There were juicy Stir-Fried Moon Catfish with Pickled Ethereal Llama and Fried Crescent Buns arranged in big bowls with large spoons in the middle of the table.
It was placed on a revolving small platform that could be moved around to pick what you preferred to eat.
The trio dived into their food, Helia ate the fastest while Rio was the slowest. Lia was the only one who was eating gracefully like a young lady from a noble family.
When the boy had only finished one-fourth of his plate, the lioness had finished completely.
She filled her plate again and continued to fill up her stomach. Her innate talent required her to eat more as she needed more energy.
After Rio finished the food on his plate he gazed at the revolving table.
There was only one Fried Crescent Bun left in the bowl.
The boy moved his hand to take it with expectant eyes but another person also grabbed it at the same time.
"Let it go. I took it first." Lioness said to him.
"You already have so much on your plate why don't you let me have it," Rio responded while indicating her plate which was almost full.
"That's none of your business. Now release your grip." Helia said, glaring at him.
The blonde-haired girl had stopped being nice to him in front of Lia after he had revealed his secret to her and trusted her.
Because that day they had already argued in from of Lia and it was not normal for these two to bicker around her.
"Eating too much isn't healthy for the body. You already have a well-proportioned figure. Just bring a little more gentleness in your behavior and you would find a great husband." Rio said and comforted her with his kind words.
"I'm good how I'm. You don't have to give me your lecture. " Helia said, her voice filled with annoyance.
"I just feel bad for your future husband who would be unfortunate to handle you if you didn't reduce this aggressiveness of yours. Dear Heaven, please bless him and give him the strength to be with the lioness." Rio sighed and prayed to higher beings.
"You!!!...." Helia yelled at him as he was making fun of her.
She forcefully snatched the Fried Crescent Buns from his hand as she was exasperated by his sarcastic comment.
Lia, who was chewing her food while enjoying the duo's bickering, almost choked on her food hearing Rio's words, and grabbed a glass of water to drink.
"Are you alright?" He asked, his face was filled with a worried expression.
"Yes, I'm okay," Lia said and took a heavy breath to calm down.
She thought inwardly, "What would be his reaction after discovering that he is the husband that he is praying for and needs strength to tame his lioness in the future? Hope they get along and not fight like 5-year-old kids."
The bowls were emptied as the trio finished their meal.
Rio ate the least while Helia ate the most, double the amount that the couple's total consumed meal amount was.
They returned to their bedrooms to sleep for the night.
Rio forgot to ask for the bonus kisses as the love birds hugged each other to sleep.
The next day Rio spent time with his beloved Wifey as his training was successfully completed.
The main goal of the training was to get familiar with his newly acquired battle technique arts but Rio had even learned the fusion between three battle technique arts which was more than what he was told by Lia.
In the night, after they had their dinner together Lia came to see him off as he had to return today for his Theory class.
Rio used the portal capsule at Castle to return back to earth.
He opened the bedroom door and checked his phone for notification.
There were five missed calls from Second Mother.
He tapped the screen and called her contact number.
The phone rang a few times and then It connected as the person received it.
"Rio... Where were you?" A worried feminine voice sounded from the other side.
"Sorry... I was busy with my training in the wilderness." The boy responded as he thought of an excuse that was almost close to the truth.
"The people at the yellow tower of the outcast shelter said they haven't seen you recently. I even asked Henry, he said the same you haven't been to the shelter recently.
I was worried that something happened to my little child."Second mother spoke in a tender manner.
Henry Doyle was superior in the charge of the Yellow stage shelter of the Outcast that was under the Wilson family.
Aliyah Havenglow had asked Henry directly when she heard the news of Rio had not been noticed nearby the shelter recently. His classmate had made a report that he hadn't seen Rio and was looking for him.
"No, I was just training and hunting far away in the mountains so didn't get much time to return to the shelter. I'll be going to purple tower soon." Rio said to her as he had planned to upgrade his current location to a higher level one.
Lia had told him to stay away from shelter missions for a while so he needed to relocate to a new place where he could get stronger.
The region of the outcast's yellow tower didn't have the purple stage beasts so he was planning for his journey to the purple tower of the outcast.
"Oh... you have reached the purple stage?" Aliyah asked with an intriguing tone to confirm as she understood the meaning behind his words.
"Yeah." The crimson-haired boy mumbled.
"That's kind of fast, Rio. It is hard to reach the purple stage in a couple of weeks on your own. Now that I think of...It does make sense why you weren't seen in the yellow tower of the outcast shelter in recent days.
My child was busy training and battling wild beasts. But you shouldn't tire yourself excessively and get a good rest every day."
Second Mother said in a surprised tone that went to become dotting in the end as she was concerned for him.
"Mm.." Rio mumbled.
"Ah...You keep reminding me of your parents." Aliyah said with a happy voice that was filled with nostalgic emotions.
"Just parents?? Not you?" He asked with a mysterious glint in his eyes which couldn't be seen by the second mother since they were talking on the phone.
Rio had some doubts in his heart, which became stronger after Eve's trial.
"Yeah. You remind me of myself too. But I would sound Arrogant if I praise myself." She responded in a sweet voice.
"Second Mother, I have a class soon. So let's talk later." He said in a nonchalant tone.
"What did you call me?" Her astonished voice resounded on the phone speaker.
"Second Mother?" He repeated once again.
"I thought you would only call me that after finding out what relationship I have with your parents. But I'm very happy that you accepted me as your Second Mother." A heavy emotion-filled voice resounded from the phone.
On the other side, the blue-haired woman had moist eyes. She was crying because her child called her 'Second Mother.'
Only she knew how she waited around Rio's mother when he was in her womb. She treasured Rio's mother the most in her life.
Aliyah was extremely in agony when his mother passed away. Not only that but the unborn child that she cherished went missing along with his parents.
Aliyah tried to search for him everywhere but couldn't find him for sixteen years and when she finally found him, she was helpless to not tell him the truth about who she was to him.
Such a tragic story that shattered her delicate heart into pieces.
The blue-haired woman was shedding tears of joy because her young son finally accepted her in his heart.
Rio heard her emotional voice and decided to comfort her by telling the truth, "I had my doubts about you but I believed your motherly love towards me wasn't fake.
People would call me dumb for trusting you that day and not questioning the reality of the things you told me.
However, these heartless people don't understand that eyes don't lie and it can not deceive. Motherly affection can not be faked.
Why would the second strongest person of the human race shed tears for a nobody without a reason?
If you had any bad intentions for me you could've crushed me like an insect easily. It's not like I'm from one of the seven silver families whom you adopted. At the end of the day, I was a nobody who couldn't give you anything."
His voice was unwavering as he told her his thoughts from the day she told him the truth about his parents.
Although he didn't have evidence to back up his guesses but now the boy had more than enough after going through Eve's Trial.
His second mother loved him more than that adopted grandfather of his. Her affection even kept Lia's love thirty percent above the ground which shows she loved him a lot.
Lia was willing to go against her father so it was understandable why Second Mother's affection was lost to her. If It was any other normal wife, they would've lost to Aliyah's genuine motherly love.
====////====
[SnowNote](for Privilege Readers)
Happy New Year, Everyone.
Hope you guys have a beautiful year ahead and if possible you continue to support Our Asura Empress.
Thanks for staying with the book this far.
P.S. I'll be late with my upcoming chapters as I have to prepare for the first day of the new year.
Please vote with power stones and Golden tickets to support this book. The more, the better.
I'll add the important character images on:
Like it? Add to the library!
Edited By: TheWhiteSnow
