Chapter 293 – Alone with Eve

Sophia and Maya were still chatting with the cat-girl’s parents in their mansion. They had just finished telling them about their journey and how the couple got together while obviously omitting some details. Especially on the tiger's side. Eve, Maya's mother, was still far from having enough and decided to take Sophia on a one-to-one excursion to the kitchen, where she wanted to find out more about her while also baking some cookies together.

“So, how far have you gone with my daughter?” Together alone with the blonde in the kitchen, Eve directly started with a loaded expression.

“H-Huh?!” Sophia almost dropped the plate she was holding right now. “W-Why would you ask something like that?!”

“Your reactions sure are something else.”

“Maya really is your daughter…” She hung her head. “The teasing runs in the family, huh…? Didn’t you say earlier that you first want to win me over first before I get the rough treatment…?”

“And then you said that I shouldn’t treat you special.”

"A-Ah…” The tiger had already forgotten that she had brought this upon herself. “C-Compared to yesterday, your personality sure has gotten deeper…”

“Despite my age, I’m still a playful and curious cat.”

“Wow.” That reply left her speechless. “Maya’s future looks bright!”

“You like that sort of personality?”

“I love it! She had a bright smile. “Else, I wouldn’t be dating your daughter, would I?”

“That’s a fair point.”

“Well, it can get a little overwhelming at times, and especially in the early times, it made me embarrassed and or bashful way more often than I’d like to admit, but it’s still great! It never gets boring, and it's rubbing off on me~. Not only on the receiving side, but I love being sassy myself, too!”

“You found someone great with Maya, then.”

“Yes!” Sophia only reacted with a couple of big nods. "I'm still learning to get back on her more reliable, though... She's a tough girl."

“She is my daughter, after all.” Eve sounded a little proud. “Still, she has so many exploitable flaws that it should be super easy for you to get the upper hand if she ever gets too sassy.”

“Maya?” The blonde tilted her head. “That doesn’t sound like the cat I know.”

“Have you ever told her a good and scary ghost story?” A slight grin appeared on her face. “Do you really not know just how adorable she gets then?”

“Ahhh… We actually explored a dungeon that had some ghost-like beings inside… I loved it, but we almost needed to organize new underwear for Maya…”

“See?”

“Telling some ghost stories sounds like a ton of fun there, but…I can’t really use that against her, though… I’m terribly afraid of insects, which were also more than abundant in that dungeon… Whenever she teases me about that, I get back to her with the ghosts, but if I would bring that up first, she would never stop teasing me with those ghastly insects…”

“Really? Maya’s teasing you about insects? Maya?”

“Uhh… Yes?” Sophia looked a little confused. “She’s fine with them, after all… Using worms for fishing, or… She didn’t even flinch when we saw spiders the size of children! I even saw her looking with interest at a centipede out of all things before I incinerated it with the strongest flame my magic can produce…”

“And yet, she’s terribly afraid of ladybugs.”

“Ladybugs?!” The tiger got loud. “I mean, I don’t really like them, either, but… Those are one of the very few insects that are actually almost slightly a little cute. When looking at them from a distance, at least. Maybe.” She wasn’t that convinced about it.

“I have no idea why, but it is true. Maybe it’s something about the pattern?” Eve gave it some thought. “Normally, red and black dots on insects often mean that they’re dangerous, but ladybugs are just cute.”

“Again, she’s fine with child-sized spiders…?” This explanation didn’t make it any better for her.

“Are your fears reasonable and make perfect sense?”

“…” Sophia went silent for a moment. “Ladybugs, huh? That could be fun~. Not that this information does anything for me in fall, though.”

“Ah, that is true.” She hadn’t thought about that part. “What other weak points does our dear girl have…?”

“That’s what I would like to know!” The tiger raised her voice.

“My, someone’s eager, huh?”

“W-Well, I adore Maya’s sass and how smug she can get, but she also overdoes it at times, so… Having something to get her back would be great~. I know that jealousy is one of her weaknesses, as well, but I have no plans to make her jealous on purpose. Okay, really jealous, that is. There maybe were a few instances where I played with it a tiny bit. A-Ah, nothing that actually means anything, though… Maya’s absolutely the only one!” She somehow felt the need to add the last part after remembering that she was talking with her girlfriend’s mother.

“Wait a moment, she gets jealous of others? The girl that was still mostly indifferent about actual love at the start of the year…?”

“You have no idea. She got much better lately, but it actually used to be at a level where it was a problem…”

“Really?” Eve looked surprised. “I have a hard time imagining it, actually. What was the worst thing she did when she got jealous?”

“There was a time where she reliably got grumpy or angry when I was just chatting with other girls. That got annoying fairly quick. I’m glad that she noticed the issue herself, as well, and it doesn’t bother her anymore.”

“Wow.”

“Oh, there was also the time where she threatened King Menzor and attacked the first princess because he wanted me to marry the princess, and that tiger was surprisingly into it… Admittedly, that was quite fun, though~."

“I seriously would’ve never expected for Maya to be this… Wait, what?”

“It was a very entertaining day~.”

“M-My daughter threatened his majesty and attacked a princess…?”

“Yup.” She just nodded. "She completely destroyed and humiliated Anna, said princess, in a magic match afterward, as well."

“N-No way… She always was overly impulsive, but that this would develop into something like that…”

“It’s okay, though. The king actually likes her quite a lot and regularly asks for her help on various things. Also, she’s become best friends with the princess afterward.”

“My girl… regularly talks with his majesty? She's friends with the first princess, as well…?"

“And earlier, you thought Ellie’s Maya’s d-daughter because they looked so close. She’s also a princess of this nation.”

“T-This is so unbelievable…”

“I know, right?” Sophia nodded a few times. “I never would’ve believed anything of this just a few months ago…”

"Still, you aside… My daughter's deeply involved with the royal family, the rulers. I get nervous just thinking about it…”

“Oh, speaking of,” The tiger’s ears twitched after hearing those words. “The queen actually wanted to see you. She also likes Maya a lot, and the few times her parents, you, came up, the queen was quite interested in meeting you.”

“T-There’s just no way I could do that!” Eve started panicking.

“That would mean you’re going against the wishes of our nation’s queen, though.”

“D-Don’t do that to me!” She got loud.

“Sorry, this was an opportunity I couldn’t miss.” She let out a small and awkward chuckle. “Kira, the queen, is a really nice person, though. I bet you two would get along great.”

“Me? With the queen of this nation?”

“Yup.”

“T-There’s just no way that’s possible! It’s impossible for normal people to be around royalty like that!”

“You know,” Sophia smiled at her. “I had the same issue with all that, but… While technically not entirely true, I’m more or less considered to be something close to a royal princess myself, you know? You speak with me just fine? Also, confirmed by the king and the queen, your own daughter, thanks to her dating me, also now is on the same rank as a royal. In context, I think that you, too, are at least partly royal now because of that.”

“…” Eve needed a moment. “What…?” It was too much for her.

"A lot to take in, huh?” She was still smiling. “The royal family is surprisingly affable. You don’t have to, but I'm sure it'll go well. You don't need to meet the king, but Kira would be really happy to meet you because she likes Maya and me a lot. I can also ask her to come here so that you don't have to meet her in the castle to add even more pressure.”

“Uhh…”

“You don’t have to decide right now, but give it some thought.”

“Okay…” She just weakly nodded before returning the tiger’s gaze. “I’m starting to really believe that you are a true noble. You have an impressive way with words."

"…" The blonde had to pause after hearing this completely uncharacteristic explanation of her. “Am I overdoing with stopping time to think…?” Mumbling those words to herself only, she then faced Eve again. "H-How about we change the topic a little? I still want to hear more weaknesses of Maya! We got a little derailed there! Also, some cookies sound delicious right now!"

“Yes… Let’s put the whole topic of my daughter now being a noble in name, my future daughter-in-law being a real noble, and the queen of this nation wanting to meet me on hold for the time being… Cookies do sound more fun, indeed.”

“I-I think there was something in your reply right now where you skipped a few steps…”

“No.” Eve looked much more determined again. “I’m going to have you take responsibility for all of this.”

"I-Is that so…?" Sophia's cheeks turned red.

“Yes.”

“I-I see…” Even stopping time wouldn’t help to regain all of her composure here.

“Any objections?”

“I-It doesn’t have to happen now, r-right…?”

“Not at all.” She shook her head. “Something like that is not to be rushed.”

“O-Okay… It might make things worse for me, but Kira… She tried to push Maya and me in that direction as well already… You two would get along really well…”

“Oho.” Eve sounded a little more interested in the idea now. “Well, for now, let’s focus on baking a little while I tell you more secrets about our girl.”

“T-Thanks…”

Afterward, the two did just that while Sophia was doing her best to regain her composure.