It was a nice afternoon in Enchancia – everything seemed normal. The King and Queen at the garden, Baileywick tending to the duties, the kids outside playing in the field
And Cedric outside doing some pushups?
"One... more...."
Cedric groaned, pushing his arms a little bit further from the ground. It was indeed a struggle for him even to make five in a row, he wasn't really the athletic type growing up
He just finished reading a book about the greatest gladiator who ever lived in history "Rock Resnar, the gladiator who dominated his enemies with his pure strength"
This motivated him thoroughly to improve his strength also, and how, he's found himself in this situation
"five...."
He exerted his remaining strength on the last push – and upon doing so, he collapsed to the ground
"Aww, Merlyn's Mushrooms. I'm much too weak..." he mumbled to himself with his eyes closed
"Don't stop now, you can do more than that!!"
A sudden voice from nearby caught his attention. He opened his eyes and saw no other than the youngest princess of Enchancia laying down with him with her chin leaning on her hand
"Sofia!!" Cedric blurted in surprise
"How long have you been watching!?"
"Since the beginning~" Sofia playfully responded
"What are you even doing here anyways, don't you have anything better to do?"
"I do actually" she responded
"Then why are you he..."
Sofia hushed the sorcerer immediately with her finger as she stood up to her feet
"That's not important now, Mr. Ceedric." She uttered
Cedric scratched his head of unease upon the realization that she probably witnessed him struggling to make only five push ups
"Just so you know, this is a piece of cake. I was just uh... acting"
"Suuureee..." Sofia responded slowly as she gave him a playful glare
"You don't believe me, do you?" Cedric asked flatly
"My Sofia Senses are telling me that you are indeed lying, Mr. Ceedric~" Sofia responded in a sing song tone
"I just can't do anything without you bothering me..." Cedric whispered under his breath
Sofia's eyebrows furrowed upon hearing this
And so she immediately pounced on Cedric's back like a horse which immediately brought distraught to the poor sorcerer
"S-Sofia!!"
The princess gripped his robe from behind as she leaned closer
"This is a piece of cake right? Then there should be no problem doing pushups with extra weight." She whispered
"What, that's absurd..."
"Oh, so you're saying you're that weak that you can't even do five pushups?"
Cedric gnashed his teeth upon hearing this, Sofia really knew how to push his buttons well. He didn't care at the moment, he's gonna make her eat her words after he shows her his strength
"Watch me then..."
Cedric began to push, and it was heavier than usual. Despite Sofia's small frame, Cedric still is quite inadequate on carrying such a heavy object in his back
"I think I see your arms shivering, Mr. Ceedric..." Sofia teased
"Are you perhaps having a hard time?"
"Yeah, you're heavier than I thought." Cedric scorned in a mocking way
Sofia didn't like this statement one bit, and so she started rocking her body back and forth on his back.
"This is funn!!" she yelled as she started to hop up and down like a cowgirl
"Fun for you.." Cedric internally spoke to himself with his arms almost crashing to the ground
But he had to be determined, he had to be strong. Cedric doesn't want to appear weak any longer, especially in front of Sofia
And so he lifted his arms again, pushing even more deeper to the ground which elevated his body. Sofia took notice of this and saw Cedric's determination and effort
Sofia smiled to herself, for some reason, it felt fulfilling to see her dear favorite sorcerer trying his best at something – she felt like a proud mom at that time
And so Sofia leaned her head on his back, Cedric's tall frame made it possible as she slowly crept her hands around his back to his waist. She heaved out a hum of pleasure as the rocking motion from Cedric's pushups made it more soothing for her
It didn't take long before Sofia finally succumbed to sleep atop of Cedric without him knowing
"ninety-nine..... and.... A hundred!!"
Cedric huffed, finally finishing a respectable amount of pushups which would definitely impress Sofia
"Sofia, what do you think of that?"
Cedric turned, and saw Sofia herself sleeping on him. Cedric lets out a sigh as he slowly lifts himself from the ground while holding Sofia's legs together
He then slowly tiptoed to the main garden where her family is. There, he was stumbled by James and Queen Miranda
"Cedric, you found Sofia!!"
The sorcerer hushed the prince to not wake the sleeping girl in his back
"Oh okay, my bad" James whispered
Queen Miranda then walked towards Cedric with a concerned look on her face
"Where did you find her, Cedric?"
"Oh I just found her sleeping in the garden earlier" Cedric smiled, hoping nobody saw through his bluff
Suddenly, Sofia yawned. Cedric thought she would finally be awake but instead she snuggled even more closer to him as she falls back into slumber.
Queen Miranda smiled upon witnessing this
"Sofia has been bombarded with lots of royal duties recently – she probably was very exhausted then"
"Royal duties can't possibly be that hard, your highness"
"Oh, do not underestimate it Cedric. Sofia had to do gardening lessons, dancing lessons, writing lessons, speaking lessons, and even walking lessons..."
"Walking lessons?" Cedric spouted in surprise
"Yes, and that is just the tip of the iceberg" she responded
"Amber would tell you this herself" James added
"Wait, where's Amber?"
Cedric groaned to himself upon hearing this, princesses sure do have it tough. Sofia probably wanted to take a break from all of this earlier and decided to mess around with him
He can't blame her though, those lessons sure do sound very hectic.
Cedric didn't even notice that he was able to lift Sofia with his arms all this time. Those pushups sure did give him strength, and it wouldn't have happened if not for Sofia's encouragement.
"Anyways, Rollie is waiting for us" Queen Miranda spoke
"Can you please take Sofia to her room, Cedric"
Cedric nodded slowly as Queen Miranda led James to the left wing where the king awaits
He was about to start moving, when suddenly – a sudden voice from behind caught his attention
"Mr. Ceedric...."
It was Sofia, and for some reason, she was mumbling his name in her sleep. Normally, Cedric would be creeped out by this but it didn't bother him one bit at the moment.
And so Cedric marched straight into the castle to tuck the sleeping princess in his back to sleep in the nice afternoon
~The End~
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Cedric comes out of Sofia's room after finally tucking the princess in her blankets. He heaved out a sigh of relief but was suddenly cut short by the tension in his back this time
All those pushups and strains have finally kicked in his unathletic body
And so, he wanted nothing more than to have a lay himself in his nice cozy tower
But as he turned, a certain blonde princess was waiting for him
"Cedric, how's your back?" Amber uttered in concern
Cedric didn't want to reveal that he was hurting after all that carrying and exercise, and so he bluffed
"It's perfectly fine, Princess Amber" he responded with a fake confidence
"I see..." she uttered
"Well then I would like to do the ride thing with you too..."
Cedric paused for a second to perceive what she just said
"The what?"
"You heard me!! And don't play dumb either – I saw the whole thing with Sofia... and I thought it was fun"
Cedric groaned to himself upon hearing this as he slouched his already tired shoulders to the ground
"Aw, Merlyn's Mushrooms..."