NOVEL SIMPLE Chapter 078 – Present shopping
Sophia, Anna, and Chloe checked up on the place where they poured their magic into a crystal to charge it up and were happy to find out that the whole area had turned into a wonderland where even the cherry blossom trees had gotten crystalized and become extra sparkly. Afterward, they reunited with Ari, Steph, and Maya to make plans for Ellie's upcoming birthday before heading to the capital together.
“By the way, what is everyone getting for the little princess?” Back in the mansion, Sophia was curious about everyone’s plans.
“She always loves the clothes I get her, so I’ll be buying her a new outfit for late spring and early summer.” Ari already had a solid plan.
“That sister of mine likes to draw and goes through crayons like there’s no tomorrow.” Anna continued. “I wanted to get her an extra big and colorful set to go wild on.”
“Ohh, I like that!” The blonde was a fan of the ideas so far.
“Plushies!” Steph and Chloe seemed highly motivated, as well.
“She already has some that look like Steph and me in animal form, so we're going to try and complete the set!" The fox added some more details.
“Exactly!” The dog just nodded.
“Good luck! If you find a Maya plushy, I want one, too!”
“Sure thing!” The duo smiled at the short tiger.
“I’m still not entirely sure.” The cat-girl in question scratched her cheek. “She was really into the pottery session with the clay back when we made Kira’s present together with her. Because of that, I was thinking about something arts and craft related, as well.”
“She’s really good with all things creative.” Sophia nodded a few times.
“What about you?” Maya threw the question back at her. “Any ideas for a gift?”
“I have a few, but I’m starting to warm up to something immaterial instead. I’ll think about it some more.” She scratched her cheek. “For now, let’s go shopping! I might change my mind during that again~.”
“Okay!” Everyone agreed with her.
Afterward, they got ready to leave the mansion and went to one of the capital’s shopping districts to get their presents for Ellie.
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The rest of the day passed in the blink of an eye, and everyone successfully managed to get something for the upcoming birthday of the little princess.
“So, in the end, you went with a bracelet, huh?” On the way back to the mansion, Anna glanced at the small bag the blonde was holding.
“Well, it looked super cute when I saw it in the window, so I had to get it!
“Fair enough.” The taller tiger just nodded. “It was pretty cute. Ellie will love it, too. She’s a big fan of those colorful gemstones that are on it.”
“Great!” Sophia was glad to hear it. “I might add and or replace some of them with the ones from our crystal forest after shaping and polishing them.”
“That’s a great idea!” Anna smiled at her. “Makes it super personal, too.”
“Glad to hear!”
“The what now?” Steph and Maya synced up. Ari also tilted her head in response.
"Oh, right, you've only seen the hot spring with the crystals around it, huh?” The blonde scratched her cheek. “There are countless tunnels around it that are made purely from crystals leading to the surface, among other places. There, Chloe, Anna, Blu, and I played around with some other stuff and turned a part of my cherry blossom forest into crystals~.”
“And it’s amazing!” Chloe and Anna replied at the same time.
“I want to see it!” The dog and cat-girl raised their voices.
“Sure, we can take a look later once we’re back home~.” She just smiled at them.
“Awesome!”
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A little while later, the group returned to the mansion and were about to head into the domain when Sophia suddenly stopped while tilting her head.
“Ah… Anna and Chloe, could you two show them the crystalized forest? Maybe also collect Fenny and Aura, as well? I just noticed that I forgot something.” The blonde awkwardly scratched her cheek. “Maya, could you help me?”
"Sure thing!" The fox and the princess nodded in return, and everyone besides the cat-girl took the portal to the other side.
“So, what did you see with your detection magic?” Once she was alone with her tiger, Maya stared right at her. “That ‘Ah’of yours always means the same.”
“Ahaha~.” The tiger could only laugh. “I really need to learn some new tricks.”
“So?” She just kept staring.
“I detected a certain couple walking towards the mansion, and I thought it would be best to wait and greet them~.”
“Certain couple?” The cat-girl looked confused. “Kira and the king?”
“Why would I want you to stay behind, then?”
“Good point.” She hadn’t thought that far. “Wait! Are you talking about my parents?”
“It would be highly unlikely to be mine, wouldn’t it?” The blonde rolled her eyes. “Yes, Theo and Eve are heading this way.”
“I might’ve slightly forgotten about the part that they’re still in the capital.”
“What a horrible daughter you are!” Sophia couldn’t believe her.
“As if you’re any better.”
“I had tea with Eve just last week!”
“E-Eh…?” She hadn’t seen that one coming. “How? Where was I?”
“I ran into her when I made a quick trip to here. No idea where you were, though.”
“You really are something else.” Maya had nothing better to say. “I was talking about your parents, though. It’s gotten quite quiet around that topic lately.”
"A-Ah.” Sophia’s expression turned awkward. “To be fair, my situation is a lot more complicated than you forgetting about your parents still being in the capital.”
“You are not wrong with that, but my point still stands.”
“I’m still planning to bring them to my domain at some point, but I’m not sure how to tackle that. It would be cool if they stay because this world is objectively better, but it’s not as easy as that.”
“The fact that we’re traveling or playing with the biomes in your domain all day isn't really helping either, is it?" The cat-girl tilted her head. “Most of the time, your parents would be alone in this world, not to mention the part where they're humans. I mean, you and Steph are one thing; both of you turned into the beastfolk like it was nothing, but I assume your parents are grown-up and at least somewhat reasonable, right? They wouldn’t swap species just like that, wouldn’t they?”
“That’s why I said my situation is way more complicated!” The blonde raised her voice.
“Yeah.”
“Should we have our parents meet?”
“Eh?” Maya hadn’t seen that one coming, either. “I can’t even wrap my head around the number of issues that would arise with that.”
“I know.” The tiger scratched her cheek. “It would also solve a lot of other ones, though. Also, at some point, I’ll have to tell your parents more about me, anyway, so we might as well go all the way with it.”
“Are you sure about that?”
“Absolutely not.” Sophia shook her head. “I just really want to have my family here. I can’t and won’t force them, though. So, I need to make it as appealing as possible for them. I still have no idea how to solve many things regarding that, but having someone to talk to is a start, is it not?”
“That is true.” Maya nodded. “Still, telling my parents about it, huh?”
“You don’t want me to?”
“It’s not that I don’t, but…” She paused for a moment. “My parents are pretty normal. I have no idea how they’d take in something like that.”
“They love me, though~.” Sophia turned a little smug.
“I wonder if that’s a good or a bad thing in this situation.”
“Ahhh.” She needed another moment. “I’m willing to try if you’re okay with it!”
“I’m not going to stop you if that’s what you want.” The cat-girl smiled at her. “Are we doing it today? Will you go and fetch your parents?”
“That might be skipping a few steps.” The blonde hadn't planned to go that far just yet. "Let's start with telling Theo and Eve today and see how it goes.”
“Okay.” Maya just nodded. “Should we go and meet them, then? Before they leave the area again, I mean.”
“I don’t think we have to.” She shook her head. “They’re still headed right for the mansion and should be in front of the entrance in a few minutes.”
“What are they doing here in the first place?”
“What makes you think I know?” Sophia tilted her head.
“I was just thinking loudly.” The cat-girl shrugged.
“Maybe they saw us shopping and decided to meet us here.” She still tried to make a guess.
“That might be it.” Maya had no better explanation, either.
While waiting for them, the couple tried to form a rough plan on how Sophia should tell them about her circumstances to keep the impact manageable. Afterward, they left the mansion a couple of minutes later to welcome Maya’s parents at the gate of their mansion.
