The peasant just stared at me, fear in their eyes. Was I really that intimidating?
...No, that couldn't be it. The peasant was surely just at a loss for words. Yes, that was it. All I had to do was to stare at the peasant menacingly until they had figured out what to say.
I did exactly that.
And you know what? It took its sweet time, but eventually it worked.
"I… Catgirls? You mean the girls… With cat ears? And tails?"
"What else would I mean!?"
But that must mean they were a thing! I knew fate must have had bigger plans for me when I was sent to this world.
"I… In that case, I am sorry to disappoint you, princess, but I have not seen any. I have however heard rumours that there is one in the capital."
"And where is the capital?"
"I am not sure what the purpose of this test is, noble princess, but with us being in the royal castle… We are in the capital."
"Oh, I see. Then that's great. Will save me some effort."
Catgirls weren't just real, but there was one in the very same city as me? What was this, if not paradise?
Now all I had to do was to set out and search for her! I rushed over to the door as fast as my legs would carry, leaving a befuddled peasant in my wake, and was about to open the gigantic double doors out of the room when…
...They swung up from the other direction and one of them smacked me right in the face, hard enough that I got partially stuck in it.
A voice came from the other side of the halfway open door.
"Is there someone there… Ah, Viola! Wait… Oh no, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to hurt you…"
"Do you think your halfhearted apologies will work on me, you…"
I removed myself from the door while I spoke and took a look at the person that had tried to enter. She was… Wait a minute.
"You… You amazingly cute girl I've yet to be introduced to! May have your name?"
"I-I'm Violet. But is this some kind of joke? I get it if you're annoyed at what I did to your face, but if so… Please just tell me, alright?"
"A joke? There are no jokes when it comes to catgirls!"
That was why I had realised I needed to change my attitude halfway through my complaint. The person who had entered the room was a miraculously cute girl, enough to make me feel like my heart would stop.
She was slightly shorter than me, and had hair similar to my own except twice as long. Yellow eyes, in which I saw myself reflected. The two of us looked surprisingly similar, except for one fact.
She was a catgirl.
A catgirl.
A catgirl.
A catgirl.
A catgirl.
A CATGIRL!
I had almost commited the unspeakable and unforgivable sin of being rude to a catgirl, but thankfully I had caught myself in time. That had been close. I'd need to learn to think before I acted… Some other time.
For now there were more important matters to attend to.
"Violet, will you marry me?"
"...What?"
I would like to say that, all circumstances considered, I thought that was a perfectly reasonable request. What else were you supposed to say when you saw such an incredible catgirl, such a perfect specimen?
Yet she was just staring at me with her mouth hanging open. She had perfect teeth and a cute tongue, by the way. I could notice since she had her mouth open.
Violet didn't respond.
I waited a bit. Very patiently. I realised that saying yes when someone asked if you wanted to marry them was a big deal, so I would need to give her some time to process.
I waited really patiently for an incredibly long and patient five seconds.
Then I gave voice to my doubts.
"...Aren't you going to answer me?"
"...What sort of answer are you expecting from me, to that kind of insane question?"
"Insane?"
I figured it was something perfectly reasonable to ask someone the first time you saw them. Love at first sight and all that jazz?
Yet she looked at me like I was a total idiot, an absolute buffoon, the worst of lunatics, a total madwoman.
The servant from before came running up to me. I had temporarily forgotten they existed while I was busy admiring the catgirl that had made her entrance. As soon as she appeared, the need for describing the actions of pointless unnamed side characters had vanished.
But despite that, the servant disrespected my wishes and talked to me.
"Princess Viola, you do remember… Your younger sister, do you not? Are you feeling quite alright today?", the servant said.
"Sis, are you okay? Did something happen while I was away?", Violet asked.
Wait a minute… Sister? Like, someone with the same parents?
This girl was… My sister?
So the catgirl was… My sister.
How disappointing.
But it was too early to give up yet! I had read enough of these kinds of light novels to know there was usually a convenient way out.
"Wait, I'm sure there must be some sort of misunderstanding here. Are you sure we don't like, secretly have different parents or something? Or at least a different, say, mother?"
"Sis, what is it exactly you're trying to imply about our father? Is there something I don't know about our parents? Do you have something you should tell me?"
"No, nothing of the sort!"
I needed to get better at thinking before I spoke.
"Phew, for a moment I was worried you had all been lying to me about being adopted my whole life. But if you just wanted to marry me because I'm your sister, then I guess that's okay… Wait, no. That's absolutely not okay."
Sadly she was probably right.
As much as I loved catgirls, there were some lines one should not cross, and a part of me said this was one of them.
A small part.
A small part that was struggling for all it was worth against the rest of my mind, trying to convince me to listen to common sense. That was, of course, a major mistake in itself.
There was no such thing as common sense when it came to catgirls.
"Did I stutter… Little sister?"
"Are you seriously saying that…?"
"Yes, I am indeed! Will you marry me, Violet, my sister?"
"No."
I didn't know what I had been expecting. Her blunt refusal still hurt either way.
"But why not?"
"We're sisters?"
"If that is your only reason for refusing, I would argue that seems rather weak. Especially if you're implying you would have married me if we weren't sisters."
"Well, regardless of how flimsy my reasons are, for now a no is a no."
...For now?
Did that mean I had a chance?
"Violet, marry me."
"I said no just five seconds ago."
"If not, I will put the peasant on the castle roof and not bring them down until you say yes."
"Can you do that?"
"Watch."
I snapped my fingers, and the peasant vanished. I could hear the noise of a few birds being startled outside.
"Cool!", her eyes sparkled with adoration, "But I'm still not doing it. What would be the point if I just married you because you threatened me and not actually out of love?"
She had a point.
I snapped my fingers again.
The peasant reappeared and promptly rushed out the door at top speed.
I needed some other reason, something that would be compelling enough… If only I remembered what the me in this world was like…
Suddenly memories flashed through my mind. Combined with my own from my past life. I felt something else along with them… The owner of this body. I had wondered what had happened to her, but it turned out she had been there all along, watching.
Now that I was aware, our minds merged into one, a single personality forming where there previously had been two, and our individual love for catgirls combined to become thrice of what it originally was.
A new me was formed, with the memories and experience and thoughts of two people, and the love of catgirls of three. There was no third person involved in the merging, both of us just loved catgirls that much.
Suddenly I knew exactly what to say.
"Sister, I have had a revelation."
"Really!? Did it finally happen? What was it about?"
"My magic becomes more powerful the more catgirls I have in my vicinity. That is why I must seek out and marry all of the catgirls in the world!"
"So that was what the prophecy meant with a hero arising to 'conquer all the ten savage beasts of the land', and bringing prosperity and peace…"
I had remembered a rather important fact. There was a prophecy saying basically what my sister just had. The upside? It gave my quest an air of legitimacy. The downside? If the prophecy was right, there were only ten catgirls left in the world.
"...In that case, maybe it doesn't matter if we're sisters", my sister muttered to herself.
It was working. Only a little more, and...
"Sis, I still have one doubt left. Doesn't the phrasing of the prophecy thing mean whoever wrote it called me a savage beast?"
"Seems like it."
"Would you happen to know the best way to lodge a formal complaint against someone who died a few centuries ago?"
How was I supposed to know that? If catgirls were a thing, maybe necromancy was too?
"Never mind that. There are more urgent issues afoot. I now ask you again, sister. Will you marry me?"
"...Eh, whatever. Sure, I guess I'll do it. As long as you don't have any too intense demands of me..."
"If you stay by my side and hold my hand when I need it, that is all I ask."
"That's somehow a lot lighter than what I was picturing."
"Well, I did have one more thing in mind…"
The prophecy didn't require more, but my love for catgirls did.
"And what would that be, sis?"
"Well, it's such a shame for there to only be ten catgirls in the world, don't you think? I was thinking I'd also make sure there will be a few more once I've found everyone."
"I would like to argue that's a rather impossible demand, for two reasons. One, I'm your sister. Two, we're both girls."
"If we gather all the catgirls around me, I will be able to make it happen with magic, even between two girls."
"Ah, I see… I guess it could work then… Alright, I will do what I have to."
I hadn't lied. I really would be able to do that with magic if I gathered all ten catgirls. In other words, I'd just have to enlist my sister's help to find them and then let the other nine help make sure catgirls wouldn't go extinct!
For some reason my sister kept murmuring something about "doing what she had to" behind me. Well, good thing she was as dedicated to the quest of finding all the catgirls as I was.
With that settled, it was time to finally start making plans for how I was going to find and charm all the remaining nine catgirls in the world!
Though before that, the servant had one more inquiry to make.
"Princess, what will you do about that visitor you sent running away?"
"I said I'd give the peasant some money, so maybe you could do that for me?"
"How much, princess?"
"A hundred silver coins or so?"
"That's… I believe it would prove rather dangerous to possess that amount of money for a mere farmer. The neighbours would get jealous, and… You never know what may happen."
"Give the same amount to them too."
"What about their neighbours?"
"And them too. Just continue until you run out of neighbours, alright?"
"Princess, we can't…"
Give away that kind of money? My new memories made it way too clear we actually could.
"Servant, take it out of my allowance. If that's not enough, supplement with money from my savings."
"As you command, princess."
With some minor financial issues solved, it was now finally time to start making plans for how I was going to find and charm all the remaining nine catgirls in the world!
Though before that, my sister had one more inquiry to make.
"Sis, do you even know where we may find any of the other catgirls?"
"I have absolutely no idea."
"I thought so", she sighed, "But I think I have an idea."
"In that case, I'll just let you take care of all the arrangements."
"Fine, I'll go order a carriage."
With some minor logistical issues solved, it was now… I looked around carefully to make sure there wouldn't be any more interruptions.
With some minor logistical issues solved, it was now finally time to start making plans for how I was going to find and charm all the remaining nine catgirls in the world!