The couple went back to the royal castle, and once Sophia dealt with the bureaucratic side of her heated floor invention, namely sharing how it works and anything payment-related, they finally met up with Ellie. They planned to have a sleepover at the couple’s place, and everyone was looking forward to it. Once they collected the little princess and did a bit of grocery shopping on the way back, the trio eventually arrived at their destination.

“So warm!” Sitting down on the sofas in the living room, Ellie had a broad smile.

“It’s great, isn’t it?”

“Very!”

“I still think we’re overdoing it with the heat…” Maya had a complicated expression. “Fall’s just starting, after all.”

“How about I turn it off, then?”

“No!” The cat-girl got loud. “Forget I ever said anything!” She quickly changed her mind on the topic.

“I wouldn’t have done it, anyway.”

“Good.”

“So… phia, shoes!” The little tiger presented her legs to the taller one.

“Should we take them off? It feels better without them, right?”

“Yes!”

“Okay, let’s get comfy.” Saying so, the blonde helped Ellie to get out of her shoes before taking off her own. “Much better.”

“Better!” She repeated after her.

“You two are so in sync…” With a warm expression and a slight roll of her eyes, Maya also got rid of her own shoes and socks before placing her feet on the ground again. “It is better, though.”

“Hehe.” Sophia let out a slight chuckle. “Alright, what should we do first?”

“Ellie wants to play!”

“Why did I even ask? Okay, what do you want to play?”

“Hmm…” She tilted her head. “Ellie just wants to run around!”

“You want to run around on the warm floor, right?”

“Yes! It feels good!” She wiggled around her legs while saying so.

“How about we start with tag?” The blonde suggested the first she could think of.

“Oh!” Maya reacted first. “I want my title as the queen of tag back!”

“No!” The princess disagreed. “Ellie’s the queen!”

“How about we find out?” The cat-girl had successfully baited her. Naturally, she had no actual plans to get back her title.

“Let’s!”

Going with the plan of playing tag, Ellie waited in the living room while the couple ran away. The current queen has to start with a little handicap, after all. Once she had enough of waiting, the princess quickly started chasing after them. In the beginning, Sophia and Maya took it slightly seriously and barely outrun the little tiger or dodged her attempts to tag the girls. Still, once the duo felt like Ellie had gotten enough of a workout by running all over the place in their mansion, the two made a careless mistake that got themselves caught.

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They changed who was it every so often and kept playing for an hour or two, but the result was just as expected. While the princess accidentally lost a few rounds, she somehow still won most of them.

“Yay!” The little tiger flashed them a victory sign before looking at Maya while having a slightly smug expression. “Ellie keeps being the queen of tag!”

“You sure do.” The cat-girl played along. “I shouldn’t have doubted you.”

“Ehehe.”

“What do you want to play next?” Maya apparently still had some energy to spare.

“Hungry!” The tigers, on the other hand, had other plans.

“Ahaha…” She had to chuckle at their reply. “Well, you powered yourself out quite a bit during our game of tag. Both of you.”

“Yes!” They were still in sync.

“Should I start preparing dinner, then?”

“Please!”

“Do you want to eat anything special?”

“Meat!” The reply was instantaneous.

“I didn’t ask you, Sophia.”

“Hey! It wasn’t me! Also, hey!” The blonde felt offended and had to say it twice because it was important to her.

“Hehe. Still, you two are way too similar.” Maya looked at the tigers.

“Ellie and Sop… phia are similar…?”

“Very.” The cat-girl nodded. “You’re both tigers with beautiful striped hair. Hair that is getting super fluffy. You’re super huggable and cozy to cuddle with. Both of you are full of energy and like to run around. At the same, you also like to sleep as much and long as possible. While different, I also like both of you veeery much.”

“Ehehe~.” The princess started giggling. “Ellie also likes Maya veeeeery much. So… phia, too!”

“Aww.” Sophia couldn’t help it. “And I love both of you.”

“Hey!” The duo didn’t like to get one-upped by the blonde.

“My win~.” She looked pretty smug.

“We/Ellie love/s you more!” The voices of the duo overlapped.

“Thanks!” The blonde didn’t seem to be unhappy whatsoever with them being competitive about it.

“You tricked us/Ellie!” They said the same thing again.

“Does anyone have a problem with what I made them say?”

“…” The duo stopped for a moment. “No.”

“Great~.”

“Okay,” Maya brought the topic back on track. “We bought chicken earlier. How do you like that?”

“Ellie loves chicken!”

“Perfect. Any side dishes you’d like?” Maya wanted to cook whatever she wanted.

“More chicken!”

“That’s not how sides work, Ellie.”

“Veggies are side, right…? Ellie doesn’t like sides…”

“Didn’t we go over that already?” Sophia patted her head. “Vegetables are good for you. You need them to grow.”

“Ellie knows! Ellie’s also eating them more because So… phia said I should, but that doesn’t mean Ellie likes them!”

“That’s…” She had nothing left to say.

“She wins that round.” Even Maya was impressed by the little tiger’s retort.

“Hmm…” Sophia tilted her head while thinking about something. “Ellie, do you like cheese?”

“Yes!”

“Okay. Maya, how about a casserole? Lots of chicken, a bit of cauliflower, and or broccoli together with a few pieces of carrot, maybe? A creamy sauce on top before drowning it in cheese.”

“I won’t drown it in cheese, but a casserole is a nice idea.”

“Is it tasty…?” The princess wasn’t sure how to feel about this development.

“It’s one of my favorites!”

“Really…?” Her expression became even more complicated. “Okay, Ellie will try it!”

“Good girl!” Both petted her head in response.

“Ehehe.” She liked the treatment she was receiving.

“Alright, you two relax in the living room while I prepare dinner.”

“Okay!”

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Roughly 45 minutes later, Maya was already done, and dinner was served. Ellie suspiciously eyed the food on her plate for a while. Still, once she saw how happily Sophia was eating it, she eventually tried it, as well. Thanks to the cheese and the creamy sauce, she didn’t overly mind the vegetables that much and finished everything and barely complained.

“How did you like it?” The trio finished eating, and the cat-girl wanted to hear the princess’ opinion.

“Ellie likes Maya’s cooking very much!” She showed her a great smile.

“Thank you very much.”

“Ellie would’ve liked it even more without the veggies!”

“Ahh…”

“Pfft… How about we go and take a bath?” The blonde stifled a chuckle and suggested their next activity.

“Yay!” Her face lit up. “Ellie loves baths!”

“Me, too!” Sophia liked her enthusiasm. “Maya, how about all three of us go together?”

“Of course. Why would I let the two of you have all the fun without me?” She had no idea why her tiger even asked.

“Ahaha… Ellie, how does that sound to you? Should we all go together?”

“Yes!”

“Good answer!” Sophia then looked at Maya. “With her, we’re going to use the big bath downstairs, though.”

“Of course.” She nodded. “We’re obviously not going to do the usual with her around.”

“Alrighty!” The blonde raised her fist. “I’ll go and get the bath water ready. Maya, can you grab a change of clothes for everyone, including whatever our lovely guest brought along?”

“Sure.” She nodded. “Ellie, will you come with me?” The cat-girl held out her hand. “Show me what you brought with you, okay?”

“Yes!” She grabbed her hand. “Ellie brought her favorite pajama!”

“Really? That’s great!” Saying so, the two left the living room and went upstairs because they had put Ellie’s bag in the couple’s bedroom already.

“Okay…” Sophia needed a moment while she watched them leaving while holding hands. “Can something be too adorable…? My heart’s aching again… Thanks, Canir. Thank you for making my life perfect.” With a big smile, she looked up for a second before going to the big bathroom. There, she filled the huge tub with hot water and poured a generous amount of her magic into the heated floor to make it super cozy.

“Wow!” Ellie and Maya had joined the blonde in the bathroom, and the princess got excited. “The floor here is warm, too! Ellie loves taking a bath… but standing with no clothes on the cold floor before getting in the water and after getting out… is the worst!”

“Absolutely!” The couple heartily agreed while they were undressing.

“Alright, let’s help you out of your clothes.” Sophia faced the little tiger after she had finished stripping.

“Okay!” She raised her arms to get rid of her dress in response.

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Once everyone was ready and had a short rinse under the shower, the girls finally entered the water while letting out a relaxed sigh.

“Are you having fun, Ellie?” Sophia looked at the little tiger happily playing with the water while she herself was resting against Maya’s side.

“Lots!” She smiled at them. “Ellie loves to spend time with So… phia and Maya!”

“Aww.” The blonde was touched. “So do we.”

“Ehehe.”

“Do you want to see a trick?” Maya also wanted to bond with the little one some more.

“A trick?” She tilted her head.

“Here.” Immediately after she finished speaking, a ring of water rose from the surface and swirled around the princess in the air.

“Wow!” Her eyes started sparkling.

“Magic’s amazing, isn’t it?”

“Very! Ellie wants to learn magic, too!”

“I’ll teach you lots once you can use it!” Sophia smiled at her.

“Promise?”

“Of course!”

“Yay! Ellie can’t wait!”

“You can do even more fun with it.” Saying so, the circle of water around the princess shot towards Sophia and splashed her face.

“Hey!” The victim started complaining.

“Ahaha!” The smaller tiger started laughing instead.

“Two can play this game!” Seeking revenge, Sophia also started using magic.

Afterward, the couple had a little war to entertain the princess during their bath and to have a bit of fun themselves. They didn’t stay in the tub for that much longer, though, because little kids usually aren’t that good with hot water. Albeit, in this specific case, tigers aren’t that good with hot water. Sophia had quite some experience with that, too, after all.

The couple then had gently and carefully dried Ellie with two towels before doing that to each other, as well. Afterward, they put the princess into fresh underwear before helping her into the dark pink and fluffy-looking pajamas she had brought with her. Once she was good to go, the two did the same, though Maya’s pale red and Sophia’s matching light green pajama didn’t look quite as fluffy.

Finally leaving the bath, the trio went back to the living room to spend more time together. Their sleepover was far from over, after all.