A few days had passed since Ari, and the princess had visited the couple’s mansion and fell in love with their new heated floors there. Sophia had also finished installing the charging pads on the wall of every room using the conductivity ore in the meanwhile. She connected those charging pads with the floor using said ore so that one doesn’t have to get down and touch the ground to pour magic into the heating ore below the wooden floor. She even installed a couple of them in paw height for the wolves.

Today, though, some very important visitors had arrived at their place. The queen of the country, Kira, together with her youngest daughter, Princess Ellie. The latter made Sophia especially happy.

“Welcome~.” The blonde greeted them at their gate outside.

“So… phia!” Ellie’s eyes lit up the moment she spotted her. She let go of her mother’s hand and immediately ran towards the girl.

“I’ve missed you so much!” Sophia squatted down and waited for the little princess to jump at her for a hug.

“Ellie missed So… phia, too!” Doing as predicted, she jumped at the blonde, who then happily caught her.

“Hehe.” Cuddling for a bit, Sophia eventually picked Ellie up and placed her in her arms.

“Yay~.” Ellie then happily nuzzled against the blonde’s head while she buried her face into the bigger girl’s shoulder and nape.

“Wow, if someone unrelated would see the two of you like this, they would definitely get the wrong idea, mom.” The queen’s expression broke into a smile.

“Ahaha…” Sophia let out a small chuckle. “While I wouldn’t mind anyone thinking she’s mine, I look a little too young for a 3-year-old child, do I not?”

“Looks can be misleading, miss who-is-in-her-twenties.” Kira only stared at her.

“W-Well, true…” There was nothing she could say here. “Speaking of looks,” Sophia glanced back at the queen while focusing on her long hair that had gained a lot of volume. “You’ve gotten quite fluffy if I dare say so.”

“Ahh…” She let out a long sigh. “I hate the winter… You at least have another week or two before your hair explodes with your length… I see that you’re already turning lighter, too. Even though you already were super light, the lower half of your hair is full-on light blonde now…”

“Ahh…”

“Looking forward to it~? We all love puffy, uncontrollable hair, right?”

“Actually… as I came from the monster country with Fenny… It’s the first time I’m actually going to experience a winter in this world… Anna only told me about our condition a few days ago…”

“Poor you…” Kira looked extremely sympathetic all of a sudden.

“I-Is it really that bad for us?!” Sophia didn’t like this reaction.

“Look at me!” The queen gestured at her hair. “It’s only just the beginning, too!”

“Alright, I’m going back to the monster country for the winter! I’ll be back in spring.”

“Take me with you!”

“Anyway,” She didn’t want to continue this conversation. Sophia had no intention of taking the queen of this nation with her. “Shall we head inside?” The blonde readjusted her grip on Ellie in her arms and turned around while saying so.

“Gladly.” The queen followed after her, and they soon found themselves in the mansion’s living room.

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“Welcome.” Maya was already sitting on one of the sofas when the others joined her. “Wow, that’s quite the hair.” She immediately noticed the change in Kira’s looks.

“Please don’t mention it…”

“I look forward to Sophia gaining volume~.”

“I don’t!” The blonde had a different opinion. “I’ve been growing my hair out a lot lately, but I have no problems with cutting it short again!”

“Aww…” The cat-girl pouted for a moment before she focused her attention on the little tiger who was lovingly being carried by her girlfriend. “W-What’s up with this picture…?” She gestured at both of them.

“It’s adorable, isn’t it?” The queen smiled at her.

“S-Sure… Though, her sleeping in Sophia’s arms like that looks a little…” Maya somehow couldn’t finish her sentence. “E-Especially because they look quite alike… Actually... Is Ellie turning blonde? Anna turned lighter as well, but it was still orange... Ellie's hair starting to look like Sophia's blonde that is currently fading...”

“Hehe.” Kira enjoyed her reaction.

“Hmm…?” Sophia moved Ellie around a bit to see her face. “I didn’t even notice that she’s fallen asleep…”

“Well, she feels safe enough in your arms that she’s able to sleep. She also woke up really early today after I told her that we’re going to visit you yesterday.”

“Happy to hear~.” Sophia liked everything about this explanation. “Yeah… We were quite busy lately, and I couldn’t meet Ellie nearly as often as I wanted to. All the time, that is.”

“It’s alright.” She didn’t plan to blame her. “While she wants to see you every day, as well, she knows that it’s not possible.”

"But yeah... she's actually getting close to my hair... Weird, is the color maybe really related to magic or something like that? The more power a tiger has, the lighter the hair gets? Ellie has quite a lot, after all."

"Your guess is as good as mine." Kira shrugged her shoulders. "Though, it wasn't like that last year."

"Maybe it's a sign that her magic is about to awaken?" Maya had her own theory.

"That could be." The other two nodded.

"By the way," Sophia glanced at Ellie again before facing the queen. "Us blondes have to stay together, you know? It would probably be for the best if I keep her."

"No." She didn't share her opinion.

“Aww...” The group finally sat down on the sofas, as well. Sophia got comfortable next to Maya while the queen had the opposite sofa all for herself. The blonde had no intention to let go of Ellie, after all. Instead, she placed the sleeping girl on her lap while she started petting her head. “Oh, she also feels fluffier already….”

“Ah, you’re right…” Maya couldn’t help herself and also started playing with the princess’ hair. She was too cute to ignore, after all.

“Yes, I also noticed that earlier today.” Kira nodded. “You might not even have the one or two weeks left I mentioned earlier if Ellie’s started to change, not to mention that your color’s also turning lighter already. Don’t be surprised if your head looks like a ball of fluff tomorrow or the day after when you wake up.” She couldn’t help but show her a slight grin. “Judging by that, it looks like this winter’s going to be especially cold.”

“Urgh…” Sophia didn’t like anything about her explanation.

“Speaking of cold, this room’s everything but that… How? Why? And also, it feels amazing.” The topic finally started to get back on track. “Is this why Anna and even her Ari were so excited when they came back home from here the other day…?”

“Yep.” Sophia only nodded. “Hey, Ellie~, I need your help with something.” She gently shook the sleeping princess on her lap.

“Hmm…? So… phia…?” Sounding very sleepy, the little tiger rubbed her eyes before turning her head upwards to look at the blonde. “Ellie’s… help?”

“She woke up?!” Kira seemed highly shocked. “You really are something else…”

“What can Ellie do?”

“I want to show you something really nice, but we have to take off your shoes and socks for that.”

“But it’s cold without them…” She didn’t like the plan so far.

“I promise that you’ll feel warmer than ever without them.”

“Really…?” The little princess looked a little dubious. “But Ellie trusts So… phia! Help!” She lifted up her legs in the air and dangled them around for a bit.

“Sure~.” The blonde reached for her feet and slowly helped her out of her shoes before Ellie removed her socks all on her own. Afterward, the blonde gently placed her on the floor.

“E-Eh?!” Her expression immediately changed. “It’s warm! The floor is warm! Mama, the floor is warm here!” The heated floor seemed to have charged up Ellie’s batteries in an instant because she immediately darted off and ran around the room. “Mama, Ellie wants this, too!”

“What is she talking about…?” Kira naturally looked confused.

“Well… I won’t ask you to take off your shoes…” Sophia felt a little awkward urging the queen to take off any of her clothing. “How about you touch the floor, though?”

“Okay…?” She readjusted her position on the sofa with a raised eyebrow before reaching forward to place her hand on the floor. “Huh?! Ellie’s right! It’s warm! What is going on here…?”

“Mama, Ellie wants to live here, after all!” She still was running around in the living room.

“So does mama.” The heated floors had trapped two more cats.

“Ellie is one thing, I’ll gladly let her live here, but I doubt we have any rooms to accommodate the queen of this nation…” The blonde took it half-seriously.

“Okay, get it out already, Sophia. Why is your house the personification of paradise?” The expression of Kira changed, and she stared right at the other tiger.

“That much, huh?” She didn’t feel intimidated at all and started smiling instead. “It’s an invention I came up with~.” Afterward, Sophia explained what and how she did in a way Kira understood.

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“Wow…” Once she’d heard the whole explanation, the queen looked fascinated. “That’s amazing. How did you even come up with this…?”

“No idea.” The blonde shook her head. It wasn’t her who came up with it, after all. “Cold floors are the worst, and here we are.”

“What a reasoning… So easygoing. Well, I don’t care how you came up with it. The only important this is that you came up with this lovely idea to better the world.”

“Err…” Sophia thought the scale was a little too large.

“How much money do you want to allow us to install your invention in the castle, as well?! The price doesn’t matter! Just tell me a number.”

“Wow…” The blonde was a little taken aback. “I want this invention of mine to be publicly available. I want everyone who’s able to afford it to be able to install it in their homes just like normal magic heaters.”

“I see.”

“Well, it obviously won’t be for free, though. I’m not a charity, after all. I want some sort of reward for inventing it with the usage of the heating ore, and a percentage of each sale as royalties, for example.”

“That sounds more than fair.”

“I leave the amount for the reward, and the royalties up to the royal family and whoever else has to get involved in it. I have absolutely no intention to deal with anything so bothersome, and I’m sure you’re not going to rip me off, after all.”

“Of course!” Kira raised her voice.

“That’s why, have fun dealing with all of this. Once his Majesty, together with you, and whatever minister is needed, agree on my payment, I’ll happily teach whoever’s needed to install the heated floors in the castle.”

“Alright! Ellie, we’re going home! We have to go and talk with daddy!” Kira was very motivated about the whole thing. “Ellie…?”

“Over there…” Maya pointed at the sheepskin rug in front of their fireplace. The energy boost that the little princess had gotten from the heated floor hadn’t lasted that long. Once she came near the fluffy rug that was also warmed up thanks to being heated up from below, she had no chance to resist its allure. It was way too big of a challenge for Ellie to overcome. The moment she had stepped on it, she immediately lay down, curled up into a ball, and fell asleep in 0.5 seconds afterward.

“Ahh…” The queen awkwardly scratched her cheek, “I can’t say I’m surprised…”

“Oh my goodness, I haven’t taken a nap on the sheepskin since installing the heated floors yet! How could I have forgotten about that?!” Sophia got loud and stood up from the sofa.

“Can I leave Ellie here for a while? She’s already a little grumpy from time to time lately, and she’ll probably start hating me for a week if I pick her up now. I want to talk with Menzor about your payment as soon as possible to get it installed in the castle.”

“Wow, you really love my invention, huh? Not that I can blame you.”

“Yes.”

“Well, of course. Leave Ellie here for now. I’ll bring her over to the castle in the afternoon once we wake up.”

“Once she wakes up, you mean?” Kira tilted her head.

“No.” Sophia was already inching closer to the rug while talking to the queen.

“I see… Maya, please keep an eye on them…”

“Sure.”

Afterward, once Kira left her daughter in the couple’s care, she immediately made her way back to the castle to have a very important discussion with her husband. Sophia opted for a relaxing day spent napping with Ellie instead.