At the dining table, Ayanokouji Ren picked up the menu and looked across at Matsuzaka Satou.
“What do you want to eat?”
Satou did not answer.
She was still looking left and right, up and down, her gaze darting everywhere.
Her expression was still rather confused.
Half an hour ago, she had only just crawled out of the bathtub while panting, put on her clothes, and before she even had time to dry her hair, Ren had brought her here.
This was completely different from the breakfast in the downstairs living room Satou had imagined!
It was a white, resplendent restaurant.
The golden glow might have been because of the sunlight, or it might have been real gold.
Satou was not sure.
She felt it was probably the former.
But considering Ren’s family wealth, the latter was not impossible either.
After all, from this private room, they could overlook the entire Tokyo Bay.
From here, Rainbow Bridge stretched across the sea like a silver thread, and a flock of seagulls swept past on the morning wind.
Satou looked down at her feet.
Beneath her was an Italian marble floor polished enough to reflect a person’s shadow.
She looked above her head.
A chandelier made of hundreds of crystal pieces hung from the ceiling.
She looked beside her.
Waiters in tailcoats and white gloves stood neatly at her side.
She looked in front of her.
On the silver tray before her lay a napkin folded into the shape of a swan.
What kind of place is this?
Satou, rarely, complained inwardly.
Is all this really necessary just for breakfast?
Seeing that Satou still was not in the mood to order, Ren put down the gold-stamped menu.
“The rooftop restaurant of the Ritz-Carlton.
It’s usually very crowded, but today I cleared the place out specially.”
He also turned his head toward Tokyo Bay.
The seagulls were still spreading their wings and flying high.
Was this the benefit of having [LV5 Money Power]…
No, to be modest, [LV4 Money Power]?
“?”
“Why did you clear the place out?”
Satou asked instinctively.
“Because I like quiet.”
Ren turned back and handed the menu to Satou, making a small joke.
“If you want to ask who Quiet is, please finish ordering first.”
“I won’t ask that.
Even I know quiet isn’t a person.”
Satou’s eyes curved slightly.
She played along very well.
She was someone who could read the atmosphere.
She accepted the menu.
Opened the menu.
Browsed the menu.
Then put the menu down.
Satou raised her head and blinked.
“Can we…
eat something simpler?”
Although the food in the pictures looked as delicate as artwork, the menu was full of curved English words.
So this was what rich people ate?
Did they even need to learn a foreign language just to order food?
Satou’s grades were not bad, but no matter how good her grades were, her English was still only at a school level.
School teachers would not teach her how to pronounce Bellini, Mimosa, or Fresh Squeezed.
Ren understood what she meant.
“Not really.
I brought you out to eat something nice because you came here, Satou.
This was prepared specially for you.”
“Specially for me?”
Satou froze.
This was the first time someone had prepared something specifically for her.
And it was not just empty words.
This was something special.
It was different from the things everyone else could have.
Satou pressed her lips together and thought.
Ren nodded and pressed the service bell beside the table.
A waiter came to his side and bent forward attentively.
Satou could not hear clearly what Ren said.
Even if she had heard, she would not have understood, because Ren did not seem to be speaking Japanese.
But after Ren finished speaking, the waiter withdrew.
Not long after, the door of the private room opened.
Satou looked over and saw chefs pushing food carts through the golden doors one after another.
The head chef at the front wore a tall chef’s hat and began preparing an omelet on the spot.
A top chef really was different.
Satou could cook a few simple dishes, and she could also make eggs.
But she definitely could not make eggs release such an appetizing aroma.
While the food was being prepared, Ren continued the previous topic.
“My usual breakfast is very simple too.
White rice, miso soup, or black coffee with two eggs.”
Ren lightly tapped the goblet in front of him with a spoon.
Satou nodded.
She remembered that she was used to eating bread and drinking plain water in the morning.
Compared to this, Ren’s breakfast did sound very ordinary.
“Lunch is simple too.
Beef or shrimp, with vegetables like broccoli or tomatoes.”
“Dinner is also simple.
Fish, tuna, salmon, any kind is fine, with some vegetables and fruit salad.”
Satou nodded.
She remembered that she also ate bread and drank plain water for lunch.
As for dinner, she usually did not eat because there was no food at home.
After comparing them, it suddenly did not feel very ordinary anymore.
But she still praised him.
“You eat very cleanly.
Ren, do you work out?”
When she mentioned working out, Satou’s cheeks suddenly flushed faintly.
She remembered how Ren had looked in the bathtub with his upper body exposed.
Those clearly defined muscles had made her throat feel dry, and even now, she still did not understand why.
“I practice both fitness and martial arts.
But only casually.
I don’t push it too hard.”
Ren spoke calmly.
“I’m still growing, so training too intensely could affect my height.”
“But you’re already pretty tall, Ren.”
Satou answered instinctively. You are reading on g.com, the official source.
Ren was more than a head taller than her.
However, Satou did not have any demands regarding her own height.
As long as she could live healthily, that was enough.
Ren suddenly stood up and walked behind Satou.
While she was still stunned, he touched her pink hair.
Satou-chan with her hair down.
“Your hair is still a little wet.”
“We left too quickly.”
Satou said.
She had not even tied her usual buns today.
Her long hair fell over her shoulders, the longest part already reaching the lower edge of her shoulder blades.
Ren waved again.
The waiters immediately understood and brought over a hair dryer and hair ties.
“Sorry.
I’ll pay attention next time.”
Hair was a woman’s life.
That was even more true for hair as beautiful and pink as cherry blossoms.
Ren slid his fingers into the roots of her hair, gently lifting and gathering it while drying it for Satou.
Then he casually tied it into a ponytail with a hair tie, neat and clean.
Satou continued sitting there with a strange feeling in her heart.
Aside from her aunt when she was little, no one had dried or tied her hair for her in a very long time.
But unfortunately…
“It’s not buns…”
Satou looked at the mirror handed over by a waiter.
After changing hairstyles, the girl inside looked so different that she almost did not recognize herself.
Because the hair accessories she had used since childhood had been changed.
The hair tie was gold, with a pendant formed through some special craftsmanship.
“I’ll learn how to tie buns properly later.
So I’ll have to ask you to teach me, Satou.”
Ren spoke calmly.
Then he personally brought over the freshly made omelet and pancakes from the head chef and placed them in front of Satou.
Satou raised her head.
Her gaze moved from the exquisite food to Ren’s face.
She did not speak.
She only stared straight at him, as if time had paused.
Satou occasionally looked at people with that kind of examining gaze.
Because it allowed her to regain the initiative.
“Teach me.”
But Ren did not give her time.
He quickly spoke, his expression still calm.
However, Satou felt that his tone carried a little anger, and his voice was also a little loud.
It was not a request at all.
It was completely an order.
“Mm.
I’ll teach you later.”
Satou smiled, nodded, and looked away.
She picked up her fork and cut off a small piece of pancake.
Honey syrup flowed out from inside.
She put it into her mouth and chewed carefully.
Mm.
Ren’s temper really was bad.
And his desire for control was also very strong.