Chapter 175: Buying Wife’s Favorite Cake, Time To Eat Dinner Together (+New Weekly Goals)

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Elisa and Daniela were left completely speechless as they listened to what Riven had to say. He carefully introduced Label first, then the four ninjas he had "recruited" in a manner similar to how he had previously "recruited" Vladimir. Vladimir himself had been standing guard over the perimeter on the ceiling, but he quickly descended the moment he heard the commotion and felt Riven’s familiar presence. He immediately sensed that his master had grown much stronger out of nowhere.

"Hi... nice... n-nice to meet you..." Label muttered awkwardly, shifting from foot to foot. "Riven saved me from the Yakuza and then invited me into his guild... Um, he even placed my entire house inside his dungeon."

After Riven further explained Label’s full backstory and everything that had happened to her, Elisa slowly nodded in understanding. She realized the girl had clearly suffered a great deal. "Fine, fine. You can stay here for now. Maybe we should buy a bigger house later."

"Isn’t this one already quite huge? There’s like ten rooms we don’t even use..." Riven pointed out.

"But do you really want to use our own house as the guild headquarters?! There won’t be any privacy left between the two of us! Daniela and Carlos are an exception because we adopted them... but every single person you recruit from now on?" Elisa quickly began to reprimand him with a serious expression.

"I suppose you’re not wrong. I’ll have to find another place where I can gather with allies," Riven nodded in agreement. "Or maybe I could buy the adjacent manor..."

"I suppose that could work..." Elisa shrugged after a moment of thought. "As long as they don’t come here whenever they please."

"That’s fine," Riven said. "Sorry for surprising you this way. But really, I had nowhere else to bring them."

Elisa nodded more gently this time. "It’s fine. I mean... I saw what you all did on the television. You saved over sixty people?! This is incredible... you’re a real hero, Riven...!"

"Oh, it’s already on the news, huh? I really didn’t expect that," Riven replied. "Well, whatever the case. Yeah... let’s talk more about what happened while we have dinner. I brought dessert and a few other things."

"What’s for dessert?" Elisa asked with sudden interest as she curiously eyed the huge, premium cake Riven had carried in. It was a beautiful Fruit Cake loaded with several types of fresh fruit, white whipped cream, soft white sponge, and topped with bright cherries and delicate chocolate decorations.

"Here, I bought your favorite fruit cake," he said with a small smile. "I know you secretly love these."

"Y-You remembered...?" Elisa’s eyes widened in genuine surprise.

Elisa’s favorite cakes had always been this exact type — filled with lots of fruit and generous amounts of whipped cream. She usually disliked every other kind of cake and preferred only the highest quality versions that used the freshest fruit available.

Riven had learned this was her favorite cake all the way back in their childhood. During a formal gala where he had been invited with his family, he always saw the young Elisa nagging her parents because she refused to eat the chocolate cakes or any other variety except this one.

"I remember you always told your parents you hated any other cake besides these," he said softly. "It’s been a while since you’ve eaten one, right?"

"Yeah..." Her eyes sparkled as she almost drooled at the sight. "Oh wow, it looks so creamy...! It has so many different fruits... how many are there?! Strawberry, pineapple, kiwi, banana, mango... and even papaya too?!"

Riven nodded. "It’s called Fruit’s Basket Cake. Or at least, that’s how it’s named at the place where I bought it. I hope you can enjoy it."

Elisa was once again taken aback by Riven’s quiet kindness and attentiveness. No matter how many times he acted this way, she always felt a little overwhelmed by how carefully he remembered the small things about her.

"W-Well, thank you..." she said, her cheeks faintly pink. "Ahem, anyway, let’s eat dinner, shall we? I cooked something special this time. I made slightly spicy curry with fluffy white spirit rice. I actually prepared three different types of curry — brown, red, and orange. I also made a fresh salad and a few other side dishes with the kids’ help."

"Oh wow..." Riven was genuinely shocked that she had cooked everything herself. "I never thought you’d cook a full meal in your entire life."

"W-What?!" she gasped in mock offense. "I know how to do... a few things myself! And I kind of got a sudden surge of energy out of nowhere... twice. So I felt like cooking."

"That’s... well, yeah. Maybe it’s because I also grew stronger," Riven said thoughtfully. "I suppose you can move your arms more easily now, and a bit of your torso as well?"

Elisa nodded. "Yes, I feel better overall, but... well, I’m still paralyzed all the way down. I doubt I can do much more by myself."

"Oh no, I believe you’ve already done more than enough," Riven said warmly. "Thank you. Let me help you out with the serving then."

Riven quickly helped set plates for everyone. When the ninjas were introduced as former members of the Yakuza, Elisa became angry enough that she glared at them with clear hatred. The intensity of her gaze made them flinch for a moment, and they immediately prepared to leave.

"We’ll go outside then. We can live normally in any place. We were trained to subsist in the wilderness. There’s no need to worry about us," Kagehisa spoke politely before turning to walk away.

"Ah... well, if you insist," Riven said, reluctantly letting them go.

However...

"Hey, where do you think you’re going?!"

It seemed Riven’s housewife did not want any of that. She found it extremely rude for them to leave so suddenly without even sharing a single meal together.

After hearing her loud, booming voice full of natural authority, Kagehisa and the rest of the ninjas became utterly paralyzed. They slowly turned back to face her.

Even though her power might still be sealed, she still possessed that same Domineering Aura of someone who had once stood at SSS Rank...

Or perhaps it was simply her strong personality shining through?

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