The group was relaxing in their living room, and the topic eventually turned to Chloe, Feyanis, and the extended knowledge they seemed to have about magic. Much to their confusion, while being somewhat similar, it even differed slightly from what Canir had told them before. Unfortunately, Chloe didn’t seem to know where Feyanis got her knowledge from, so she had no way of answering any of their questions. Everyone had to wait for the return of said fox to finally get the complete picture of what was going on.
A few days had passed since then, and the next event was already happening. Ari’s 18th birthday occurred two days ago, and while the girls went over to congratulate her, they decided that it was a day for the jaguar and Anna to be alone together, just as Sophia and Maya during the cat-girl’s birthday. Today was the birthday of the princess, though, and, unfortunately, that was too much of an event for them to be alone together. During the day, Anna had to attend to some official stuff, including being congratulated by all kinds of people, just as Kira had on the weekend before, but the late afternoon was reserved for her actual friends.
“I WANT TO DIE!” Anna’s loud voice echoed through her room.
“I already am dead…” Ari, sitting next to her on the sofa, just hung her head.
“Uhh…?” Sophia and Maya, sitting on the other sofa, and Chloe, having gotten comfortable on a big armchair, all had the same reaction.
“What happened…?” The blonde asked the question the other two wanted to know just as much.
“…” The couple just went silent again.
“T-The most embarrassing day in history… is what happened…” Ari eventually answered her.
“Eh?” Chloe tilted her head. “Did you two get caught again…?” It was the only thing she could think about.
“Seriously?!” Sophia immediately jumped on the idea.
“WE DID NOT!” They got loud again.
“So…?” Maya just looked at them. “What is going on?”
“Father and mother organized a little reception for me where some ministers, generals, and other important members of the castle and some more could congratulate me…"
"So far, so good…?" She was yet to see the issue.
“They… They also used the chance to make us… official…” The jaguar added the important bit.
“Ahh…” The other three had the same reaction yet again. “Congratulation…?”
“S-SHUT UP!” They weren’t in the best mood.
“It didn’t go badly now, though, did it?” Sophia was trying to find out the actual issue. “There’s no reason for anyone to be against it, after all. Okay, that never stopped some people, but let’s not go there…” Her voice trailed off a little towards the end.
“N-No, all went well… It was just way too embarrassing…”
“In fact, it was so embarrassing because… because it went too well…” Anna and Ari had hung their heads again.
“Did they start applauding and yelling that it was about time or finally and stuff like that? It was obvious to everyone but you, after all.” The fellow tiger took a wild guess. “Followed by them swarming you and mentioning how they were always rooting for you and how happy they are that it finally worked out?”
“…” They hung their head even deeper, but the others could still clearly see that their faces were on fire.
“For real?!” Sophia wasn’t actually serious, and it was just an attempt to get a reaction out of them.
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“…” The two continued to be silent before they eventually gave her a small nod. “That… That is exactly what happened…”
“Wow…” Maya had a rather complicated expression in return. “I’m… I’m not exactly sure what is worse… getting caught… or that…”
“I’ll go with the public shame play.” It sounded like a nightmare to the blonde.
"Urgh…" The couple took some more damage.
"Not only that, but most of the people who congratulated them there, and applauded them, they already knew about, and or heard them having had sex before." Chloe decided to make it worse. Much worse.
“Right! Most of them are the same that are always in the castle! I would’ve died having to go through something that humiliating and emba- Ah.” She remembered the start of their conversation earlier. “I-I see now…”
"Idiots…" Maya just rolled her eyes over the two girls who didn't come equipped with a filter as usual. “W-Well, it could’ve been worse, right…?” She tried to cheer them up.
“HOW?!” The two had the loudest reaction yet. “JUST HOW?!”
"Uhh…" She scratched her cheek. "I'm sorry…" In the end, the cat-girl was about as helpful as the other two.
“Well, at least you two can be open about it now…?” Chloe tried to find something actually positive about the situation.
“She’s right!” Sophia nodded a few times. “I’d say that’s worth a lot!”
“…” Anna and Ari paused once again before slowly lifting their faces to look at them. “T-That is true…”
“Well, anyway… Congratulation. Seriously, now.” Sophia smiled at them. “Honestly, I don’t think it could’ve gone any worse for the two of you, but…”
“Yeah…” Maya and Chloe nodded.
“BUT! In the end, the result is all that counts! You are a couple, and everyone loves you. From now on, only happy times are allowed! You two are important! Not the others!”
“T-Thank you.” This time, the two got embarrassed for a different reason.
“And now, there is something I want to do to ensure that you two will be happy together for a long while.” Saying so, the blonde got up from her sofa and walked up to Anna. There, she kneeled down in front of her. “Give me your hand, please.”
“Huh?!” The princess wasn’t sure how to feel about any of this.
“Uhh…?” Ari had the strong feeling that no one would be happy with the current picture.
“Am I holding a ring, idiots?!” For a rare change, Sophia was playing the straight man. Even though neither of those words should or could ever be used for her, according to the tiger herself. “Just give me your hand…” Without waiting for further protest, the resident voice of reason just grabbed the right hand of the princess before placing it between her own. A moment later, their hands started to glow in a deep purple light. “Happy birthday~!” Afterward, she let go of Anna again and stood up.
“E-Eh…?” The princess looked slightly confused. “What just happened…?”
“My birthday gift for you was a part of my magic. Once it settles down inside of you, you should end with about the same as current Ari.” She smiled at the two. “You two should be equal in that regard to stay happy together in the future.” She then glanced at Anna again. “We might start to feel a little tired and or sick in a while, though… Well, now that I know why Ari and I ended up like that the last time, we might get over it faster if I recharge your magic immediately after it empties out later…”
“…” Anna looked a bit overwhelmed and just stared at her. “What…?”
“Wait, you didn’t want to? Should I have asked…?”
“No, that’s not… Wait, what just happened?!”
"Remember when I accidentally boosted Ari's magic and enabled her to use chantless magic? I just did the same with you, only that I did it consciously because I now know what I am doing."
“…” The princess blinked a few times. “S-Seriously?!”
“Yup~.” Sophia's smile got bigger. "Well, I relatively know what I'm doing..."
“THANK YOU!” Anna jumped up from the sofa and right into the arms of her fellow tiger to crush her in a big hug.
"Ehehe~." The blonde returned the hug because she was happy that her gift was such a success. “This is a great reward, too~." She then glanced at Ari after getting some air again after almost having suffocated for some reason. "You sure are lucky! They're... she's super soft! Sorry, I had to, Maya."
“I would’ve done the same.” She couldn’t necessarily blame her. "Probably even more."
“H-Hey!” The jaguar could, though. "I know, but they're... s-she's mine!"
"Heh!" Being happy with that, Sophia let go of Anna, who then also got away from the blonde again.
“Y-You are such a pervert!" The princess's face turned a little red after she put some distance between them.
“Who was the one who shoved her boobs into my face? You can’t blame me for having the perfect height for them... that!”
"And now I'm even more jealous…" Maya was taking the whole exchange surprisingly well. Partly because it was obvious that there were no actual feelings involved in the whole exchange and also because she was genuinely happy for the princess.
“Anyway, thanks~.” Sophia smiled at her once more, but she then suddenly turned a lot more serious, though. “The magic comes with a big catch, though… Something I haven’t told Ari yet, either…”
“H-Huh…?” Both of them didn’t like the sound of that.
“Well,” Scratching her cheek, Sophia then walked back to Maya and sat down next to her. As this would most likely take a while, she wanted to get comfortable first. Revealing how magic power is related to aging and what that would mean for the couple certainly wasn’t going to be an easy task.