Chapter 344: A Wife Who Pampers Her Husband

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This time, it was Elisa who was pampering her husband, buying him a bunch of stuff happily as she dreamed of how handsome he’d look on the beach. She kept tossing more shirts and shorts into the cart, already picturing the whole group walking along the sand. "Uwaha...! Can’t wait!" she cried to herself, practically bouncing as the total climbed higher.

"Tsk... annoying..." Vladimir groaned, he looked absolutely fabulous with his glossy skin, long red hair which was also gleaming brightly under the light of the shopping center, with bright eyes, long eyelashes, he looked like a movie star. The staff had done their work thoroughly, and now every step he took drew a few extra glances from other shoppers, both men and women. "W-What are you looking at?!"

"Pfff..." Riven couldn’t help but laugh at how effeminate and "beautiful" he looked, he covered his face, trying to stop himself from laughing whenever he looked at him.

The longer he stared, the harder it became to keep a straight face, and he had to turn away for a second just to regain control.

"D-Don’t laugh, don’t you dare laugh at me!" Vladimir screamed, feeling humiliated, but forced to hang around them just out of spite. "...Besides, I’ve now realized that... there’s nothing wrong with taking care of oneself..." he muttered quietly.

He crossed his arms tightly and glared at the floor as if daring anyone else to comment on the change.

"Pfff... hahaha, what?!" Riven asked in disbelief.

He wiped at one eye and still struggled to keep the next laugh from escaping.

"N-Nothing! Shut up! You damn idiot! I’m going to kill you one day! Just you wait!" Vladimir roared angrily.

The threat came out louder than the previous muttering and made the rest of the group glance over before pretending they had not heard anything.

By the time they returned home, the sun was already dipping low. The house still smelled faintly of birthday cake and leftover pizza from the previous day’s celebration. Everyone was tired but content after a day of a lot of fun and going out.

Daniela and Carlos headed straight for the living room couch while Label and the ninjas carried the remaining bags inside and set them near the kitchen counter.

That night, after the children had been put to bed and the others had retreated to their rooms, Riven sat on the edge of the bed while Elisa brushed her hair. The soft glow of the bedside lamp made the silver heart pendant on his chest gleam lightly as he looked into the night sky.

He kept one hand on the pendant and turned it slowly between his fingers while the brush moved through her hair in steady strokes.

He’d spent the day doing mostly relaxing things and without worrying about his powers or growing stronger, after the morning event, he really didn’t need more stress.

The decision to leave the training and the system windows alone for the rest of the day had felt necessary once the morning chaos ended, and he had stuck to it without second thoughts.

"You’re quiet," Elisa said, glancing at him through the mirror. "Still thinking about yesterday? Or about... whatever happened this morning when you disappeared into the Spirit Realm? Just what happened there?"

Riven gave a small, wry smile. "A little of both. And well, I met them. In a dreamscape."

"Them?"

"It’s a little confusing, but think of them as something like gods, authorities connected to my powers," Riven explained briefly, shifting a bit on the edge of the bed as he tried to put the experience into words that wouldn’t sound completely insane. "They’re called the Three Heavenly Kings. Ten Thousand Poison Master, Asura Blood Sea Emperor, and Divine King of the Cold Star. Fragments of them, at least. They’re... living inside me now. Guiding me. Training me, somehow," he exhaled slowly, still feeling the faint echo of their presence in the back of his mind even now.

"Interesting, this is definitely not the first time I’ve heard that, high ranking awakened sometimes are guided by Authorities..." said Elisa, pausing with the brush halfway through a stroke as she turned a little more toward him. "I remember when Skadi guided me... she was stern and always demanded the best from me, but was otherwise very kind... I miss her voice and guidance sometimes... you’re lucky you got three... um, Heavenly Kings or whatever they’re called."

Elisa didn’t know the full picture though. Riven had deliberately kept it a secret, fearing her rejection after she learned he possessed alien cells inside of him and was a freak of nature.

Or maybe it was also because he feared knowing so much of the truth could break her or make her insecure about everything, and he didn’t want to make her upset.

The thought of her looking at him differently sat heavily in his chest, so he stuck to the safer parts of the story for now.

"Well, the Poison Master forced my body through Stage 3 of the Ten Thousand Poison Heart Sutra, remember that technique that let me control poison?" he asked, glancing over at her reflection in the mirror. "It evolved into something called the Heavenly Poison Body. It hurt like hell the whole time, worse than anything I’ve felt in a while, but the results were significant. My control feels sharper, the poison responds faster, and the overall boost was big enough that I think I’ve gained enough power to be qualified as A Rank, perhaps. Still need to test it properly, but it feels that way."

Elisa’s brush paused mid-stroke. She turned her wheelchair around carefully to face him fully, her eyes serious as she studied his face. "Are you okay? W-Was it painful? Why didn’t you tell me earlier...?"

"I’m fine, nothing wrong with some training and trials every now and then," he said, reaching out to take her hand in his. His thumb brushed lightly over her knuckles while he spoke. "They offered to become my masters. I accepted. It feels strange, having the remnants of three dead gods living in my soul, but they seem sincere enough. And they know things about... well, about the bigger world out there... about Authorities and the System. Stuff I never would have figured out on my own."

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