Queen Kira and Ellie decided to visit the group in their new mansion. As Maya was currently suffering from extreme muscle pain, the little tiger princess tried to heal the cat-girl with a cute chant. She, just like the other two girls, took a lot of damage from that, though, because it was too adorable. Afterward, they had to take a small break to recover from their aching chests before the group finally got to eat the cake Kira brought with her for a visit.

"Oh my gosh, this cake's amazing!" Once everyone had calmed down after getting hit by Ellie's cuteness, they got to the cake, and Sophia apparently liked it very much. It was an assortment of various fruit-based slices of cake. She silently went for the one with strawberries, not even asking about the actual name of them. She didn't care.

"Delicious!" Maya got a colorful slice decorated with what looked like peaches, kiwis, and a few berries.

"The bestest!" The little tiger was happily munching on a slice of apple cake.

"As expected of the bakery that also delivers to the castle." Kira, just as the blonde, also went for the strawberry one. "You just can't beat them."

"Plea-"

"Please tell me the address of this bakery!" Sophia wanted to say something, but the cat-girl was faster.

"What she said."

"Someone likes sweets, huh? Sure, I'll note it down for you later."

"Thank you very much!"

The couple chatted with Kira for a while longer, but once Ellie finished her cake, she had different plans.

"So... phia, let's play!"

"Oh? Sure." She had no better plans.

"Yay!"

"But Maya has to rest today."

"Yes..."

"I'll play with the two of you in a few days again, okay?" The cat-girl promised her to join them soon.

"Okay!" The little tiger showed her a big smile.

"Alright, what do you want to play?"

"Hmm... hide and seek! Ellie wants to play hide and seek!"

"Sounds fun. I don't know this place yet, and I have no idea where to look for you. You're really lucky."

"Super!"

----------------

Afterward, the two tigers exited the living room, leaving Kira and Maya behind.

"So, how do you like the mansion?" After waving to the two leaving girls, Kira faced Maya.

"Right now, I would've preferred one without stairs..."

"Ahaha." She let out a chuckle. "Isn't Sophia able to use healing magic? You shouldn't suffer that much, right?"

"She said that if she heals my legs, all the running would've been for nothing because it would reset my muscles or something like that."

"Oh, that makes sense. Tough luck, girl."

"Yeah..." Maya weakly nodded. "But this mansion is too amazing. Sophia and I are still overwhelmed by everything. I mean, Sophia never knew that her being a tiger is anything special, and, no offense, I totally forgot about that. My hometown's so far away, and I had so little interest in politics that it completely slipped my mind. We only found out on our travels, and now Sophia's playing with one of the nation's princesses while I'm chatting with the queen in our mansion that the royal family gifted us. Yeah, sooo... a lot to take in."

"It surely makes for an interesting story, though."

"That's for sure. I can already see the bewildered faces of my friends and family when they find out. Not sure yet if it will be fun or extremely exhausting to tell them, though. Probably both at the same time."

"Feel free to bring your family to the castle when you tell them. I'll gladly give them a tour~."

"I somehow doubt the queen giving them a tour will make that situation any easier." Maya wasn't a fan of the idea.

"Hehe. Well, I would still like to meet your parents at some point."

"Sure, once we, mostly Sophia~, managed to explain what's going on, as long as they want, that should be doable."

"I look forward to it." Kira had fun. "Well, you now even have a place to accommodate them if they visit you in the capital, huh?" She simply gestured around her.

"Well, my parents don't even know I'm in the capital, so..." The cat-girl doubted it'll happen anytime soon. "But, yes, we definitely have enough rooms to let them stay here. If anything, we have too many rooms. More than anything, the types of rooms..."

"Types?"

"The offices and tons of guestrooms aside, the, uhh, c-children's rooms, they were a little much."

"Ohh~." The queen liked the sound of that.

"You know my view on that." Maya didn't want to talk about it again. "Actually, you should be more concerned about those kids' rooms."

"Eh, what do you mean?"

"Sophia now has a room where a child can live. You know, the girl who really loves your youngest daughter and is currently playing with her in this house."

"A-Ah." Kira froze up. "S-She wouldn't do that, right?"

"The girl who destroyed an army because of attempted kidnappings, among other things, taking Ellie away from you? Unlikely."

"R-Right..." The queen looked relieved.

"There might be a lot of whining for some sleepovers in the future, though."

"Well... "

"Ellie might try to persuade you, too."

"Ahaha... Well, that might, eventually... not impossible..." Kira sounded somewhat reluctant still. "If there's a place where Ellie's safe, it's this household." The group's so overpowered that nothing can happen to the little tiger.

"Speaking of Ellie, do you already have any plans for when her magic awakens? I was about her age when it happened for me."

"Really, that early? It usually happens between five and six, though?"

"I could actually use it with four, but I remember, uhh, feeling it before?" Maya wasn't sure how to word it. "Maybe it happens earlier when you have more power? If so, it might happen to Ellie soon, too."

"Is that so?" Kira tilted her head while thinking about it. "Menzor told me that Eluna will return to the palace soon thanks to Sophia and you. Maybe I'll try and get her to teach Ellie."

"Hmm..." The cat-girl's expression indicated that she wasn't the biggest fan of the idea.

"She is-, was one of, if not the most renown teacher in our country, you know?"

"Yes, Anna mentioned something along those lines, but... Sophia and Fen, and Aura, too. They proved that the very foundation of the way we thought magic works is just plain wrong. You saw how I managed to teach Anna the basics of fire magic even though it should've been impossible. Don't you think she should learn magic the right way from the beginning?"

"If you put it that way." The queen had to agree. "Does that mean you want to teach her?"

"I was more thinking about Sophia. She jokingly mentioned wanting to teach kids magic in the future. While I think that would be a bad idea for the general public, Ellie might be a different topic. These two are extremely attached to each other, and your daughter has the power to learn chantless magic only."

"Sophia, huh...?"

"Don't worry, I'll help out, too. The concept of restraint doesn't exist within my idiot, after all. Because of that, I'll have to watch and keep her from doing anything stupid, anyway." Maya knew why Kira sounded slightly hesitant.

"T-Thank you. It's an interesting idea, and you're right. I'll talk with Menzor and see what he thinks about it."

----------------

The two chatted for a while longer, and almost two hours passed since the two tigers left to play hide and seek. Eventually, though, they finally returned to the living room.

"Mama!" Ellie seemed to be very excited about something as she energetically addressed the queen.

"Yes?"

"Ellie wants to stay here!"

"Ah." Kira and Maya awkwardly looked at each other before focusing their attention on the blonde tiger behind the princess.

"I'm innocent!" Noticing their gazes, Sophia immediately threw up her hands in defense.

"Really now?" The two didn't believe her.

"Yes! While we were playing, Ellie found one of the kid's rooms and really liked the colorful walls while complaining how boring her room in the castle is!"

"Boring!" The little tiger in question tried to get her point across.

"I-I see... Should we get your room painted, then?"

"Yay!" The little princess liked the idea.

"Good, we'll do that."

"Ellie still wants to stay with So... phia!" The topic, unfortunately, wasn't over yet.

"It was worth a try." Kira hadn't had high hopes for her to forget about it.

"Ellie, even if you're staying in that room, Maya and I, just like your parents, have our own room. I won't be sleeping with you... most of the time." Sophia tried to help out the queen, but she didn't fully manage to stay serious.

"Oh." The little tiger stopped for a moment and looked down with a sad expression. "Ellie understands... "

"Ugh..." More than one heart just got broken.

"Alright..." Kira was the first to cave in. "How does a sleepover every once in a while sound?"

"Really?" Sophia immediately reacted. "I mean, I'm super happy about it, but isn't she a bit young?" She was surprisingly reasonable.

"A little." The queen agreed. "But she's so attached to you, and if there's a place for her to be safe from any danger, it's this house, after all."

"I see. Well, I'm honored."

"What's a sleep... over?" The princess in question was a little confused over the word she apparently hadn't heard before.

"You stay the night with Maya and me. We'll have dinner together, play a whole lot, and then sleep together."

"Really?!" Her face lit up. "Ellie wants to have lots of sleepovers!"

"Let's do it once Maya feels better again, okay? We can all play together, then."

"Yay!"

As Ellie was very satisfied, the topic was put on hold for the time being, and the group continued to chat for a little longer. Eventually, though, Kira and the little princess left again, and Sophia had to carry Maya back to the bed upstairs. As expected, nothing else noteworthy happened that day anymore.