they did their Ice Dancing routine for the Ice Dancing recital at Royal Prep. Hugo thought the flips and moves looked fun, but he didn't want to join the class at first, since he didn't like the idea of being the only boy there. But with Sofia's encouragement, he decided to join. Hugo also didn't want to tell his father, King Garrick, because he thought that he wouldn't approve. But again, with Sofia's help, he told his father and everything turned out great in the end. Ever since that day, Sofia's had a crush on him. It was small at first but as time went on, it eventually grew.

Hugo held out his hand for Sofia to take, making her blush a bright red. She put her hand in his and they walked towards the garden.

"Hey Sofia, are you mad at me?" Hugo asked.

Sofia was taken aback by his question. "Mad? No! Why would I be mad at you?" She said.

"Because of the way I acted earlier with Desmond. I know it's not really prince-like to bicker and yell at another prince, but I just get so... annoyed with him for some reason." Hugo said.

"Oh... I mean, I know you guys didn't really interact in Royal Prep. But it would be nice if you two were friends." Sofia said.

"I know, but we're just so different. Maybe in the future we can work out our differences." He said. Then they stopped walking. "Sofia, there's… something I want to ask you. I wanted to wait until your ball, but I think now's a good time." Hugo smiled, picking a light pink rose and putting it behind Sofia's ear. She blushed at his gesture.

"What is it?" She asked. Sofia was a bit curious but was excited for whatever Hugo wanted to tell her.

"Remember how we used to have Ice Dancing class at Royal Prep?" Hugo said.

"Yeah... it was really fun, even if I wasn't doing it right in the beginning." Sofia chuckled. "I really do miss those days, though." She said sadly.

"I miss them, too. We had many great memories back then." Hugo smiled. Sofia smiled back. "So, my dad signed me up for an Ice Dancing class in our Kingdom that starts in December. I was wondering if you'd like to go with me and be my partner?" He asked.

"I'd be honored to Hugo, thank you!" Sofia said, pulling him into a hug.

He smiled, hugging her back.

"So, I guess I need to sign up too right? Since only you're signed up." Sofia asked, pulling away from their hug.

"Yeah. But don't worry about it, I'll ask my dad to sign you up." Hugo assured her.

"Okay." Sofia nodded. They started to walk again, deeper into the garden. "Hugo... can I ask you something?" She asked.

"Sure, what's that?" Hugo said.

"Why aren't you and James friends anymore?" Sofia asked.

"Well... as we all got older, James started to change. He started distancing himself from most of the guys from Royal Prep. Sure, we were good friends when we were younger but... I might know the reason why our friendship is strained. I'll tell you eventually... but not now." Hugo said.

"It's fine, Hugo. I understand." Sofia smiled at him. He couldn't help but smile back.

"Sofia, what color will your gown be for your ball? I want to know because I want to wear a suit that'll match with it." Hugo asked.

"You're like the third person who asked me that." Sofia chuckled. "It's going to be a champagne-gold color. That's all I'm going to say because the dress itself will be a surprise until my grand entrance during the ball." She said.

"I can't wait to see you in it." Hugo smiled brightly.

"T-thanks." Sofia blushed bright crimson.

Sofia then looked at the clock. She saw that it was almost lunch time. "Let's go inside. It's almost time for lunch to start." She said.

Hugo nodded and extended his arm for her to take. Sofia gladly held on to it as they went inside.