Ellie was spending the night at the couple’s mansion because the three were having a sleepover. They played all day, and even after having had dinner and a bath together, the girls continued to play with cards in the evening. Once the duo felt like the princess had powered herself out, they headed to bed. Naturally, the three also all slept together in the same bed. Ellie clung to Maya during that time, and the two were overwhelmed by her cuteness and being showered in affection by the little tiger. Being subjected by the bundle of joy for a whole day and night made them waver about their thoughts about having their own children for a moment. However, Sophia and Maya were still sensible enough to decide that it was too early for them.

The following day started very late for the trio. The tigers, Sophia and Ellie, never were a fan of getting up to begin with, but Maya, too, felt very little motivation to leave the bed. Being hugged and clung to by the little princess on top of being close to the blonde made her way too comfortable.

“Haa…” Having eventually gotten up, though, the two tigers were currently in the living room once more. Leaning against each other while still looking sleepy, they let out a long yawn.

“Did we really have to get up…?” The princess looked at the blonde. “Ellie wants to sleep some more…”

“Me, too…” She responded with a nod. “I’m also hungry, though.”

“Yes…” Ellie bobbed her head up and down. “Breakfast?”

“More like brunch, but yeah…” It got a little too late to call it that. “Maya’s currently preparing it for us. Isn’t she the best?”

“The bestest!”

“Aww, thank you!” The cat-girl’s voice came back from the kitchen.

“She also has really good ears, so you have to be careful whenever you say something bad.”

“Got it! Ellie will watch out for Maya being nearby before she says something!”

“Good.”

“Just don’t say anything bad in the first place!” Maya’s voice got louder.

“O-Okay!” The princess put her hands on her mouth.

“Scary, right?”

“…” She only nodded her head to indicate her agreement on the topic.

“Hehe.”

Roughly 15 minutes later, Maya had finished preparing the food, and the three had a very late breakfast together. Afterward, the trio played another short round of tag before spending another hour in the living room together, which was primarily used for a generous amount of cuddles.

“Do you have everything you need, Ellie?” Maya was currently packing together the princess’ belongings because it was time to bring her back to the castle.

“No!”

“Really? What is missing?” The cat-girl tilted her head and looked inside the bag Ellie had brought along the day before. “It seems complete to me, though?”

“…” She didn’t answer and turned her head away.

“Someone doesn’t want to leave, huh?” Sophia joined them and immediately knew what was going on.

“Yes! Ellie wants to stay here!”

“Hmm…” The cat-girl tried to find a way out of this dilemma. “We’re happy that you liked it so much here, and we feel the same, but you have to go home eventually, Ellie. Your father and mother are going to miss you, too. You don’t want to make them sad, do you?”

“No… Ellie doesn’t want to make mama sad…”

“Pfft…” The blonde tried to hold a chuckle in after the princess had explicitly mentioned her mother only.

“Ellie understands… Ellie will go home…” She hung her head.

“Urgh…” The couple took a lot of damage.

“Can Ellie visit again, though…?”

“Of course!” The two almost jumped at her.

“Yay!” Her mood instantly improved.

“That’s not a problem.” Maya continued after recovering. “You can visit whenever you want. Sophia and I will be at the castle all the time, too. It’s just that you can’t live here. We still will be beyond happy whenever we meet.”

“Okay!” The issue of having to go home was forgotten by now.

Afterward, once the couple made sure they packed everything that belonged to Ellie, the two each grabbed one of her hands, and the trio left the mansion. Going hand in hand while taking their time, the trio eventually made it back to the castle.

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“Ellie!” Having just entered the castle, the girls conveniently ran right into Kira in the entrance hall.

“Mama!” Letting go of the couple’s hands, the little princess ran over to her mother, and the two hugged each other.

“For someone not wanting to leave, this sure got emotional.” Maya rolled her eyes.

“Ahaha… I wonder who missed who more, though.” Sophia rolled her eyes. “I get the distinct feeling that we didn’t run into to queen right at the entrance by chance alone.”

“T-That’s just your imagination!” Kira had overheard them and got flustered.

“Really?” The cat-girl couldn’t help herself. It was in her nature, after all. “Your youngest daughter spent the night somewhere else for the first time, and you didn’t miss her?”

“T-That’s not what I said!”

“Mama didn’t miss Ellie…? Ellie missed mama, though…” The little tiger sounded incredibly sad as she looked down while her tail flopped lifelessly down on the ground.

“O-Of course, I missed you! I barely slept because I couldn’t stop thinking about you!” Kira immediately caved in after seeing the reaction of her youngest daughter.

“Yay!” She instantly became cheerful again.

“Does she have too much power…?”

“She’ll be a dangerous one when she grows up…” The couple was awed by the little tiger’s skill in making people say whatever she wanted to hear.

“Did she behave?” Kira had put her daughter in her arms before facing the couple.

“Ellie was a good girl!”

“She sure was.” The two nodded in response.

“See?!” She looked up at her mother.

“I do.”

“She’s a bit spoiled, but she behaved really well, regardless.” Maya added a little detail.

“Ellie even ate her vegetables!”

“Is that so?”

“Not without complaining, though.”

“D-Don’t tell mama about that, So… phia!”

“Ahaha.”

“Well, she did eat them in the end without making a fuss, so the point does indeed go to her. I think complaining about something is perfectly valid when it’s not your favorite.”

“She would know that.” Maya nudged the blonde’s side. “Sophia’s second to none when it comes to needlessly complaining, after all.”

“It’s not needless!”

“Exactly!” Ellie supported her fellow tiger.

“I take that you three got along great?” It was the only conclusion the queen could reach.

“Yes!” Everyone nodded.

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

As the group was still standing in the entrance hall during their chat, Kira suggested going somewhere more comfortable. They ended up in a living room-like place with a couple of sofas lined around a gigantic fireplace that made everything feel cozy even without it running yet.

“Did she really not cause any trouble?” Kira wanted to make sure her daughter behaved.

“She caused our hearts to ache a lot, but that’s about it.”

“Ellie did?” The princess tilted her head.

“Because you’re too cute.”

“Oh.” She started to smile. “Ehehe.”

“That.” The couple pointed at the little tiger while looking at the queen.

“Yeah… She’s good at that.” Kira nodded in understanding. “What did the three of you do all day?”

“So… phia, Maya, and Ellie played a lot!”

“Pretty much this.” The couple hadn’t much more to add.

“We didn’t do that much, really.” Sophia continued. “We ran around the house a ton, had dinner together, Maya and I bathed her. After that, we played a card game for a while before going to bed together.”

“Ellie cuddled a ton!”

“She sure did.” The couple, once again, could only nod.

“…” The queen paused for a moment. “Ellie, do you want to sleep with mama and papa tonight? We haven’t done that in quite a while, have we?” She sounded ever so slightly envious.

“Hmm…” The princess seemed ever so slightly reluctant.

“Ah, wait… Menzor will be busy tonight, so it would just be you and me.”

“Oh, okay then. Ellie will sleep with mama!” She suddenly sounded much more enthusiastic.

“Pfft!” The blonde couldn’t hold back her laughter.

“Does she not like the king…?” Maya managed to keep it to a grin only.

“Ahaha…” Kira awkwardly scratched her cheek. “She’s going through a little rebellious phase lately. Especially with him.”

“Ellie’s not a rebel!”

“Is that so?

“Yes!”

“Okay then.” They left it at that.

“Good!” She was still pouting, though

“What kind of card game did you play with her?” The queen got the conversation back on track. “I don’t think she ever played one before.”

“It’s called Memory, and it’s, well… a memory game.” Sophia explained the game. “The goal is to find pairs of the same card by turning them upside down. You have to memorize each card and need to remember where the right ones are once it’s your turn. Putting it in simple terms, that is.”

“Ohh.” Kira liked the sound of that. “How did she do with it?”

“She has an incredible memory for her age.” The blonde sounded honestly impressed. “She made a few careless mistakes because we, well… we were playing and having fun. Still, she effortlessly managed to even remember cards that were played many rounds ago.”

“Is that so? Our private teachers said something similar… Her being very attentive for her age.”

“Yes. You should try developing this skill of hers further. It can only be beneficial for her.”

“I see. Thank you for telling me. I’ll relay this message to the private teachers, too. Memory, you said? Ellie, do you want to play this game with mama, too? We can go and buy it together later.”

“Yes!” She had really liked it.

“Okay, let’s do that.”

“Yay!”

The group kept chatting for another hour, but the couple eventually felt like it was time to leave. Ellie had a different opinion on it, and the two didn’t actually want to, either, but they had to do it regardless. The trio had more than enough fun together already, after all. Hugging the princess for not more than five minutes total to say goodbye, the couple finally managed to leave.

Once they left the castle grounds, Sophia decided to meet the heating ore manufacturers to finish the contract regarding the invention of the heated floors that she had sold to them with the royal family as the proxy the other day. Maya, having nothing better to do, tagged along with her.