Back at the Cat Kingdom, Serene watches by the side of a small house as a male cat arrives and puts a flower crown on a female cat's head. She couldn't help but think that it was sweet.
"This is amazing." She suddenly spoke up which spooked the couple cats.
"There are cats all over the place." Serene said as Muta walked up behind her with his paws behind his head.
"What did you expect? It is their kingdom." Muta said but he was hoping that Serene would suggest that they leave.
Serene felt that curious side of her surfaced and ran down the hill with a curious smile and it made Muta's eyes widened in shock.
"Hey, you!" Muta exclaimed.
Serene flopped down on the grass as a female white cat arrived and their gentle blue eyes shined in concern before running towards the human and big cat.
"I never felt this relaxed before. It feels so nice..." Serene breathe in softly.
'Though this place seems so familiar...' She thought in confusion.
Muta came up towards her as the two cats from before came by her side curiously.
"Hey, we have to find a way out of here fast, chicky." Muta told her.
"Just a little bit longer." Serene told him with a relaxed tone but Muta isn't taking that as an answer.
"Listen, Serene... Muta said but Serene tuned him out.
"It just felt so... nice for some reason." Serene said before a voice spoke up.
"Hurry. You've got to get out of here." The female voice spoke and Serene blinked before sitting up as a female white cat walked towards her with urgency in her eyes.
"You must leave. You don't belong here. The female white cat told her worriedly.
'Wow... She's beautiful... Everything's better here... Even the cats... Haru should see this too...' Serene thought as she looked at the cat curiously.
"Quickly. You don't have much time. Please, Miss Serene, before it's too late, don't come back here after what happened before." The female white cat told her before what she said caught both Muta and Serene's attention.
"Why do you know my name? And what do you mean by what happened before?" Serene asked in confusion.
"What are you talking about anyway?" Muta asked curiously.
He heard rumors that someone disappeared in the Cat Kingdom and wanted to come back before to investigate but he didn't want to come back due to reasons but all he knows is that Baron's fiance disappeared back when she went to the cat kingdom and never returned.
"Miss Serene! Miss Serene!" The voice made both Serene and Muta look to see the same Scottish fold, Natoru, running towards them while waving a paw.
"Oh, not him again." Serene said with a bit of mirth and annoyance.
Natoru stopped and panted heavily to catch his breath.
"There you are. I finally found you. We seemed to have accidentally dropped you upon entry. Your fat servant exceeded our weight limit I'm afraid." Natoru said but Muta felt his fur bristled at the word servant.
"Fat servant?!" Muta exclaimed in annoyance. He's not a servant to the girl!
"No. No, this is Muta. He's a friend." Serene said as she gave Muta an apologetic smile.
Natoru nodded before taking Serene's hand in his paw.
"Oh, that's nice. Come on. Everyone's dying to meet their new princess." Natoru said as he helped Serene to her feet before he turned to Muta.
"Fat friend, you can come too." Natoru said and the word moo made him even more annoyed.
"Moo... Moo?!" Muta growled in annoyance.
"But I... I don't know about this" Serene said as she wanted to decline. She wants to go back home.
"Mustn't dottle. The king is waiting in your castle." Natoru informed her which made her blink.
"M-My castle?" Serene stuttered in slight wariness as Natoru nodded.
"The royal palace." Natoru said while pointing to the big structure.
"I-I see." Serene said.
"Well, soon enough." Natoru smiled.
Serene went into thinking. Something in her mind was screaming at her to get away quickly before something even worse happens but it might be rude if she leaves now without greeting the king first.
"Hey, where do you think you're going?" Muta asked.
"T-The king's waiting for me. It's kind of rude not even say hi to him first." Serene said, which made Muta's eyes widened in shock.
"Have you completely lost your mind, kid?!" Muta exclaimed in shock.
Natoru was pleased and tugged on her hand to lead her to the cart.
"This way." He said but Serene quickly stopped him as she looked at the female white cat.
"Wait a minute." Serene said as Natoru looked at her in confusion and looked to where she was looking.
"Can she come with us?" Serene asked while looking at the white feline. She doesn't know why but something about her made her think of her sister.
Natoru was a bit curious and confused before stepping forward to address the white feline.
"Who are you?" He asked with authority in his tone to which the white feline quickly answered.
"I am Yuki. I serve at the royal table." The white feline, Yuki, answered while keeping her head down to show respect.
"Oh, so you're employed by the king then." Natoru said with a kind smile before turning to Serene.
"She works at the castle, Miss Serene. You'll see her there. Come." Natoru told her as he took her hand and started to lead her to the cart.
"Oh. See you soon, Yuki." Serene bid her farewell.
Muta tried to walk off but Serene grabbed him by the tail and pulled him along. The cats watched them go to the palace but Yuki was even more concerned for the silverhead.
"Poor Serene..." She muttered
On the way to the palace, Serene watched as they approached the castle. Muta fell asleep beside her. As they were crossing the bridge, she noticed two floating orbs circling the palace. One stopped before opening to reveal an eyeball which immediately sent a shiver of disgust down her spine.
"Ugh, that is creepy." Serene shuddered as she turned her gaze to Muta.
Unknown to her, it was a camera and somewhere inside the castle, the king with Natoru was watching the live feed as the king smirked.
"Mmm, looks good. My future daughter-in-law." The Cat King said with a pleased grin as Natori just watched silently.
They watched as Serene poked Muta's arm and he immediately snapped awake and alert as he looked around confused before he turned to Serene who was laughing softly. Natori's eyes widened a little as he observed Muta curiously.
"All right! Think I'll go and have a look in person." Cat King said as he handed him the remote and started to walk out of the room.
Natori pressed the reverse button and looked at Muta curiously but there was something familiar about him that he just couldn't put his paw on it.
"Hm. Why does that fatso seem so familiar?" He wondered in suspicion.
Back with Serene and Muta, they finally arrived at the front of the palace and got off their transport. They walked inside the large castle as the doors opened for them. They arrived at a place there's two rooms and Natoru led Serene to the changing room where three female cat servants were waiting for them.
"You'll need to change your attire before meeting with the king." Natoru instructed her.
"I get new clothes?" Serene asked in confusion and got a nod.
Muta tried to follow her in but was stopped by one of the female cats.
"Please wait here, sir." She told him as he looked at her in confusion.
"I'm the baby-sitter." Muta said as Serene flushed in embarrassment.
"Do you seriously want to see me without clothes, Muta?" Serene questioned him and Muta bristled and shook his head quickly.
"No way, kid!" Muta declined as Serene walked inside the changing room.
"Fat friend, help yourself to refreshments while you're waiting." Natoru said while pointing to the other room.
"Yeah, okay, I'll wait." Muta went inside the other room with Natoru. Some food sounds great right now.
In the first room, Serene changed out of her clothes and was wearing a very elegant beautiful blue gown. She looked at herself in the mirror and smiled softly. Blue was always her favorite and she looked beautiful. She then wondered what Baron would think of her if he was there with her but she shook it off. There she goes again, thinking of Baron. She just met him and yet it feels like she has known him for years.
"Oh... Hey, not bad." Serene said as she looked at the gown in amazement.
"Miss Serene, why, you're so lucky." One of the cats complimented which made her blush lightly.
"Every girl in the cat kingdom has a crush on Prince Lune." Another told her as one of them wanted to put a necklace on her but she declined.
"I'm sure you'll be very happy together." One of them said as they were about to put the neckpiece on.
"You think?" Serene asked before she snapped out of it before remembering what she came there for.
"No wait. Uh, no, wait. I don't think I wanna do this and that's not why I'm here." Serene told them before a voice made them look at the door.
"Wow, don't you look good. Welcome to the royal family, babe." Cat King said with a big smile.
The three servants quickly lined up and bowed before the king while Serene looked confused yet wary.
In the other room, Muta walked by a table before eating a piece of cake before he started to stuff his mouth with the food on the table as Natoru just watched. Natori came in and saw what was happening and turned to Natoru to ask.
"Tell me, who is that cat?" He asked as Natoru turned to him.
"I believe his name is Muta." Natoru said, which made Natori look at him confused.
"Muta?" Natori asked and got a nod before looking at the cat in confusion yet relief.
"Never heard that name." Natori then leaves as Muta finishes stuffing himself yet he's still hungry.
"No match for my stomach." He muttered before something caught his eye and saw a huge jug filled with purple jelly.
Back in the changing room, Serene is finally face to face with the king and she has to tell them about her answer about the marriage and wedding.
"Um, I apologized, your highness, I'm really flattered by all this but I don't want to get married." Serene said which made the king confused.
"You what? I was told you had already consented." The king said in confusion and curiosity as Natori entered.
"She has consented. That's what I was told." He agreed as he and the king turned to Serene.
"What about the prince? What does he say?" Serene asked curiosity.
"He is not around. He is away on official business." Natori informed her which made her a bit nervous.
"Look, first of all, we don't really know each other that much and second of all, he's a cat, right? And I'm not. So clearly, I can't marry him." Serene quickly explained but she was unaware of what happened to her.
Cat King and Natori looked at her in confusion before turning to each other and smirking which sent alarm bells in her mind.
"That has already been taken care of." Natori said with a smirk which made Serene about to question what he meant before Cat King pointed to her head.
"You're half cat already." Cat King said which made her blinked in confusion before she felt a pair of something on her head twitching as well.
She looked at her hands, now paws and touched her face in confusion. Two servants brought a mirror to her and she quickly went to it and saw her reflection. On her head were a pair of cat ears in a snowy white color which contrasted her silvery colored hair.
"See, Miss Serene?" The servant said.
"Look at that. Real cat ears?" Serene wondered in confusion as she looked at herself more as she took notice of her nose and her skin which seemed to be now covered in a thin layer of white fur.
The more she observed her face, the more she quickly pieced together what was happening which made her scream in shock and fear.
"I'm a cat?!" Serene screamed in shock and fear while the king and Natori watched with wide grins.
She quickly ran out of there and to the other room for Muta.
"Muta, help me!" But when she entered, she let out another scream of fright.
In a big jug was Muta. Serene was beyond shock and terrified as her only hope of getting out of the place was now gone.
"Muta, what happened to him?!" Serene whimpered as tears started to form in her eyes.
"I'm afraid he has a weakness for catnip jelly. He saw the bowl and dove right in." Natoru grimly informed her.
This only made the feeling of dread and hopelessness intensify in her gut. Now how is she gonna get back home?
"Muta, you weren't supposed to die... It's all my fault..." Serene whimpered.
She hit the jug in frustration and sadness.
"Don't leave me like this, Muta!" Serene started to sob and cry as Natoru came up behind her.
"Well, then, time for the celebration." He informed her but that was the least of her worries.
He tried to take her away from the jug but she quickly got out of his grip and held on to the jug.
"No, I won't leave him!" Serene cried.
"Then we'll bring him with us." Natoru said as two chefs wheeled the jug to the banquet hall.
Guests were already arriving at the banquet hall and chatting as Serene begrudgingly took a seat by the king's table with her new cat ears lowered and tears in her eyes.
'I'm scared... Humbert, please help me...' Serene pleaded in her mind as she held onto her necklace for some type of comfort.