Alas, that privilege will be left to the king their father, when he finds out what happened. But no, what happens is that the two of them end up getting horribly lost in the woods — the cat and his brother both. And eventually they find each other, but by the time they do they're so turned around that they haven't the slightest idea of how to retrace their steps, or which way to pick to go home.

[He doesn't quite lean back into Noct's nuzzling, not yet, but he also doesn't pull away from it, either. He simply keeps very, very still, and lets it happen without intervention on his part, and sleepily opens his eyes again to watch Noct's face.]

The ground in that part of the forest was covered with nettles, and seeking to walk through it was hurting the princeling's little paws terribly. So his brother bent and picked him up, and moved him to ride on his shoulders, and they started walking, looking for someone who could assist them.