Ember looked confused as to why Elric was immediately giving his attention to someone else, but she didn't interrupt him.
Eira quickly shook her head, then mumbled that she felt fine.
"Are you sure? Health is really important, and you look pretty red right now."
Eira leaned forward to get up from the couch, but her legs were trembling a bit too much, and she fell back onto the cushioned seat.
"See? You can't even get up! Here, I'll carry you."
Elric turned back to Ember first before helping Eira.
"It looks like she isn't feeling well, I'll help her out. This is just a friend helping another friend, there isn't anything you need to worry about."
Elric was already resolving himself to solely dedicate his love to Ember. He didn't plan to be overly greedy and chase after multiple women.
For him, Ember was already more than he had ever expected.
After seeing Ember nod after understanding his intentions, Elric crouched down in front of where Eira was sitting. The girl's face only reddened further as she hesitated to accept his help, but after Ember moved over to help her up, she found herself pressed against the young man's back.
As she helped the other girl, Ember's eyes narrowed.
'Hmph, Elric doesn't seem to notice it, but this is definitely a girl, and she is blushing because of him! She's a damn voyeur, and she probably wants to steal Elric from me!'
Ember clenched her fist.
'Well, tough luck! I'll still crush you, even without being petty! I'm not someone who needs to play dirty to win, I'll do it all on my own!'
Even if she lacked confidence sometimes, Ember was sure that she was more than a match for this Eira girl. Their looks were comparable, but Ember had a slight leg up in terms of figure. After her singing in the Grassy Bar and hanging out with Elric over the past few days, her confidence in her singing had risen as well.
Unfortunately for Ember, she hadn't yet heard the Melov family motto.
Talent? It was useless.
Hard work? Sure, go for it. We'll still topple you.
Ruthlessness is what truly matters.
Crush your foes, don't give them a chance to get back on their feet!
While Ember was convinced she could win on her own, Eira was also thinking.
'Eria, you need to calm down! Calm. Calm. You need to stay focused. This is a huge chance, and you can't miss it! WhaleoftheWest might've been a bit of a waste of time, but Elric is a weak point! This guy has the villainous tag, but he seems to be way too kind to people he trusts.'
Having decided to leave the younger folks to go and socialize more at the main part of the party and hopefully make some new connections, Ember started walking out to the main room, followed by Elric, who was carrying Eira piggyback.
The ride-receiving girl leaned in closer to Elric's back, her sweet breath tickling his ear.
'Just seduce this nice, handsome guy, and you're in! Wait, stop thinking of him as handsome! He's a target! Target! Hmmm… I do feel a bit bad, though. Ember seems really nice, too. I'd love to see them together again, kissi- ah!! Eria!! Calm, target, mission! Why do I even feel like this?! Sure, he's been nice the whole time I've talked to him in the chat, and he's great irl too…'
After struggling to push her errant thoughts away for a good minute, Eira finally succeeded.
'Alright, complete the mission. I'll need to reveal myself to Elric, but I should be able to convince him not to betray me to the other chat members. I can even use Ember to accomplish this… hehehe.'
Elric and Ember were navigating through the crowds when the young man felt the breath that'd been tickling his ear strengthen.
Suddenly, he felt something warm and wet touch his ear lobe.
'What the-?!'
He twisted his head around so fast that it slammed into Eira's face. The girl recoiled, nearly falling from Elric's back, causing Ember to notice the commotion and return to Elric's side.
"Eira, what was that?"
'Shit! The plan has been foiled! Why did he turn around so quickly?!'
"Ahh, Eria. I'm called Eria, calm, the missio-?!"
'WTF am I saying?!?!?!'
Eria's face started turning red again, though this time it was from panic.
'Damn it, me! Why do I always fumble my words at important times?!'
"Eria? Are you saying that that's your real name? Why, though? And what's this mission that you started to say?"
The girl frantically shook her head.
"Um, there is no missio- wait! Yea, this thing right now! West invited us to this ball, right? Why isn't he with us?"
"He said he was going to use the restroom, then he'll meet us by the bar. Didn't you hear him a minute ago?"
Figuring that Eria was probably feeling quite unwell, Elric tried to comfort her.
"We'll just try and talk to one or two people before we go, then you can head back home and get some rest. It's a bit tough carrying you, too, since I still have some bruised ribs."
Eria's reddened face dimmed a bit.
"Ah… Sorry. You can put me down, I should be able to stand."
Elric shook his head.
"It's fine, I can manage. Right, do you want me to keep calling you Eira, or Eria?"
Whenever possible, Elric tried to call The Boys by their screen names, but Eira was already just an assumed name, since no part of QuittingCosplayNow's screen name was convenient to say.
"E- Eria, please."
Grinning, Elric reached one of his hands up to pat the girl's head. He wasn't really sure why, it was just the primal urge to give head pats to anything cute.
After just two pats, though, another pair of hands reached up to stop him.
"Only for me."
Ember had a pouty look on her face as she glared at Elric.
Elric was a bit confused, but he just shrugged and gave Ember a quick pat.
"Sorry, I'll save all of these for you, then."
Suddenly, Elric realized something was wrong.
"Um, Ember? Where did that kid go? Amber was her name, right?"
When the trio arrived at the lounge area, Ember had still been carrying the young girl. When he went in to kiss Ember, though, Elric couldn't remember seeing the kid anywhere.
"Ah, her dad was walking over there, she spotted him right as the conversation was starting. We got pretty lucky there, I guess…"