Chapter 296 – That went well

Sophia had cured Theo, Maya's father, from the back pain he was suffering by generously using a vast amount of healing magic on him. Naturally, that made their already high evaluation of the tiger soar even more as a result. It even reached a point where Maya would have a problem with them if she were to ever break up with the blonde. Not that she had any intentions to do so.

“By the way,” Now that the mood had relaxed a little, Maya seemed curious about something while facing her parents. “What is your plan for this vacation of yours? How long are you going to stay in the capital? Where are you staying? What do you plan to visit?”

“Hmm…” Eve tilted her head. “Those are some very good questions. I wanted to visit the capital, and… here we are."

“It was more of an impulse decision.” Theo added his own bit.

“And you were worried about meeting my parents…” The cat-girl looked at her tiger.

“Ehehe~.” She smiled back at her. The queen of impulsive decisions now knew she'd get along great with them.

“Let’s see…” Eve then gave it some actual thought. “I would say that we’re staying for a good while. There's nothing back in Raumont that needs us, and we have quite a bit of savings we brought with us for the trip. Traveling back, now that it seems to be getting cold soon, also doesn’t sound like the most fun idea.”

“I think so, too.” Theo nodded. “The capital is also much, much larger than I remembered. I. bet you can stay here for months without seeing everything.”

“Exactly!” His wife agreed.

“Sounds fun!” Sophia smiled at them. “Still, savings or not, staying that long in an inn sounds quite expensive. Our place here is currently a little busy, but we still have some empty guestrooms in the mansion. You are MORE than welcome to stay here as long as you want!”

“Really?” The two sounded surprised.

“Absolutely!”

“Yes.” Maya also agreed with her. “That being said, the first princess, her girlfriend, and another friend of ours are also currently staying here. We also have two more companions who will return… eventually?” She tilted her head while thinking about the wolves. “In short, it’s pretty lively here right now. The princess and Ari will return to the castle in around a week, though.”

“Why is the first princess just staying here like it’s nothing?!” Theo raised his voice.

"Well," The blonde scratched her cheek. "It's not completely right, but as a fellow tiger, we're kinda related, I guess. We're also quite close with everyone in the castle, so… princesses or even the queen visiting us here every now and then is nothing out of the ordinary."

“Wow.” He had nothing else to say.

"It is a very lovely and generous offer, and I would love the spend a lot more time with both of you, but…" Eve looked at the duo. "Our inn is really nice, and I feel like this is needed for the real vacation experience. Also, I'd like to spend some more time with the two of us while exploring the capital."

“That sounds great!” Sophia couldn’t blame them in the slightest. “Don’t get lost again, though.”

“Ahaha…” Maya's mother only let out a dry laugh. "If your offer still stands in a while, we'd love to stay here for a bit, though. We obviously miss Maya, and we already love you, so we definitely would like to spend more time with you once our vacation is a little less exciting."

“And maybe when we’re not living in the same house as the first princess…” Theo sounded a little nervous just thinking about it.

“Of course!” The tiger reacted with a big nod. “We’ll definitely keep a room empty for you! We’d love to have you here, after all!”

“What she said.” Maya just smiled at them.

“I look forward to it already!” Eve seemed happy about it. “Spending time with both of you will be lovely. Also…” She paused for a moment. “Staying in a mansion that is this warm and cozy will be great, too! Why is it so warm here?! It’s amazing!” In the end, she also was just another cat.

“It’s the best, isn’t it?” Sophia sounded rather proud. “I invented a new way of heating a house, and our mansion was the test object for that. I’d say it came out rather well~.”

“You’re amazing!” She had no better words.

“Ehehe~.” The blonde liked her reaction. “I know!” This time, she had no intention to be humble. “It was a lot of trial and error… The raw material is quite explosive before it gets refined. We just finished rebuilding the garden after Maya exploded half of it while we were experimenting…”

“H-Hey!” The explosion-fanatic got loud. “There was no need to mention that…”

“Again…?” Theo suddenly sounded slightly disappointed. “Weren’t the countless times you blew up our garden with your magic enough…?”

"A-Ah…” Maya’s cheeks turned red.

“My, a serial offender, huh?” Sophia enjoyed this revelation a lot.

“Urgh…” She got even more embarrassed. “S-Shut up…”

Afterward, the four kept chatting about many topics for a good while longer, and curiously enough, Maya was the constantly embarrassed one for a change. It had soon gotten pretty late, though, and her parents decided to head back for the time being. They apparently had a reservation in a fancy restaurant they didn’t want to miss out on. Eve had invited the couple to join them, but the two didn’t want to impose on their date. After promising many times to come to visit again soon, they finally left the mansion.

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“Phew…” Still in the living room, Sophia let out a sigh. “Not what I was expecting to do today…”

“YOU CAN SAY THAT AGAIN!” Maya was a little less indifferent about it.

“Ahaha…” She had to chuckle at her reaction. "For not being prepared to meet your parents, I think I did a decent enough job…"

“That’s putting it very lightly. Mom already likes you way too much. Dad’s quite the fan, too.”

“Ehehe~.” The tiger liked hearing that. “I’m so happy!”

“Good for you.” The cat-girl smiled at her. Though she suffered a lot in the last hours, she was glad that Sophia had a great time and bonded with them. “Still, I saw how often you suddenly looked a little jumpy as if you skipped in time. Not being prepared is quite the stretch, isn't it? How often did you stop time? How long did it take you to come up with some of your replies…?"

“…” She paused for a moment while looking slightly awkward. “I’d like to not say an exact number here…”

“Often and long?”

“Often and long.” Sophia hung her head. “I didn’t want to mess up like I usually do… This was too important for that…”

"It's fine. I totally understand that." Maya wasn't angry. "Also, I’m going to have a lot of fun when they see your unhinged side. It’s only a matter of time, after all. There’s no way you’re able to keep it up like this. They’ll like that side of yours just as much, don’t worry, but I’ll have the chance to get back at my parents for praising you so much~.”

“I-I’ll try my best to ramp it up slowly…”

“Sure.” The cat-girl didn’t believe she’d be able to do that.

“I’ll just have to meet them together with Chloe the next time… Next to her, I’ll look a little more normal…”

"No." Maya just shook her head. "You are twice as unhinged with her. Just because she's as insane as you doesn't make you look any less eccentric. In fact, you look even worse.”

"A-Ah… Okay, no Chloe.”

"Good idea." She nodded in agreement. "Speaking of, should we bring Chloe and the perverts back now that my parents are gone? I feel a little bad that we chased them out even though they were staying here…"

“Chloe and the perverts?” Sophia tilted her head. “Isn’t that a little redundant?”

“Chloe and the louder perverts?”

"Better!" Sophia stifled a small laugh. "Yeah, let's do that. It's more fun with them here, too. Also, I still need to kick Ari's butt for the whole Ellie thing."

“Because even a little 3-year-old girl had noticed her crush on Anna?”

“Exactly.”

“Good idea.” Maya liked the idea. “I’ll take the other cheek for the kick.”

“Hehe.”

Afterward, the two went to their basement to reunite with the girls in the elven village by using the portal there.

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“O-Ouch!” Exactly three seconds after the couple had entered Chloe’s home, Ari yelped in pain while she started rubbing her but to ease the stinging. “W-Why did you two kick me?!”

“Because you are a dense idiot!” Sophia stared right at her.

“H-Haven’t I apologized enough for that already…? I’m sorry…”

"Ellie thought you and Anna were married already because you two were acting the same as her mom and dad… Ellie, you know? A little girl who has no idea what romantic relationships even are yet."

“…” The jaguar wasn’t sure what to reply. A moment later, she bent over again while presenting her butt to the two. "A-Another one, please…” She saw no other solution.

“Idiot…” The couple had other plans, though, and looked at the princess instead.

“Ouch...”

“Now we’re good.” After Anna was taken care of, as well, the two started smiling again. They also decided against making a comment on how the princess' yelp was much quieter even though they had used even more force.

“Soo…” Chloe decided to stay silent until now and also ignored everything that just happened before she faced Maya. “Your parents are in the capital, huh?”

“They are.” She nodded. “It really surprised me.”

“You have no idea.” Sophia was also nodding. “I nearly had a heart attack… or seven from suddenly meeting her parents… Even more so after Ari and I had already run into them the day before while having no idea who they were…"

“I can imagine…” The jaguar was also quite surprised by this. “It sure is a small world.”

“YES!”

“How was it?” The fox-girl then glanced at the tiger. “I’m sure it’s quite the event to meet your partner’s parents, right?”

“Hence, the aforementioned heart attacks…” She paused for a moment. “Totally unlike me, I think I did fairly well, though.”

“She did too well…” Maya shook her head. “Mom already likes her more than me.”

“Good job!” Chloe was proud of her.

“Ehehe~.”

“S-Speaking of parents…” Ari looked at the couple. “You were in the castle before all that, right…? How does it look there…?”

“Ah, right!” Sophia clapped her hands. “I met your mother, too!”

“W-Which one…?” The jaguar suddenly got even warier.

“Daria! She’s great! We got along really well!”

“Oh no…”

“Now I also know why you’re secretly such a pervert!”

“Urgh…” Ari’s face turned red. “W-Why did it have to be her she ran into…”

“Hmm?” Chloe looked a little confused because she couldn’t follow the conversation.

“Ari has two moms, and I met one of them earlier. As I was, or am a little curious about the whole blessing magic thing because I only know the basics about it, I used the chance to ask her, who had used it twice already, to get all the details of her. It was very informative. I also learned that you can use the blessing magic on very specific toys to recreate a more natural way of making a child between two women. People in the capital sure are horny~.”

“Toys for a… natural way…? Wait a moment…” The fox-girl seemed to have understood her implications. “S-Seriously!?”

“I was also quite surprised.” The blonde nodded a few times. “It even simulates fluids based on liquid magic that act as an aphrodisiac. You apparently can also use it to purely have fun without getting pregnant. It’s connected to the wearer in a way that you feel everything as if it’s actually a part of yours…”

“S-Seriously?!” Chloe had to repeat herself.

“Yup.”

"Does it also come in different, uhh… colors? It sounds absolutely fascinating, but I doubt I'd be into something that completely looks like the real thing overly much.”

“All shapes and colors you can possibly imagine~.” Sophia smiled at her. “You’re apparently able to have it custom made however you want it to be.”

“Wow!” She seemed to be very interested in it. "Still, the people of the capital are all gigantic perverts!"

“I know, right?!” The blonde wholeheartedly agreed with the fox-girl. “I said the same time so many times already. I can’t say it’s a bad thing, though.”

“Absolutely!” Chloe felt the same.

“M-Mom…” Ari only looked down at her feet while her entire face was on fire. Hearing that her mother had told her best friend about something like that was incredibly embarrassing for her.

“Toys…?” Anna seemed a little confused after having listened to their conversation.

“The adult kind.” Maya looked at her. “The ones for extra fun during nightly activities with your partner.”

"Or during the day," Sophia added her own bit.

"Or when you're alone, and... your own... fingers just aren't enough..." So did Chloe. Her information sounded oddly specific, though. Slightly lonely-sounding, it was, too.

“…” The princess needed a moment before her entire face turned red. “W-Wait, it almost sounds like all of you already have experience with those t-toys!”

“…” Maya, Sophia, and Chloe just turned their heads away.

“S-Seriously?! Wait…” She then glanced at Ari. “Y-You, too…?”

“N-No!” She violently shook her head. "I know they exist, just as everyone does, b-but I've never tried them out!"

“I see.”

“Want to change that?” Maya smirked at the jaguar. “I can give you the address of the shop.

“…” She didn’t answer.

"How, uhh… H-How does it feel…?" Anna seemed a little interested.

“Well,” The cat-girl continued. "A tongue feels better, and nimble fingers do, too, but it’s a nice change of pace every now and then. Depending on what kind of toys, and how you use them, you can also do things that two girls normally can’t. There's something really enticing about those specific poses and adventures. Toys aren’t my favorite, but they are a great addition to the fun!”

“Yup!” Sophia had nothing to add.

“I-I see…” The princess’ face turned even redder before she glanced at her jaguar.

“…” She briefly matched her gaze but decided to remain silent.

“I’ll give you the address later." It was enough of an answer for Maya. "Or maybe, Chloe, do you want to help them? You went there just recently, didn't you~?"

"E-Eh?!" The fox-girl's eyes shot open. "T-That kind of shopping REALLY isn't something you do with friends, isn't it?! A-Also, I can only recommend solo things… Couple toys are outside of my range of expertise…”

“Fair enough.” Maya understood where she was coming from. “Well, recommending things there is all good, but I guess it's better to make your own experiences, anyway."

“Uuhh… I-I shouldn’t have said anything…” Anna had taken a lot of damage from this. “C-Can we get back to the earlier topic… Ari’s mother aside, how is the situation in the castle…?”

“Hmm…” Sophia tilted her head. “Kinda complicated, I’d say…”

“T-That bad?!” She didn’t like the sound of that.

"Well, you two went at it at the busiest times in the mansion. Everyone knows about the two of you now, and they have a hard time facing the queen because of that…"

“Urgh…”

“Kira’s not letting them have any of that, though. While we were with her in the entrance hall, she loudly announced that she was going to kick anyone out of the castle who would continue to be awkward, especially around the two of you."

“S-Seriously?!” The couple got loud.

“Yup. Your mother’s amazing, after all. Afterward, I threatened the king with serious violence. I might or might not have promised him to literally kick him out of the window in his office if he doesn’t stop being an idiot. Also, scratch the might part. I absolutely did.”

“F-Father is that upset?!” Anna liked the sound of that even less.

“I wouldn’t say upset…” Sophia scratched her cheek in return. “On one hand, he’s pretty embarrassed that so many people, including his ministers and whatnot, had, well… heard you and Ari… Then, you're also his daughter, his little princess. Literally, at that. His daughter, who just had become an adult… From what I’ve heard, fathers usually don’t cope overly well with that.”

“W-What a mess…” Ari wasn’t sure what else to say.

"I also gave him a good talking, not just promising him violence if he doesn't stop. He was pretty understanding and knew that he's an idiot. It should be fine soon. I also gave him something else to brood over and keep him busy. He won’t have any time to be stupid because of me.”

“W-What did you do…?” The princess had a bad feeling about this.

“You have heard about the area they wanted to turn into a frontier city, right?”

“Of course!” She nodded a few times. “I’ve also heard about the massive migraine father had gotten because the whole place had turned into a gigantic lake out of nowhere. Nobody can explain how or why that happened, either."

“How; Fennyfenny and I played with magic. Why; We messed up." Sophia scratched her cheek. "We accidentally blew up the while plain during an experiment and tried to hush it up by turning the crater into a lake.”

“That’s amazing!” Chloe’s eyes started sparkling. "I want to see that!"

"One of my portals leads to the lake. I can show you when we have the time."

“Yay!”

“I’ve heard that the lake’s multiple kilometers wide, though... Tens of kilometers, some even said…” Anna got even more confused.

“We really messed up.” Sophia slightly corrected herself. "I confessed that to the king and gave him something to concentrate his thoughts on. He’ll be too busy to think about you and Ari for a while.”

“W-Wow… You really are something else…”

“Ehehe~.” The blonde took it as a compliment. “I promise it will be fine when you return for the queen's birthday. Kira and I will guarantee that. The ministers, the king, and everyone else in the castle know what will happen to them if they don't behave."

“T-Thank you very much…” Ari and Anna had nothing else to say in response.

Afterward, the girls chatted a little longer before eventually returning to the mansion. Ari and even more so Anna liked Chloe’s treehouse, but the cats found it a little too cold for their liking. The fox-girl heartily disagreed with that but also went with them because she'd rather be with friends than in her perfectly temperate house.