“I- It’s a misunderstanding, Kara!” I cried out my hardest to explain the incident from an hour ago to Kara. In spite of that, Kara’s eyes could be seen avoiding my line of sight as her cheek reddened.

“Hm, this is delicious!” exclaimed the source of my panic as she ate her last piece of skewers.

I stared at Lily while she was munching her dinner. Her eyes were shining with ignorance at my annoyance. I sighed at the sight of the Goddess of Life's carefree behavior as I looked around the room I was in.

A humble dining room with adequate light coming from the chandelier on the ceiling. The room was big enough to host dozens of small mouse girls. I could see them eating in silence while they were silently staring towards my direction. The former group of elves, now living as mouse girls, were having dinner alongside Kara.

Remmy awkwardly smiled as she kept on refilling Lily’s empty cup with tea. Six empty plates were stacking nicely in front of Lily while she kept on signaling Remmy to bring more food towards her direction.

“Keep that up, and you’ll gain weight, you know.” I sighed while looking at the enormous amount of appetite Lily was filling her stomach with. Lily smiled as if my comment was a silly joke. “Of course I won’t gain any weight, Sis. I’m the Goddess that does three minutes of walking everyday, afterall!”

I lightheartedly smiled at Lily’s remarks. Kara smiled after seeing my smile. I felt relieved everytime I could see her smile.

“I’m sorry I could only provide this much, Miss Goddesses,” said Remmy apologetically. Her eyes hovered down as if she really was ashamed of herself.

“Don’t worry about it, it was delicious!” I assured Remmy, which was followed by Lily’s nod.

Lily stretched her hand out as she stood up from her seat. I stared at the window to see the moonlight shining through the dining room. I could see a few meteor showers glowing to fill the empty night sky.

“Well, any longer and Aether would get mad at me. So I gotta get going.” said Lily.

Kara looked at Lily with a saddened look, “Miss Goddess Lily is going already?”

Kara set aside her empty plates and stood up from her seat. She went towards Lily’s figure with a rather lonely look. Lily smiled at her behavior as she made a sudden motherly gesture while patting Kara.

“I’m sorry, little one. I would need to go back to the Aether Paradise before my brother and sisters make a fuss.” Lily hugged Kara.

The other mouse girls saw the exchange in silence. I could see Grey’s fiddling hands as she tried to speak, but chose to not say anything. Lily’s glamorous heterochromic eyes were looking at Kara with a sense of comfort, until she finally moved her gaze towards me, and the other mouse girls.

“I see… so this is your preference, Sis?” Lily whispered to herself, loud enough for me to hear. For some reason, I could almost hear her thought of dressing into a mouse girl like the others while trying to seduce me.

“Let me stop you right there, I’m not into little mouse girls!” I yelled out towards Lily.

I sighed at the predicament I was in. Lily smiled at my reaction as she hugged Kara once more. Kara’s eyes were giving an awkward signal after Lily hugged her for the first time, but Lily’s comforting eyes grew on Kara as she relaxed her tense muscles for the second time Lily hugged her.

“How peculiar…” As Lily was hugging Kara, she noticed the necklace Lily was wearing.

Kara tilted her head in confusion, “Is something wrong, Miss Goddess Lily?”

I was also curious about Lily's behavior. Her eyes were glued to the beautiful key necklace Kara was wearing with diamond shaped jewelry on it. I made the necklace for Kara because I thought she would look cute with it, but I never tried to find out what the key inside the gem actually was.

“The necklace you’re wearing, mind if I take a closer look?” Lily asked politely.

Kara answered with a nod. She gently took off her necklace and gave it to Lily. Her heterochromic eyes were shining with curiosity and substantial interest. It was as if she felt a great connection to it, yet a strange unfamiliarity.

“This key… where did you get it?” questioned Lily.

Kara responded, “My father gave it to me on my 10th birthday. He said it was something that would connect the mouse tribes and the thunder dragon. However, I don’t know where my father got it from. He said it’s not a family heirloom.”

Lily’s expressions grew even more curious. Her mouth couldn’t help but whisper, “Would… as in future tense?” in which Kara nodded.

I remembered Kara saying something about it being an item for the peace treaty of her kingdom and the thunder dragon. Mentioning it once again, I couldn’t help but feel sadness for Kara. My hand moved by itself to comfort Kara as I patted her.

“Do you know what it is, Miss Goddess Lily?” asked Kara.

Lily immediately shook her head with a strong disappointment on her face. “No, but there’s a familiar energy in it. It almost has the same frequency as the one introducing Sister to me, but different.”

Kara tilted her head quizzically as Lily gave her necklace back. I also followed Kara’s puzzled look as I remembered the memory Lily shared with me. After that, my cheek immediately grew red as I recalled Lily’s unexpected kiss.

“Hm, what’s this? Are you embarrassed, Sis?” said Lily with a teasing tone. Yet, even with her cheerful playful attitude, there was a hint of bashfulness in her eyes.

I suppressed my urge to smack Lily with a newspaper, and tried to get back on track, “this key on Kara’s necklace has the same energy as Sekai-chan?”

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

At first, Lily could only stare in confusion as her fingers touched her lips. However, she would immediately realize a moment later as she muttered, “hm… so that’s the catgirl’s name, huh?”

I didn’t expect Sekai-chan to come into this world. After seeing Lily’s memory, I couldn’t help but indulge into a little hope of seeing her again. It’s only been a few days since I departed from Sekai-chan, but I missed her already.

I was absentmindedly thinking of Sekai-chan and I didn’t realize that I was staring at Lily’s lips. That suddenly reminded me of Sekai-chan’s farewell gift which reddened my cheek again as I shifted my eyes away from Lily.

Lily’s gorgeous heterochromic eyes stared at me with a pouty cheek, “Sis, you dummy!”

I was perplexed at the sudden change in Lily’s behavior. For some reason the group of mouse girls also looked at me with a rather disapproving look. Even Remmy was looking at me with a rather awkward expression.

“Um… Cheating is bad, Miss Yuzu.” Kara dropped a bombshell that explained everyone’s reaction.

Without a single delay, I immediately retorted, “Once again, It’s a misunderstanding!”

I wanted to clear my name of this intimate relationship from Lily to everyone, but she immediately stopped me by closing our distance and hugged me. I could almost feel her smile behind her teary eyes for teasing me. Perhaps her little charade was so amusing to her that I could only sigh in resignation.

“Judging by your reaction, you kissed that catgirl, right? That’s cheating!” Lily’s imaginary tear dropped as her expression grew sad. Her, of all people, should’ve known that wasn’t true. It wasn’t cheating because we were not in an intimate relationship in the first place.

Everyone looked at me with rather judgy eyes. I pretended to cough a few times to clear out the awkward atmosphere in this room. “Anyway, can we get back on topic? What’s the relationship between that key and Sekai-chan?”

Lily let go of her hug, while everyone gave an even more disapproving look. “Changing the subject, isn’t that rather underhanded?!” Lily responded.

I could almost hear what everyone’s thoughts were as Lily’s sad expression surfaced. I sighed at the rather odd predicament I was in. Perhaps I should’ve just summoned a private jet and left this place, but I stopped that train of thought. This time, Lily was the one that did fake coughing, presumably it was to get us back on track.

“Ahem, I don’t know the exact relationship between the necklace and the thieving cat. Rather, I don’t even know if there was even one in the first place. The supernatural energy from the necklace is similar to that homewrecker, but it’s not the same.” Lily explained it with obvious discontent for Sekai-chan.

I sighed and ignored her choice of words for Sekai-chan and focused on the important part. I contemplated on using my power to uncover the secret of the necklace, but gave up on that idea. If it wasn’t a life or death situation, or something that made me feel uncomfortable, then I wouldn’t use any of my power. Afterall, it would be too boring that way. I just wanted to have fun in this world.

“Anyway, I need to go back to the Aether Paradise now. Thank you for the hospitality, Remmy.” Lily smiled.

Remmy awkwardly replied, “it’s an honor.”

I watched Lily as she walked towards the front door. She waved her hand to everyone. The surrounding mouse girls around me also waved back in reply towards Lily. I also followed suit as I waved towards Lily and said my goodbye.

“Goodbye for now, Sis Yuzu. I’ll see you later.”

❦ ❦ ❦

“Um, are you sure this is okay, Miss Goddess?” Remmy asked.

I nodded while wearing my favorite cat hooded pajamas, “It’s fine, thank you for the room. Also you don’t have to call me Goddess.” I looked around the room to see a simple wooden bed with a comfy white sheet on it. Kara slowly walked towards it as she sat on the bed. She rubbed her hands towards the comfy sheet with a childish smile.

“I see, enjoy your stay.” Remmy closed the door, leaving me with Kara alone.

I looked through the window to see a constellation of stars and clouds approaching in darkness. I could see some torches outside the house to lighten up the night scenery, and there were also two big sheds that were made to be room for the mouse girls to sleep.

I could see some of the mouse girls outside, making a bonfire. Some of them were holding a stick with meat in it, ready to cook on the bonfire. Perhaps they were getting a late-night meal. Looking at them, it made me crave some late night snacks.

I created some potato chips with different kind of flavors. Kara looked at them with a curious eyes. I gave her one potato chip with seaweed flavor and urged her to eat. She was hesitant at first, before committing to it.

“Um, this is delicious!” Kara’s eyes lit up with excitement.

I smiled at Kara’s childish expression as she munched the rest of potato chip with a neverending excitement. Looking back at it, perhaps giving her a late night snack was a bad idea as I could see some of the crumbles fall down to the floor.

Just as I was about to wipe the floor with a broom available inside the room, Kara beat me to it and she immediately cleaned the floor, alongside with the entire room. I was given a guest room from Remmy with Kara for our stay. This would be my first time sleeping outside of my room in this world.

Kara yawned cutely as she rubbed her eyes sleepily. She was wearing her usual pajamas, getting ready to sleep. She climbed on top of the bed and closed her eyes. So much stuff happened today that she would go straight to sleep.

I smiled looking at Kara’s behavior as I also got ready to sleep. I closed the curtain and, just before I went to bed, I could see Kara’s eyes opening up slightly. She was looking at me with rather tearful eyes.

“Are you not gonna sleep?” I asked.

Kara replied, “I… I’m scared.”

I immediately tried to comfort Kara by gently patting her. She was watching me in silence as her eyes calmed down. It was as if her expression was growing heavy, or that she was holding something in her heart.

A few moments passed, I kept on patting her. It would be nice if she would simply calm down, and go to sleep. However, it was not that simple

“Are you… gonna leave me, Miss Yuzu?” Kara asked tearfully.

I was surprised at her question. It came out of nowhere, and I was struggling to answer her immediately. However, I didn’t stop patting her. I stayed in silence to figure out my next words.

“Of course, but not today.” I tried to find words that could comfort her, but I stopped. I decided that I would be honest and straightforward.

Kara’s expression grew heavy, but she wasn’t surprised. Rather, it was as if she expected that answer. I accidentally glanced at the necklace Kara put on the table and remembered Lily. Perhaps the reason why Kara grew anxious was because Lily left to go home, and she thought that I would be next.

“Then… When will you leave?” Kara’s tearful eyes stared at me like a puppy looking for shelter.

I thought for a moment before answering, “When you can live by yourself.”

I kept on continuing on patting Kara. After hearing my answer, Kara gave a complicated expression, which was interrupted by a cute yawn from her. She looked at me until she finally started to close her eyes. I couldn’t help but smile at her cute expression.

There was a strange tug at my heart. I really wanted to stay with Kara forever, but that would be hard. It wouldn’t be wise for me to watch over her until she grew old alone, she would have to grow up at some point. Besides, unlike before, she had followers now that could help her achieve her dreams.

I whispered, “Don’t worry, I won't be leaving your side forever. When you grow up, I will visit you sometimes, and be proud of you.” With her eyes closed, Kara smiled.

I might not be able to stay with Kara forever, but I would definitely watch over her sometimes. I could imagine her growing up to be a beautiful queen with her own story. Thinking of that, it made me kind of sad. Perhaps this is what my parents thought of me. I heard that children grow up so fast, but I wouldn’t want that to be true.

I prepared myself to go to sleep besides Kara. However, the moment I stopped patting Kara, she had her eyes opened. She touched my fingers with both of her hands. Her cute mouse ears twitched as she stared through me.

“Thank you, Miss Yuzu. I don’t know why I was fretting over it. In the end, I will meet you again at the end of my life, guiding me once more towards my next life.” Kara smiled.