A new week had finally begun, and the girls, except Chloe, returned to the academy. Luckily, the word about Anna and Ari finally having become a couple hadn't reached the school yet, and they, fortunately, didn't have to deal with that, as well. However, Sophia and Maya decided to leave early because they had something better to do. Visiting Ellie, that is. On the way to the castle, the two had also bought some new clothes for the little princess after having seen something adorable on display that the two wanted to see her wear.

"Oh, welcome!" In the castle's entrance hall, the couple directly ran into Kira, who cheerfully greeted them.

“I swear, the queen also has detection magic.” Maya thought that the frequency of her accidentally meeting the two the moment they entered the castle was a bit too suspicious.

“Ahaha,” Sophia scratched her cheek. “Well, actually, I wouldn’t be surprised…”

“What brings you here again so soon?” The queen decided to ignore their exchange.

“Ellie!” The blonde was in a good mood.

"Ahh, I see."

“Oh, while we’re at it,” She looked at the bag with the clothes she had bought earlier. “Is she allowed to wear clothes that aren’t princess-like at all?”

“That highly depends on what that would mean.” Kira raised an eyebrow.

“Oi!” Sophia didn’t like this implication.

“You’re the one with the questionable wording here, my dear.”

“I am not! I bought some clothes for her that are purely adorable and comfy, but it’s just not fancy looking, that’s all!”

"Ah, yeah, that's totally fine." She smiled at her fellow tiger. "She has to dress up a little for public events, but as long as it’s something decent, she’s allowed to wear whatever she wants inside the castle.”

“Perfect!” Sophia’s mood improved even more. “Let’s go!” She grabbed Maya’s hand and immediately wanted to leave.

“I need you for a moment longer, though.” Kira stopped her.

“…” She didn’t like the sound of that.

"We've gotten further with the lake you and your wolf created."

“Oh?” The blonde got a little interested. "I had the idea of turning it into a tourist spot, right?"

“Yup.” She nodded. “I suggested that to Menzor and everyone else. They all found the plan quite interesting and decided to make further plans."

“Sounds great!”

"That's why, please come with a name for the lake, the area as a whole, and then for the future tourist city soon."

“E-Eh?!” Sophia’s eyes grew wide. “Again, eh?!” She had to repeat it.

"You created the lake, changed the entire area, and suggested the city. It's your responsibility to give all of it a name. Make sure to give everything a good one because it’s an official part of our territory and will be written down in various records, maps, and general geography books."

“Oh my, I look forward to that disaster.” Maya already knew how this would end up.

“What she said!” The blonde nodded a few times. “I’m terrible with that kind of stuff!”

“Tough luck.” Saying so, Kira just waved her hand and left.

“H-Hey!” She yelled after her, but the queen didn’t even react.

“She’s good.”

“Urgh…” Sophia hung her head. "W-What are you so smug for? Who do you think is going to help me with that?"

“Chloe?” The cat-girl just tilted her head. “I bet the two of you together will come up with something incredible.”

“I hate you…”

“Ehehe~.”

Afterward, as there was nothing to add to the topic anymore, the couple finally went to Ellie's room.

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

“So… phia! Maya!” Ellie immediately ran up to the couple the moment they had entered her room and tightly hugged them.

“Hey~.” The two gently hugged her back. This sort of greeting had already become a routine for them.

“Ellie thought it would take longer?” Once the three had parted again, the little princess looked at the duo while tilting her head.

"We hurried because we wanted to see you!" Maya decided to spare her the details.

“Yay!” She liked that answer a lot. “Are we making the present today?” Her eyes started sparkling.

“Of course!” Sophia smiled at her. “But first, we have a present for you.” She held up the bag with the clothes she’d gotten earlier.

“For Ellie?!”

“Yep!” Nodding a few times, she handed over the bag to the princess. “I found some clothes that looked really cute you maybe would like. It doesn't look as fancy as your usual dresses, but it's adorable and super comfy!"

“Ellie loves being adorable and comfy!” She got even giddier when she grabbed the bag and looked inside. “It looks cute and fluffy! Ellie wants to wear it immediately!”

“Sure~.” Afterward, the couple helped the princess to change into the new clothes to let her have her will.

“So comfy and warm!” Once she had changed clothes, Ellie started twirling around in the room before eventually looking at herself in a mirror to fully see the light-beige hoodie with the cat silhouette, the blue skirt, the black leggings, and the brown boots. “So cute, too!”

“Happy to hear~.” Sophia was glad that her little present was such a success.

“Shall we start on Kira’s present now?” Maya tried to get the excited princess back on track.

“YES!” It was very effective.

“Do we need anything to play with the clay?” Maya tilted her head while looking at her tiger. “I was busy with my parents, so I don’t really know what you actually got.”

“Not really, no.” She shook her head in return. “It’s air-dry clay, so we don’t have to bake it afterward, either. You can’t really hold liquids with that, but it’s perfect for beginners and decorative things like plates. A bowl with water to keep your hands moist will help. I also recommend an apron because it can get very messy. We don’t want to ruin your new clothes, do we?” Sophia then glanced at the princess.

“NO!” She vigorously shook her head.

“An already finished bowl to use as a mold to get the shape right would be nice, too.”

“You sure seem to know your stuff when it comes to clay? Do you have any experience with that?” The cat-girl got a little curious.

“Clay is SUPER popular with kids, and we played with it at least once a week in the kindergarten I worked.”

“Less talking! Ellie wants to play with the clay now!” She wasn’t even listening to them anymore.

“See?”

"Ahaha…" Maya just reacted with a slight chuckle. "I guess we should get started then."

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

Once Sophia had gotten everything ready and put an apron on the princess, the trio got together at the table in Ellie's room.

“You still want to make a bowl, right?” The blonde then looked at the little girl next to her.

“Yes!” She gave her a big nod. “Ellie likes that idea a lot!”

“Alrighty! How big do you want it to be?” Sophia pointed at three bowls on the table she had borrowed while she got the aprons in the kitchen earlier.

“Hmmmm…. Like this one!” The princess pointed at a medium-sized and relatively flat bowl.

“Okay, sounds good.” Nodding once, the blonde opened the sealed box with the grayish-white clay they had bought before.

“…” She stared at it for a moment. “Ellie would like something more colorful, though…”

"Ahaha, don't worry about that. Once we finish forming it and it's properly dried, we'll paint it."

“Yay!” The princess looked happy again.

Once those details were taken care of, Sophia showed her how to use the clay. She used a bit of the clay and rolled it out flat on the table with her hands. Afterward, she took one of the bowls, turned it upside down, and made the outside a little wet with the water they had at the table. Then, the blonde took the flattened clay and pulled it over the outsides of the bowl so that it could take on its shape. She formed it a little more with her hands and then turned the bowl around again before removing it. Thanks to the water, the clay hadn't clung to it and stayed fully intact.

“That’s more or less it.”

“That’s easy!” The princess nodded a few times. “Ellie wants to try it, too!”

“Sure~.” Smiling at the excited girl, Sophia got a generous helping of the clay out of the box and handed it to her. “Have fun.”

“Yay!” She already was having lots of it. “Does Ellie have to use the other bowl to copy? Forming it without sounds more fun!”

“You can do whatever you want. That is the beauty of clay.”

“Clay is the bestest!” She immediately started playing with it and formed it into a flat circle.

“If you want to make a bowl without a form, try to make the clay a little thicker. It’s easier to stay in shape that way.” Sophia gave her a little tip.

“Ellie sees!” The princess nodded a few times before changing her approach and formed the clay into a big ball instead. “Hmm…” After looking at it for a little while, she then pressed her thumb into the ball and formed a hole with it. She kept widening the hole that way until the whole mass of clay eventually resembled a bowl. It wasn’t exactly a perfect circle, and the rim was a little wavy, but it wasn't a half-bad try.

“I know that wasn’t the plan, but…” Maya stared at the bowl for a moment. “I kinda like the wavy design. Maybe a little polishing to make it more even, but I think the idea is great."

“Yep!” Sophia agreed with her. "It looks like it's made with much more love than mine, which is just a simple copy of an existing bowl!”

“Hmm…” The princess needed to think about it for a moment, but she eventually started smiling. “Ellie likes that!”

“Good!” The blonde liked her enthusiasm. “If you make the curving a little more evenly, it will make a lovely bowl!”

“YAY!” More motivated than ever, she continued to play around with the clay for some more. Before long, it eventually really looked like a presentable bowl. It had a rather unique design and was clearly made by a child, albeit a talented one, but it turned out much better than they had expected.

“Looking good!” Sophia and Maya clapped a few times once Ellie was done.

“Ehehe~.”

“Oh!” Happy that the princess was having a good time, the blonde looked at the leftover clay, and it seemed like she suddenly got another idea. "Do you want to make another gift for your mother?”

“Is it a good one?” Ellie seemed interested.

“It’s so good she’ll probably cry from happiness.”

“Ellie wants to do it!”

“That’s the spirit!” Saying so, Sophia then grabbed some of the clay and formed it into a flat plate with a diameter that was a bit bigger than Ellie’s hand. “Can you place your flat hand on that?”

“Hmm?” She tilted her head. “Okay!” The princess did it anyway.

“Perfect.” Saying so, the blonde then placed her own hand on top of hers and gently pressed the back of it and her fingers deeper into the clay. Once she was sure it had left a nice imprint, she lifted both their hands up again.

“Hmm…?” The princess repeated herself while tilting her head even more. “Why?”

"A good question?” Maya seemed about as confused. “It’s a plate with her handprint?”

“Yup.” Sophia nodded. “Moms love that.”

“They do?” The cat-girl now also tilted her head.

“It’s not a thing here…?” The blonde paused for a moment. "Once the clay hardens, your child's handprint will be preserved, and you’ll forever have a memory of how small your baby used to be~.” She started smiling. “I think that’s lovely!”

“Wow…” Maya looked impressed. "I-It really sounds great to have such a memento. I’d definitely feel more than touched when you put it like that, yeah…”

“So, mama will like this…?” Ellie pointed at the plate with her handprint.

“She’ll love it!” Sophia smiled at her. “Even more so when we make it all colorful with the paint once the clay is dry and hard.”

“Yay!”

Afterward, as there still was a lot of clay left, the trio played around with it for a good while longer and crafted all kinds of decorative items together. Eventually, though, they ran out of materials, and it had also gotten relatively late. As the three now had to wait for the clay to fully dry and harden, the couple decided to revisit Ellie the next day to finish their little project.

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

Doing as promised, once they were done with their little trip to the academy, Sophia and Maya directly headed back to the castle the moment the magic lessons were over there.

Back in Ellie’s room, after having made sure the clay was ready, the couple helped the princess paint her presents for Kira's birthday. The bowl ended up extremely colorful as the little girl really wanted to use every color they had bought. Still, the plate with her handprint was painted in a much more subdued two-tone color. As there was some time left, they also decided to color the other decorative clay pieces they had created just for fun.