Together with her youngest daughter Ellie, Queen Kira visited the couple’s mansion, and Sophia explained her heated floors invention to them. Both loved the idea very much. They, just like Ari and Anna before already, are warmth-loving cats, after all. Kira liked it so much that she immediately wanted to speak with her husband, King Menzor, to have it installed everywhere in the castle. Ellie loved it even more so that she immediately fell asleep on the warmed-up sheepskin rug on the floor, and it was impossible to wake her up again. Because of that, Kira decided to leave her in the couple’s care while she went to talk with the king.

Sophia was terribly envious of Ellie peacefully napping on the fluffy, warm, and comfortable rug that she immediately joined the little princess once the queen had left. Once she laid down, the blonde slightly angled her legs while wrapping her arms around the little girl. Ellie was facing the blonde and had comfortably nuzzled her head against the taller tiger’s chest once she noticed the taller girl’s presence during her sleep. Her body was almost wholly curled up into a ball, and so she fitted perfectly in the spot above Sophia’s angled legs while sticking close to her stomach and chest.

Maya watched the duo sleeping peacefully while also cuddling with each other for a while. Still, she was also getting slightly shifty as she looked over them. The urge to join them was slowly rising within the cat-girl because the two looked extremely comfortable, not to mention adorable.

“…” She continued to steal glances at them for a while longer but gave up soon enough. “W-Whatever, if Sophia’s allowed to do it, why shouldn’t I be able to do the same!?” She had lost to her instincts. Maya got up from the sofa and walked over to the sheepskin rug. “Hmm…” She was trying to find out how to join them. “I kinda want to spoon Sophia, but…” She glanced at the fluffy, curled-up ball called Ellie right next to her girlfriend. “I don’t know why, but…”

In the end, Maya decided to lay down on the opposite side of Sophia. Ellie was in the middle while the heads of the couple were near each other, touching even, same with their legs that ended up being slightly entangled with each other, effectively wrapping all around Ellie as if trying to protect the little girl from every side. Maya also wrapped her arms around the little tiger while it seemed like she’d refuse to let go of her no matter what could possibly happen.

The trio slept together for some hours while tightly cuddling with each other. Eventually though, out of all cats, Sophia was the one to wake up.

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“Haa~…” She let out a sleepy yawn before uprighting her upper body as she let go of Ellie while taking the utmost care not to wake her up. “Oh…?” She only then noticed Maya napping on the sheepskin rug next to the two while also clinging to the little princess.

“…” Her eyes were glued to the two while a gentle smile appeared on her lips. “Adorable… Something about this is… perfect. Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy for some reason~.” Something about this picture made her emotional.

“Why does this world have no cameras…? Somehow, I’d like to look at this scene every single day...” The blonde stared at them for a while longer before she finally decided to fully stand up. “Stupid bladder, I’ll never forgive you!” She needed to use the toilet.

Once she was done with her business, Sophia immediately wanted to head back to the living room. Unfortunately, ran into the wolves on the way.

“Good morning.” Fen greeted her while sounding slightly sarcastic.

“You saw me, well… us taking a nap?”

“Yep.” Aura answered her. “We came back from the maze earlier and found the three of you on our… err, the sheepskin rug.”

“Ah, sorry for taking your spot.”

“No, it’s fine.” The female wolf wasn’t angry. “Still…” She stared at the tiger. “Is that scene something we can look forward to in our little, let’s call it, household in the future?”

“I doubt Ellie’s going to be here that often.”

“Really?” She only intensified her stare. “You know that I mean you and your girlfriend cuddling with a cub while looking and acting like it’s yours. The expression both of you had while sleeping with the little one seemed to be more than just pure adoration for her cuteness.”

“T-That’s…” Sophia’s face instantly turned red. “W-We just like cuddling with her…”

“Is that so?” Aura didn’t believe a single word she said. “Was there really nothing different you felt when you looked at Maya cuddling with the little one? Both of you looked very motherly if you ask me.”

“T-This and t-that are totally different topics!” The tiger didn’t exactly deny it. “E-Even if that would be the case, it’s too early for that!”

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“It’s never too early for that.” She had fun with the topic. “There’s no need to wait with that.”

“Is that so?” The blonde’s expression suddenly changed. “No, I disagree with it, but if you think so, Maya and I will gladly cuddle with your cub as soon as you get it. We’ll also help you raise it. You and Fen shouldn’t do all the work alone. We’re something like a family, after all. Your cubs are our cubs.”

“…” Aura was at a complete loss for words.

“He.” Sophia looked incredibly smug. “Well, if you’d excuse me, there’s still a lot of cuddling left to do.” Saying so, she left the wolves on their own and entered the living room. There, she immediately laid down on the rug again. Afterward, she wrapped her arms around Ellie once more while pressing her forehead against Maya, who was still fast asleep and clinging to the little princess with an incredibly gentle expression.

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Some, a lot, more hours had passed since then, and it was already becoming dark when the trio finally woke up for good. Thanks to Aura’s implications from before, the blonde got a little shy after looking at Maya for a while, but it wore off soon enough.

“Haa…” Maya let out a yawn and stretched herself once she stood up. “I’m starting to understand why you like to sleep so much.” She looked at her tiger while saying so.

“Yeah… H-Hugging Ellie makes it even better.”

“That’s true… Cuddling with the little one feels really good. She’s so fluffy and huggable.”

“Ehehe~.” The princess in question liked what she was hearing. “Ellie likes to cuddle and sleep with So… phia and Maya, too!” She showed the couple a great smile. “It feels really nice when you two hug Ellie. It feels really warm and protected!”

“Uuh…” Both took a lot of damage from this unexpected attack.

“A-Alright…” Sophia needed a moment and looked out of the window to calm down. “It’s gotten really late. How about we bring you home. I’m sure your mother’s already waiting for you.”

“No! The castle is cold! Ellie wants to stay here forever!”

“You know that you can’t do that.”

“B-But!” The princess started panicking. “We still haven’t sleep… over yet! Ellie wants to do that now!”

“Right, I almost forgot about that…” The blonde had nothing she could say at first. “We have to ask your mother for permission first, though. We can’t do that else.”

“I-I see…” The little tiger hung her head.

“Urgh…”

“She’s good.” The cat-girl had to give it to her.

“M-Maya, let’s go and ask Kira!” Both tigers were excited about the idea now.

“Sure… I doubt it’s going to happen today, though, you two. Everyone needs to be prepared for that, after all. I think it would be better to ask about a sleepover for tomorrow, for example.”

“That’s a good idea.” Sophia agreed and looked at the princess. “Do you think you can wait until tomorrow?”

“Hmm… It will be hard, but Ellie will try!” She wasn’t the biggest fan of the idea, but she still agreed.

“Good girl.” Both gently petted her head in response.

“Ehehe.” The little tiger was a big fan of that, though.

Afterward, once the three were ready, they left the mansion to make their way back to the castle. Along the way, Ellie decided that she wanted to walk in between the couple while holding the hands of one each. The two more than happily complied with her demand.

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Even though they took their time, the trio eventually arrived at the castle and had the maids guide them to where Kira currently was.

“My, look at that.” The queen lightly greeted them. “You sure took your time. Did you have fun?” She ruffled the hair of the little tiger while saying so.

“Yes! Ellie slept a lot!” That activity definitely is fun for her.

“Good for you.”

“Yes!” She gave Kira a big nod in response. “Ellie wanted to stay and nap for longer with Maya and So… phia!”

“Oh?” The queen looked at the couple.

“…” Maya looked away.

“It was very comfy!” Sophia didn’t. “Your daughter’s way too huggable.”

“I know~.” Kira looked proud about it.

“Mama!” The princess suddenly got loud. “Ellie wants to sleep over at Maya’s and Sophia’s home! It’s very warm there. Here is… cold! Ellie doesn’t like it!”

“Ahh…” The queen awkwardly scratched her chin. “Dear, you can’t have a sleepover on such short notice.”

“Ellie knows! That’s why Ellie wants to have it tomorrow!”

“Eh…” She hadn’t seen that one coming. “W-Well, I did promise that you can do it eventually… It already took longer than I had anticipated, too…”

“Yay!” Her face lit up.

“Maya, Sophia, can I trust you with this?”

“I’ll protect her with my life if anything would come up!” The blonde was very determined.

“And I’ll make sure Ellie feels safe and secure and also doesn’t learn anything too stupid from my girl.”

“Thank you.” She faced the cat-girl while thanking the couple.

“Does that mean Ellie can do the sleep over?!” She couldn’t fully follow their conversation.

“Yes…” Kira caved in.

“Yay!” She sounded incredibly happy.

“You have to promise me that you’ll behave, though!”

“Of course!” The princess gave her a big nod. “Ellie will be a good girl. The bestest!”

“You already are.” All three had their thoughts accidentally leak out.

“Ellie wants to start preparing immediately! What do we need to do?!” Thanks to having napped the day away, the little tiger had a lot of energy to spare.

“I’ll explain it later to you, dear.”

“Ahaha… Sorry about that.” Sophia let out a dry laugh.

“It’s fine. I’m glad she likes the two of you so much and is having a great time.”

“Happy to hear.” The blonde liked the sound of that. “How did the conversation with the king go?”

“Swimmingly!” Kira smiled at her. “We’ll be getting those heated floors in the castle soon!”

“Really?!” Ellie got even more excited.

“Yes!” The queen patted her head again. “Menzor wants to see you soon to tell you the details. How about you meet him tomorrow when you’re getting the little one for the sleepover?”

“Sounds like a plan to me.” Sophia agreed to the suggestion.

“Great, I’ll tell him about it later.”

The group chatted for a while longer, but as it was about to be time for dinner, the couple decided to head back home for the day. Giving Ellie a quick hug and waving the queen goodbye, Sophia and Maya left the castle. They made their way back home while looking forward to the next day they would spend with the little princess.