Maya naturally won the duel with princess Anna and was allowed to keep Sophia. Not that any other outcome would've changed anything. Even so, it didn't seem like the princess had entirely given up yet, but there were more important issues at hand right now. Because Sophia didn't want to marry his daughter, the king tasked the cat-girl with the topic of children because the bloodline of Sophia's tiger side must be preserved in his eyes.

"M-Maya... could I talk to you for a moment? A-Alone?" It sounded like a question, but Sophia had already grabbed her hand and was dragging her away.

"S-Sure..." Being embarrassed beyond belief herself, thanks to the king's request, the cat-girl was unable to resist.

"Y-Your Majesty, we need a break here!" She also didn't wait for his answer before the two disappeared.

"Menzor." A cold voice came from his left.

"Y-Yes?!" He reluctantly faced his wife.

"I don't mind that you want to bring Sophia into the family. I, too, find her interesting, after all. BUT!" She raised her voice. "If you don't stop butting into their relationship, I'll get angry. Leave these girls alone!" Kira was a strong ally of the couple. "I mean, I bet a child between them would look adorable, and I would love to see it, but have some delicacy!" Strong, but maybe not the strongest ally.

"Y-Yes."

"Besides, the earlier misunderstanding of you touching her ears, where she threatened to attack you, the king, her eyes were serious. Even more so than mine. I have the feeling that angering her is not a good idea. For this country, that is. You know that I'm sensitive to magic power levels," Kira stopped for a moment. "Maya already is on a level I doubt anyone would be able to beat her. Any of us, combined, that is. But Sophia... she's simply scary."

"T-That much?!" The king was shocked.

"Well, I don't think we have to fear her because she doesn't seem like she even cares about her power. Still, as the saying goes, the silent types are always the scariest when angered. She's one of us, so let's treat her with the same respect as one."

"Alright, I'll leave their relationship alone."

"You, too, Anna," Kira faced her daughter. "Don't overdo it." She knew that she hadn't fully given up yet, and also not to tell youths to stop entirely. That only acts as a motivation.

"Urgh." The princess looked away.

"Not that Maya would let you. Her defenses are strong."

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

While the family was chatting, Sophia had found a suitable secluded place to question the cat-girl.

"M-Maya?"

"Yes...?"

"What is this, uhh, Blessing magic the king mentioned?"

"W-Well…" Her face kept getting redder. "It's-, it is a type of magic for, you know, same-sex couples to have a... c-child together. T-Their child."

"E-Eh?" The words didn't register in the tiger's brain.

"Yeah…."

"Ehhh?!" Sophia needed a minute. "W-Wait- Wait! A-Are you telling me there's magic to impregnate someone in this world?!"

"…" Maya didn't answer and only slightly nodded her head.

"H-Huh?!" Her face was going through all sorts of expressions and emotions at the same time. "S-So... I can get someone pregnant just by concentrating on it?! That's on a whole other level of messed up!" She instinctively covered her stomach with her arms as a form of defense.

"N-No, that's not how it works."

"T-Thank goodness! What a scary thought! Becoming pregnant just by someone thinking about you..." The tiger-girl shuddered from imagining such a scenario.

"Y-You need the consent of your partner, a-and both have to use the magic together..."

"O-Oh, I see-" Her voice became more relaxed again. "T-That's reasonable... Eh?" While she was becoming visibly embarrassed as well, Sophia was also curious. "H-How does this magic work? Do you actually get pregnant afterward, or does it literally create a child out of thin air?"

"Complete, with p-pregnancy and a-all." Maya was taking a lot of damage during this conversation.

"W-Wow, what a world this is. Wait! Girls are one thing... but how does that work for male couples? T-They don't get pregnant now, do they?"

"Err, I don't know. I assume they get help? In the first place, I'm not that knowledgeable about the whole magic. It didn't have much of a relation to me before, after all... I don't know much more than the basics about it."

"I see." She nodded. "Ah, now I understand how this world's population is still fine even though a third of it prefers the same sex, and another third goes for both sides. That part bugged me a bit when you first told me about it."

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

"Yes... Hmm? Huh? You seem really s-surprised, Sophia. How did this work in your old world?"

"Well... it didn't."

"Eh?"

"It was impossible to have our own kid. You'd either have to adopt a child, like from an orphanage... or borrow a man."

"Eww..." Maya really didn't like the sound of the second option.

"W-Well, you didn't actually have to d-do it with him. You only need his, uhh... Y-Yeah, it's a valid option, but I wasn't really a fan, either. I would've gone for adoption for sure. Not that I ever was at a point to decide on that in my old world."

"..." The cat-girl broke.

"That's why," Sophia took a deep breath. "Hearing that I can become an actual, biological, if you can call it that, m-mother... It's quite, I don't know, e-exciting…? Not that we're going to talk about that now. Our relationship is not at a point where this topic should have any kind of importance. Not even close." Sophia didn't think the two were at all ready for such a conversation.

"Y-Yeah..."

"By the way…" The tiger's expression suddenly became complicated. "This blessing magic… it doesn't involve temporarily g-growing any, err, extra body parts, does it…?"

"Extra…?" Maya needed a moment. "No!"

"Alright, let's go back and tear the king a new one for making things all awkward between us!" Sophia didn't push the topic any further, and a fire started to burn in her eyes.

"C-Could you not? Okay, he deserves it, especially when counting in the whole Princess Anna thing, but... he's still the ruler of this country."

"You really don't like the princess, do you?"

"Of course not! She wants to steal you away from me! Not that I can blame her, though! I would try to do the same in her position!"

"You're such an unreasonable girl, Maya."

"That's why we're such a good fit."

"Wow, you really know how to talk your way out."

"Ehehe."

"Even so, I want to be friends with her, so be nice."

"B-But-"

"She won't make me fall for her. Have a little faith in me that I can make her keep her distance!"

"I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry."

"You're way cuter. Also, she's SIX years younger! Not going to happen. Some years down the line, when such an age gap doesn't matter anymore, she might've been a threat to you age-wise, but not when she's 17! And no, me looking younger doesn't change anything." Her body looking like 16 years old right now, wasn't helping her argument a whole lot, but Sophia was very adamant about it. "That's crime territory in my old world... After all, I only took you with me back then because you admitted to being the same age as me."

"O-Okay." The cat-girl was convinced about her seriousness. "W-Wait... So if I lied about being 22-"

"W-What?! No way! Y-You're seriously-?!" Her face turned white. "Oh no... What have I done?! I-I-, that's bad! But I love her already! P-Please, tell me you're still at least 18 or close to it! Urgh... I guess I have to commit to the crime I've done, huh? I hope I don't get a too harsh sentence... I never knew and wouldn't have done so if I did! I knew it was going too smooth for me!"

"S-Sophia, calm down! This was just a what-if scenario! I'm really 22-years-old! In fact, I'm turning 23 in two months."

"R-Really...?"

"Yes!"

"T-Thank goodness-" She let out a deep sigh. "Don't scare me like this, Maya!"

"I'm sorry?" The cat-girl wasn't sure how to react. "W-Well, now I can see that you're definitely not going for a younger girl."

"I won't go for an older one, either! I'm only going for you!"

"Okay. Alright, I'll try to get along with the princess for you."

"Thank you very much." Sophia was happy about it.

"But only as long as she behaves herself. As soon as she gets too close to you or tries something, it's war!"

"Ehh? I can't punch a king, but you're allowed to declare war on the nation's first princess?"

"All's fair in love and war!"

"You... Again, you really are such an unreasonable girl."

"Tehe~."

"Urgh..."

"By the way, the legal age in this world is 17."

"Really...?"

"Yup."

"I don't care!" Sophia got loud again.

"Ehehe."

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

A little while later, the couple finally went back and reunited with the king and his family.

"I'm sorry about that." Sophia apologized for suddenly running away.

"Nono, I'm the one who should apologize." The king, too, felt sorry. "I shouldn't have tried to push our Anna onto you without asking first."

"I don't mind at all~."

"Not now, Anna!" He scolded the princess before continuing. "Also, about the whole offspring thing… This was very insensitive of me."

"It's alright now." Maya had calmed down. "It's too early for us, though."

"Yeah... I didn't even know that it was possible for two girls, so it was a real shock for me. A happy one, sure, but really surprising! Still, waaaaay too early to even think about it."

"Hmm?" The king tilted his head. "The blessing magic should be common sense, though."

"Sophia doesn't do well with common sense."

"Maya, shut up. Well, she has a point, though." She had to admit that she was painfully unaware of this world. "Thanks to my, uhh, past, I don't know many things that should be known to everyone."

"Oh-" Menzor remembered that she was most likely abandoned and grew up alone in a harsh area, or that's at least what he believed happened to her.

"My magic teacher wasn't of any help in that regard, either. I know how to level a city or erase a country, but even everyday magic, well, that's still fairly underdeveloped."

"..." King, queen, and even the loud princess went silent.

"A-Ah!" She realized what she had just said, "I-I wouldn't do that, though!"

"You did eradicate that dungeon, though. Not to mention the 15 or 20 square kilometers of land around it."

"Not helpful, Maya!" Sophia glared at her. "I was angry back then, okay? I like this country, so that won't ever happen."

"A-Alright...?" Menzor looked at his wife and nodded, vowing never to make the girl angry. "So, you have a teacher, Sophia?" He wanted to change the topic away from nation-destroying asap.

"Yes! I owe him a lot. He took me in when I was alone and lost. But, he's a bit of a muscle brain, so a lot of my magic is rather battle-oriented."

"Really? He sounds like a capable man."

"Fenny sure is. He's actually here, as well, currently exploring the capital with his friend, uhh, girlfriend? It's a little complicated between them, not that this matters here." She got a little sidetracked.

"Is that so? I would like to meet him." The king seemed interested in her teacher.

"I wanted to bring him along, but your jaguar-man messenger guys only allowed Maya to accompany me. Well, Maya allowed herself."

"The jaguar family has served the tigers for a long time already, but they're a little overprotective."

"Well, you are their king, so it makes sense for them wanting to protect you, doesn't it?" Sophia couldn't blame them.

"True. I look forward to meeting your teacher. Alright, let's get back to the main topic. Sophia, I still want you to join the family." King Menzor, too, hadn't given up. He had the same tenacity as his daughter, or it was the other way around.

"Mm-hmm." Maya was the one who answered. She didn't sound or seem to be overly cheerful, though.

"D-Don't worry, marriage is definitely off the table now."

"Good." She calmed down a bit.

"Aww-" The princess wasn't a fan of this decision, only netting her a glare from the cat-girl.

"We should discuss a couple of things, including what you want, so we can find the best way for it to benefit both sides."

"Err, honestly, while I said I would listen to your offer… I-I'm still not sure if I even want to become a member of the family, though? I mean, it sounds kinda enticing, but, again, I had completely other plans for my future." After Sophia's unenthusiastic reply to the king's offer, it was time for yet another break.