Chapter 119 – Good with kids

The couple had a pretty relaxing day in the royal castle. Sophia promised Ellie to play with her, and she gladly did just that for the entire day. Even Maya had joined their game of tag at some point, and she had a lot of fun with them.

"Haa... isn't Ellie adorable?" It was the late afternoon, and the couple was on their own again because the princess had entirely powered herself out and couldn't even keep her eyes open anymore. As a result, Kira had collected her and brought the little tiger back inside to let her have a nap.

"She sure is." The cat-girl couldn't deny it.

"She took a liking to you real fast, too, Maya. Ellie really wanted to play with both of us again soon. You're good with kids, huh?"

"S-Seems like it..." Her cheeks turned slightly red while she remembered the conversation she had with Kira about the same topic earlier.

"Is something wrong?"

"N-Not at all. Kids are surprisingly fun to be with."

"Absolutely!"

"Though, you seem to be especially good at dealing with her. Is it because you're a kid yourself at heart?"

"Ahaha, that might be a part of it." Sophia didn't say anything. "I just really love kids."

"You said that before, didn't you? W-Wait! You d-didn't have any k-kids in your old world, had you?!" As usual, Maya was second to none when it came to jumping to conclusions.

"..." The tiger-girl only stared at her in disbelief. "Hello, nice to meet you. My name's Sophia. I'm a lesbian who couldn't even hold a conversation with girls my age and older in my previous life."

"R-Right..." She forgot about that in her panic.

"No, I was a kindergarten teacher before. Or, rather, training to become one before I ended up here."

"Eh...?"

"Kids were about the only human interaction I could hassle-free deal with because of my personality back then, and it was a lot of fun. It was perfect for me. Even better, my mom ran a kindergarten, and so I totally lucked out. Though, that was more or less the only time I was lucky in my old life..."

"Seriously...?" Maya was too surprised to follow.

"Hmm?" Sophia looked at the confused cat-girl. "Didn't I tell you before?"

"Not at all!" This was all news to her.

"Really? Well, I don't enjoy talking about my old life, so I most likely also forgot to mention the few positive things... Wait, do kindergarten even exist here? It's something like a nursery school...? Uhh, it's a place where kids-"

"Kindergartens are a thing here."

"Ah, okay."

"One day, you have to tell me all the little things about the previous you." Maya naturally was really curious.

"Uuhh..." She didn't like the idea. "The next time I see Canir, I'll ask him about the ability to get drunk again, and then I'll think about it." It wasn't a conversation she wanted to have when sober.

"I look forward to it."

"I don't."

"But your family seems nice. This shouldn't be a topic that needs alcohol, does it?''

"Yeah, my mom and sister were great. For that, I would need alcohol... for not crying the entire time... while telling my girlfriend about my family she can never meet..." Her voice turned relatively silent and somber towards the end.

"I'm sorry..." Maya hadn't thought about that.

"No, it's not your fault…"

"Still, a kindergarten teacher, huh? That's amazing!" She wanted to change the topic as soon as possible.

"Yeah, it was a lot of fun."

"Do you want to do it again?"

"Here? Hmm... I don't think so? Or at least not anytime soon. I'm enjoying my time with you, Fen, and also Aura way too much. If we settle down eventually, maybe? Though, doing something with magic also sounds very alluring. Still, right now, I just want to explore everything around me."

"I see."

"Oh, but teaching kids magic could be fun."

"And now I fear for the future of this world." Maya was sure this couldn't end well.

"Ahaha."

"Still, though it's of no importance anytime soon, it's g-good to know."

"What is?"

"Eh?! Ah, uhh... n-nothing!" she didn't want Sophia to know why being so great with kids is something positive at this point.

"Hmm?"

"A-Anyway..." The cat-girl changed the topic once more. "I talked with the queen earlier. It seems like they're actually planning to give us an actual, full-fledged mansion."

"Seriously?!"

"Yeah, they even got the minister of housing involved."

"For real? I know what Fen said, but I would've been fine with a simple house..."

"Apparently, because you're technically a part of the royal family, being a tiger-girl and all, that's the least they have to do for publicity reasons."

"Wow..."

"Also, fun fact, because I'm your partner, it seems I'll formally be treated as royalty, as well."

"Uhh... congrats?" Sophia wasn't sure what to say.

"Thanks. It's quite something, isn't it? It might be bad for you, though."

"Why?"

"As regretful as it is, while I, unfortunately, won't meet your family, I'm planning to introduce you to mine in the future."

"R-Really...?" The tiger-girl got nervous just thinking about it.

"Of course!"

"Urgh... Wait, what does that have to do with the whole royalty thing?"

"Who do you think is going to explain this whole mess to my parents? I, for sure, won't be the one."

"Y-You can't be serious?!"

"Sure am. Don't worry, I'll be with you, then."

"Uuh... Thanks..."

"Sitting in between my parents, judging every word of you."

"M-Maya?!"

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The cat-girl kept teasing her until it was time for dinner. Afterward, the king asked the group to meet him again to discuss some more about their plan.

"Welcome," Menzor greeted them as they entered his office. "I have good news."

"This fast?" Sophia looked surprised.

"I worked through the entire night. Met with countless ministers, the generals, and various other counselors."

"W-What?!" She seemed shocked. "Y-You didn't need to rush that much..."

"No, I absolutely had to." The king cut her off. "While your proposal wasn't the best-case scenario, it was still more than I could've hoped for. That's why I decided to act fast and get everything settled before you change your mind again. You are pretty jumpy, after all."

"I am not!"

"Yes, you are!" More than just Menzor answered her. Actually, Sophia heard four voices overlapping. Coincidentally, as Fen and Aura were present, as well, these many people were in the room right now, not counting herself.

"Fine... So, what’s the news." She gave up.

"We can work with your plan, Sophia. I'll soon announce your existence while keeping things vague. A lot of people already know, or at least saw you in the capital before. There's no need to add details to your persona, and you don't have to introduce yourself to a big group. The currently most important people, our military commanders, even already had the honor to go to war with you, after all."

"So far, so good."

"I admit, I still don't get your fast travel or whatever magic, but if it means you can visit the capital whenever you want to, I'm more than happy."

"That's the gist of it, yeah."

"Perfect. I also met the minister of housing because he is in charge of the noble and royal properties. There are two estates we can offer you. It would be great if you could take a look at them tomorrow and decide on the one you prefer."

"I'm free, so that won't be a problem. Maya, you're coming with me, right?"

"Of course. Why are you even asking? I won't be of any help, though. I have no idea about real estate whatsoever."

"Neither do I. Fen, Aura, are you tagging along, as well?"

"I have nothing planned."

"The places might have some nice patches of grass to take a nap." The two wolves turned out to be pretty lazy when not traveling.

"Alright, looks like we're doing some house viewing together!" Sophia had no idea what to expect but started to look forward to it.

"Excellent, I'll let the minister of housing know. Well, that's all for today."

"Okay." With the conversation being over, the group left the king on his own and left his office. By now, it had gotten relatively late, and they decided to head back to their rooms that were provided for them in the castle.

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On the next day, the group got together for the aforementioned house, or mansion visiting. While waiting for the minister of housing, Sophia spotted Princess Anna walking alongside a maid she hadn't seen before.

Albeit much smaller than the princess and actually closer to Sophia, in both height and figure, she seemed to be around the same age, and from their smiling expressions, they seemed to be talking about something fun. The maid had deep black hair that reached down to her middle back, which was a stark contrast to her fair skin color. Upon closer inspection of her hair and fur, there was also a bit of a yellow hue shimmering through it that accentuated a rosette-like pattern in it. Together with the slightly stubby and rounded feline ears on her head, and the thicker tail coming out from her rear, it seemed like she was a dark variant of a jaguar or a black panther. The two walked together for a little longer before the black-haired maid eventually disappeared into another room while waving to the princess.

Click on the spoiler for a picture of her:

"Bye~." Waving back, Anna eventually turned around and noticed the group. "Oh? What are you all doing here?"

"We're waiting for the minister of housing to visit some properties. Some things led to another, and I'm getting a mansion."

"Eh...?"

"Well," Maya took over because Sophia's explanation was far from understandable and told the princess about the reward from winning the war and a part of the arrangement with the king.

"Oh, I see. Mind if I tag along? It sounds like it could be fun. It's the weekend anyway, so I was about to get bored."

"What a thing to say as a princess." Maya didn't know to react.

"I don't mind. What about you?" Sophia looked at her cat-girl.

"The more, the merrier."

"Hmm..." Anna looked at her. "I don't know how I feel about the new and friendly Maya..." The change was a little off-putting to her.

"Want me to revert back? Old Maya won't let you come with us, though."

"I love the new Maya!"

"Ehehe." Sophia chuckled at their bickering. "So happy you two really get along now."

"..." Both of them fell silent after looking at her smile.

"Anyway," The blonde tiger-girl changed the topic. "Who was the maid you were talking with just now?"

"You mean Ari?"

"Ari?" The couple tilted their heads.

"Her full name's Arianne, but she's Ari to me. She's the head-maids' daughter."

"I see. Her hair's amazing!" Sophia had taken a liking to it. "The deep black with the yellowish shimmer and the dotted rosette pattern is one of the greatest things I've ever seen!"

"Hrmn..." New Maya needed a moment to keep old Maya's jealousy in check.

"It is, isn't it?!" Anna heartily agreed with a sparkle in her eyes. "It's the absolute best! She doesn't like it herself because she's the only jaguar with black hair, but I love it!"

"Ehh...? But it looks so amazing! If anything, being the only one with this kind of style makes it like ten times better."

"I knew I could count on you, Sophia!" The princess was happy the blonde saw it the same way as her. "Can I introduce you to her in the future? You have unique hair, as well, so she might believe us then that her hair is amazing!"

"A-Ahem." New Maya was losing against the old one. Seeing those two bonding over the looks of a third girl was a bit much. "You seem to like her quite a bit, princess."

"Ari? Yeah, we grew up together in the castle. She's basically like a sister to me."

"Oh, that's cute." Sophia enjoyed the background and the closeness between them.

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The three chatted for a while longer until a middle-aged man eventually appeared. He had similar animal features as the maid earlier, but his hair color was the usual yellow/orange hue. He introduced himself as the minister of housing and how he's in charge of them today. Once the greetings and introductions were over, he guided them out of the castle.

"What's wrong?" While they were walking, Maya noticed that Sophia was staring at the minister for some reason.

"Hmm... Hey, Anna?"

"Yes?" The princess turned to look at her.

"Jaguars are the retainer of the royal family, right?"

"That's how it's always been, yes."

"That's the reason the minister or most of the military commanders are jaguars?"

"Yeah?"

"Why are the maids also jaguars? There's quite the gap in between."

"Hmm...? Ah, you probably only met the head-maids, huh? Only those three and Ari are jaguars. The others are of normal origin. The heads may seem humble, but those three and their ancestors actually run the castle in the background. They're much more important than most of the other people here."

"Ohh, I see! That makes a lot more sense now."

While they were talking about the power balance of the royal retainers, the group eventually arrived at the first property, which was in very close proximity to the castle. The actual house, or mansion viewing was finally starting.