Chapter 92 – Veggies are important

After the couple came back from exploring the capital, Sophia was ambushed by Ellie in the entrance hall of the royal castle. Once the two finished cuddling and playing, they were informed by Queen Kira that the two wolves had overdone a demonstration of power in some way or another, having caused a bit of a commotion.

"I wonder what the two did~."

"I'm kinda scared..." Maya wasn't as easygoing.

Navigating through the castle and getting lost only twice, according to their own report, the two finally arrived at the training grounds after around 20 minutes of wandering around.

"We should've asked someone for the way..."

"Yeah."

"Okay, what do we... have... here?" Sophia looked around and stopped talking. The training ground was riddled with craters of varying sizes. Next to it, on a patch of grass under a tree, Fen and Aura were quietly taking a nap without a care in the world.

"Uhh..." The cat-girl also was speechless.

"It was amazing!" Besides the couple, Anna suddenly popped up.

"Princess?!" Maya got surprised.

"What was amazing? What did the two do?"

"Father's in a meeting with some of our military commanders at the moment. When they walked past here and saw the two napping there, the commanders noticed the power radiating from them challenged them to a fight. Well... tried to challenge them."

"O-Oh..." The cat-girl turned pale.

"Are... Are they still alive...?" Sophia, too, had a bad feeling.

"Of course. The male wolf... Fen? He couldn't be bothered whatsoever and simply turned around, sleeping some more. The other one... Aura, was it? She humored them a bit. She told them to all attack together with everything they got... Three seconds later, she went to sleep again, as well. Father's currently busy nursing the broken egos of a couple of middle-aged men."

"Yeah, I'm not going to visit him today..." Sophia really didn't want to deal with the aftermath.

"He wanted to see you, though."

"Nope. I'll pretend I never heard about this."

"Heard about what?" Maya was with her on that.

"Exactly."

"I probably would do the same..." Anna couldn't blame her. "Still, Aura's awesome! She beat them so easily, and it was clear to even me that she was considerably holding back! Just how powerful is she?"

"That's an excellent question... I don't think any of us could beat her using normal methods." Sophia could stop time if she really wanted to, but that wouldn't be a good answer. For various reasons, that is.

"I see... Speaking of which, how strong are you, anyway, Sophia? From what I can feel and also heard, it's ridiculous, but... compared to Maya, which I..."

"Lost horribly to~." The cat-girl finished her sentence.

"Uuh..."

"Compared to Maya, huh...? That's a tough one."

"The gap between Sophia and me would make our fight look like a close call, princess. Comparing the two of us in terms of power is a direct insult to magic as a whole."

"S-Seriously?!" Anna was shocked.

"It's not that extreme, okay?" Sophia wanted to play it down.

"I was even slightly downplaying you in that claim." The cat-girl didn't let her have any of that.

"W-Wow, you should really stay away from father, then... Not that the military guys try to challenge you, as well, to get back their pride, only to be crushed even more. They're good guys, after all..."

"Ahaha... I wasn't going to, regardless of that."

"Your group sure is freaky..." The princess was amazed. "How did you all become like that? I mean, I'm the most talented in school, but... yeah."

"I know that feeling." Maya sympathized with her. "I, too, thought I was the strongest. I mean, being able to use two elements, how amazing is that? Then, I met Sophia... I, in my presumptuous way, challenged her to a fight, even mocking her by saying stuff like I would hold back or not hurting her..." The cat-girl remembered their match. "Only to be destroyed. Being the sadistic girl she is, from time to time, Sophia deliberately used a different type of magic whenever I attacked to completely crush my spirit... Even forcing me to give up by activating darkness magic..."

"H-Hey!" She heard something she didn't like in there.

"T-That's... Wait?! Sophia has a sadistic side, as well...?" She glanced at the cat during the last part.

"I-I have not!" The girl in question loudly protested.

"Fen! Wake up for a moment!" Maya yelled towards the wolf.

"What?!" He sounded grumpy after being woken up by her.

"About Sophia's sadistic side..."

"Eh?! We're talking about this now?!" Fen wasn't ready for this. "l thought we're keeping it a secret?!"

"No, just proving a point."

"Don't get me involved in that, cat!"

"Sorry!"

"S-Seriously?!" Sophia was in shock. "I had no idea... Really? How come I never noticed?"

"Well, it mostly happens when your boo-, you know what I mean."

"Ahh..." She understood that the cat-girl meant her boosts. "Uuh, how very embarrassing... He really gave me the short end of the stick..." She sent another compliment towards Canir for messing with her personality.

"He did not. For the most part..."

"What are you two talking about?" Anna seemed confused.

"It's kinda complicated..."

"It's alright, I won't pry." Despite anything, she was a good girl.

"T-Thanks."

"But a sadistic Sophia...? I might want to see that." There was a hint of excitement in the voice of the royal tiger.

"Ehh...? You're into that?" Maya hadn't expected that from the princess.

"W-Well, it could be... i-interesting..."

"No sadistic Sophia for anyone!" The girl in question had no intention to play along.

"Aww..."

"There's no reason to be disappointed here!" She was getting angry. "Fen, you'll regret this!"

"Why me!?" The wolf woke up again from the sheer unreasonableness.

"Because I just decided on it!"

"Ehh...? Aura, some backup, please..."

"I have no idea what you're talking about, but I do know that I don't want to get involved. So, no thanks." As the female wolf didn't know all of Sophia's quirks yet, she simply turned around.

"I really have no allies..."

"Sorry for bringing you into this..." Maya felt slightly apologetic.

"I'm dragging you down with me when she makes me regret it!" He had no intention to forgive her.

"A-Anyway..." Princess Anna thought it was about time to change the topic. "Err, we're about to have dinner. Are you two joining us?"

"Well-."

"Don't worry, father won't be attending. He's still with the military." She guessed why the blonde tiger-girl was hesitating.

"Oh, then we might, Maya? These two are fine with a generous helping of meat after all." She gestured at the wolves.

"A royal dinner? I'm intrigued."

"We don't eat overly fancy, okay?"

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As the two didn't want to get lost again, the couple let themselves be guided by Princess Anna. And so, after just a few minutes, the three arrived in the dining hall.

"So... phia!" Ellie, together with Queen Kira and two maids, were already present when the little tiger-girl spotted her and got excited.

"Ellie~." She happily waved back.

"You know, my little sister never before greeted me like that. Not even once..." Anna softly complained to Maya.

"Hrmn..." She, too, had complicated feelings about this.

"I invited the two for dinner. Was that okay, mother?"

"Of course. That was the plan, anyway."

"So... phia, here! Here!" Ellie pointed at the chair next to her, urging her to sit there.

"Sure. "

"No hesitation whatsoever..." The cat-girl seemed slightly pouty.

"What? I wanted to sit opposite of you in the first place. It's easier to look at you that way."

"O-Oh..." She had no comeback.

"Wow... That was smooth." Mother and daughter were impressed by Sophia.

"Alright, I'll sit next to Maya, then. That way, we'll be in the same line of sight!" Anna was still going strong.

Once the seating arrangement was taken care of, the maids soon served dinner. As it was a carnivore family, there was plenty of meat-based dishes. While Sophia was liking meat a lot more ever since she became a tiger-girl herself, she was still happy that they were also plenty of vegetables. Because of that, she didn't hold back on the broccoli, carrots, and various others, or whatever they're called now. She didn't listen to the names when she was corrected.

"So... phia likes vegetables...?" The little tiger-girl seemed to be a bit of a picky eater because only the pre-cut meat on her plate was gone.

"Of course! They're delicious."

"Really...?" Ellie suspiciously eyed her carrots.

"Here~." Sophia picked up a small one with her fork and waved it around in front of the girl.

"N-No..." She turned her face away.

"Come on, they're important for you. All good kids eat their vegetables, you know? Are you not a good kid?"

"Ellie is good!"

"Then," Sophia waved around her look some more. "Say ahh~."

"A-Ahh... ham!" Reluctantly, the little tiger-girl bit down on it. "Ahh..." Chewing for a while, Ellie opened her mouth to show it's gone. "I ate it!"

"She ate it?!" Kira was the most shocked one.

"Very good!"

"Ehehe~."

"Now you can eat the rest on your own, right?"

"No! Feed me!"

"Ehh~?" As Sophia couldn't help but spoil her, she did just that and picked up some more vegetables.

"Ham!" She obediently ate everything now.

"What?! Huh? H-How...?" Kira couldn't believe what she was seeing right now. "E-Ellie is eating her vegetables...? I tried the exact same thing, but there was no chance!"

"Really? What did you do until now, then?"

"I, uhh, had the maids mix the vegetables into the meals in a way she wouldn't notice..."

"Clever. Ellie, you'll eat your vegetables from now on, right?"

"Only if So... phia eats with me!"

"That's no good. I won't always be here when you're eating. I also want to eat with Maya alone from time to time. That's very important for the two of us. But when I'm in the castle, I'll try to eat with you, okay?"

"Yes... I understand." Though looking sad, Ellie accepted it.

"Great. It's important for you to eat your vegetables."

"Ellie will eat them now. B-But no pell-pepper! They are bad! EVIL!"

"Pell...? Ah..." She managed to link them to bell pepper. "W-Well, everyone has stuff they dislike..."

"You're not a fan either, are you?" The others instantly saw through Sophia's reaction.

"Shh!" She put a finger on her lips. "I'm trying to do something here. A-As long as you eat most of your food, it should be fine. Ah, is that okay?" She looked at the queen for confirmation.

"Y-Yes, of course..." Kira was still baffled about what was going on. "Sophia, you're... amazing. You're really so good with her."

"Ehehe~." She was happy about it.

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They finished eating before long, with Kira being very glad that Ellie ate almost all of her vegetables. The evening was far from over with that, though.

"Alright, Ellie, let's get you in the bath." The queen grabbed her, but the little girl had different plans.

"I want to go with So... phia!"

"Eh?!" Maya was the one who reacted first.

"Ahaha... I'm sorry, Ellie, my bathing time is reserved for Maya. We promised a long time ago, and I can't change that." The cat-girl's request of taking a bath together every day was still active.

"Eh?!" The wrong, grown-up princess complained now, but she was easily ignored by everyone.

"Aww..." The little one seemed sad. "But if So... phia promised, there's no helping it..."

"Thank you for understanding. Is she going to bed afterward?" She looked at Kira while asking.

"In around an hour after, why?"

"Ellie, how about I come to your room later and tell you a story before you go to sleep instead?"

"Really? Yay! It's a promise, okay?!" She got really excited.

"Of course. Now go and take your bath."

"Yes!"

Finally motivated, Kira was able to lift Ellie up and carried her over to the bathroom.

"Shall we head out, as well?"

"Sure..." Maya agreed.

"So... just for the record, I'm going to take a bath alone?"

"Yes!" The couple yelled at Princess Anna while leaving.