4 years ago
"I have to do something!" Sofia paced back and forth in the secret garden frantically.
"Calm down princess, there's nothing you can do!" Clover said, munching on a carrot.
Just then, Mia and Robin perched on the garden hedge.
Sofia rushed forward to meet them. "Any news?"
"Well, we're not sure how true this is, but apparently King Axel had some sort of gambling problem and struck a deal with some realllllyyy bad guys. And he couldn't pay them back, so then they killed him."
"So it wasn't Hugo!" said Sofia indignantly.
"Princess, we did not believe for one moment that he did it. Although unfortunate, this sounds much more likely. But we can't guarantee this is true because we heard this from Abigail Nightingale and she's SUCH a gossip."
"Do you know who's running the kingdom right now?"
"King Axel's advisor."
"Hmm, maybe he's just temporarily there to take care of the kingdom. We can get Hugo back on the throne and then everything will be back to normal."
"Princess," the birds looked at Sofia pityingly, "That country is bankrupt, the people are starving, they think Hugo is a murderer and Axel still had some unpaid debts. If Hugo returns, he comes back to a broken kingdom and those murderers might still be after him."
"But I don't want to give up on him," Sofia said, with tears of frustration. "He would never give up on me," she added quietly.
Clover hopped over, hugging Sofia's knee, the highest he could reach.
Mia and Robin flew onto Sofia's shoulders, "We know dear, we know. But the best thing we can do is wait for his return. He'll come back when he's ready, and stronger."
Clover added, "The most you can do right now is focus on your training at Ever Realm academy to become the best advisor you can be, both for Amber, and to help Hugo with his kingdom when he comes back."
"You're right" said Sofia, regaining her composure. "Thank you guys for the help. I'm going straight to library to study books on kingdoms, politics, and economics. I'm going to figure out how to save a bankrupt kingdom!" She was already setting off with determination.
"That's my girl!" hollered Clover.
A/N: This is the last flashback chapter, so moving forward all the chapters will be in the present.