Tagging along with one of Sophia's usual running sessions and urging her to not hold back too much was a big miscalculation on Maya's side. She had utterly overexerted herself because she, as usual, got too competitive to stop. As a result, the cat-girl was in a lot of pain caused by her aching muscles.

Sophia pitied her and gave the poor girl an extended leg massage to ease her pain. However, the tiger enjoyed it just as much because she really likes Maya's legs. Be it touching or simply looking at them.

Unfortunately, as is customs with sore muscles, the real pain started on the next day. Sleeping almost till noon, after waking up and noticing how she was feeling, Maya somehow managed to get some necessities in the bathroom done before she decided to not leave the bed that day. As Sophia was a big fan of their new bed, she stayed with her for quite a while. Sadly, the cat-girl felt so sluggish that even cuddling wasn't an option. Because of that, even though the tiger still enjoyed her company, she eventually got up.

"Bored~." Around an hour passed since Sophia left the bed, and she had nothing to do. Judging by her detection magic, the wolves were once more working on the maze, but she didn't feel like helping at the moment.

"Ah, I have yet to explore the backyard of this place, huh? Fenny and Aura mentioned a barn, didn't they? That's also where Maya got the wood for the stove, didn't she? Wait, formally speaking, this mansion is mine, and I'm the only one who hasn't seen it?" Saying so, she left the building through the terrace of the living room. Looking around in the garden for a moment, she quickly found a path that led her to a building in the corner of the property, which was hidden behind a range of trees.

"Oh, it's pretty cute." The tiger looked at the brown all-wood barn. It looked a little older, but just like the mansion, it was perfectly maintained. Right next to it was a roofed area with tons of already chopped wood. As the wooden window blinds and the massive barn gate were currently closed, Sophia couldn't look inside it yet.

"Alright, let's see how the inside's like." Removing the big wooden latch that kept the gate in place, she carefully pulled it open. "Oh~." Seeing the insides for the first time, Sophia's eyes started to sparkle. "Five-year-old me definitely would've had a heart attack." The barn was filled with hay, and each side had three stables, making it six in total.

"Should we get some horses? Err, harses, I mean." Child Sophia was trying to influence the current one. "Nah, too much of a hassle to take care of… Hmm, if we have someone to take care of the mansion and garden, could we get someone for the horses, as well? Probably, right?" The tiger-girl tilted her head while thinking about it.

"Wait, why would we even need harses? Overpowered me is faster than them, and my endurance is also higher. If anything, Maya and I can ride on our wolves if something calls for it. Harses are pretty cute, though, no matter if they're useless..." Even though they had no use for them and how Sophia had previously thought she didn't care, now she was a little conflicted about the topic.

"Well, whatever, I'll leave that decision to future Sophia. Current me is hungry." She closed up the barn again and made her way back to the mansion. "Oh?" Before arriving, she then noticed a familiar presence with her detection magic.

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"So... phia!" As she walked towards the gate at the entrance, Ellie noticed the blonde tiger, and her face lit up. Holding the hand of the little girl, queen Kira used her other one to wave at Sophia.

"Ellie~!" She, too, started to smile. "What are you two doing here?" She looked at the queen.

"She wanted to see you, and I wanted to take a look at your new place."

"Oh, well then come in, you two." Sophia opened the gate and gestured them inside., "I was about to look for some food, though."

"Oh, that's perfect. Ellie?"

"Cake~!" The little tiger held up a box that seemed to be from a bakery.

"We naturally didn't come empty-handed."

"I-I love you two!" The cake made Sophia very happy. Afterward, she escorted the two to the mansion and into the living room.

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"Where's Maya?" Kira noticed the absence of a certain cat-girl as she sat down on one of the sofas with Ellie.

"Ahhh," Sophia awkwardly scratched her cheek. "She's not, uhh, feeling too well and decided to stay in bed."

"Maya... sick?" The little tiger tilted her head.

"No, nothing like that. We did some sport yesterday. Running, to be exact, and Maya overexerted herself. Now, her legs are sore."

"How much did you run for her wanting to stay in bed all day?" The queen was a little surprised.

"Not much. Miss overcompetitive just pushed herself too much with the speed we ran at."

"Oh, I see."

"Want me to get her?"

"Wouldn't it be better to let her rest?"

"Nah, it's fine. After all, she's just a little sore and sluggish. If anything, she'll probably get angry if she doesn't get any cake."

"Well, if you say so."

Afterward, Sophia got upstairs and entered their bedroom.

"Maya~?"

"Mrmng..." She only responded with a groan.

"And here I thought I like to over exaggerate." The tiger rolled her eyes.

"It hurts, okay?!" Even so, Maya's answer sounded pretty lively.

"That's more like it. Ellie and Kira are in the living room."

"Ugh, really?"

"Yep, want to join us?"

"I, uhh, do, but honestly, not enough to leave the bed. My legs feel like pudding. Can you come up with an excuse for me?" The cat-girl prioritized being lazy over having company. "A-Ah, a sensible excuse, please."

"Sure." Sophia turned around and was about to leave. "Well, more cake for me~."

"Wait!" She raised her voice. "Cake?"

"Yep, the two stopped by a bakery, and it's currently waiting for us downstairs."

"Carry me!" Maya raised up her arms, indicating that she wanted to get picked up.

"You..."

"Wait, let me get dressed first… Give me a fresh shirt and skirt, please! Don't need anything else."

"Wow…" Rolling her eyes again, Sophia walked up to the cat-girl, helped her into new clothes, and gently picked her up in a princess carry. "You sure a spoiled."

"Sure am~." She regretted nothing.

"Hehe." With Maya in her arms and a smile on her lips, she carefully went downstairs and gently placed the cat-girl on an empty sofa in the living room.

"Wow." Kira looked at the scene with a warm expression.

"H-Hello..." Acting like that in front of the queen made Maya a little embarrassed.

"Just how much did you overdo it? Sophia said you two didn't run that much, but..."

"T-That was your first mistake, listening to Sophia."

"Hey!" The blonde tiger didn't like the sound of that.

"We still ran about 40 kilometers! If not more!"

"Seriously?!"

"I offered you multiple times to slow down or take a break." Sophia didn't want to be responsible for it. "But no, you kept saying you were fine and urged me to keep my pace only to collapse at some point, and I had to carry you home on my back for about ten kilometers."

"Uggh." She let out another groan. "I-I'm sorry."

"It's fine~."

"Wait, you ran for 40 Kilometers and then carried Maya on your back for ten more?" Kira looked at the blonde girl. "How come you're not sore?"

"Why would I be? With Maya on my back, I actually could run a good bit faster because I didn't have to match her pace anymore."

"How fit are you?!"

"Ehehe. I've been running almost daily for a big part of my life. It's one of my big passions in life. I can't do without it. Or in other words, I'm pretty fit."

"Uuh..." The cat-girl felt stupid for trying to compete with her.

"On a more unrelated note," Sophia looked to her side and changed the topic. "Someone fell into the trap, huh?" She noticed that Ellie had found the white sheebskin rug. There, she laid down at some point, curled up, and was currently fast asleep. "S-So cute."

"Yeah, she saw it and just had to do it. Well, Ellie's still small, so it's only natural she couldn't hold herself back."

"A-Ah." Slightly embarrassed, the blonde turned her head away.

"You totally curled up there and took a nap just like her before, didn't you?" Kira didn't need to think too hard to connect the dots.

"M-More than once, actually. Stupid instincts..." By now, they had become more of a handy excuse rather than an actual complaint.

"You sure are something else." The queen then looked at Maya. "You need to be harder on her, girl."

"A-Ah..." Just as Sophia before, she, too, awkwardly looked away.

"The two of you took a nap together there, huh?"

"Y-Yes..." The cat-girl was a little ashamed.

"I regret nothing!" Sophia wasn't. "If anything, I want to join Ellie." She enviously glanced at the little girl napping on the comfy rug.

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Some miracle happened, and the blonde tiger managed to win against the urge to take a nap. Instead, she got up from the sofa and picked up the little one. Afterward, she sat back down and placed Ellie on her lap before wrapping her arms around her to cuddle with the small tiger.

"You sure love my daughter, don't you? This one, that is." Kira pointed at the sleeping girl in Sophia's lap with a gentle expression.

"Of course. How could I not? She's way too adorable!" She gave her another squeeze while saying so. "I'm not sure how about I feel about the other part you said, though. I don't dislike Anna even a bit. Maya, too, likes her quite a lot." She remembered how the princess was a topic between them just the day before, though they mostly talked about her looks.

"I-, I wouldn't go that far..." The cat-girl didn't want to admit it.

"It's just that I, uhh, don't like her the way Anna wanted it to be. Ellie, on the other hand, I can spoil all I want because she's still little."

"So... phia?" As if on cue, she woke up again and looked up. "Ehehe~." Noticing she was being hugged by the blonde girl, she let out a happy giggle.

"Hnng..." Sophia's heart took a lot of damage from his reaction. "H-How could you not love her?"

"..." The other two had nothing to add.

"Maya…?" As the little tiger was asleep until now, she only now noticed the cat-girl next to them. She was leaning against the side rest of the sola with her legs stretched out on it, claiming most of the sofa all for her alone. "Still hurt?" She looked at her legs, remembering what Sophia had said before.

"A little. My legs don't feel good. I'll be better soon, though."

"Can Ellie help?"

"Do you want to?" Maya smiled at her.

"Yes! Ellie will try!" She climbed off from Sophia's lap and crawled over to the cat-girl. There, she gently placed her little hands on the other's legs. "Pain, pain, go away!" She put some real energy into her cute little chant.

"Hnng..." Just like the blonde tiger before, Maya was in a different kind of pain now. Her chest tightened significantly from this attack.

"Wow..." Kira and Sophia, too, were caught as collateral damage. This was too much and took everyone out of commission.

"Did Ellie do good?" The small girl innocently tilted her head while she looked at Maya.

"Y-Yes." All of them answered at the same time.

Afterward, the group had to take a small break to collect themselves again before they could finally get to the cake the royal family had brought along.