Nathan and Nina returned to the castle and reunited with their families there. Naturally, they were quite surprised by their sudden appearance, but everyone was delighted. Giving them time to catch up, after all it has been five years, Sophia and Luca decided to split up with them, so the blonde could introduce them to the rest of her friends, including his own sister, Maya.

  “Are you really just a regular being?” After the two had taken a portal out of the castle, they found themselves in Sophia’s portal hub inside her domain, where Luca stared at the multiple dozens of portals with a perplexed expression.

  "How rude!" The blonde started pouting. "I know at least three individuals who have even more advanced magic than I have!" She forgot to mention that two of them were overseers and one was a bird created with and by magic, though.

  “Really?” He tilted his head. “Wow, the world is a lot vaster than I thought it was.”

  “Sure is.” She could only agree with that.

  “What are all those portal… things for?” He looked around some more with a curious expression.

  “They just lead to all sorts of places we often visit. Most of them aren’t anything special and just convenient to have.”

  “Convenient sure is a fitting word. I can’t even imagine how nice it is traveling all over the world and then just being able to go home in an instant once you’re done or want to take a break.”

  “It’s amazing, yeah.” Sophia nodded. “It’s not just the portal that makes the way my friends and I travel special, but we’ll get to that later. For now, how about we go meet Maya?” She then pointed to a portal to her right.

  “She’s on the other side of that?” He stared at the one the tiger was pointing at. “It seems like there’s only water on the other side, though?”

  “It’s just the angle.” The blonde smiled at him. “It’s actually on a boat on the ocean.”

  “Ahh, I see… Why is my sister on a boat on the ocean…?” Luca couldn’t follow her.

  “We thought it would be fun to sail on the ocean, so we got a boat to do just that.”

  “It wasn’t even my idea.” Sophia shrugged. “In fact, it was Maya and my little sister who wanted to get the boat they’re on.”

  “Hah.” He paused for a moment. “Maya has always been a little extra, so it’s nice to see she’s still the same in that regard. If anything, it seems like she got worse?”

  “She’s having fun, so who cares?”

  “That point goes to you.”

  “Wait, I totally forgot that your parents are in the capital right now when we were there earlier!” Sophia suddenly froze.

  “HUH?!” Luca raised his voice.

  “Well, we can visit them after catching up with Maya.” She shrugged before looking at the watery portal again. “Let’s go!”

  ----------------

  “Woah, we actually are on the ocean on a boat!” Stepping through the portal, the cat-boy immediately got excited and forgot about the earlier revelation already.

  “Oh, welcome back!”

  “Who’s this?” Chloe and Steph were on the deck when the two arrived and quickly got curious about the newcomer.

  “That’s Luca.” Sophia smiled at them. “He’s a friend of Prince Nathan, and I'm giving him a bit of a tour while the prince is catching up with his family. Luca, this is my little sister Steph, and her girlfriend Chloe.” She then pointed at the duo.

  “Hello.” He waved at them with a smile.

  “Nice to meet you!” The couple had the same reaction.

  “Oh, and he’s also Maya’s older brother.”

  “EH?!” Both raised their voices. “How did that happen?!”

  “An excellent question." Sophia gave them a thumbs-up.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

  "It's a small world, I guess," Luca repeated the conclusion they had come to before.

  “Sure is.” Steph could work with that explanation.

  “Maya’s trying to figure out the kitchen, by the way.” Chloe pointed at the stairs leading into the boat’s cabin.

  “Maya~!” The tiger simply yelled in that direction because she didn’t feel like going there right now. “You need to check out what I found!”

  “Yes? You’re back al-” The cat-girl arrived at the deck a moment later and froze when she saw the person next to Sophia. “H-Huh?!”

  “Hey there, sis.” He just awkwardly waved at her.

  “What in the name of everything that… Luca?!” She couldn’t believe what she was seeing.

  "It's been a while, hasn't it, dear sister of m-mine?” He tried to make himself sound fancy but wasn’t able to finish his sentence without a small cackle at the end.

  “What are you doing here?!” Not waiting for his answer, Maya immediately walked up to him and hugged her brother.

  “That’s a good question.” Not knowing how to answer that, he just lightly returned her hug.

  “It’s so good to see you again!” Once she let go of him again, Maya smiled at him with a genuinely happy expression.

  "Yes, I missed you, too." He smiled at her before taking a closer look at his sister, with her overly gentle smile and the very feminine red-and-white dress she was wearing. “Though, why do you look so girly?”

  “I AM a girl!” She quickly started pouting.

  “Well, yes, I’m vaguely aware of that, but you used to be so much more rough!”

  "I take back the part where I said it's good to see you!" She didn't appreciate that. “You know that I have enough magic power to turn you into a fine powder, right?!”

  “That’s better!” Luca let out another chuckle. “That’s the sister I know and love!”

  “I’m going to test so much magic on you!” Maya glared at him. “I missed my favorite punching bag.”

  “Ahh, siblings~.”

  “Beautiful~.” Sophia and Steph were fans of their emotional reunion.

  “I more and more feel like I’m missing out on something important by being the sole only child around." Chloe felt severely left out.

  “Well, judging by how lovey-dovey your parents are lately, I might get to teach you the joys of being an older sister soon.” The blonde smiled at her.

  “Do not.” The fox didn’t want to think about her mothers on that topic.

  “Hehe.”

  “How AND why are you here?!” Once Maya calmed down, in one way or another, she continued to stare at her brother.

  “I guess the answer to both would be Sophia.” He awkwardly scratched his cheek again while glancing at the tiger.

  “Why do you suddenly show up with my brother out of nowhere?!” She then changed her attention to the blonde. “Weren’t you looking for the prince? As in Anna’s brother?! How did you get that mixed up?!”

  “I’m an excellent multitasker and being able to find two brothers at once is an easy feat for me~.” The tiger smirked at her.

  “Nothing of what you just said made sense.” The cat-girl was well aware that multitasking was not one of Sophia’s strengths.

  “Do you remember how we found out that Nathan’s group consisted of four people, including Ari’s sister, as well as an unknown puma-girl and cat-boy?”

  “Yes?”

  “Guess who the cat-boy turned out to be?” The blonde pointed at Luca at the same time.

  “How did you end up in the group of the prince of this nation?!” She stared at her brother again.

  “How did you end up in the group of the princess of this nation?!” He threw the question right back at his sister. “In fact, your group even has two tigers! Not to mention that you’re dating the tiger that the KING thinks is the most important person in the entire kingdom.”

  “Hah.” Maya had no follow-up for that.

  “I guess we’re the same, as it just happened.”

  “The same?” She tilted her head. “Wait, does that mean you’re dating the prince?!”

  “Eh?!” Sophia also raised her voice before staring at the cat-boy with big eyes. “You should’ve said something earlier and stayed with the others in the castle then!”

  "I didn't say anything because I'm not dating anyone..." Luca let out a sigh while rolling his eyes. "I mean that we're the same as in we somehow ran into a tiger and thought it would be fun to travel with them."

  “Ahh!” The two understandingly nodded a couple of times. “Don't surprise us like that!”

  “How is it my fault that you two jumped to conclusions?!”

  “Who else’s fault should it be?!”

  “Haa…” He didn't feel like continuing this conversation. “Anyway, there are so many questions I have that I'm completely overwhelmed, but for starters, Sophia just casually mentioned earlier that our parents are in the capital, as well, as a footnote. Why?! Did you take them with you when you left home?”

  “Of course not!” Maya shook her head. “They did their own thing after I left. The two said they were bored after both of us left the nest or whatever, and decided to go on a trip themselves. We, or Sophia, then randomly ran into them in the capital one day. They also seem quite taken by the place and probably decided to stay in the capital.”

  “Ohh, I see.” That explanation made way more sense to him. “I guess the entire family loves to explore, huh?” He let out a small chuckle. “Though, judging by Sophia, I guess you won the race of having the most exciting adventure.”

  “Ehehe.” She looked pretty smug about that. “Wait, how much did Sophia tell you already?!”

  “Well, stuff like buying this boat for fun, zooming across the country, those mind-boggling portal things, being like the most important group in the kingdom, and some more things my mind has already repressed to protect itself.”

  “Ahh, okay.” The cat-girl looked strangely relieved. “Only the basic things and nothing too crazy, that helps a lot.”

  “WHAT DO YOU MEAN?!” Luca immediately got loud as he stared at his sister in utter disbelief. “How is that NOT the crazy part?!”

  “This might actually be one of the rare times where I enjoy watching you breaking someone’s common sense~.” Maya smiled at Sophia.

  “How about we go downstairs and sit down?” The blonde smiled at the cat-boy. “This could take a while.”

  “H-Huh…?”

  Having agreed on that, the two girls escorted the cat-boy downstairs to get comfortable in the sitting area there, since the upcoming talk was a bit more complicated and time-consuming, as well as Maya also wanting to hear more from him, too.

  NSFW, but not exactly explicit because the most important bits are (very barely) covered. I still really wouldn't recommend opening it in public.

  Click me!

  Speaking of fresh, there's also a new sale on my Patreon for all of January!

  Save 40% on your pledge to get early access to future chapters.

  You'll also get access to a ton of NSFW content like illustrations, animations, and (side-) chapters in all but the lowest tier. (This includes canon and non-canon pairings.)

  The 40% sale is valid for monthly and yearly pledges.

  not to use the Apple Checkout!!! (It's more expensive and you don't get any NSFW content!)

  yearly pledge, you can request a NSFW (side-) story between two of the six main girls. It doesn't have to be canon couples, either. Joining the highest tier increases the count to up to four girls of your choosing. It has to be NSFW and not just a regular chapter (with maybe some spice), though.

  patreon.com/teanam

  Discord for further details on the benefits. There's also a free NSFW illustration of Chloe x Steph in there, and maybe something else in relation to this very illustration on top~