The apartment kitchen was equipped with various appliances powered by an ambient‑mana collector installed on the building's rooftop.
And in that same kitchen, Dex was preparing Echidna's coffee.
"Echi, how do you like your coffee?"
Echidna, seated on one of four chairs at a table set against the wall, swayed her head from side to side like a child. "I've never tried it."
"Then why did you ask for it?" Dex said, turning to face her.
She looked a little down. "In the parts of your memories I carry, it's something you used to do when you were Ray, and I want to become part of your life too. But if that bothered you, we can deal with more serious matters."
"You really are the cutest, Echi." Without hesitation, he started making two coffees.
Hearing that, Echidna blushed and, without noticing, smiled again.
'If she's never had it, I should probably add some sugar.' He set two cups on the table—one without sugar and another sweet enough to send Dex into a sugar rush.
"This one should be nice and sweet, since it's your first time," he said, placing the cup in front of her.
He didn't drink his. He went back to the counter, facing a magic stove.
"Aren't you going to drink yours, dear?" Echidna asked, confused as she saw him step away.
"Whenever I have coffee in the morning, I eat an omelet, so I'll make three—one for each of us, including Erica. It'll be funny to see her reaction, being woken up with breakfast by the two most beautiful people she's ever seen."
Echidna laughed at the thought of Erica's reaction and tasted coffee for the first time. "Hmm… it's bitter… but… good." With her supercharged metabolism, a wave of caffeine rushed through her, and warmth bloomed across her body—especially where her love and Dex's had so wildly become one.
Dex lit the flame, took a skillet, and melted a little butter; the soft scent filled the warm, cozy air and quickly drew Echidna's attention.
With swift movements, he cracked six eggs into a crimson glass bowl, the shells' crack echoing through the kitchen; he whisked them with a fork into a golden, foamy mixture, adding a pinch of salt, black pepper, and a little milk.
He poured the first of three portions; a gentle sizzle accompanied the rising aroma, and as the mixture began to set, he flicked his wrist with finesse, loosened the edges with a spatula, and folded the omelet perfectly in half.
Without missing a beat, he made the second and the third. When he finished, three soft omelets rested side by side, steaming and perfuming the air with an irresistible promise to wake anyone still asleep.
'My movements are sharper and faster—before, this would have taken me nearly three times as long.'
Turning with a plate holding the three simple omelets, he saw Echidna absorbed in sipping her coffee and watching him closely. And, in the archway to the hall and living room, Erica stood there—awake and wide‑eyed.
Dex smiled. "Good morning, Erica—made an omelet for you too."
Erica's POV:
'Last night was intense,' she thought, wearing a proud smile.
'That is not something to be proud of!!'
Used to ignoring the voice for three years, Erica simply kept walking toward the door with her smile.
'Today's going to be so good—shopping, beach, and teasing someone cute like him. What more could I ask for?'
'Just thinking about it makes my body tighten.' Her voluptuous frame seemed to tremble.
She opened her bedroom door, and a delicious smell flooded her senses.
'Is he already up making breakfast? Whatever it is, I want some too.'
She walked slowly toward the kitchen. With each step, the smell grew stronger, and she could hear someone cooking with the intensity of a seasoned chef.
'Dex really can cook…' She finally reached the kitchen's archway. There, she saw two people.
A man taller than her was cooking an omelet with focus. He had white hair with violet tips and slightly elongated ears; corded muscle under loose satin; and on his skin, tattoos that looked like ancient runes. But what drew her most was the obsidian horn veined with red, pulsing with his mana and heartbeat.
The other figure was a woman whose features mirrored his, save that she was a woman with a beautiful pair of breasts and strong thighs.
Feeling their auras, she had only one question. 'How can someone who has only awakened their first soul be more beautiful than I am?'
The man, who seemed to have just finished the omelets, turned with a plate in his right hand and finally noticed her there. He didn't look nervous—he looked happy to see her—and he smiled. "Good morning, Erica—made an omelet for you as well."
Hearing her name, Erica raised her hands in a fighting stance, letting her aura pour into her fists. "Who are you, and where is Dex?"
Both the man and the woman looked at her.
Until the woman finally spoke, in a provocative tone. "Can't you recognize that the man who touched you last night is the same one standing in front of you?"
"How do you know that?" Erica snapped, but before she could continue, a sensation she could never forget bloomed in her right breast—a strong hand squeezed firmly.
Ohhh!!!!
Her eyes almost rolled back from the unexpected pleasure.
After five seconds, he let go. She was completely breathless.
He leaned toward her face and, smiling, said, "Do you recognize me now?"
Dex and Echidna's POV:
'I think I finally understand what Dex feels when he sees his Sins—this unconditional urge to love them and make them happy,' the queen thought as Erica melted under her beloved's hand. "I think I can fall for women too."
Echidna stood, finishing her coffee. 'A ménage à trois could be… interesting!'
She crouched in front of breathless Erica with a seductive smile. "I know you must be confused, honey, but shouldn't we enjoy the breakfast our dear one made with so much love?"
A few minutes later, they were at the table, eating their omelets.
Dex had already finished his and set his cutlery neatly; Echidna had eaten a bit more than half of hers—Dex had drawn a ketchup heart on it; Erica's omelet was almost gone, save for the piece on her fork.
Echidna, smiling like a child as she ate, thought, 'How do humans make things this tasty!'
"So you're telling me that simply by awakening your first soul, you awakened an ancient bestial bloodline?"
Dex, serious but confident, nodded. "Basically, yes."
Still skeptical, Erica pressed him. "Then why has Marcus—your brother—never shown that bloodline?"
Dex answered with a grimace. "Marcus is my half‑brother—I'm a bastard. From what I was told, my mother was someone important from a beast‑man clan of the draconic type. By luck, I awakened a bloodline that's rare even within the clan." He added with a smile, "And I take my looks and charm from my mother—after all, not just anyone could seduce a duke."
Erica, having finished her omelet, pointed her fork at the beautiful white‑haired, violet‑tipped woman. "But that still doesn't explain what she is!"
Echidna raised both hands and licked a tiny drop of ketchup from her lips. "You know it isn't polite to point a fork at people's faces, my proud little succubus?"
At "my proud little succubus," Erica blushed and lowered the fork.
Echidna stood, took Erica's plate and set it aside. Then she hopped up to sit on the table where the plate had been and used her legs to pull Erica and her chair closer. With one hand, she gently lifted the Pride Queen's chin and said, looking into her eyes, "I have no idea what I am—I could be a skill, his twin sister, or even his wife. But I know one thing: whether it's me, Echidna, or him, Dex, we want you to be ours alone for all eternity."
To complete the fatal combo, Dex appeared behind her and whispered in Erica's ear, "Will you be ours for the rest of eternity—will you become our wife?"
Her face flushed scarlet, and her eyes rolled back.
Erica thus became the first Pride user to faint from sheer embarrassment.
Seeing their fiancée faint, Dex and Echidna couldn't help but laugh at her adorable misfortune.