Sophia and Maya had a nice chat over the rather obvious crush that Chloe was developing on Steph, how the big sister felt about that, and the possibility of the new dog-girl feeling the same about the fox-girl as she definitely is getting along with her more than fine. Afterward, as Steph was brimming with energy, the sisters, now that she could understand the language and looked the part, decided to go on a little adventure while the other two headed over to the castle instead. They wanted to give the sisters some alone time because they still had much catching up to do after not having seen each other for almost a year.

“There she is!” Maya and Chloe had gone to the castle while the sisters went exploring, and Anna immediately glared at the cat-girl the moment the two had entered her room. "Ari and I waited for you this morning to go to school, but you and Sophia never came, and we had to go without you! We didn't see you yesterday at all, either!”

“You really should’ve said something beforehand.” Ari also looked a little pouty.

“Ahh… I’m sorry about that…” Maya awkwardly scratched her cheek. “The last few days were so extremely complicated and hectic that I forgot about that…”

“What could’ve been so bad that you even forgot to give us a heads-up?” The jaguar tilted her head. “Also, where is Sophia? Did something happen?”

“That might be putting it lightly… Chloe, please explain to them what happened…”

“W-Why me?!” The fox-girl got loud. "I still don't understand more than half of it myself! I only know that she's adorable and fun and that I’m looking forward to going exploring with her!"

“…” Maya stared at her for a moment before eventually shaking her head. “Thanks for the help…”

"I-I'm not qualified to tell them about Steph, don't you think?!"

“Steph…?” Hearing that name, Anna and Ari tilted their head in confusion. “Who’s that?”

“Err… Do you really not want to explain it…?” The cat-girl realized she really didn't want to do it and looked at the fox-girl again.

“You found her! You explain!”

“She found us!”

“Doesn’t make me any more qualified to tell the story!” Chloe wasn’t going to let her off the hook.

“Urgh, I hate it when someone counters with sound arguments…” She wasn’t used to that sort of thing, after all.

“Uhh…?” The princess only got more confused while listening to them. “What is going on?”

“It’s kinda complicated to explain, but Sophia and I went on a bit of an… let’s call it an expedition, and we made a new, uhh… friend? A good one, I want to add.”

"She's great. I more than agree with that, but is friend really the right word?”

“What do you want her to be, then?” Maya’s vow not to tease Chloe about her obviousness, for the time being, was already being tested. "Well, you have a point, but stop making it more complicated!"

“I’m the one who’s making it complicated…?”

“You are certainly not making it easier!”

“Maya, stop being a Sophia and get to the point!” Ari had had enough.

“…” The cat-girl had no idea how to respond to that. “That is… you win.” She was a little speechless after that, but it helped her calm down. “Long story short, we met Sophia’s little sister after a series of weird coincidences…”

“Oh, I didn’t know Sophia had a sister!” Ari didn’t see anything wrong with it.

“Wait, what?!” Anna remembered the family situation of the blonde tiger, though. “H-Her sister…? Eh? I thought Sophia’s family was…”

“Yeah, that’s what we all thought… Sophia included.” As the cat-girl wasn’t specifying what everyone was thinking, she had spoken no lie yet. “As it turns out, Sophia just thought she had lost her sister when in reality, they only got separated."

Stolen novel; please report.

“S-Seriously?!” The princess raised her voice. “How did that even happen?!”

"That's an excellent question…" Maya didn't feel like answering this question. Mainly because there was no way she could. "It was quite the shock for everyone…"

“I can imagine!” Anna nodded a couple of times. “How’s Sophia doing? I have no idea how I’d deal with something like that…”

"She cried a lot. Both cried a lot. Heck, I also cried a bunch when they reunited… It was very touching.”

“Wow… Talk about unexpected…” The tiger wasn’t sure what to say. “Where are they now, though…? D-Don’t tell me Sophia left with her?!”

"Would we really be talking right now, then? As if I’d let her go so easily.”

“G-Good point.”

“I was with them ever since they found each other, and Chloe, too, has been around since we returned to the mansion. I felt that the two should have some time with just each other to catch up on stuff and all that.”

“Aww, that’s very nice of you!” Anna liked the gesture a lot.

"Steph, as Chloe already mentioned, that's her name. She also wanted to see the capital because it was her first time being here, so they also went exploring. They might come over depending on how sidetracked they get…”

“I look forward to it!”

“How is she like?” Ari was naturally interested in her, as well.

“She’s SUPER cute!” The fox-girl’s reply came in an instant.

“Calm down…” Maya rolled her eyes in return. “It is very true, though.”

“That’s, uhh… good to know, but I was more wondering about actual details…”

"She's about Chloe's age and a dog-girl with violet hair and a super fluffy tail. Obviously not comparable to our fox-girl, though. She also incorporates the very soul of a dog. She easily gets excited about basically everything, caring, and loves body contact. She’s pretty clingy, actually. Super active and can’t sit still. A very peppy and lovable girl.”

“Yep!” Chloe agreed with Maya’s explanation.

“Violet? That’s a rare one.” The jaguar tilted her head. “Makes me feel even more stupid that I was so worried about my black hair…”

“Yeah, you were pretty stupid.”

“H-Hey!” She glared at the cat-girl. “No need to agree there!”

“Wait, a dog-girl…?” Anna looked slightly confused. “Sophia’s a tiger, so her sister should be one, too…? That’s how we tiger work. If at least one parent is a tiger, the children will basically always be, too… Share they only one parent, maybe?”

"I have no idea…" Maya shook her head. "We're talking about Sophia's family, though. Do you really think anything there would be normal? I'm sure that the tiger rule has exceptions, too. Sophia is so much tiger that I wouldn't be surprised that there was nothing left for her sister when she was born."

"I hate how that makes perfect sense to me…" The princess had some very conflicting emotions about that. "Well, yeah, every rule has some exceptions, huh? Assuming they actually are sisters. It’s no super weird misunderstanding, right…?”

“Trust me, they are sisters.”

“Yeah, there is absolutely zero doubt about that.” Maya and Chloe were absolutely certain about that. "Spend three seconds with them, and your doubts are gone.”

“I see.”

“Speaking of…” Ari’s expression also turned complicated. “If she’s Sophia’s sister… How crazy and or unhinged is she compared to our blonde…? From what I’ve heard so far, I might be worried…”

“Ahh… Do you really want to know…?” Maya looked right into her eyes.

“Uhh…” She didn’t like that gesture.

“Between them only, Sophia’s the reasonable and grounded sister with a healthy amount of common sense.”

“N-No way that’s possible!” Anna and Ari had the same reaction.

“It’s true!” The fox-girl smiled at them. “She’s awesome!”

“She has more magic than our tiger, too. A lot more, actually…”

“Alright, I give up!” Ari threw her hands into the air while looking slightly broken. “I don’t get paid enough for having to deal with that many unhinged girls! I'll also embrace the chaos from now on!"

“I like the sound of that!” Chloe was an instant fan.

“Me, too!” So was the princess.

“Y-You can’t leave me on my own!” Maya had some reservations about the plan. “We have to hold out until Chloe’s mother returns! It shouldn’t be long, and according to the wolves, she should be able to keep them in check!”

“As if that’s still possible at this point!” The jaguar didn’t believe her.

“Urgh…” There was little she could say here. “W-We have to try, though! The world will end with so much combined chaos!”

“Everything good has to end eventually, you know?”

"A-Ari!” Maya didn’t like her broken expression. “Pull yourself together!”

“What for…? If the little sister is even crazier and the two are reunited again, which is amazing, by the way, there’s no need to try anymore. We’re done!”

“Dark Ari is pretty interesting~.” The fox-girl was having a good time.

“You stay out of this!” The cat got louder. “You’re part of the issue!”

"A-Ah…” There was little she could say here. “Can we say for sure that Steph is another chaos incarnate, though…? Yes, her common sense is, uhh… bad. Still, to me, it sounded like she was simply really looking forward to going exploring because she couldn't do that yet. Right now, she's just a super bouncy girl with no over-the-top ideas like Sophia and I have… So far, at least. Steph also doesn't seem to care much about her massive magic, so she shouldn't be as catastrophe prone as the older sister?"

“R-Really…?” Ari’s voice got ever so slightly hopeful again.

“I think!”

“…” Her hope didn’t last long.

“Steph is really nice, though! It should be fine!”

“So are you and Sophia!” The jaguar was back to retorting. “It didn’t make anything fine at all!”

“…” Once again, the fox-girl had nothing to say in her defense.

Afterward, as Ari was too tired and Chloe had run out of options, they decided to take a small break from the topic to chat about other things for the time being.