Nathan learned more about Sophia's portals, and him being overwhelmed afterward was an understatement. However, the more he heard about them, the more he realized just how valuable they and Sophia as a whole were, and he was happy she was willing to do so much for their kingdom. At the same time, Ari had started pestering Nina and Vivi because she was dying to know more about their relationship.

  "That Sophia of yours sure is something else entirely." The group had begun walking towards the capital because Nathan's group needed a while to cool down and let everything sink in, so walking instead of directly teleporting there with a portal was their preferred method of getting there. On the way, Luca awkwardly scratched his cheek while looking at Anna and Ari. "I can see why Maya wanted to travel with her, as my sister's thirst for magic is something else, as well."

  “Sure is.” The black-haired jaguar energetically nodded.

  “You better get used to it.” Anna smiled at her. “Judging by how much your parents love her and all that, she’ll become your sister-in-law sooner rather than later, after all.”

  “What…?” Hearing that, the cat-boy became rather confused.

  “I, uhh… haven’t gotten to that part yet, Anna.” Sophia joined their conversation while glancing at the princess. "Things were a little convoluted earlier, and I didn't just want to blurt it out like that...”

  "A-Ah!” Her expression turned awkward. “I’m so sorry!”

  “What is she talking about?” Luca stared daggers at the blonde.

  “Maya and I’ve been a couple for a good year by now.” The blonde cut right to the point.

  “There’s just no way that bratty sister of mine has gotten herself a girlfriend!” The cat-boy had his strongest reaction to everything he heard about today to this. “She had exactly zero interest in romance when I left and even less of a feel for it! There are exactly two things going on inside her thick skull! Fighting and magic!"

  “Yeah, she definitely was like that when we met.” Sophia nodded in agreement. “Judging how she challenged me to a magic fight the moment we met.”

  “Okay, that does sound like my Maya.” Strangely enough, that calmed him right down.

  “Hehe.” She had to chuckle at that. “Well, I beat her in that match, and she begged me to take her with me on my travels to teach her magic, which I ended up agreeing to. While traveling, she also helped me with a bunch of personal issues I was having, and we grew quite close rather quickly. Everything else just kind of happened afterward.”

  “Wow, I didn’t know my sister had it in her.” Luca seemed just a little proud of her. “Even more so that she has such good taste.” He smiled at the blonde.

  “Ehehe~.” Sophia liked that. “Though, I consider myself incredibly lucky, as well. After all, she’s amazing!”

  "A good reply.” He gave her a thumbs-up. “As her brother, it’s my job to tease her, but it’s also my duty to make sure she’s happy, so you better take care of that.”

  “Don’t worry, I’m also an older sister, so I share that sentiment.” Sophia smiled at the cat-boy. “I can be a bit of a handful at times, but I always try my best to treat Maya the way she wants to, which sometimes isn’t easy because she also is a bit of a handful.”

  “Calling my sister a bit of a handful already is an incredible compliment, so it seems she found someone good." Luca let out a chuckle. “There are so many questions I’m going to ask her once I see her.”

  “I feel like that will be a mutual thing.”

  “True.” He agreed with Sophia’s conclusion.

  ----------------

  After she finished her chat with Maya’s brother, Sophia walked up to Nathan again as the group was slowly getting closer to the capital.

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  “Will you be traveling more after this, or are you going to use this chance to call it quits?”

  "If father lets me, I'd love to see more of our kingdom." He looked back at Sophia. "There are still so many cities to visit that I'd like to learn from.”

  “Why wouldn’t he let you continue?” She tilted her head.

  “Five years ago, I told him it would take three years at best.”

  “Ahh, okay, fair enough.” The blonde could see the issue. “Then again, you are an adult, so isn't it your decision at the end of the day?"

  “It is.” He nodded. “But, I also want to take care of my duties as the prince, though.”

  “There’s a way to do both, you know?”

  “How?”

  “My portals.” Sophia smiled at him. “We also traveled all over the country lately, including a snowy mountain range, the desert, and the ocean. Even though we visited all those places, we’re at the capital at least once a week because we can go there instantly.”

  “That is amazing. On many levels, but how is that going to help us?” The prince pointed at himself. “Those portals are your magic, right? I seriously doubt any of us would be able to learn to create our own.”

  "Yeah, that's not possible." She shook her head. As her portals were related to her domain, she was quite confident in making the claim.

  “So?” He looked even more confused. “Are you suggesting for all of us to travel together in the future?”

  “I mean, I wouldn't be against that, but I doubt our travel paths would align that much.” She doubted that the prince would like to accompany them to the demon continent at this point. “Also, we want to explore areas, while you want to explore cities and learn how they are ruled. We have no interest in that.”

  “That is fair.” Nathan nodded. “Yes, Anna is the first princess, but she made it clear from a very young age that while she cares dearly about our folk, she has no intentions of ever ruling the kingdom.” He glanced at her sister, who had joined in on Ari questioning Nina and Vivi. “I still don’t see the way to do both.”

  “I’m the only one who can create the portals, yes. Using them is a different story, though. I can prepare a closed portal linked to the capital for you. A closed and deactivated portal is tiny and could fit in your pocket. It activates once you pour some magic into it, just like when using a magic stove. You can use it to go to the capital whenever and wherever. Once you’re done, you can go back through the same portal, deactivate it again, and keep on traveling.”

  “You’d do that for us?!”

  “Well, it comes with a condition, though.” The blonde smirked at him.

  “I think I’m starting to understand you.” He was getting used to her shrewd side.

  “Don’t worry, I think you’re going to like it.”

  “Do I now?” Nathan raised an eyebrow in return.

  “It’s for the good of the kingdom.”

  “You’re also starting to understand me, huh?”

  “Hehe.” She liked his reply. “We told you that we visited major cities and gave them a portal to link them to the capital, right?”

  “To be used in the portal hub, yes.” He gestured towards the construction side near the south gate.

  “Our group is planning to take a bit of a detour while we continue our exploration, so we probably aren’t going to visit that many more cities in the future. I’d still like this project to continue and prosper, though.” Sophia made a short pause. “I want you to continue placing my portals in important cities whenever you visit one. I'll prepare them beforehand and maybe store them in the castle or something like that, where you can get one whenever it’s needed.”

  "That's not a condition! That's an added benefit!" Nathan showed her a broad smile. "I'll gladly do that for the betterment of our kingdom!"

  “I knew I could count on you~.”

  “Of course.” The prince gave her a thumbs-up. “By the way, I can’t really put a finger on it, but it feels like you’re still hiding something. How right am I with that?”

  “I wouldn’t call it hiding.” Sophia shrugged. “Tactical omitting of information would be the better term. For your own good, that is.”

  “How would that be for my own good?” He didn’t like being belittled all of a sudden.

  “How bad is your headache from all the things I told you today?”

  “It’s throbbing quite a bit.” He rubbed his temples while saying so.

  “How much worse would they get if I were to tell you that I’m capable of even bigger things?” She still has yet to mention her domain, after all.

  "Ah." He only massaged his temples even stronger in return. “I should not have asked.”

  “I’ll tell you and the others about more things that will make it easier for our groups to meet up in the future, because I think it would be great if you and Nina could meet with your sisters whenever any of you would like to. Same with Luca once he meets the rest of our group, as his sister is a member of that.”

  “That would indeed be great.” The prince nodded a few times.

  “I was saving that for after we’re done with the capital and you and Nina having met your families and all that, though.”

  “Thank you for that.” He was glad that the blonde was so reasonable, despite being so unreasonable. “You know, I love being chaotic when I’m not officially acting as the prince, but wow, you’re on another level.”

  "I'm just living my best life~," Sophia replied with her most earnest smile yet.

  “I can definitely see that.”

  “By the way, we’re about to reach the gate, so you might start preparing yourself.” The blonde pointed in front of them, where one of the entrances to the capital was coming into view. "You haven't been here in five years, right? I assume that you'll stir up a bit of a commotion once people start recognizing you."

  “Ahaha, true.” He awkwardly scratched his cheek.

  With that in mind, the group continued to walk towards their destination while the prince was getting ready for a lot of explaining that he needed to do once they got there.

  - Yien Saeteurn-

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