The Villainess Is Being Doted on by the Crown Prince of the Neighboring Country 186
- Life as a Human and as a Cat
The Sky Temple, high above Marineforest…
It was the abode of Grail, the Fairy King of the Sky, and where he constantly watched over Marineforest. It was not an easy place to reach, but some were granted special permission to visit it.
“Grail.”
“Ah, Aquasteed. Welcome.”
Aquasteed was one such person.
Having received the blessing from Grail from an early age, he is free to come to this temple at will.
In fact, Grail, the Fairy King of the Sky, had a long relationship with Aquasteed.
He had beautiful hair with a gradation of blue to white, and the signature golden eyes of a true ruler. He could control the power of the sky and excelled at collecting information.
“Ah, you’ve finally arrived.”
“–! Lady Pearl…”
Pearl appeared from the inside of the temple, holding a tray with three cups of tea on it. It seemed that Grail was already expecting Aquasteed to arrive.
Pearl, the Fairy Queen of the Sea, had become Grail’s lover.
She had long, beautiful silver hair and golden eyes that were proof of her royal blood. Her gorgeous dress brought out Pearl’s natural charm.
That dress had been a present from Aquasteed and Tiararose.
Pearl placed the tea on the table and laid out some sweets as well.
“Oh, you don’t need to concern yourself with this treatment, Lady Pearl. I’m sorry for being a nuisance.”
“Come on, I don’t mind doing this. So, what have you come here for?”
It seemed that Grail hadn’t shared the particulars of the situation with Pearl.
Aquasteed had come to Grail in order to discuss the fact that Tiararose had been turned into a cat.
He had shown herself to be cheerful about it in front of Tiararose, but in fact, he was worried like he had never been before.
–I have to find a solution as soon as possible.
Despite feeling it was a shot in the dark, Aquasteed hoped that Grail would know something that could help Tiararose.
Of course, if Grail and Pearl happened to know the way to turn her back into a human, that would be great, but there was something else he wanted to ask them.
＊＊＊
“Wait wait wait, I come all the way here to visit you… And you’ve given up on being a human?”
“Meow meoww~! (Keith! Please stop!!)”
Keith arrived while Tiararose was playing with Olivia and the kids.
After staring fixedly at the transformed Tiararose, he suddenly grabbed her by the nape of her neck and lifted her off the ground.
“Huh? You can’t speak anymore…?”
“Meooow! (Put me down~!)”
Tiararose kicked and struggled, but it didn’t work against Keith at all.
Olivia was standing behind him with a worried look on her face, but even this expression seemed to retain her usual hint of nobility.
The one happily holding Tiararose was none other than Keith, the Fairy King of the Forest.
He had dark green long hair that was tied up in a bundle and golden eyes. He had a folding fan hanging from the obi around his waist, which only added to his dignified demeanor.
Though free and uncontrolled at times, he was actually a very reliable person who was always ready to help Tiararose.
“Keith!”
“Kee~ch”
“Keesh”
Luciarose, Stiftluca, and Stiftleo seemed happy to see that Keith had come to visit, and they all gathered around his legs.
“Hey hey! I can’t move!”
Though he was taken aback by Luciarose and the others clinging to his legs, Keith didn’t try to shake them off. He complained about it, but was also being kind to the kids.
As Tiararose looked at her children, she suddenly transformed back into a human.
“–!?”
“Tiara!?”
Keith managed to hold her in his arms so that she wouldn’t fall to the floor, but Tiararose’s heart was still beating incredibly fast and loudly.
–That caught me by surprise…!
“Whew, I’m back to normal. What a relief…”
“Aw, back to a human already? Bummer.”
Keith teased Tiararose as if he was bummed out now that Tiararose was no longer a cat, and she puffed out her cheeks, saying that she would have to return to her human form eventually.
“Besides, all I could say was ‘meow meow’, so I couldn’t speak to any of you at all… After all, I’m better off as a human.”
“Mother!”
Luciarose hugged her tightly.
Though she had loved her cat form, Tiararose’s usual appearance seemed to be her favorite. Stiftluca and Stiftleo also left Keith’s legs and were now happily clinging to their mother.
“I’m glad you’re back to normal. Let me redo your ribbon for you.”
“Thank you, Lady Olivia.”
The ribbon that Luciarose had given to Tiararose while she was a cat had been caught in her hair, so Olivia tied it up again nicely.
“Levi, please reach out to His Majesty Aquasteed.”
“Right away.”
After seeing Levi leave the room, Olivia lead Tiararose to the couch.
“I’ll be preparing some tea with something sweet soon.”
“Thank you, Lady Olivia.”
Why had she turned into a cat in the first place, and why did she turn back into a human? There were so many questions in Olivia’s mind.
But now, her top priority was to treat Tiararose to some tea and sweets, as she would most likely be tired after her experience.
It was probably best for Tiararose to just sit down and relax while they all waited for Aquasteed to return.
“Ooooh, a Fairy Candy strawberry cake!”
Tiararose’s face was beaming in front of the cake Olivia had prepared.
Luciarose, who was standing right next to her mother, had the same look on her face, which added to the scene’s charm.
“Well, let’s give it a –”
–try?
The moment she was about to finish her sentence, Tiararose suddenly turned back into a cat once again. Her fluffy white fur made her look like a shortcake.
“Meow!?”
“Mother, you look so cute like that!”
Luciarose picked up her mother and placed her on her lap before starting to stroke her head.
While Tiararose was happy about being petted like that, she was still very confused about having transformed into a cat again. She had assumed she had gone back to being a human for good.
“Meoww…”
Hearing Tiararose’s dejected voice, Luciarose eagerly tried to cheer her up, saying “It’s going to be okay!”
“Meow… (Lucia…)”
Tiararose was truly impressed with her child’s growth.
Perhaps it was her weakened cat form that was making her more prone to feel how much her children had grown.
As Luciarose hugged her tightly, Tiararose realized she had become somewhat more reliable.
“Looks like you’re getting yourself busy changing between being a cat and a human.”
“Meowmeow~! (But I’m not doing this on purpose!)”
“Oh, look at her throwing those cute cat punches!”
“Meooooow~!!”
Fluttering her paws at the teasing Keith only got him to tease her some more.
“Tiara, I heard you’ve returned to nor—-!?”
Joined by Levi, Aquasteed had arrived in a hurry, but to his surprise, Tiararose was still a cat, so his sentence was suddenly cut short.
“Tiara?”
“Meow~ (Yes.)”
Seeing Tiararose nod frantically, Aquasteed kneeled in front of the couch and stroked her forehead.
“They’ve told me you had returned to your human form… But you’ve turned into a cat again?”
Aquasteed looked at Tiararose, and then turned towards Keith.
Being familiar with magical power himself, Keith would probably be the right person to ask about this phenomenon.
“Well, I’m not entirely sure what caused this. What I do know is that Tiara’s magical power has been increasing , so perhaps it’s getting out of her own control.”
However, her magical power hadn’t been that large to begin with, so she had had very few opportunities to use her magic. Therefore, Keith being able to say if Tiararose was good at controlling her growing powers was an entirely different matter.
According to Keith, if Tiararose learned to control her magical power well enough, she could even be able to transform into a cat and back into a human at will.
–So that means I may be able to control this transformation if I work hard and practice my magic?
Other than the times she would use it to make sweets, Tiararose rarely used her power at all.
And seeing as her children seemed to have a high magical power of their own, Tiararose figured it could be important to be able to control more magical power for their sake.
“Meow meow! (I’ll do my best!)”
“Meow all you want, Tiara, I still don’t understand a thing you’re trying to say.”
Keith laughed and then continued to talk.
“However, this magical power is not something that ordinary humans were supposed to control originally, because it is the magical power of the King of the Starry Sky.”
Though it was easy to be affected by it, it was very difficult to use consciously. So it was no wonder that Tiiararose couldn’t manage this magical power that well.
“Meoww…”
“Aw, come on, don’t give me that sad face. I think you’ll be able to handle it before very long.”
“Meoww~ (You’re too optimistic.)”
Aquasteed noticed that Tiararose’s tail was swaying from side to side. Perhaps this indicated that she was feeling gloomy.
Tiararose would normally be able to put up a smiley front, but it didn’t seem to be that easy for her to restrain her feline body from giving her feelings away.
–When it comes to the true cause for all this, my own lack of ability might be the one thing behind all this…
Tiararose didn’t have to blame herself. Aquasteed reflected deeply about his own helplesness regarding this case.
＊＊＊
“Whoa, Feres, it’s been a long time since the last time we’ve come the royal capital!”
“That’s right. I’ve had my eyes set on Marineforest for so long that several years have gone by in an instant.”
Feres smiled at the frolicking Liliurge.
But to tell the truth, there were still many things he wanted to see. He had stopped by the royal capital for the first time in a while, but he was planning to depart shortly.
Liliurge sniffed around her and suddenly opened her eyes wide.
“It smells so deliciously sweet! This has to be candy!!”
“Ah, that’s right, I’ve heard a new candy shop has opened around here…”
“Let’s go!!”
Liliurge Marineforest had come to like sweets and candy very much thanks to Tiararose’s influence.
She was a monster that had resided in the basement of the royal castle that looked like a small black animal resembling a Pomeranian with small horns on her head.
Now that she had regained her reason, she had joined Feres on his travels through Marineforest.
Feres Marineforest, the first King of Marineforest.
He was a gentle man with platinum hair and golden eyes, and a face similar to Aquasteed’s. He had been spending his days in the basement of the royal castle, but thanks to Tiararose’s intervention, he was now able to move about freely.
He had also been the first King of the Starry Sky, but after entrusting his position to Aquasteed, he was now able to enjoy a leisurely life.
A gentle breeze joined them as they walked towards their destination.
“I found you! To think that you would be here of all places…”
“Grail!”
“What’s the matter? Did something happen?”
Grail grew restless after seeing Feres’ nonchalant demeanor. After all, Grail was in a state of emergency.
“That’s right. Tiararose has… transformed, just like Lilia.”
“–!”
“–!!”