"I don't like her."

Reivan couldn't help but just stand there for a moment, stunned at Helen's sudden remark. But when he recovered, he frowned.

'People are allowed to feel however the hell they want, but who just says that when the person's still here...!?'

Perhaps it was a blessing that Jiji wasn't proficient in speaking English yet. Otherwise, wouldn't the poor girl get upset when someone she'd just met a few seconds ago immediately declares their dislike of her? For crying out loud, his little sister had gone through enough already! Not that he knew what those things specifically were!

"Yani..." Jiji cowered behind Reivan, her ears flat against her white hair.

'That's it...'

"Hey." Reivan rounded on Helen. His brows were creased while he prepared to give her a bit of a scolding. But first, he wanted to know why the usually docile girl said what she did. "What made you say something like that anyway?"

Helen crossed her arms and turned her head to the side. "...Nothing."

[Lie Detection] has activated!

"Liar." Reivan naturally wouldn't believe her though. "Is it because she has different ears? Is that it?"

The young girl's frown deepened before she shook her head.

"Then what is it...?" He scratched his head in frustration. "You have to tell me so I can do something about it."

"I don't know..." Helen looked a little apologetic as she took another look at the white cat grabbing onto Reivan from behind. Soon, her frown returned, much deeper than before. "I just don't like her."

"And like I said, we won't get anywhere if you don't tel—"

"Alright alright. Break it up you two." Vianna — who'd been holding back the bigger cat from lunging at Helen — cut them off. "Maybe everyone's just hungry. We'll waste the kitchen staff's efforts if we just stand around talking like this."

"But..." Reivan protested.

"My dear son, Helen already said she didn't know why. And you should know she wasn't lying." The queen gently stroked her son's head. "So let's just leave it at that for now. There are many things we cannot put into words. Just like how I can't describe my love for you, Helen can't understand why she dislikes your new little sister."

'That's... a really good point.'

It was such a good point that Reivan had a hard time accepting that it came from his mother. Naturally, he had enough brain cells to know that he shouldn't voice his disbelief.

'Maybe my mother's matured as well. In a way.'

"Now let's get to eating! I'm starving!" Vianna cheered, grabbing Mimi by the scruff. "You stick with me for now. We don't want you getting hurt by lunging at little Helen over there. Seriously, don't go looking for ways to hurt yourself..."

"Rah! Ahh!" Mimi struggled to break free, to no avail. She could only let herself be dragged along by the much-stronger woman.

"Van." Helen grabbed Reivan by the hand and tried to pull him toward a chair. "Sit next to me."

"Yani." Jiji's hug tightened around his waist, trying to stop him from going. Despite the girl's thin frame, Reivan felt a surprising amount of force.

'I can't move...'

Reivan sighed as he shook himself free and picked a chair with an empty seat on both sides. "Here, now you can both sit next to me."

The skewers had been quite filling, but after watching a long play, Reivan had started to feel hungry again.

'Finally. Just let me eat in peace!'

"Uh..." Hector, whose presence Reivan almost forgot about, scratched his head awkwardly. "Can I eat too?'

In a rare turn of events, everything went mostly as Reivan desired. The dinner was peaceful and uneventful.

Reivan couldn't help but smile as he watched his two new sisters devour their meal and gush about how delicious everything was. His mother had informed him that the girls had the same menu as her during their time in the palace, but they still hadn't gotten used to eating food that wasn't partially rotten. Hence, they were quite excited for literally every meal.

'Poor things...'

As for Helen, she still seemed to be a little upset. But all Reivan had to do was push more food onto her and she cheered right back up.

Hector was eating sullenly right next to Mimi, who seemed very interested in his reactions to her poking and teasing. Consequently, when Hector didn't react, Mimi would pout and bug him even more. It was somewhat amazing how despite not knowing what the other was saying, they still somehow found a way to get on the other's nerves.

"It's because nobody has black hair in their home country." Vianna had explained while looking at the two. "I was also shocked when I first saw black hair."

And so, dinner had eventually ended. Everyone, especially all of the young girls, had bulging stomachs by the end of it.

'The number of gluttons has increased...'

Reivan chuckled as he wondered who could eat the most food out of the three. It was a good thing the royal pantry was very well stocked, or else they might start fighting over food.

"Well, now that we've eaten, let's all go to bed." Vianna I'll be taking these two with me. "I can't really leave them alone in their current state."

The two girls were led away by his mother, but Jiji looked back with hesitance. "Yani..."

Vianna explained something to the young girl before turning back to smile at her son. "Make sure to see them first thing tomorrow, alright? And make sure you talk to them a lot. Exposure is best when it comes to learning a new language." she then threw a glance at Hector. "You can help too, right?"

The boy scratched the back of his head with a wry smile. "I'll try my best, aunty."

"And that's enough. Thank you." The queen smiled warmly at Hector before turning her gaze towards his sister. "As for Helen... Well, you're not much of a talker anyway. So you don't have to help."

Helen frowned but didn't say anything. After all, she could not refute facts.

"Well then, good night~" Vianna's voice drifted in the air as the three animal-eared girls disappeared down the hall.

"You guys too." Reivan turned toward the twins. "Someone's gonna come pick you up, so just wait here, okay?"

"Sure," Hector replied, while his sister merely nodded with a yawn.

With that out of the way, the young prince trudged toward his room. It was a great day, and he'd experienced all sorts of new things, but all good things had to come to an end.

'I've got a whole lotta nothing to do tomorrow...'

Reivan's happiness immediately dropped by a few levels after remembering that he was still banned from training.

'Well, I have a new pair of sisters to keep me busy, so I guess it's not that bad.'

All her life, Jiji only knew how to struggle.

Warbeasts formed close-knit tribes and held an innate aversion to betraying their race, enabling them to survive in harsh conditions by working together in perfect harmony.

But on the other hand, there was no such thing as mercy for those who didn't belong in the clan.

Jiji, for reasons she could not fully understand, wasn't welcomed by her tribe. She couldn't remember doing anything wrong. And she definitely felt like she should belong with them.

However, the people in her clan didn't seem to see her in the same light as they saw her elder sister.

And so, growing up under gazes denial and alienation, Jiji quickly learned to accept that this was just how her life was going to be. Or rather, she didn't know any other way to live.

"Live strongly." the tribe chieftain had said to her. "If you cannot lean on others, then make yourself strong instead."

"Yes, chieftain."

Jiji didn't understand the elder woman's words either, but she took them to heart because they came from one of the few people that sympathized with her. Hence, since others wouldn't do anything for her, Jiji tried to observe those around her to learn from them. That way, maybe she could find things that she could do herself.

Life was hard, and the people around her didn't make it any easier, but at least they didn't go as far as to kick her out or outright kill her. Mikachi, the chieftain, gave her aid. And Mimi was always there too.

Some of Mimi's friends also tried to be nice to Jiji too — although that was just because they didn't want Mimi to hate them.

There were bullies. And there were scary adults that looked like they wanted to throw her off a cliff. Naturally, there were the enemy clans that constantly pursued them too.

Life was hard. Really hard.

But at some point, Jiji found herself sleeping on something that seemed like it was made from clouds. She got to wear pretty clothes that actually protected her from the cold. Also, she got to eat as much as she wanted.

And if that wasn't enough, she even had a new mother and elder brother now.

"Pretty."

As she lay flat on the bed, Jiji kept thinking back to what Reivan had said. Her frail arms unconsciously tightened around the pillow she was hugging.

'We're the same.'

Vianna the really pretty but somewhat scary lady that the chieftain had left Jiji and her sister to; a very strong man that had apparently wiped out hordes of their pursuers on his own; and Reivan, Mimi and Jiji's new elder brother.

All three of them had hair that was of a similar color as hers.

'We're the same!'

Jiji couldn't help but giggle as she rolled around in bed. Her elder sister made it impossible to truly be alone, but the fact that she was different from everyone around her always weighed on Jiji's mind. It had made her feel lonely and isolated.

She thought she'd be alone forever.

But that would not be the case any longer. Now, she'd finally found a place where she could belong.

'I have to learn quickly!'

In her mind, learning English became her top priority. Being unable to understand her big brother's words was frustrating. She wanted to speak the same language as soon as possible.

'Maybe I'll get him to teach me a little!'

Jiji nodded to herself, feeling as if she'd just had the greatest idea of her life.

"What are you smiling about?"

Suddenly, Jiji felt a familiar set of arms wrap around her body. Who could it be but her elder sister?

Jiji squirmed deeper into Mimi's embrace. When calming floral scent wafted into her nose, she couldn't help but ask, "Are you done bathing with Lady Via— I mean... Mother...?"

"Yep." Mimi's face nuzzled against the back of her little sister's head. "I don't really get why we have to do it so often though... But she's our new tribe chief now, so I guess I gotta do what she says."

"But isn't Mother's husband the tribe chief...?"

"Nope," Mimi whispered loudly, not wanting Vianna to hear. "How can he be the tribe chief if he only has two ears? And he doesn't even have a tail! That's so weird!"

Jiji's brows creased and she frowned. For some reason, she was a bit annoyed by her sister's words. "But Huni... Yani only has two ears too. And he also doesn't have a tail."

"That's... That's true..."

Seeing her sister's reaction, a playful smirk crossed Jiji's face. "I'll tell him you said he was weird."

"Wha— Why would you do that!?" Mimi panicked as she covered her little sister's mouth. "I-I mean... he smelled just like Mother, and he felt like one of us, so he doesn't really count, y'know? Like, uhm, maybe his ears take time to grow...? They'll show up when he's older, so he doesn't count!"

'Eh? Really?'

Jiji tilted her head, her face painted over with doubt. Would ears really grow out of his head one day? But she'd touched the top of Reivan's head, and there weren't any holes hidden under his pretty silver hair.

In the end, Jiji heaved a sigh, deciding that her sister probably didn't know what she was talking about. As usual.

'She's such a dummy...'

It was an impudent thought to have, but Jiji felt like she was much smarter than her big sister. She couldn't help being proud of this though. After all, it was one of the few things she excelled at more than her older sister — who was really good at making friends and seemed to be well-liked by adults.

"Hey, you two!" Vianna appeared out of nowhere and snarled at them. "I thought I told you to go to bed already?"

Jiji's ears flattened against the top of her head. "S-sorry..."

"But it's still so early!" Mimi protested.

"No backtalk!" their mother flicked her big sister on the forehead, making the feisty girl cry out in pain. "And don't think I didn't hear what you said about my husband. You'd best learn that we aren't all that much greater than humans quickly. They give birth to some really terrifying monsters from time to time. Like my son, the Sword Star, Reivan, Helen, and of course, my dear boy!"

'Mother included Yani three times...'

She couldn't help but giggle at that, but then she stiffened.

'Helen...? The girl earlier?'

Jiji wouldn't be forgetting her any time soon. Their hair was the same color as dried blood and rotten flesh, despite how soft and smooth it looked. And furthermore, the scary look in her eyes as she looked at Jiji was really unnerving.

'And then there's that!'

But none of those bothered Jiji more than the fact that she appeared to be too touchy with her big brother.

'Doesn't she know it's indecent!? You can only touch others like that if you're their family, their mate, or their enemy!'

And Jiji was quite sure that Helen wasn't Reivan's enemy, so she must've belonged in the other categories.

'Is it normal for their people to hold hands...?'

It wouldn't be the first thing Jiji found strange about humans. For one thing, she'd been in disbelief when she saw how bright it was despite it being nighttime. Or when she discovered how frequently humans seemed to bathe. The shock of them all was finding out that they took a poo indoors.

In any case, even if it was normal for humans...

'I don't like her.'

Jiji didn't like Helen at all.