Idan and Arabel, without saying a word, left the military base under the eyes of the military. They were provided with an SUV with a driver, and they set off.
At their request, the driver drove them to the entrance of the Snow Fairy Tale Hotel, where Idan had previously rented a luxury room. Throughout the journey, the driver remained silent, only once answering Idan's question that he had been ordered to keep his mouth shut, and apologizing for that.
After saying goodbye to the driver and thanking him for the lift, Idan and Arabel entered the hotel almost hand in hand and went up to their room under the stares and whispers of the hotel staff.
"Wow," Arabel exclaimed as she entered the room. "Did you rent such a luxurious room?"
"Yes, on the very first day of our arrival. I thought that since we have enough credits, why not rent something that corresponds to my status as a young master?" With that, Idan took off his winter clothes and put them in the storage.
"It seems to me that if you were born into a rich and famous family, you could really become a young master," Arabel remarked.
"Well, I don't think so, — Idan replied, settling comfortably on a luxurious sofa.
Arabel, having also taken off her winter clothes, first of all began to inspect the room, carefully examining each room individually.
While Arabel was busy, a rift opened next to Idan, and Coco jumped out of it, landing neatly on his lap.
"You're back," Idan said when he saw Coco, and gently stroked her head. Coco, snuggled into Idan's lap, began to purr with pleasure.
As soon as the couple entered the branch of the Awakened Association, the little fox disappeared. Neither Idan nor Arabel knew where she had gone. Idan only had a fleeting thought that Coco might have gone to the place where she took the mysterious dark egg.
At that moment, Idan decided not to think about anything and relax a little. He felt tired, but not physically, but mentally. Too many things had happened lately, and he had to think too much.
Arabel soon joined him on the couch and they spent some time in silence. Then Idan handed Coco to Arabel, got up and decided to cook something to eat.
It was already late in the evening, and they hadn't had dinner yet because of all these events.
"Do you need some help?" — Arabel offered, wanting to help Idan with the cooking.
"No, don't need to, get some rest. I can handle it myself," Idan replied, although he was glad to know that Arabel was ready to help him. He thought it would be nice to do some cooking together.
Arabel, unable to look away, watched as Idan prepared the food, while gently stroking Coco. Idan was a master at handling food, and although Arabel had already acquired some cooking skills herself, she couldn't help but admire his skill.
When Idan was almost done cooking a late dinner, Arabel paid attention to her status and looked at her cooking skill, which had been at the second level for a long time.
"Idan has been cooking lately, and his level must be close to third by now. I mustn't fall behind," she muttered, deciding that she needed to take responsibility for cooking for the two of them as soon as possible.
"It's done! It's time to eat!" called Idan, distracting Arabel from her thoughts.
"This is for you, Coco," Idan said, handing the little fox her portion. Coco enthusiastically began to eat, wagging her little fluffy tail, which had already fully recovered from the incident when Idan singed her.
The couple finished their meal in the company of chanterelle without saying a word.
"I'll wash the dishes, and you can rest," Arabel offered, and this time Idan did not refuse. He returned to the sofa and settled down comfortably to rest for a while. But before he could close his eyes, he felt a call.
With a smile on his face, Idan summoned Rizzy, and the baby immediately appeared in his arms. She immediately started reaching for his finger.
Arabel, who was washing the dishes at that moment, noticed the appearance of the baby and stopped. She watched in silence as Idan, with a smile, held out his finger to her and began to feed her his blood, lulling her to sleep. From the outside, it looked like Idan was taking care of his daughter.
Arabel felt her calmness begin to melt away as she thought about it. Her face quickly turned red from the multitude of wild ideas that began to fill her still sick mind.
To distract herself from her thoughts, Arabel lowered her head and silently finished washing the dishes.
After she finished, her feelings calmed down a bit and she joined Idan. By this time, the baby was already full, and Idan was just playing with her. Rizzy was laughing as she watched him play, and Arabel couldn't help but smile.
"By the way, she's grown up a lot, — Arabel remarked.
"Yeah. The Master and Sierra suggested that after a month she could start talking and even try to take the first steps," Idan shared, without taking his eyes off Rizzy.
"What? So fast?" — Arabel was surprised.
"Yeah, can you imagine?" Idan still couldn't believe it. Then he tore his gaze away from the baby and looked at Arabel: "I'm more worried about what her first word will be."
Arabel couldn't help but laugh when she heard these words. "Are you afraid that Rizzy will call you daddy, or are you worried that she will call you «food»?"
Idan, seeing Arabel's reaction, froze for a moment. Then he turned his gaze back to Rizzy and sighed.
"On the one hand, I would be embarrassed if she called me daddy, because I'm not her father," Idan said softly, looking into Rizzy's red eyes. "On the other hand, it will hurt me if she just calls me 'food' or 'blood.'"
"Don't think about it too much, Dan. Let's trust fate and see what happens," Arabel said, sitting down next to him.
Idan looked at her in surprise. Noticing his surprise, Arabel asked with a slight smile:
"Why do you think I was against Rizzy coming with us at first?"
Idan didn't answer, just stared at her in silence.
"Because I already understood then.: Once you take her in, she will most likely call you "daddy" in the future instead of addressing Nemo that way. And Nemo himself was already aware of this when he decided to entrust Rizzy to you and me. He has no deep emotional ties with this little girl, other than the usual blood ties, unlike Izzy, who has been with him from the very beginning."
After a short silence, Arabel, a little embarrassed, lowered her gaze and spoke: "Even when I made the decision to take Rizzy with us, despite the side effect, I realized that she would become a unique adopted daughter from another world for us."
This admission from Arabel surprised Idan even more. Unlike her, he didn't think about such distant things.
Idan looked at Rizzy, who was in his arms, and smiled. Rizzy returned his smile. Then, after a moment of thought, Idan asked:
"Do you want to hold her?"
Arabel was surprised, delighted by Idan's suggestion. Then, looking at Rizzy and remembering how she behaved last time, she asked: "Won't she cry?"
Of course Arabel wanted to hold the baby the way she held Izzy. Moreover, this little girl will be with them almost constantly, and if she is likely to call Idan "daddy", then Arabel will be a little embarrassed if the little girl addresses her by her first name.
"Here," Idan carefully held out to Rizzy, and to Arabel's surprise, Rizzy offered no resistance. She just looked from Idan to Arabel.
With a certain amount of excitement, Arabel gently took Rizzy in her arms. Looking into her blood-red eyes, she couldn't help but smile. Rizzy studied Arabel with great interest.
Arabel suddenly wished Rizzy would smile too. She decided to lightly tickle it with her finger, but before she could touch it, Rizzy caught her finger, as she had previously grabbed Idan's finger. To Idan and Arabel's surprise, Rizzy put her finger to her small nose and sniffed.
Then, bringing her finger to her mouth, she bit it and began to drink blood.
"Oh!" said Arabel, feeling Rizzy sink her little fangs in. When she saw the little girl drinking her blood, she raised her head and looked at Idan in surprise, who was just as amazed as she was.
"How?" exclaimed Idan, watching as the same expression appeared on Rizzi's face as when she was drinking his blood. Looking at Rizzy's contented little face, Idan realized that Arabel's blood was to her taste.
"But the Master and the others claimed that she couldn't drink anyone's blood except yours!" exclaimed Arabel.
Idan was well aware of this. That's why he decided to take Rizzy with him. However, now they were surprised to discover that Rizzy could drink not only his blood, but Arabel's as well.
"Hehe, isn't that wonderful?" said Idan with a smile after thinking for a while.
Arabel was still staring in disbelief at Rizzy, who was happily absorbing her blood. But when she heard Idan's words, a big smile appeared on her face that she couldn't hold back.
Even after she accepted Rizzy as her adopted daughter, she still had some doubts and contradictions. But after what had just happened, all those thoughts disappeared, and Arabel finally decided to accept Rizzy as their daughter with Idan.