CHAPTER 2

Karin had gotten used to being called Little Miss Karin in the Heroic Mansion, but she never gave up hope that one day that name would turn into Lady Karin. She drank milk every day. Suzuki said that milk helps with making her grow big and tall. She didn’t really want to be big or tall; she just wanted to be as big as Suzuki as fast as possible, because if she were a princess, then Suzuki would be her prince!

Miss Cath laughed the first time she heard that. Karin laughed, too. Awkwardly.

“I know I’m not a princess,” she said as her eyes grew hot and wet. Suddenly, Miss Cath changed her attitude.

“No, no!” she hurriedly said. “No! That’s not what I’m saying! I mean—look—I’m a princess, and also not a princess!”

That didn’t make sense. A girl is either a princess or not a princess. She can’t be both, right? What would Miss Cath be called, then? Princess-But-Not-Princess Cath? That didn’t roll nicely off the tongue at all.

Besides, wasn’t she called Miss Cath? Wouldn’t that mean she’s not a princess?

“What do you think a princess is, Miss Karin?” Miss Artia asked. Miss Artia was sister to Miss Cath, if Karin remembered correctly. Hmm, no, not quite. She remembered that Miss Artia also said that she wasn’t Miss Cath’s sister, but then Miss Cath got angry for some reason and tried so hard to tell everybody that Miss Artia was her sister. Miss Artia spent the day looking all flushed and embarrassed, trying to catch up with Miss Cath’s little misadventure.

Miss Cath even involved Karin! She told Karin to tell everyone that Miss Artia was her sister. In exchange, she would give Karin sweets that couldn’t be found anywhere but in Ferae territory. Karin didn’t know what territory meant, but she knew that Ferae was like a kingdom, except it’s full of beastpeople like Miss Cath and Miss Artia.

What would beastpeople sweets be like, Karin wondered. Miss Cath always seemed so happy when talking about those sweets—her golden fur would seem to glisten and her catlike ears twitched, her long tail swaying softly as it pointed upwards in the gentle shape of the letter S.

Maybe Miss Cath just missed home. Or maybe the sweets were just that tasty.

She wasn’t really sure, but with that enticing question in mind, Karin agreed to the proposal and spent her day running in the direction opposite of Miss Cath, screaming at the top of her lungs that Miss Artia was Miss Cath’s sister.

It seemed that they had a little squabble afterwards, but Karin had never seen them so close until then.

They definitely didn’t have that princess-like air, so Karin thought they couldn’t be princesses.

“A princess is kind!” Karin said. “Elegant and charming! And she has her prince! And they live happily ever after!”

Miss Cath gave her a very warm smile as her cat-ears twitched a little.

“That’s true,” she said. “A princess must be able to keep herself dignified and strong. A princess must know her manners! Ahaha. In this regard, do you think I’m a princess, Miss Karin?”

“No,” Karin answered quickly. To her surprise, Miss Cath laughed.

“No, of course not,” she agreed. “But who is a princess, Miss Karin?”

Karin tilted her head. “Who?”

Miss Cath and Miss Artia traded glances. Then, Miss Cath gave her warmest smile to Karin—a smile Karin knew very well from the people in the Mansion. “A princess is someone who continues the kingdom, Miss Karin,” she said. “After the King and the Queen, comes the Princess. She must know her kingdom, she must understand her kingdom; she must breathe the same air and view the same people.”

“I don’t get it,” Karin pouted. Miss Cath giggled.

“You will, one day,” she said. “But for now, I’ll tell you a secret.”

Karin’s eyes sparkled. “A secret?”

“Yup! A secret just between us!”

“Tell me, tell me!”

“Come here, I’ll whisper it to you!”

Karin spiritedly hopped off her seat, running to get her ear as close as possible to Miss Cath’s lips, curled in a smile. “What’s the secret?” Karin asked.

“The secret is,” Miss Cath whispered, “that I really am a princess. Of the Ferae!”

Karin gasped. “Miss Cath is a real princess?!”

“Oh, don’t shout it out! They’ll come for me!” Miss Cath put her pointer finger on her lip, giggling a little seeing Karin’s expression. Karin gasped again.

“I’m sorry!” she hissed. Miss Cath nodded.

“Don’t let anyone know!” she hissed back.

“But, Miss Cath,” Karin began as she climbed back to her seat on the sofa. Mm, this Mansion was so full of comfortable furniture. “If you are a princess, who is your prince?”

Miss Cath smiled. “I think you know full well.”

Karin tilted her head. “Who?”

To her surprise, Miss Cath began to blush. Miss Artia, in response, shook her head, put her palm on her face, and sighed very loudly. Her gray fur stood up a little, which often happened when she was annoyed.

“Lady Cathubodua, it’s embarrassing to see you get embarrassed about love talks like this at your age. Your embarrassment is infectious, please stop that.”

“I know, already!” Miss Cath replied, her face redder than ever. “Wait, not that—why are you calling me that again? Didn’t we agree to just use our names, Artia?”

“I shall not,” Miss Artia sternly answered. “Princess of the Ferae.”

Karin saw Miss Cath’s expression turn funny. She thought Miss Artia probably mocked Miss Cath, although she couldn’t tell how or why. “Princess, Heiress, same difference, right? It’s not like the Beastfolk Union is that much different from a whole kingdom, anyway. And aren’t you my sister? Why are you calling me that? You know I hate it.”

“I’m technically your handmaiden, Heiress.”

“You carry the same damn Caturix name I do, you—”

“Watch your tongue, that name isn’t damned!”

“Then acknowledge that as your name already, Sister!”

“You’re older than me!”

“Fine! Little Sister, then!”

Miss Cath’s name was difficult. Karin struggled to remember it. Cath … Cathu…? Miss Artia was amazing; she could pronounce Miss Cath’s full given name in one breath. She even let Karin just call her Cath because she knew Karin struggled with it. When Karin is a lady, she will call Miss Cath by her full name.

Their names were also weird. Both Miss Cath and Miss Artia were, as Miss Cath said, of the Caturix family. They shared the same surname, although their animal characteristics didn’t even look too alike. Their fur colors were different. They were both tall and slim, but Miss Cath seemed to have bigger muscles than Miss Artia. Even their tails were different—Miss Cath’s tail was bushy, while Miss Artia’s tail had a rounder tip. Anyone would’ve called them different cats, but they still insisted that they had the same surname, and Miss Cath insisted that it meant that they were family.

That said, unlike everyone else in this house, their names were backwards. Instead of Cath Caturix or Artia Caturix, they called themselves Caturix Cath and Caturix Artia. The family name came first, for some reason.

“Oh, my world was like that, too.”

Karin remembered asking about this to Suzuki, back when he accepted her to live in the Mansion. She was very surprised by Miss Cath and Miss Artia—in her experience as a slave, beastpeople slaves were usually very rabid and angry. Miss Cath and Miss Artia, however, were all smiles, and they were so cute, so Karin wanted to know more about them.

“Suzuki’s world?” Karin asked. The boy smiled.

“Mm-hmm, my world! I’m not from around here, you know.”

Karin tilted her head slightly, then raised both arms. Suzuki picked her up and let her sit on his lap. “Is this the world where ay-ro-planes are from?”

“Yup.”

“And people are named like Miss Cath there?”

“In my country, yes. Do you know my full name?”

“Suzuki Ta-na-kah?”

Suzuki patted her head. “Correct. But back where I’m from, my name was Tanaka Suzuki.”

Karin wowed. “Like Miss Cath!”

“Yes, like Cath!”

Sometimes, Karin would find herself wandering the large halls of the Mansion all her own. It’s not that she didn’t know what mansions were like—she had her share of exploring mansions back when she was even younger, back when she was still a slave to a Diutiscan noble. But Diutiscus was such a different place, such a different land, and its mansions such different buildings that everything here felt new and fresh. The windows were bigger. The pillars had more curves. The furniture looked funnier.

Everyone smiled a whole lot more.

Back in Diutiscus, nobody smiled at Karin.

No, that’s not quite right. She vaguely remembered a woman like Miss Amelie there, a woman she used to call ‘Mother’. It’s been such a long time, though, that she couldn’t remember her face anymore. Mother wore such tattered clothing, much like Karin’s used to be, and for a while after Karin started living in the Mansion, Karin always made a fuss whenever the maids tried to change her clothes. Those were the only things she had to remind her of her mother. She used to cry so hard every night the first time she found that dressing up made her laugh and smile, although her nights had gotten much better lately with the women of the Mansion keeping her company.

Karin couldn’t put a name to the painful feeling in her chest from finding things fun when she forgot about her mother.

Amelie, the head maid, was particularly attentive to Karin. She was the one who neatly folded Karin’s ragged pieces of clothing, she was the one who applied cold salve to treat Karin’s brand every night. Karin didn’t even remember when she got branded, she only remembered that her mother had a similar brand on her left forearm, in the same place hers was.

The Mansion was bright and fun. Everyone in the Mansion was so kind.

Karin had gotten used to being called Little Miss Karin in the Heroic Mansion, but she never gave up hope that one day that name would turn into Lady Karin. However, she realized, until that day came, maybe indulging in being the Mansion’s beloved Little Miss Karin wasn’t such a bad idea.

*