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It was perfect.

Showing the Princess how flawed her supposed Charming was, was exactly what Ivy was going to do. This could even lead to her chance at having Bella to herself.

Was it selfish? Yes, but Ivy couldn't risk to lose Bella twice if Filip wasn't her true love. Not to mention she would have to pick up the pieces after the first time if she got heartbroken.

"Okay, so, you said Filip likes to catch... frogs?"

Ivy snorted, kicking at the frosted leaves in the courtyard. "Yeah, it was basically the only thing he wanted to do last summer from what I heard from Reign."

Bella fidgeted with her woolly scarf from the wooden bench. "Well, I'm sure I could get him to spend his time on more intellectual activities during our outings together."

Ivy shrugged. Even if Bella was Filip's true love as well, she knew that Filip didn't like when he was forced to change his behaviors. His parents had tried that summer, and they had failed miserably. Who knew what would happen if an acquaintance like Bella tried.

"Maybe you should silently train him to be more of an intellectual. That way, he won't know." The chill of the cusp of winter sent shivers down Ivy's entire body.

"That's not a bad idea, is there anything else I should know?"

Ivy sniffled against her own beige scarf, "I don't think so, Reign is closer to him than I am, but he would tell you the same things. No use bothering him about it."

Bella nodded in response. "Thanks, Ivy, this truly means a lot to me, you know."

Ivy did know, as Bella had thanked her about a million times already. It hurt to think that Ivy was getting in the way of this poor Princess trying to find love, but if the Charming she's looking for isn't out there, what is stopping her from looking at the Godmother in front of her?

"Can I be honest with you for a second?"

Ivy's eyes met with Bella's, the green hue seeming to contrast brighter against their frosty surroundings. "Sure,"

Bella gulped, "Don't take this the wrong way, but, if you were a Charming, I think you'd be a pretty perfect one."

Ivy continued to stare at the Princess, feeling her body, cheeks, and ears heat up to insane temperatures. She was definitely taking it the wrong way. When the girl she had a crush on told her she would be a perfect Charming, who wouldn't think that the Princess was implying that they would be together if Ivy were just a boy?

"Thanks, Bella." Was all she could say.

The Princess smiled warmly, adding salt to the wound. If Ivy could use her wand to turn herself into a prince, she would have right that instant.

Bella stood up from the bench, grabbing her tote of textbooks as her pink winter uniform shimmered with her movements. "I should get to studying. I know it's the weekend, but Madame Racida seemed pretty upset at our Botany class for barely even knowing the difference between Twiggle and Appleroot. Might as well make it up to her with a perfect quiz score." She chuckled.

Ivy laughed with her, "Yeah, I guess I should, too. Would you want to meet tomorrow, as well? We can work on how to get Filip's attention in the library."

Bella beamed, nodding aggressively. "Of course! At least we don't have classes tomorrow too, so as long as we cram study tonight we don't have to focus on the quiz until Monday."

"Sounds like a plan, see you tomorrow!" Ivy waved as the two girls walked their opposite ways. Her heart leapt with glee, she was finally able to talk to Bella without feeling like her stomach was in her throat, and now they were making plans to meet in the library. Soon enough, they might start sneaking kisses-

Ivy shook her head at the thought. As nice as it was to think about, thinking like Reign was the next worst thing she could do at this moment of her relationship with Bella. Getting to ahead of herself was dangerous, and one wrong move could send her to Bella's bad side fast.

Walking into the warm school, her steps felt lighter as Ivy made her way back to her dorm. She reached for the knob before another hand grabbed it for her.

"Here, let me get that for you." Filip grinned in his icy blue winter uniform, next to him was a jubilant Reign in a matching green uniform.

Ivy furrowed her brows, "Thanks... is there a reason you two are here?"

"Actually yes," Reign cut in, "we were wondering if you would like to join us on some fun like we used to do. It's nice and frosty out there, and we may or may not have swiped a few trays from the cafeteria..." Reign said, reaching for his green tote and pulling out three blue cafeteria trays.

Ivy choked, "Reign, you can't just take stuff like that! What if we get caught?"

"But what if we don't?" Filip chimed, his blue eyes shining mischievously.

Ivy looked around the empty hall, "Okay, fine. Let me drop off my tote." She said.

The boys punched the air in success, cheering while Ivy threw her tote onto her bed. She couldn't say no to her friends, even though she was trying to prove to her crush he wasn't as much of a perfect Charming as the Princess thought for one of them.

She convinced herself that she was protecting the both of them from each other. It didn't sound right to let them be together and potentially make their friendship toxic if they broke up.

It wasn't manipulation, it was protection. Ivy was sure of it.

The three students rushed to the cool outside, running up the slick frosted grass hill. They each carried their own tray, readily waiting to slide down the wet hill.

"You ready?" Filip asked, looking at the two God-students.

They nodded. Gripping the sides of their trays, they pushed off and down the hill they went. Shrieks escaped the three of them as they slid uncontrollably, accelerating with each second that passed. The boys had stopped first, hopping off their trays and standing at the bottom of the hill, waiting for Ivy.

"Guys..." Ivy called out, left unheard as she continued to accelerate.

"Guys!" She pleaded, slowly starting to spin as she hurtled for the boys. It was too late as Reign caught a glimpse of Ivy heading straight towards them, attempting to move him and Filip out of the way as Ivy hit their shins and swept them off of their feet.

The students groaned in agony, their bodies entangled with trays.

"Oh my Godmother, guys, I am so sorry, I-"

Ivy opened her eyes to a grinning Filip inches away from her face. Granted, Reign's foot was the only thing keeping their faces away from each other, but it didn't make the situation any less uncomfortable for the awkward teenagers.

"It's okay, Ivy. I don't know if Reign is okay, though." Filip grunted as he shoved Reign's body off of his own toned one. Ivy couldn't help but stare at Filip's broad shoulders as he stood up to help Reign. He was wearing a jacket, for Godmother's sake! How could a Charming go through such a transformation in the span of two months?!

Reign moaned, cracking his back as he stood up. "We should do that again!"

"Are you serious? I nearly killed the two of you!" Ivy exclaimed, getting up on her own.

"And? Maybe it'll be Filip's turn to knock us off our feet this time."

Filip shrugged, mocking a frown. "I wouldn't mind sweeping Ivy off of her feet."

Reign stuck out his tongue and blew a raspberry. "Gross, don't need you flirting with our friend right now when we're trying to have fun."

Ivy cackled, hiding her embarrassment. "Yeah, don't you have a Princess to save instead?"

Filip's cheeks flushed as he let out a sad chuckle. He nodded, running a hand through his hair, stalking up the slippery hill to go again.

"Nice going, Ivy, you broke him." Reign teased as he followed the Charming up the hill.

Ivy's heart sank, watching as the prince dragged himself to the top. She mostly knew how he felt, whether it be about his role as a Charming and his feelings for Ivy.

It was quite obvious as they grew up, but now that they were I'm their serious years, Filip seemed more and more depressed that he couldn't have his fun anymore, let alone fulfilling his role and the next best Charming that everyone had deemed him to be at the start of the year.

She sat at the bottom of the hill, watching the two boys slide down over and over again until they got bored. Filip looked happier by the end of it, but it didn't stop Ivy from noticing his look of longing every time he glanced over at her.

Then she knew, that he had a forbidden wish, too.

A wish for a Godmother.

~

"So, he likes more intelligent and classy girls who have hobbies like watercolours and crochet?"

Ivy pursed her lips together. "Yup, his mom does both of those things, and you know nobody influences a Charming more than his own mother." She said, grabbing books from the shelves in the library. Lie after lie, Ivy couldn't stop. She had felt terrible, but knowing it's for the best for each party, it was a must.

Bella pondered Ivy's words, studying the art books that Ivy had previously grabbed for her. "It just seems odd, how a prince who does everything fun wants somebody so... un-fun." She replied, flipping the page.

Ivy hummed, "It is quite ironic, but it is clear opposites do attract, just look at your dad and his previous lover."

The Princess stayed silent, staring at the page in her book blankly.

"Bella, I'm sorry I didn't mean it like that."

"No, I know, it's just-it's refreshing to hear her be mentioned. It's not a nice thought to think my dad had a whole true love before he met my mom, but she was a forbidden topic in my house. Not a rule made by my mom, but by my dad."

She bit her lip. "Makes you think if he was heartbroken even if he said he wasn't." Bella sighed, closing her book. It was obvious that she had had that thought before, and it wasn't her fault. If her father was strict enough to not talk about the infamous Lorelei, nobody would know where his true feelings lied.

The two girls went back to their silence. Ivy had heard plenty about Lorelei-all of the Godmothers and fathers have heard of her affair with a Charming-but never knew the prince's name.

Everyone had thought that Lorelei was almost too pretty to be a Godmother that people even theorized that she was switched at birth with a Princess.

Ivy was surprised that Filip wasn't afraid to take on that kind of fate with all the judgement and the hatred towards inter-role couples, but she also wasn't surprised that the boy wasn't scared of confronting the politics of their world, given his feelings for Ivy.

Bella slammed another book closed. "How can I ask him out?"

Ivy raised her brows, "In what way?"

"You know, on a date. I just want to jump right in instead of playing around and being together by the end of the year where we will have to go into our stories soon and meet what could be different true loves. If we have a strong relationship before then, we either force the fates to change for us, or we simply reject the loves in our stories if we aren't each other's already." Bella continued.

Ivy's brows stayed up. Of course the top-of-the-class Princess was a step ahead of Ivy in terms of whether or not Filip was her true love.

Ivy's gears whirred. "He loves bold and bright to match his fun personality. It can't be intimate, so it has to be like one of those famous scenes we read in fairytales about a grand act of love in front of many people."

Bella whistled, "Wow, Filip sure is an all-over-the-place kind of Charming."

"And you still want him to be your true love?"

She smacked her hands onto the table, "Of course! I don't care about what he likes, I have a feeling he is mine, isn't that enough?!" She snapped.

Ivy's jaw dropped, "I mean, yes, it's enough. It may just look a little... insane."

"Insane?!"

"Insane to lead up with that, I mean. What if he doesn't feel that way for you?"

Bella slumped, "I guess you're right,"

Ivy reluctantly placed her hands on Bella's shoulders. "See? As a future Godmother, you're already helping me learn how to help you."

Bella took a few deep breaths, calming down. "Thank you."

Ivy let go of her shoulders, realizing that she hadn't blushed or felt her skin tingle on every inch of her body at the sight of touching Bella.

As much as Ivy hated to admit it, maybe she was finally getting over her crush on Bella.

Maybe.

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