On their way towards the lake area the group found on the map, Sophia came up with a new way of transporting excess magic into the domain by attaching a portal to her tail and leaving it active the entire time. While walking, Steph also found out that Chloe, Anna, and Ari had never been on a boat before and decided that it was time to change it. She also suggested that everyone should go on a fishing trip together while they were at it.

“By the way, I don’t think I have to ask, but the lake city will also be getting a portal, right?” The group had skipped some more distance and were only 20 kilometers away from their destination when Sophia got curious about the work part of their trip.

“Absolutely!” Anna nodded a couple of times. “It’s one of the more important places, too.”

“I figured as much.” The blonde just wanted to make sure. “I guess Menzor will be kidnapped again today.”

“Kingnapped.” Steph corrected her.

“True!”

“Oh, can I go and get father this time?” Anna suddenly raised her voice. “I need to see his new hair if your magic worked out the way you told us!”

"Ohh, that will be fun~." Sophia reacted with a big smile.

“I’m more interested in Kira’s reaction.” Ari’s priorities were on something else.

Walking for around another hour, the group eventually arrived at the top of a small hill, which gave them a good overview of the surrounding area.

“WOW!” From their position, they were able to see the lakes and the city, which made Sophia quite excited.

Beginning from the foot of the hill and continuing all the way over the horizon, there were three massive lakes. They were divided by three strips of land with a road on each, which led to a city sandwiched in between those lakes. It almost seemed like it was built on an island, and the land bridges were added later.

The city itself, though obviously nowhere near as big as the capital, was quite sizeable, too. Just as Ari had mentioned before, a significant portion of it was connected by waterways rather than regular roads. Those channels were connected to the lakes and could also be used to go from one body of water to another without needing to go on land. The few roads inside Gativa were connected with bridges over the canals to make traveling on foot a little easier.

Many boats were rowing through the canals while the regular streets were bustling with people, as well. It being popular was quite true. Even though it wasn’t summer yet, the beautiful white beaches of the lakes closest to the city were also filled with people.

From the looks of it, the sisters weren’t alone with their fishing idea, either. All the lakes had a couple of boats floating on them, as well, with some of them having people with fishing poles on them.

“We’re absolutely going to rent a boat before we leave this place!” Steph was also looking forward to their stay.

“Let’s buy one!” The blonde was even more into it.

“That works for me!”

“Why do you want to buy a boat?” Chloe tilted her head.

“Because I want a water world in my domain!” Sophia was thinking big. “This place looks amazing, and I want a massive lake area in my place, too! A boat would be amazing for that!”

“Alright, fair enough.” The fox nodded. “Good plan.”

“I kind of want one, too.” Ari, out of everyone, joined the conversation.

“Eh?” The blonde hadn’t expected that. “Why?”

“I was thinking about that lake I helped Fen make in his relaxation forest. The one with the massive cherry blossom on an island in the middle of it.” The jaguar smiled at the male wolf. “I think it would be quite cozy to go boating on there.”

“I’m not opposed to that idea.” Fen just nodded.

“Alright, let’s get multiple boats!” Sophia had no issues with that.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

“If they sell boats, that is.” Maya tried not to get them too excited.

“Don’t ruin the dream!” She didn’t make herself overly popular with that and got multiple retorts in return.

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

Having decided on their plan for the day, the group walked the last stretch and entered the city. There, before even being able to explore the place, the guards at the entrance had implored for Sophia and Anna, being the tigers they are, to meet the mayor immediately. The others had no intention of coming with them and decided to explore without them. However, Ari and Maya had no choice but to accompany them.

“Well, I most certainly wasn’t expecting to meet the first princess and her girlfriend today.” Inside the mayor’s mansion, the four were greeted by a tall wolf-girl who seemed to be in her mid-forties, was almost as tall as Anna, with short silver hair, light-blue eyes, and a tail similar to Steph’s, though not quite as fluffy. “What can I, Kai, mayor of Gativa, do for such important guests with so little notice? No notice, to be exact.” She focused her attention on Anna and Ari for the time being.

“H-How do you know that she’s my girlfriend?!” The tall tiger got a little embarrassed over the fact that they got called out by a stranger.

“Hmm?” Kai tilted her head. “When I was in the capital two or maybe three years ago for a meeting with King Menzor, I saw the two of you walking together through the castle. “When I asked Queen Kira about that lovely black jaguar maid with the unbelievably pretty black hair, Kira introduced her to me as the future wife of the princess.”

“…” The girls in question only got more embarrassed. Ari even got dealt double damage because of being self-conscious about her hair, and how she was convinced that everyone hated it before meeting Sophia.

“I forgot about that plot point!” Maya raised her voice. “Well, maybe not forgot but rather repressed it…” She didn't want to remember how dense the two were about their feelings for each other while everyone around them knew what was going on. “Dense idiots.”

“Same!” The blonde nodded. Not only had she dealt with dense Ari in the past, but she also had to deal with idiot Ari and her self-inflicted low self-esteem caused by being different and not liking it.

“Ahh, young love~.” The mayor nodded a few times. “By the way, speaking of important guests, who might you be?” Kai finally changed her attention to the other tiger.

“I’m Sophia!” She just smiled at her.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you.” The mayor stared at her for a little longer. “I don’t think I remember seeing any other tiger girls around Princess Anna’s age during my last visit in the capital.”

“Don't worry about it~.” The blonde was still smiling, but something about her changed and caused the mayor to immediately drop the topic.

“Well, the capital is big, and I was only there for a short time, so it makes sense. There’s no way I saw all of the tigers.”

“Sure!”

“So, again, why are two tigers and, I presume, partners…?” Kai took a quick glance at Maya, who simply nodded. “Why are you visiting my city? I’m aware and proud that it’s a popular spot in the country. Still, a visit of such important people usually only happens with prior notice so we can prepare adequate accommodation.”

“It wasn't exactly planned.” Anna scratched her cheek. “We were somewhat nearby and decided to visit. Okay, father asked us to visit, together with various other cities, but the timing was indeed random.”

“What a cryptic princess.” Naturally, the mayor was a little confused as she was missing a lot of context. “Then, the question shifts to why His Majesty asked you to visit at all.”

“The main reason is that I wanted to travel and get to know the country. I feel like I, as the first princess, should know my country. So, the four of us here, together with a couple of more people who are currently exploring the city, went on a trip. Before leaving, father gave us a list of places to visit.”

“Ah, just like your brother, huh?” Kai apparently knew that the prince had also left the capital to travel to the kingdom. “So, the list was to help you find the best spots? I’m honored that Gativa is on it.”

“Not exactly.” Anna shook her head. “The entirety of the kingdom is about to change in unimaginable ways, and we were tasked to inform the affected cities.”

“I… don’t know if I like the sound of that.” The mayor got uneasy.

“Don't worry, it’s a good change.” The princess tried to calm her down. “It’s just incredibly complicated to explain and generally unbelievable.”

“Okay…?” Kai’s confusion only grew.

“What would you do if I were to say that there’s a way to connect this place and the capital in a way that traveling between them would take seconds.”

“I’d probably call for a doctor to take a look at you because our beloved princess has gone crazy.”

“Oh, does that mean you have a doctor that specializes in brain-related worries at hand?” Maya perked up while looking at Sophia.

“Shush!” The blonde glared at her in return.

“I get where you’re coming from, but it’s true!” Anna was perfectly aware that her reaction was reasonable and expected. “Sophia?”

“Sure, I’ll get the king!” Nodding, she quickly opened a portal without warning and got ready to go through it.

“Wait a moment.” The princess stopped her. “How about we bring the mayor to Father instead? I feel like that would make explaining things even easier!”

“Good point!”

“WHAT IS THAT?!” The silver-haired wolf-girl got loud.

“This is the connection to the capital I mentioned a few moments ago.” Anna smiled at the mayor. “Sophia, could you make it see-through?”

“Ah, right!” She hadn’t thought that far.

“See?” The princess then pointed inside the portal. “What you can see here is my bedroom in the castle of the capital.”

“There’s just no way! What is even going on?!”

While the tigers noticed that they overloaded Kai's common sense, they also didn't feel like explaining anymore because it was getting tedious. Making sure to give Menzor the biggest headache possible, they just went behind the mayor and pushed her through the portal so that she could meet the king directly on the other side.