Maya and Anna were still together, and their chat had turned into full-blown girls-talk. They found out that the princess' fondness of Sophia was more of a hard crush. It also became evident that being turned down by the blonde awakened Anna's real feelings for her childhood friend, the black-haired jaguar-girl Ari. Somehow, the tiger didn't seem to like this revelation, though.

"So, once more, why is being in love with Ari something you don't want to?" Maya asked her again because Anna still wasn't able to give her a reply. "I don't have much experience, either, because Sophia's my first love, and that worked out way better than I could've hoped, but I'll try my best to help."

"T-Thanks... I just don't think she'd ever return those feelings... It doesn't seem like her..."

"It doesn't?" The cat-girl tilted her head. "Okay, I don't know her that well yet because she and Sophia instantly became best friends before I had the chance to, but the jaguar seems quite flirty to me."

"I've never seen her like that before!" Anna's retort was instantaneous. "That's definitely the fault of your girl! She never flirted with me like that before..."

"Are you sure about that?" Maya didn't believe her. "The two of you seem to be pretty much all over each other whenever I saw you together."

"N-No, it only looks that way..." The princess glanced down. "If anything, Ari treats me like her daughter because she acts like a mom all the time."

"If my mother would act like that around and or with me, I would be very concerned." She didn't enjoy the picture she had in her head right now.

"That's why I doubt she would be interested in me... Well, if not mother, she would still better be described as my big sister. She constantly makes sure that I don't do anything too stupid and always scolds me whenever she wants to fix something about me. Don't get me wrong, I love it when she does that, but..."

"Uhh..." Maya wasn't sure what to say. For various reasons.

"And, again, the two of us grew up together... Heck, learning how to walk, use our tails, even how to speak... We did all of that together! I, too, see... saw her as a sister! Isn't it super weird that I suddenly have developed such feelings for her now?! I don't even want to imagine how Ari would react if her little sister tells her she I-loves her..."

"Well... First, it's hard to imagine the jaguar as the big sister between the two of you." Maya tried to stall for time while thinking of a way to help.

"Maybe not in the visual department, but Ari's undoubtedly the more mature one."

"Good point." She couldn't argue with that explanation. "It's not like you actually are sisters, though. Even if your relationship was similar to those of siblings up until now, there's nothing that speaks against changing it."

"T-That might be true..."

"Also, isn't that just how Ari is? She has the same big sister vibe when she's with Sophia and even scolded the wolves already. I doubt she'd specifically single you out as a real sister."

"Y-You think so...?"

"Again, I don't know her enough to make any promises, but that's how I would interpret it, at least. I think it's worth a try."

"Worth enough to risk a literal life-long friendship?" Anna stared at her with a questioning expression.

"T-That's..." She naturally had no answer. "Maybe a different approach would be better."

"What do you mean?"

"Even before I was aware of my feelings, I was rather aggressive when I went after Sophia. You could try to get physically closer to Ari and see how she reacts to that. If you notice that she's enjoying it, I would say you definitely have a chance." Maya had gotten quite intimate with her blonde girl ever since first meeting her, and she had great success with that approach.

"P-Physical?!" Anna's face turned even redder while repeating the word.

"Oh? What's the perverted princess imagining now again~?"

"S-Stop calling me a pervert! T-That's lèse majesté!" She tried to use her royal roots as a threat.

"Why would that be~?" The cat-girl didn't sound intimidated. She's gotten close enough to the princess to ignore her. "I'm only stating the truth."

"Uuh..."

"I wasn't implying that you should do it with her immediately."

"I-I never was thinking about that! Not even close!" She got loud. Louder.

"So, you don't want to?" Maya only tilted her head again.

"D-Do you want to help me... or just use me for your amusement...?" The line where Anna enjoys it had been crossed once more.

"Preferably, both." The cat-girl paused for a moment. "Okay, I'm sorry. I went too far."

"Thank you..."

"Also, no, that's not what I meant. Okay, it would be quite effective to find out about Ari's feelings for you. Still, I would go with a traditional confession there instead... At first, at least."

"C-Could we stop talking about d-doing it already...?" Anna was taking a lot of damage from this conversation. "T-That's at least... a n-number of steps away..." She only mumbled that part.

"Of course. There's no need to go that far. After all, it also took some time before Sop-..." The cat-girl stopped mid-sentence. "Anyway, you've slept with Ari in the same bed when she was sick, right? Have you done that before? Of course, actual sleeping, forget any other implications."

"N-No... We're constantly having sleepovers, but we haven't shared a bed since we were little..."

"Perfect. Try to make that a habit again. Sleeping together is amazing~. I barely can fall asleep on my own anymore. Sophia and I started doing that long before we got together, too, so it shouldn't be too suspicious."

"I-I see... It does sound fun, too. I'll try to talk Ari into it..."

"Perfect. Other than that... Maybe take some of your baths together?"

"Oh, we actually do that from time to time already. I didn't think that was anything special?"

"Yeah, especially because the baths in the castle are gigantic. Yes, as long as you don't stick to each other or steal glances of the other's body, being naked together in a bath is surprisingly little intimate..."

"Intentionally looking at n-naked Ari...?"

"Ah, the perverted princess' back already." Maya chuckled at her beet-red face. "That was fast."

"S-Shut up!"

"While I can't blame you, I wouldn't recommend it. It's extremely enticing but also really easy for the other person to notice. Trust me, I'm speaking from experience. From both sides, that is. Sophia also likes to watch, after all."

"I-I see... I'll keep that in mind." There was a hint of regret in Anna's expression.

"Ah, but watch out if she's trying to look at you. That would be a good sign."

"O-Okay."

"Then, there's also my favorite activity! Skinship~."

"Skinship?"

"A hug, clinging to her arm, holding hands, all that stuff. Oh, lap-pillows are the absolute best. I can't recommend them enough."

"Oh, t-that sounds really nice..." The tiger seemed to like the idea.

"It's amazing~." Maya was a big fan, after all.

"I-I really want to try that now..."

"Good! Also, always watch Ari's reaction when you do any of that. If she gets embarrassed or blushy, that's a good sign. If she starts smiling or looks happy in general, that would be even better."

"I-Is that how it works...?"

"I think." Maya wasn't 100% sure about it. "Everything I'm telling you at the moment is based on my observations with Sophia. Well, we got together in the end, so it can't be that stupid of advice."

"Alright!" Hearing that, the princess suddenly seemed pretty motivated.

"Good luck~." The cat-girl was cheering for her. "I'll try to help you out whenever you need it."

"T-Thank you." Anna showed her a great smile. "I'm really glad that we were able to become friends in the end. Not just for that."

"Yep, I'm glad about that, too."

"Ehehe~."

The two chatted for a while longer, but the whole topic had turned the princess into an embarrassed and blushy mess. Because of that, she felt the need to take a break. Maya planned to do the same because she wanted to go home and check up on Sophia, who took the day off to make sure she fully recovered after the slight trouble that the blonde and the jaguar went through. After promising to meet up again soon to talk more, the two parted for the time being.

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

"I'm home~." It didn't take the cat-girl long to be back in their mansion, and she energetically greeted everyone who could hear her when she opened the front door.

"Welcome back~." Aura's equally cheery voice returned from the living room. It was the only reply the cat-girl got, though.

"Hi, there!" Following her voice, she entered the living room and saw the wolf relaxing on their sheebskin rug. "You really like that thing, huh?"

"Very~."

"Well, it is comfy." Maya, too, had lost to its allure before, after all.

"Hehe." She et out a chuckle. "By the way, where have you been all day? It's already pretty late."

"I've stayed behind in the castle after the training with Eluna. I had good fun with the princess."

"Oh, I hope Sophia won't get jealous there."

"No, I've played with Anna, not the little one."

"Oh, okay." Aura knew that that was much less of a problem.

"Speaking of Sophia, how is she feeling? Have you checked on her?"

"A-Ah." The wolf suddenly turned her head away.

"What is wrong...?" She didn't like her reaction.

"Well... There's a note on the table you might want to read..."

"Hmm...?" Maya got closer to the sofas and quickly spotted a piece of paper on the coffee table there. "Let's see,

Dear Maya,

I hope you had fun at the castle.

I've slept all the way to noon and felt better than new after getting up.

Unfortunately, I soon got pretty bored, too.

After chatting with Fen, we decided to go on a walk together.

It might could take a while, so there's no need to wait for us.

Love,

Sophia

Aww, she sure is sweet. Well, I would've liked if she stayed still for the entire day, but I guess that was asking for too much."

"Wow, you really took that well." Aura was impressed by her calm reaction.

"What do you mean?" Maya didn't understand her. "Sure, I wanted to spend some time with her, too, but she hasn't done anything with just Fen in a long while. I don't mind if they have some quality time together."

"That's nice. Still, why don't you read the part with the walk again? Just imagine Sophia using her usual playful voice his time."

"Hmm...?" She looked at the note again. "Fenny and I were bored and went on a walk together. It could take a while, so don't look for us~." Imagine how the blonde would actually say it, the meaning suddenly sounded much less innocent. "Oh." Her face turned pale. "A-Aura, could you use your detection magic to see where they are...?"

"I already did a couple of hours ago."

"A-And? Where are they?"

"No idea." She only shook her head. "They're outside of my range."

"Uh-oh." The cat-girl had a terrible feeling about it.

"I can't wait for the bang~." The wolf was having fun instead.

As there was nothing the two could do, for the time being, they decided to get comfy in the living room while chatting with each other. Somehow, Maya seemed to be unable to relax for some reason, though.