Chapter 41: A New Week Begins, Love Investment Authority Finally Activates!

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At Elisa’s soft request to "cuddle in bed," Riven could not really resist or reject her. He nodded almost instantly.

"Alright," Riven said, undressing and putting on his night clothes.

"Um... leave the shirt off?" Elisa wondered, nervously fidgeting with the sheets as she openly admired his muscular torso.

"Huh? Sure..." Riven nodded and rested on the bed. Elisa blushed like a tomato, clearly happy to have him all to herself for a while.

"Riven..." she whispered, hugging him more shamelessly than usual and pressing her face against his bare chest. "You won’t leave me... for someone else, right?"

Riven smiled warmly and hugged her back with equal care. "Of course not..."

She let out a long sigh. "Even when this is an arranged marriage and I said... I said mean things to you before? Like that we didn’t... love each other and... I mean, we don’t but... I mean... I..." She was beginning to have clear doubts about her own feelings.

Riven followed her example and gently caressed her soft hair. "Let’s take it easy. And no, I won’t leave you behind... I’m gladly married to you, Elisa. And I don’t regret it either. I feel like this was the first good thing that ever happened to me. Even if you might have disagreed at the start."

"I don’t anymore. I... I like being with you," Elisa admitted while averting her gaze shyly and giving him her back.

Riven hugged her from behind, placing his hands carefully on her hips and whispering close to her ear. "Me too."

Elisa gasped quietly but quickly closed her eyes and pretended to fall asleep.

Noticing that she trying to sleep, Riven simply smiled and closed his own eyes as well.

...

The next morning, Riven was already awake and warming up outside. He spent time exercising around the house, mostly stretching and doing light cardio. Noir the Third followed him around happily the entire time, practicing his skills by slowly melting into the shadows and then reappearing right in front of Riven. Riven had a similar skill called Abyssal Shift, which he used to teach the young pup how to control and improve his own abilities more effectively.

As the sun rose fully over the horizon, Riven walked back inside and decided to prepare breakfast. It did not take long for Elisa to wake up. He carefully brought her to the bathroom, where the two of them took a bath together once more. Daniela and Carlos were still sound asleep by the time breakfast was ready on the table.

"Daniela, wake up," Riven called as he went to her room. She slowly opened her eyes.

In the last few days she had been using her own room very little, preferring to sleep in her brother’s bed. But in the last two days Carlos had said he wanted to be alone, so she had returned to her own bed.

"Huh? Ah... Riven? Right, it’s Monday! S-Sorry!"

Daniela panicked and woke up instantly, leaping out of bed and rushing toward the bathroom. While taking a quick shower, she put on the new equipment Riven had prepared for her.

Pierrot Equipment Sets, which were made from dropped items sold together in matching groups, were incredibly cheap because almost no one requested them. Because of that, Riven had bought the highest-level set she could currently equip. It was called the "Golden Juggler Set."

The outfit was a beautiful gold-and-red color and came with a decorative jester hat that had small golden bells. Her weapon had also changed. She now carried a pair of SS-Rank Daggers that had dropped inside the Dark Cave, the Twin Fangs of Camazotz.

As for Riven himself, he required no armor because any heavy equipment would only get in the way of his skills. Although he had considered buying a proper weapon, he already had Fenrir’s Abyssal Fang Blade for that purpose. He had decided to wield it regularly and had been practicing with it carefully for the last few days.

After a quiet breakfast, Elisa said her goodbyes by kissing Riven lightly on the cheek, something she used not to do before. "Take care, and please come back before night. Riven, make sure she’s unscathed, okay?"

Riven nodded firmly. "Sure. Leave it to me. About Carlos..."

"I can move a little now, so leave the boy to me," Elisa said with quiet confidence. "I’ll go wake him up myself. I’ll feed him breakfast, help him wash, and so on. Later he’ll study a few things I have already prepared so he can get ready for the entrance exams at the new school."

"Alright. Thank you, Elisa. You do way too much for us," Riven said sincerely. "Let’s go, Daniela."

"Oh! Yes!" Daniela nodded and waved her hand with her usual cute smile, showing her bright white teeth.

On the way to the Gate Site, the two of them purchased several healing items and other supplies. Daniela could now keep everything safely inside her new storage bracelet.

"So we’re returning to the same Gate as before?" she asked.

"It’s been a full week now, so I’m sure that whatever remained of those cultists must have been completely cleansed by the system," Riven answered.

"I hope so... that was really shocking back then. I’ve done as you said and I didn’t tell anyone what happened..."

"It’s better to keep that information to ourselves for now."

As Riven walked toward his car, he suddenly saw a new system notification appear in front of his eyes. It was one he had not seen in a long while. It felt as if all the quiet affection that had been slowly accumulating between them had finally bloomed at once.

[Love Investment Authority – Asmodeus]

[Target: Elisa Frostbane]

[Affection Level: 25 → 40]

[Investment Progress: 1.5% → 5%]

[Note: Target’s latent recovery rate has increased by 5% due to emotional stability and increased affection over a prolonged period of time.]

[You received the reward: [Frost Knight Crest (C Rank)]

[x10,000 Reward Multiplier Activated!]

[The Item [Frost Knight Crest (C Rank)] has been multiplied by x10,000]

"?!"

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