After grumbling for a bit, Elina still couldn’t do anything about this mother who loved her. After all, it was only natural for a mother to hope her daughter would find a good partner. It had been the same in her old world. Though she probably couldn’t grant her mother’s wish in this world, even if she never got married, she’d still take good care of her.
Now that the whole skirt issue was settled, how was she supposed to get down…?
Elina stared at the ground, at least seven or eight meters below her, and swallowed nervously. She didn’t dare move at all, her hands stiffly gripping the curtain as she clung to it.
When she sensed danger, her body had instinctively climbed up the curtain. The old Elina must’ve used this trick to escape Eve and Alaya’s attempts to catch her plenty of times.
Damn it. So it really is true that when a cat panics, it climbs the curtains, meow~
But the old Elina could climb up and get back down. I can’t, meow~ I used to have a fear of heights, you know. A moment ago, my body’s reflexes helped me push through that fear, but now that I’ve calmed down, the drop is so high that I’m too scared to move.
After waiting for a few minutes, Elina was finally at her limit. Her face flushed red as she stammered, “Um, Eve… Mom, I think I’m a little scared to climb down…”
“Oh my~ Since when did Elina have a fear of heights? Is growing up supposed to come with a price?” Alaya asked, puzzled.
“Never mind, Princess Elina. I’ll catch you. Just jump down,” Eve said helplessly.
Elina nodded. Since this maid was the captain of the assassins, she was surely skilled. That meant Elina could safely jump down and let her catch her.
“Okay, I’m coming down. Eve, make sure you catch me!” Elina shut her eyes, let go of the curtain with her little paws, and dropped straight down.
Eve caught Elina’s delicate, boneless body with perfect precision and let out a relieved breath. “There you go, Princess.”
Elina hopped down from Eve and gave her a sweet smile. “Thanks, Eve! I’ll be off, then!”
But just as Elina was about to dart out the door, fate grabbed her by the scruff. Alaya lifted her up, then tossed her right back onto the bed. Elina landed in a daze and rolled around a few times before sitting up, utterly bewildered. “Mom, do you only know how to bully your pure and adorable daughter, meow~?”
“Dear daughter~ Did you think your mother was joking? Now get your butt over there and put on a skirt!” Alaya’s gentle expression turned dark in an instant, and terrifying flames blazed around her.
Seeing her usually kind mother suddenly fly into a rage, Elina’s cat ears shot straight up, and her tail curled fearfully around her leg. She nodded meekly. “Mom’s so scary… Fine, I’ll go put it on…”
Watching this, Eve sighed. “That’s the one thing Princess Elina isn’t good about—she doesn’t like wearing skirts.”
“Hmph. Just be strict with her and she’ll behave. That’s how daughters are. With that willful personality of hers, it looks like she’ll need a tough guy to keep her in line someday!” Alaya said, rubbing her chin thoughtfully.
“Haha, that’s for the future. The princess is still young,” Eve said with a hand over her mouth, giggling.
“It’ll be soon enough! I hear there are lots of excellent young men at Falan Tower Elemental Academy this year. Maybe our daughter will fall in love as soon as she gets there~” Alaya said dreamily.
“Mm, that’s true. Our Princess Elina is sure to be popular!” Eve agreed.
While the two women chatted away, Elina stared at the wardrobe full of gaudy skirts and felt her head ache. As a straight-up guy who’d never even had a girlfriend, she knew absolutely nothing about women’s clothes. She had no idea how to choose one, meow~
Looks like I’ve got no choice but to resort to this. Since I’m only doing this for convenience, and there are only three women in the castle, I don’t have to worry about another man taking advantage of me. I’ll just wear this pink slip dress. Even if it shows a little skin, it’ll only be for the girls to see. I don’t care.
Once Elina had made up her mind, she slipped the dress straight on. It was quick and easy—and she didn’t even have to take off her pajamas.
Then Alaya forcibly overpowered her, stripped off all her clothes, revealing her cute blue-and-white panties, and pulled the pink slip dress over her.
Alaya’s rough treatment left Elina’s blue eyes dull and lifeless. She hid under the covers, refusing to come out, looking like she’d just been bullied.
“Dear daughter~ Is it really that bad? Come out already. It’s just a skirt. What’s so awful about wearing one?”
Alaya covered her face with one hand. Other people’s princesses couldn’t wait to wear pretty skirts every day. Why wouldn’t her own daughter dress herself up, when she had such a lovely figure to begin with?
Elina hid under the covers, feeling wronged. Mom, you just don’t understand, meow~
Being forcibly overpowered by a girl like this is a blow to a man’s dignity, meow~
You should know, I fought with all my might when Alaya stripped me, but it was completely useless. How do I put it? It was like a tiny kitten facing a full-grown tiger. I was totally crushed, meow~
And Mom’s just a frail cat-eared girl, too, meow~ I used to be a man, yet I’m this weak. It’s so humiliating! Why are the muscles in this body so soft?
No! I’m going to work out! I’m going to get stronger!
Elina clenched her little fists in secret and made this difficult decision. For a shut-in like her, working out was practically a disgrace. But compared to the miserable prospect of being pinned down someday without even being able to fight back, taking the time to learn a few self-defense moves seemed a lot more practical.
After all, this body really was too cute. There was no avoiding the attention it attracted. She was genuinely afraid that if someone tried to force himself on her, she wouldn’t be able to do a thing. She had to stop that possibility at its source. She absolutely couldn’t let a man take her virginity!!!
Elina sat bolt upright like a tough guy, pumped her little fists, and declared, “Mom, I’m going to study. Don’t disturb me!”
Alaya and Eve watched with satisfied smiles as Elina set off for the library.
……
As she walked down the broad corridor, Elina curiously admired the murals on the walls and the various objects placed along the hall. They were all things from another world, meow~
She hadn’t helped them build a culture of their own, yet they had developed a history spanning thousands of years and created such a brilliant civilization all by themselves. Seeing that these vast, magical worlds really did exist beyond her own left Elina feeling conflicted. She gently ran a small hand over the portrait of Frank, the first king, and felt as if her eyes could pass through past, present, and future to see how he had made the power of the Sacred Rite Clan famous far and wide.
……
