Dex's POV:
The Erica who would've felt ashamed to go further had disappeared, leaving only a new version. She was proud and determined to claim what she truly desires. "I want you to put them on me too."
Dex, seeing Erica ask for something like this with no shame after her awakening, was a bit incredulous. 'She awakened just now, why?'
The reason was simple: pride wouldn't allow someone like Lyra to surpass her. The pride within her couldn't permit not being the first of her two kings, Dex and Echidna.
Seeing their closeness with the wolf-woman, even the idea of being surpassed by a rival made her pride roar.
"You said you could create clothes and objects, so just as you made hers, you can do it for me and put them on," she said, kneeling to be at their level.
Seeing her come closer, Dex spoke with a complicated expression. "Erica, I get that you want this, but we're not in a relationship and maybe…"
Hearing the first excuse, Erica smiled. "Dex and Echidna, do you accept me as your girlfriend?"
Echidna, no longer overwhelmed by the pain, spoke up. "Not that I'm refusing, but we only met for the first time less than a day ago, don't you think you might be rushing things?"
Dex felt a moment of sense from the new Echidna and agreed. 'Even though you've changed, just like me, you're always better at analyzing situations.'
Erica replied with a confident smile. "That may be true, but it doesn't change what I really feel here." She pointed to her heart. "When I'm with you two, I feel it pounding and begging to be loved by you." She then grabbed a strand of her hair with her finger, twirling it—her embarrassment almost invisible—as she continued. "I've never been in love, but this must be love."
Dex then discreetly touched Echidna's hand. 'Can you hear me?'
'Yes.' She replied, unsurprised.
'What do you think made her awaken?'
'It was obviously Lyra. You brought her along when this was supposed to be a moment just for us with her, so seeing a competitor, she wanted to be first because of her pride.'
'You talk as if it's all my fault; weren't you the one chatting with Lyra the whole time since we arrived at the beach?'
'Did you want me to ignore Wrath too? Let me remind you that they'll all be our wives, idiot.'
While they were mentally trading barbs, their faces slowly became grim—a fact Erica did not miss.
"Of course you don't feel the same, I'm an idiot, aren't I?" she said sadly, tears brimming in her eyes.
Before either of them could say anything, she ran off and used aura in her legs to jump. Her leap was so strong that she simply vanished.
Fortunately, she rationally distanced herself from any civilians who might be harmed by the shockwave from the force she exerted on the ground.
The two idiots then both asked at once, "What did we do?"
Lyra, lying on her towel in the sun, spoke incredulously. "Are you seriously saying you didn't notice?"
Echi then asked, "What didn't we notice?"
Lyra, even more incredulous, could only laugh. "Is this a joke or are you really stupid?"
Dex, now irritated, replied, "Quit joking and answer!"
She turned to them while still lying there, with a hand on her head. "What do you think made her that way? Was it confessing her feelings and you two not saying anything for almost a minute, or the fact you looked at her like she'd said something annoying?"
They tried to explain, "It's not that…"
But were brutally interrupted by her. "You don't need to apologize to me; after all, I wasn't the one humiliated. But if I were her, I'd never talk to you again. Now, leave me out of it."
She went back to her original position.
Dex and Echidna stared at each other for several seconds, only to say in unison, "It's my fault."
Then Dex retorted, "That's not true; like you said, I was the one who brought her and also started the contact that made us ignore her."
"Yes, that may be true, but I was the one who basically ignored her since Lyra arrived, and I also dumped all the responsibility on you." She then lowered her head a little. "Sorry for putting all the blame on you."
"I'm sorry for everything too, love," he said, hugging her tenderly.
Seeing this, she smiled and sat on his lap. He hugged her from behind and placed his head on her right shoulder, saying sweetly in her ear, "I love you."
She laughed softly. "Me too, but I think we should talk about what to do about Erica, not about what's poking me down below."
He kissed her neck lightly. "Well, I think a heartfelt apology with some clarifications about our telepathy should work."
"Hey, idiot, do you really want me to attack you here?" she said, both irritated and excited.
"You really look sexy with those," he said, nodding to the two piercings.
"Where is my serious husband?" she replied happily and provocatively.
"You know, it's a side effect of being a newborn from two souls." He then moved his hand toward her nipple. "And where's my wife who would've attacked me at any moment?"
But before he could touch her, she stopped him with her hand. "She's right here, but she knows it's not a good time now." With a smile, she added, "But when we're with our little Eri at night, I'm sure she won't mind doing anything you want with both of us, okay?"
"Besides, don't tell me you forgot the other reason we came to this beach?"
Dex finally seemed to snap back to reality. "You mean the Ring?"
"Yes, now that we're at the first soul, we should be able to cross the cave easily." She then turned to face Dex with a smile. "Don't you think our princess would be happy with a present?"
"You're suggesting giving her the ring?"
"Yes, after all, we couldn't use it yet anyway."
"I know we can't use it until at least our third soul, but it doesn't change the fact she's a beast tamer."
"Did you see the strength of her jump? That's clearly not the jump of a Lady hiding behind her beasts, so currently she's the only one worthy of carrying it."
She added at the end, with a teasing tone, "But still, if you're going to give her something like a ring, I might get jealous."
Ignoring the last part, Dex replied, "Okay, let's give it to her, but before that, we have to finish this." He pointed to the bag of snacks he'd bought but which had been forgotten during the argument.
Seeing the bag, Echidna jumped off Dex's lap and sped over to the bag, opening it and pulling out her food.
She looked like a child, her eyes shining as if taken to her favorite restaurant. Dex thought she was adorable.
He then approached and grabbed two burgers, stepping out from under the sunshade and going to the beautiful wolf sunbathing.
Looking at her, he said, "You have a nice pair of breasts, you know?"
Without opening her eyes, she said, "That won't work on me, heartbreaker."
He then gently placed one of the packaged burgers on her.
Feeling something hit her breasts, she opened her eyes angrily. "What are you doing, idiot?!"
"Just feeding you; isn't that a master's job, pretty puppy?" he said, going back to Echi while starting to eat his own.
Lyra, seeing what he'd actually thrown at her, felt a little embarrassed. 'Why was I disappointed?'
But she quickly ignored the thought and began to eat.
They then quickly ate their food—including that of the missing Erica.