(At the Imperial Palace)
The carriage smoothly comes to a halt right before the grand palace gates. Grandpa, Kiro, and I step down onto the stone courtyard, and Kael hops down from the driver's seat, handing the reins over to the waiting stable guards.
"Sunset time already, huh?" I murmur, looking up at the sky bleeding into deep shades of orange and purple. "Let's go, Kiro. I'll get a nice guest room arranged for you to stay in."
Kiro nods eagerly, his cat tail wiggling back and forth in pure excitement.
The four of us walk down the long, high-ceilinged palace hallways, heading straight toward Mirael's room to surprise her. But before we can even reach her door, two mischievous hands suddenly shoot out from the shadows of a grand pillar behind us, grabbing Kiro's cat ears and aggressively scratching right behind them!
