Shortly after Sophia noticed that Ari had glared at her for some reason, the tiger accidentally had her real first encounter with the black-haired jaguar maid. It didn't go any better, though. If anything, it was much worse. Ari not only treated her very coldly, but it was also very obvious that the maid didn't want to be near her.

"I don't get it!" Sophia was still brooding over it on the next day. "Can we go and visit Anna today? I want to know why Ari hates me!"

"That really affected you, huh?" Maya looked at the irritated tiger, whose tail was angrily swishing all over the place, with a warm smile.

"Of course! I never had any friends in my old world, but I changed here! So... knowing that someone hates me without reason super bothers me!"

"You don't have to be that obsessed with it."

"I can't not!" Sophia unconsciously enjoyed being popular and loved by everyone way too much for that. Especially when factoring in her previous life, it had become a very addicting feeling. "I also wanna know what I did wrong so that I don't accidentally scare away the elves, too."

"I see. Well, I can understand that a little. Being hated by someone doesn't feel nice, after all… Wait, what?" Maya first nodded but then became pretty confused. "Elves...?"

"I want the new member of our group to be an elf!"

"Sorry, I need some context here." The cat-girl couldn't follow her.

"Hmm? Oh, right... we went to bed kinda early, and I forgot to mention it, didn't I? I talked with Aura about getting a new companion to take over your job of babysitting us."

"Okay?"

"Well, she mentioned that almost everyone with big powers is usually very easygoing."

"I am very well aware of that."

"Ahaha." Sophia couldn't say anything here. "She also said that our only option would be the demons. Most of them aren't serious either, but we should still find someone because they're so many of them. As I don't plan to go to their continent anytime soon, though, Aura suggested the elves instead. A lot of them apparently have the personality we're looking for."

"I think I get the picture now. As expected of you... I briefly mention wanting another companion, and you go hunting for elves."

"Go big or go home."

"You're the personification of this motto." The cat-girl couldn't help but sigh. "I never met anyone who saw an elf, though, let alone met one myself. I heard that they exist, but other than that..."

"Fen also said that they're very rare to come by. According to Aura, most of them migrated together with the demons."

"So?"

"She came across an elven village or two while looking for our wolf. She also told me what to look out for with my detection magic. Once we're back to traveling for real, the two of us plan to specifically look out for them."

"You really are the most motivated about the strangest things." Maya marveled at how much energy the tiger put into her ideas. "Still, elves, huh? I kinda want to meet one, too."

"I know, right? I can't wait~."

"Don't get too excited too soon."

"And here I thought you know me." She expected the cat-girl to have learned by now that this is impossible.

"Oh, shut up."

"Alright, back to topic!" Sophia put the elves on hold for now. "I want to go to the castle and talk to Anna about Ari. Are you coming with me?"

"Yeah, I have no better plans. You sure have grown, though."

"What do you mean?"

"When we met, you could barely speak a sentence to me without having a meltdown or five. Now, you're seeking the help of the nation's first princess to get along with her maid."

"G-Good point... Well, I feel like I've gotten better at talking with people, and I really love that! I never want to go back to how I was before! Also, I've gotten more used to my boosts, which makes me less nervous. Not to mention that..."

"That?"

"I want to be friends with them. The princess and, even more so, Ari look great, but there are no other feelings involved. You were a much bigger hurdle in that regard." Sophia was unconsciously falling for the cat-girl since day one, which increased her embarrassment manifold during their interactions with each other.

"Ehehe, good answer." Maya showed her a big smile. "I love you, too."

"A-Alright, l-let's go immediately..." As if to further prove her point, the tiger developed a slight blush while she got bashful over the cat's display of affection.

"Sure~." This sight put her in an even better mood.

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

Sophia immediately left the mansion while Maya followed after her. As they used the official entrance of the castle this time, the couple had one of the maids guide them to Anna's room. Sophia knew where she was, thanks to her detection magic, but navigating through the corridors of the gigantic castle and reaching it was an entirely different matter.

"Princess, you have visitors." The jaguar maid politely knocked on the door of her room.

"Really?" Anna's voice soon returned from the other side.

"Yes, Lady Sophia and Lady Maya want to see you."

"Perfect!" The door immediately flung open, and the princess greeted the couple with a big smile. "I was so booored~!"

"Hello~." The two lightly waved at her.

"Come in, come in!" She gestured them inside.

"I'll prepare tea and a couple of snacks." With a slight bow, the maid excused herself, and the couple entered Anna's room.

"I'm so glad I finally have something to do!" The three sat down on the two sofas in her room and started chatting. "School's over for the day, and it's the weekend now, but there's nothing interesting to do!"

"You could always study magic on your own." Maya immediately had an idea for her.

"U-Urgh..." She flinched after hearing this. "W-Well, I've gotten fairly good at using the fireball you taught me. But I only know how to study magic the old way, and I lost every bit of motivation for that!" The group had already thoroughly corrupted her, after all.

"That's fair." The cat-girl understood her reasoning as it was the same for her.

"Oh, while we're at it already, would you mind teaching me some more later, Maya?"

"Hmm..." She thought about it for a moment. "Whatever, sure, I don't mind."

"Awesome! Thank you very much! Now I finally have something to look forward to today after Ari went shopping with her mother directly after school was over. We couldn't even go home together…"

"Ah." Hearing that name, the couple awkwardly looked at each other.

"What's wrong?" Anna noticed their odd reaction.

"Uhh... Sophia, explain. It's your problem."

"Yes... Err, Anna, why does Ari hate me?" She decided to make it quick.

"Eh?" She looked extremely confused. "My Ari? The jaguar with the gorgeous black hair?"

"That very girl."

"She hates you...?" Anna got even more confused. "I didn't know you two even know each other."

"That's exactly it. We don't."

"What...?" The princess couldn't follow her even a bit.

"You see..." Sophia then proceeded to explain what happened the day before. How the jaguar-girl glared at her and seemed somewhat hostile when the two exchanged a few words.

"Ehh...?" The princess' confusion only continued to grow. "I don't think I've ever seen Ari glaring at someone, let alone address anyone with a cold voice... She's about the sweetest girl I ever met. Well, it's not like she doesn't have a playful side and likes to tease me every now and then, but...  That said, she can also be a bit too serious at times and scolds me when I don't behave, but she does it in a way that I want to stop, rather than her getting angry. She has a bit of a mom feeling to her when reprimanding someone if you know what I mean. Super warm, super gentle, but it just makes you want to stop whatever you're doing wrong."

"T-Then..." Sophia didn't like the sound of that because it was nothing like the girl she met. "That means she reaaally hates me, huh...?"

"I somehow still can't imagine it... So, yesterday she behaved like that around you. What about before?" Anna tried to make more sense of the situation.

"As I said earlier, that's the thing... Remember two or three weeks ago when we looked at our new mansion and talked about Ari's awesome hair?"

"Yep, I was delighted that you thought so, too!"

"That was the first time I saw her, and yesterday was the second time... I really don't understand."

"You're right. That makes no sense, especially because it's so unlike Ari..." Anna, too, couldn't make any sense out of it. "Do you mind if I ask her what's going on once she's back?"

"Not at all!" Sophia gave her a big nod. "I would be really happy to find out what's going on!"

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

As there was nothing more to talk about this topic, for the time being, the girls chatted about some other things while enjoying the tea and snacks the maid from earlier had brought at some point.

An hour later, they decided to go to the garden once more so that Maya could teach Anna more magic. While the two were busy, Sophia sat down at a table on the usual terrace, and she watched them playing around from a distance. Mostly a cat-girl playfully bullying the first princess of the nation, that is. Another 30 minutes passed, and the blonde tiger somehow felt being watched. Looking around while using her detection magic, her eyes eventually met those of a certain black-haired jaguar, who was half-hiding behind a nearby wall. Noticing that she got spotted by Sophia, her expression changed, and she disappeared behind the wall.

"Yeah, no!" The blonde tiger got up from her chair and immediately ran after the girl. The urge to find out what was going on was way stronger than anything else.