AN: So truth be told, I really didn't like the chapter I ended the story with. I wrote this alternate ending instead. I like this one much better despite its lack of angst (I live for the angst.) I guess I just didn't like the idea of Sofia bellyaching and feeling sorry for herself.

So here is this alternate ending. I hope you enjoy it! I think I definitely prefer it to the other. Let me know what you think and thank you, as always, for reading!

"You have more than I did!" Amber said as she gawked over the tally marks on the parchment in her hand. Two-hundred and seven. Sofia had two-hundred and seven letters of intent. She herself had received one-hundred and ninety-two and that was quite the unheard of number. Now her younger sister had topped that number by fifteen additional letters. It was almost too much to bear. "How is that possible!?"

"Well, Amber..." Miranda began slowly as her eyes read over one of the letters of intent. "Sofia was born a commoner and that makes her seem more obtainable to a wider demographic of men. She's received a lot more letters from commoners than you did but she also received a lot less from royals and nobles than you did. Come to think of it, outside of one plucky young man from the village and a handful of gentry, your letters of intent were predominantly from royalty. Sofia's are more spread out amongst the classes."

"You're not going to invite them all to the cotillion, are you?" Amber asked nervously. "I mean, we can't have peasants rubbing elbows with haut monde."

"Amber." Miranda paused from reading the letter in her hands to look up at her eldest daughter in annoyance. "This is Sofia's cotillion. Sofia gets to choose which potential suitors she wants to invite and which ones she doesn't."

"Well, you don't want a big cotillion, right, Sofia?" Amber said hopefully, her gaze flying to her sister. But Sofia seemed to be frantic with concern as she sifted through her stack of letters before moving to shift through Violet's. "Sofia? Sofia, are you even listening?"

Sofia's gaze snapped up at Amber's voice calling her name and she looked to her sister curiously. "Hmm?"

"I said you don't want a big cotillion. Right? I mean, remember how big and extravagant mine was? And there were so many men there. It was probably the biggest cotillion on record. Surely you wouldn't want to try and surpass that, right?" Amber said as she folded her hands pleadingly. "Right?"

Sofia gave her sister a soft smile and shook her head. "No, I wouldn't want to have a bigger cotillion than you. Just something small is nice. After all, I'm not really interested in any of this."

"Oh, but sweetheart, don't you want to fall in love one day?" Miranda asked as she peeled her eyes from the letter to stare longingly at her daughter. "Any one of these men is a potentially great suitor."

"Except for this one." Violet chimed in, holding up a letter she had just finished reading. "Another filthy little blighter slipped through the cracks."

Miranda rolled her eyes as Violet tossed the no doubt uncouth letter in the rubbish pile. It was disturbing to her how many men liked to use a letter of intent to write dirty things to her daughter. "Well, lechers aside, there is bound to be someone in here that will make your heart soar but you'll never know if you don't meet him."

"She's already met someone." Amber said with a cunning smile as she looked her sister over. "That's why she's been checking the piles so frantically."

Miranda's eyes grew wide and her gaze flew from Amber to Sofia. "Is it true, sweetheart? Have you already met someone?"

Sofia's heart skipped a beat and she averted her gaze away from the three other women in the room. "There's definitely someone I was hoping to receive a letter from but I haven't got it yet. I'm still hoping to get it in time."

"That's wonderful, sweetheart!" Miranda replied with a wide smile. "But you don't have to wait for a letter. If you want someone at your cotillion, just invite this person."

"She can't do that!" Amber cried out. "That's just not the proper way to host a cotillion! You can't seek out a man on your own. They're meant to court us, not the other way around."

Miranda shrugged and looked from Amber to Sofia. "It may not be the proper way to do it but it's a lot better than waiting on a letter that may never come. Some people are afraid to put themselves out there and if you wait around for this person rather than taking action, you may regret it for the rest of your life."

Sofia stared at the ground in thought. Her mother's words definitely struck a chord with her. She could sit around waiting for Cedric to make a move or she could do something about it herself. She looked up at her mother before turning her gaze over Amber and Violet. "Would you all mind if I took a quick break?"

"Not at all sweetheart." Miranda replied, looking to her daughter curiously. "Are you feeling overwhelmed?"

"No, I just... there's something I need to do." Sofia said as she rushed out the door.

Amber scoffed and crossed her arms over her chest. "Where is she going at a critical time like this!?"

"Probably to talk to this person she was hoping to hear from." Miranda answered, turning her attention back to her stack of letters.

"No doubt about it." Violet agreed, a knowing smile finding its way to the chambermaid's face. "I wonder what Mr. Cedric is going to say."

…

Sofia tried to calm her heart as it raced in her chest. She stood outside of Cedric's workshop with her hand poised to knock on the door but she'd been unable to make a move for well over thirty seconds. Cedric hadn't spoken to her since she'd turned him back to his normal self and she understood that it had to be that way for propriety's sake but it still made for uncomfortable moments of silence when they crossed paths. Now she stood trying to think over exactly what she might say to him.

Before she could decide on anything, however, the door opened. But rather than Cedric standing there she saw Baileywick exiting the room with her old apprentice bag in hand. She looked to the castle steward in confusion before looking to the bag. "Baileywick, what are you doing?"

"Oh, Princess Sofia!" Baileywick smiled at the young woman as he closed the door behind him. "Cedric had me grab some things for him."

"That's not like Cedric to have someone going through his things." Sofia replied, her brow furrowing. "What is he so busy doing that he wouldn't just get them himself?"

"Why, helping decorate for your cotillion, of course!" Baileywick said with a smile. "Everyone in the castle is abuzz with excitement. It's looking like it will be the grandest cotillion we've ever had and Cedric is helping to make it that way. It's strange, he never struck me as a perfectionist but he's really putting his all into helping make the decorations spectacular."

"But..." Sofia looked up at Baileywick, growing even more perplexed. "Why?"

Baileywick cast the girl a sly smirk as he bypassed her. "One would assume it's because he cares a great deal for you, Princess. It seems clear to me that he wants your cotillion to be as special as it can be for you. You should be sure to leave him a thank you note. Perhaps somewhere he's sure to see it?"

"R-right." Sofia nodded and waited for Baileywick to make his way down the stairs before she hurried into Cedric's workshop. It was devoid of life, for which she was thankful. She wasn't in the mood to listen to Wormwood's prodding at the moment.

She went immediately to Cedric's desk and grabbed a piece of parchment and a quill. Without hesitation she scribbled her note on the paper; "This is my letter of intent." She then took the note quickly to Cedric's bedroom. She wasn't hesitant to enter the room this time. Rather, she gave a small laugh at the memory of Lucinda telling her the first time wouldn't be the last time. The witch had been right after all.

She placed her note on Cedric's pillow, face up so that he would have no choice but to read it. She then started back out of the room and exited the workshop. There was still a lot to be done before the night of her cotillion.

…

"How did things go, Princess?" Violet asked quietly as she ran a brush through Sofia's auburn locks. "If you don't mind me asking."

Sofia looked up at Violet's reflection in the mirror. She'd been far away in thought about whether or not Cedric had read her note yet and she wasn't paying much mind to her chambermaid's words. "Hmm?"

"Things with your beloved." Violet elaborated. "If you don't mind me asking, I was curious to know how things went with Mr. Cedric."

Sofia's gaze widened before she looked away from Violet in embarrassment. "Have I been that obvious?"

"Not at all, Princess." Violet replied with a reassuring smile. "It's just that Mr. Baileywick has a keen eye. There's not much that goes on in these castle walls that he is unaware of. He asked me to keep a closer eye on you if you were ever to be around Mr. Cedric alone. I put two and two together myself. Am I wrong?"

"No, Violet. You're not wrong." Sofia said, shifting to lean forward on her dressing table. "Do you think I'm silly?"

"Not at all." Violet said, continuing to brush the princess' hair more out of habit than actual necessity. "Mr. Cedric seems like a fine man. He's a bit older than you but he's still very handsome. I don't know much about his personality because he always keeps to himself but he really seems to come alive when he's around you. He may be just as smitten with you as you are with him. At least, that's what I see. I'm sure he's relieved to know you feel the same."

"Relieved isn't the word I would use." Sofia said with a sigh.

"Oh, he'll come around." Violet replied, smiling widely. "You'll just have to be a wee bit patient. Sometimes men's hearts take some time to unlock. But I'm sure once he sees how beautiful you look at the cotillion he'll be changing his tune."

"I hope you're right, Violet." Sofia said quietly. "Because I-"

"Violet..." Amber said as she entered Sofia's room. "Please excuse us. Sofia and I need to speak."

Sofia turned a shocked gaze to her sister as she crossed the room. Her eyes darted to Violet who was exiting swiftly before they fell back to Amber. "What are you doing here? I thought you'd be in bed by now."

"I can't sleep." Amber said with a sigh. "There's something Violet said earlier today that's bothering me."

Sofia looked her sister over curiously and cocked her head to her side. "What would that be?"

"When you left in the middle of sorting letters today it was clear that you were running off to speak to this man you obviously have feelings for. Violet said... something." Amber replied, her lip curling in disgust at her next words. "I'm just going to come out and say it. Violet seemed to think you were going to talk to Cedric."

"Well, that's because I was." Sofia said with a shrug.

"Oh no. Violet was right?" Amber asked in slight horror. "You can't be in love with Cedric! You just can't be!"

Sofia looked at her sister in disbelief. "Why not?"

"Sofia, you're a princess! You need to be with someone worthy of a princess!" Amber said with a scoff. "Cedric is just the royal sorcerer! You know you'll never hold any title with someone like him. Besides, think about how it looks to everyone else. You're going to have a cotillion in a few days. How is it going to look when you say you want to let the royal sorcerer court you?"

"Actually, it's probably going to be the other way around." Sofia replied. "I gave Cedric a letter of intent."

Amber gasped and let out a long, wretched moan. "Oh Sofia. You just can't do something like that."

"Why not?" Sofia retorted. "Because it's not the traditional way to do it?"

"Exactly!" Amber groaned. "When you're royalty, things should be done a certain way. You should know that by now."

Sofia looked away from her sister in disappointment. "Did you react the same way when you found out your dad was marrying my mom?"

"Of course not." Amber said with a huff. "Daddy is the king and he can do whatever he wants. But don't think that there weren't whispers going around for years after that. And I don't want that to happen to you. I don't want people to whisper about you behind your back because you married beneath your class."

"I was born a commoner, Amber." Sofia reminded her sister. "Marrying Cedric would be marrying up."

"But you're a princess now! And there are so many eligible kings and princes out there." Amber said, forcing a smile to try and sooth the irritation she could see growing within her sister.

"Then why aren't you married yet?" Sofia asked, though she already knew the answer.

Amber's eyes darted away from her sister and she tried to hide the blush coming to her face. "The right prince hasn't asked me yet."

"And he may never ask." Sofia said with a sigh. "Amber, I know you want things to be done the traditional way but sometimes that just isn't an option. You were so disappointed when Zandar didn't send you a letter of intent but you still haven't done anything about it. All this time has gone by and you're still waiting around for him when you could reach out at any time and grab what you want. Who cares what other people think?"

"I care." Amber replied. "And you can't even compare the two things. Zandar is a prince. Cedric is the royal sorcerer."

"You think people wouldn't cock an eyebrow at you marrying into a culture like Zandar's?" Sofia said with a shake of her head. "Everyone has something to say about everything. You and Zandar wouldn't be above scrutiny but I have no doubt in my mind that you would marry him in an instant if you could."

Amber rolled her eyes and moved to lean against her sister's dressing table. "How did we start talking about me? I came here to talk you out of wanting to be with Cedric."

"I'm afraid you're not going to be very successful." Sofia replied. "I think I tried talking myself out of it for a long time before I just accepted it. And Cedric too. He said my feelings for him are fleeting but here I am... hoping beyond all hope that he'll show up at my cotillion and tell me he's ready."

Amber looked her sister over in thought for a moment before letting out a heavy sigh. "How long have you felt this way for him?"

"I think it started around my fifteenth birthday." Sofia began with a small smile. "He gave me the most exquisite wand case to go with the wand he'd given me the year before. He of course gifted it to me under the guise of it being my graduation as his apprentice but inside he left a note telling me that he knew I would accomplish great things and that he was extremely proud of me. The idea of him being proud of me made me feel different from when mom or dad would be proud of me. It made my heart race. That was when I started to notice things about him I guess I never really noticed before; things that made me feel butterflies... and then other things that started to light me on fire."

Amber flushed a bit at her sister's candidness about her sexual desire but it wasn't anything she was unused to. "Please spare me the grisly details."

Sofia gave a laugh in response to her sister's squirming. "It's nothing worse than all those novels you keep hidden under your bed that you think nobody knows about."

"Hey!" Amber reached out and tapped Sofia's arm a little less than gently. "Those have nothing to do with this. Carry on with your story."

Sofia cast Amber a look before continuing on. "I noticed these feelings for Cedric right around the time I noticed that he was starting to be less and less available to me. He'd always say he was busy even though I knew he wasn't or he would tell me that Baileywick was looking for me even though Baileywick was almost never looking for me. It started to make me feel confused. I had these feelings but then Cedric was pushing me away. I started to wonder if they were just purely sexual desires, but then something happened six months ago that made me realize it was more than just that."

Amber looked to Sofia in discomfort. "Please tell me you two didn't-"

"No!" Sofia blushed brightly and looked away from her sister. "No, it wasn't like that at all. It was just something strange that happened because of the magic of my amulet. I was able to really talk to him for the first time in a long time and all these feelings just sort of came tumbling out. I couldn't hide them anymore and I really didn't want to after that. So I've been waiting since then for my cotillion so that Cedric and I can move forward. But he never sent me a letter of intent."

"So you decided to give him one yourself." Amber said softly. She reached out and clasped her sister's hand tightly, giving the younger princess a warm smile. "I'm so sorry for not being supportive of you. I know how it feels to be in love with someone and to be waiting around for them to just acknowledge you. It's awful and I wouldn't wish it on anyone, especially my sister. Cedric may not be anything more than a royal sorcerer to the rest of us but to you he's the man you want to be with. I shouldn't try to stop you if you really do love him."

Sofia smiled up at her sister and gave the older woman's hand a gentle squeeze. "Thank you, Amber."

…

Sofia let out a heavy sigh and looked around nervously. Her cotillion ball was in full swing and all around there were eligible bachelors eager to grab her attention but none of them were the man she was hoping for. She had thankfully decided to invite only a third of the men who had sent her letters of intent but even still, the number of suitors vying for her hand was intimidating.

Even with a handful of her friends as maids of honor to keep the men entertained she still felt overwhelmed by the whole experience.

Her eyes darted over the sea of handsome faces in search of the one she wanted to see most when she was caught off guard by someone bumping into her intentionally.

"He's not here, you know." Lucinda said with a wide smile. "I mean, he's here in the castle of course. He's just not here at your ball."

Sofia blushed lightly and looked away from Lucinda. "I was hoping he would show. He went through all the trouble to make it look so fantastic, I thought that maybe-"

"Is that why this place reeks of his magic?" Lucinda asked, snickering a bit. "And here I thought he was just skulking in the shadows somewhere."

Sofia averted her gaze away from the witch and wrapped her arms around herself. All around, her friends seemed to be having a good time. Ruby, Jade, Jun and Vivian were dancing with some of her potential suitors while Hildegard and Clio were schmoozing with the only two princes at the ball, James being one of them. Everyone else seemed to be having an infinitely better time than she was. She inhaled deeply and turned to look at the witch beside her. "Thanks for being here, Lucinda. You didn't have to come. I know this isn't exactly your type of party."

"Are you kidding me? A ball at the castle, free food and plenty of booze? Obviously I was going to come!" Lucinda replied with a chuckle before shifting to drape her arm over Sofia's shoulder. "Of course I came. You're my friend and I wanted to be here for you. Besides, I was curious to see if he would show up. I was really routing for your happily ever after."

"Really?" Sofia asked with a cocked eyebrow. "You don't even like Cedric."

"Not really, no." Lucinda said with a shrug. "But you're in love with him and I'm your friend. I want to see you happy."

"Thanks Lucinda." Sofia said, turning to pull the witch into her embrace. "You're a good friend."

"I am, aren't I?" Lucinda replied as she pulled back from the princess. "So what do you want to do? You want me to go to his tower and drag him down here by force? You know I would do it gladly."

A small giggle fell from Sofia's lips at the image of Lucinda yanking Cedric downstairs by his ear. "No. You can't do anything like that."

Lucinda let out a snort and rolled her eyes. "Well, then what are you going to do? Sit around here all night and sulk?"

"No." Sofia replied softly. "I'll probably just wait for..." She trailed off in thought before she returned her gaze to Lucinda and gave her friend a determined smile, clenching her fists at her sides. "No. I'm not going to sit around and wait."

Lucinda looked Sofia over curiously, intrigued by the young woman's expression of confidence. "What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to go do something about it." Sofia said as she turned away from Lucinda and pulled her skirt up enough to ease her movements. She made her way out of the ballroom and hurried through the halls toward Cedric's workshop, her heart soaring. She climbed the stairs rapidly and raised her hand to knock on the door before deciding that she didn't care to wait for him to answer. She threw the door open and stood staring in but Cedric wasn't in the workshop. Her gaze flew to Wormwood who seemed shocked to see her. "Where is he?"

"His bedroom." Wormwood answered. "What on earth are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at your frilly little ball?"

Sofia ignored Wormwood and started for Cedric's bedroom. Again, it occurred to her to knock before entering but she chose not to. She opened the door to see the man sitting at his desk. A quick glance at his hands showed that he was holding her note. Her eyes darted back to his face to see the look of surprise painted there and she smiled. "I see you got my letter of intent."

"What are you doing here?" Cedric asked, tucking the note away. "You should be downstairs enjoying your cotillion. The servants worked hard to-"

"You worked hard." Sofia said, closing the distance between them. "You made my cotillion extravagant and beautiful. It was everything I ever dreamed it could be. It was almost perfect... but you weren't there."

Cedric averted his gaze from the princess and sighed. "Sofia-"

"Do you love me, Cedric?" Sofia asked, staring down at the man who remained in his seat. "Do you feel the same way for me that I feel for you?"

"Sofia, please don't make me answer that." Cedric muttered. "You already know the answer."

Sofia crossed her arms over her chest at the man's response. "Do you remember that night in the attic? You were reading your journal to get a better understanding of yourself and you said something to me afterward. You said that your adult self wouldn't know a good thing if it bit you in the ass."

"That language is unbecoming of a princess." Cedric said quickly, hoping to avoid the question he somehow knew was coming.

"Am I that good thing, Cedric?" Sofia asked with an arched brow. "Because it definitely feels like I could be if you'd let me be. But you want to sit here and be stubborn."

Cedric glanced up at Sofia to see her staring down at him. He didn't want have this conversation with her and dig up all the uncomfortable emotions that denying her made him feel. He did his best to skirt the issue instead. "Sofia, it's the night of your cotillion. You have countless suitors downstairs waiting for you and-"

"And I'm up here with you." Sofia replied. "If that doesn't tell you I'm right where I want to be then I don't know what will. I don't want any of those suitors, Cedric. I want you. I told you I felt that way six months ago and that nothing would change. Well, guess what. Nothing has changed. You said I would start to feel differently once I got my letters of intent but all those letters did was solidify how strongly I feel for you. It's clearer now more than ever. My heart is not fickle. It knows exactly what it wants."

Cedric cast his eyes away from the princess once more. It was hard to look at her given everything that had passed between them, especially since that night. He'd been having a difficult enough time trying to suppress his feelings for the young woman when he was keeping her at a distance. It was nearly impossible with her standing so near to him, spilling her heart to him all over again. Then, much to his dismay, he felt her hand grace against his cheek he knew it would be his undoing. "Sofia-"

"I love you, Cedric." Sofia said with a warm smile.

"Yes, I know." Cedric uttered, his eyes flickering back to hers. "And I love you as well, but-"

Sofia cut Cedric off with a kiss. Whatever he was going to say afterward, she didn't want to hear. I love yous should never be accompanied by howevers. She then pulled back from the kiss and reached down to clasp Cedric's hands, pulling him up to stand before she dropped to her knees in front of him. "I'm not going to sit around and wait for you to decide whether or not you're ready to move forward with me. That note I wrote you was the real thing. It's my letter of intent to you. I need to know if you accept."

"Sofia, I..." Cedric stared down at the princess, flabbergasted by her actions. He shook his surprise away and began trying to pull her up. "G-get off the floor. Please. Your lovely gown-"

"I don't care about my gown. I don't care about tradition. I don't care about what other people think. I care about you, Cedric. I'm in love with you. I want to be with you. That's what I care about. And I don't care if it takes one year or ten years to prove it to you, I will prove it." Sofia said as she stared up at him hopefully. "Now, will you accept my intent to court you?"

"No, Sofia." Cedric said immediately, shaking his head. "No, I can't do that."

Sofia's breath caught in her throat at Cedric's response. He loved her. She knew at least that much. She had been certain he'd at least entertain the idea before shutting her down entirely. "But Cedric-"

"What kind of man lets the woman he loves go through all the trouble of having to court him?" Cedric said with a scoff. "No, I can't allow that. I'm afraid the only way this will work is if I'm the one courting you."

"What do you mean?" Sofia asked, blinking up at the man in a mix of worry and hope.

"I suppose I mean that I should declare my intent." Cedric replied with a shrug as though the words carried no weight at all. Truthfully though, he was quaking inside at the idea of allowing himself to put so much on the line for the sake of being with the woman he loved but fighting it no longer seemed like an option and he was tired of fighting anyhow.

Sofia's heart skipped a beat at Cedric's words and she couldn't fight the bright smile that blossomed onto her face. "R-really?"

"Yes, really. Now will you please get off the floor? I'd like to do this properly, if that's even still possible." Cedric said, pulling the young woman to stand in front of him. He inhaled deeply, the gravity of the words he was about to say already weighing on his chest before they even had the chance to grace his lips. "Princess Sofia of Enchancia, would you do me the honor of accepting my intent of courtship?"

Sofia blushed shyly and looked up at the man from under heavily lidded eyes. "I thought you'd never ask."

Cedric cleared his throat and looked away from the young woman sheepishly. "Yes, well... that makes two of us. But that wasn't the response I was hoping for. I was hoping you'd say-"

"Yes, Cedric." Sofia replied, wrapping her arms around the man to pull him into her embrace. "Yes..."