Chapter 176: Eating Dinner As A Family

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Once dinner was finally ready, Riven helped by serving plates for everyone around the table. He looked forward to eating the meal Elisa had carefully prepared, and his eyes kept darting around the room as he noticed something important.

The ninjas, after being introduced as former members of the Yakuza, had made Elisa angry enough that she glared at them with clear hatred. The cold, sharp stare made even the hardened warriors flinch for a moment. Realizing they were clearly not welcomed by the owner of the house, they prepared to leave quietly.

"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 starting to walk toward the door with his retainers.

"Ah... well, if you insist," Riven said, letting them go as he watched them already heading for the exit. He had heard they could survive almost anywhere, so he decided to trust them and allow them to leave. It was probably too awkward for them to try getting along with his entire family from the very first day.

However, a certain someone did not seem to like their attitude at all.

"Hey, where do you think you’re going?!" Elisa’s voice suddenly shouted angrily from behind them. Realizing they were leaving without saying another word made her even more upset. Her sharp words and heavy presence made Kagehisa and his three retainers flinch again as they stared back at her with genuine fear.

Even though this woman was still partially crippled, there was a very cold and oppressing aura surrounding her — strong enough to make hardened ninjas tremble whenever she became truly angry.

"You’re my guests, and yet you think you can leave without having a meal?" she asked while crossing her arms tightly and looking straight into their eyes.

"Huh?" Kagehisa flinched once more, unable to believe what he had just heard.

"What?" Hinata was shocked, her eyes widening in surprise.

"R-Really?" Goki could hardly believe it either.

"Oh..." Ren simply fell silent, looking unsure.

"I’ve prepared plenty of curry and rice because I know Riven likes eating a lot. So come here and sit down. Where are your manners? Do they teach you any over there where you came from, wherever that place is?" Elisa continued firmly, her tone leaving no room for argument.

Kagehisa stood completely stiff and paralyzed. "U-Uh... I-Is it... okay? You seemed... to dislike our presence, Lady Elisa—"

"Now you’re assuming things about me? That is even more rude!" Elisa said with rising anger. "Just sit down before I go back on my words."

The ninjas immediately nodded and screamed "H-HAI!" in perfect unison before quickly sitting down after hearing her strict command.

Elisa nodded in satisfaction while still crossing her arms, then carefully moved her wheelchair next to Riven’s chair. He began serving the plates of rich, fragrant curry and soft naan bread that even had melted cheese stuffed inside.

The entire meal was to die for. She had used small dinosaur meat chunks for some of the curries, while others were made with tender cockatrice meat instead. The warm spices filled the entire room with a comforting aroma that made everyone’s stomachs rumble.

Lastly, Riven quickly brought out the special wine his wife loved, named "Le Blanc." It was incredibly expensive — each bottle costing over one thousand dollars — but for Riven that amount was little more than cheap change. He had bought one without hesitating, along with some new perfume and high-quality creams for his queen.

"Oh! Riven, you bought my favorite wine?" she asked, clearly very happy as her eyes lit up.

"And some new perfume and cream as well," he answered with a gentle smile. "Now that you can move your arms and hands again, I’m sure you want to use them yourself."

"Yeah!" Elisa nodded brightly. "Well, this is nice... thank you..." She blushed softly and leaned over to kiss his cheek.

"It’s nothing," Riven replied, kissing her cheek in return. "I love you."

"A-Ah...! T-That so..." Elisa muttered, turning red as a tomato while steam practically flew from her ears. "Ahem! J-Just stop being silly and sit down to eat!"

Riven sat down with a quiet laugh to enjoy the meal. Daniela and Carlos were already waiting patiently for their plates. Carlos seemed especially interested in the ninjas, who still looked impressive in their traditional robes and colorful bracelets and accessories.

"What’s up?" Goki asked the young boy with a kind smile. "You like ninjas, kid?"

"I prefer robots, but ninjas are cool too," Carlos nodded honestly, his eyes full of curiosity.

"Heheh, right?!" Goki smiled even more kindly. "Wanna see a cool trick?"

"Ohh?" Carlos leaned forward with clear interest.

Goki placed his hands together. A small wooden doll appeared out of thin air and started dancing in midair, leaping playfully in front of the boy with surprising liveliness.

"Wow, how are you doing that?!" Carlos asked in disbelief, his eyes widening with fascination. The young, genius boy clearly had a strong interest in magical things, especially ninjutsu.

"It’s a small dummy used to replace yourself in a Substitution Technique, so you can run away from enemies," Goki chuckled at the boy’s pure amusement. Despite his intimidating appearance, he seemed surprisingly gentle with children.

"Ooohhh!" Carlos nodded as he watched the dummy move. "That’s really cool."

Surprisingly, the bald man who usually had such a bad temperament turned out to be really kind toward children. He did not mind entertaining young Carlos at all.

This unexpected softness earned faint smiles from both Hinata and Kagehisa. Meanwhile Ren carefully analyzed the food in front of him and slowly took a small spoonful of curry and rice.

"Hm..." His eyes sparkled for a brief moment.

The flavors mixed together wonderfully. He had never eaten any other meals besides special, highly nutritional quick rations — usually in the form of dry, flavorless pills or plain rice balls.

The life of a ninja was harsh from the very moment they were born into such a clan. They were taught to live with the bare minimum, capable of turning almost anything into a weapon. They existed only for cold efficiency and nothing more.

Tasting such rich and flavorful food — something he had never grown used to, unlike his master — left him completely speechless. Yet he continued eating because both Riven and Elisa insisted, and for the first time in a long while, the meal felt almost like a real home.

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