Life without recognition turned out to be a bigger sigh of relief than Cedric could have predicted. Growing up in the overlapping shadows of his father, his sister, and his liege-lord had trapped him in a darkness he never thought to crawl out of. It had been his own empty grasping at power that finally gave him the excuse he needed to escape. Taking tangible steps to overthrowing Enchancia had been a desperate plea for attention that even he hadn't thought himself capable of. The failed attempt and a night in the dungeons sobered him and he slowly faded out from the kingdom, quietly finding a suitable replacement and eventually leaving in the night, alone.

Only one letter had ever found him. Still traveling at that time, the innkeeper of that evening handed it to him upon his request for room and board for the night. Cedric recognized the handwriting immediately and didn't bother to mutter the curse that crossed his mind. In his room, he placed it reverently on the only piece of furniture inside, the bed, and paced. Of course Sofia, with her animal connections, would have been able to find him. He had packed away his sorcerer's robes in favor of the trousers, shirt, and vest he usually wore and added a common man's black overcoat. He took the time to glamour his unusual hair each morning into one solid color. With just these two changes, he had found that he easily blended into any crowd, not that he had ever stood out for good reasons before. But animals would be unphased by his light disguise, tracking him by scent, of course.

He scoffed at the envelope, picked it up and shoved it haphazardly into interior pocket of his overcoat before removing the coat and laying it across the foot of the bed. Cedric didn't owe anything to the kingdom. He had left without farewells but they weren't his family; farewells wouldn't be required. They would want for nothing that his replacement couldn't provide, and she would do so without causing any embarrassing scenes. It's exactly what the kingdom had wanted since his father retired. How ironic that he should be the one to finally fulfill that desire by leaving.

Cedric slept poorly. As he traveled the next day, mundanely so as to not accidentally garner unwanted attention, the letter pressed against his chest from the pocket inside his coat. Caught in a daydream in the back of a meandering wagon, he could almost feel Sofia's hand instead of her letter pressed against him instead. The girl was too forward and just that: a girl. Ten years his junior, she was on the cusp of becoming a young woman instead of a girl as he finally made his retreat. She didn't understand proper boundaries. Her commoner upbringing constantly had her violating the unforgiving distance required of a relationship between a Royal and, well, everyone else.

As inappropriate as it could be, her presence had often been a balm against the trials of his Royal Sorcerer requirements that Cedric had come to resent. Sofia, after all, was the only reason why he hadn't been able to fully execute the evil scheme of another sorcerer and. Immediately after, the only reason why he hadn't been left in the dungeons to rot with only Wormwood, of all creatures, for company. He and the bird had a parting of ways shortly after as Cedric acclimated to a lack of evil scheming and Wormwood sought a master more truly diabolical. The quiet that settled over his tower never lasted long with Sofia a frequent, and only, visitor.

Perhaps he did owe her something.

Cedric reached for the letter and stopped. Not here. Reading something from Sofia, likely the last thing he would ever hear from her, required something more than an uneven dirt road somewhere in the middle of the seven kingdoms.

Another week of traveling saw Cedric to his final destination. Kona Laui Island had a small population of locals, only occasionally hosting off-the-map sorts of tourists. It was the greatest opposite of his drafty tower in the Enchancia castle that he could think of, which would hopefully mark it as a less-than-predictable location for his escape. He wanted, more than anything, for the opportunity to be nothing but his own man and serve no master but his own desire. Here, it looked like that might be possible.

Boat gone, shirt sleeves rolled up against the heat, overcoat and magically-enlarged-interior bag in hand, Cedric breathed in through the thick humidity and turned to look up at his future residence. Barely shrouded from view and sure to boast a spectacular ocean panorama, it looked to be in good condition, as promised by his now-landlord.

The sky broke without warning and Cedric protectively clutched his coat to his chest as he quickly made his way up the path from the dock. The letter, still unopened, was inside. He fished out the key from his bag and entered the house, not registering a single detail as he reached into the interior of his coat and pulled out the letter, dropping his belongings carelessly around him. Light flooded the room from windows, somewhere, despite the falling rain. Procrastination would no longer be allowed. He was here. It was time. He broke her Royal seal, done in predictably purple wax, and unfolded the letter.

Cedric read it three times before pressing himself into a nearby wall and letting the hand holding the letter fall to the side. He didn't bother masking his loss of the Princess's constant sunniness in his life. If things went the way he had planned them, she would never brighten his doorway again. She was a part of his past and not to be a part of his future, his reinvention of himself as his own man.

"You'll always be sensational to me, no matter how far away you go. Your friend, Sofia."

He said the words aloud once, allowing himself a fond, sad smile before rubbing the letter between his hands and, with a touch of magic, crumbling it away into dust.

.

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A/N

Well hellooooo there. This is cannon through season 4 episode 1 because I finally saw it and DIED of joy. So much great material to work with for Cedfia.

I know you'd like to see an update to Give Me Your Riches and I PROMISE that it's coming. My beta has been very, very busy and thus very, very delayed.

But I'm not beta-ing this one! And my beta is responsible for basically all of my good grammar, so please read for content on this story and forgive me my amateur mistakes.

This'll run 3 chapters. Maybe 4. Hopefully done quickly. Read and respond, if you please!