"Oh, Irene, have you finished yet?" Ivette greeted her daughter and son-in-law, whom she had already accepted, with joy.
"Yes, Mom, it just ended," Irene replied, hugging her mother and heading to the crib where her son was lying.
"Come in, come in, Arslan," Ivette invited her son-in-law to join them.
"Sorry to bother you," Arslan, without refusing, entered the room to spend time with Irene and their son.
After a while, Ivette started complaining that she spends all her time in the same room after moving here.
"Don’t get me wrong, I like being around my sweet grandson, but spending twenty—four hours a day in the same room, looking at the same walls, even without a TV or TV series, is very boring," she added after her complaint.
"In the previous house, at least I had the opportunity to walk in the courtyard to unwind," she continued.
"Mom..." Irene called, realizing that she might have almost locked her mother in four walls.
"Let’s go out for a walk?" suggested Irene, picking up her son.
So, in the company of three adults and one kid, they went out onto the terrace.
The weather in the Kingdom was simply wonderful, and while enjoying the warmth on the terrace, they did not notice how time flew by until Idan appeared.
He approached them slowly and calmly. Glancing at Irene, he noticed her concern and smiled.
"Leave Mom and me alone," — Idan sent to Irene and Arslan through a mental link.
They exchanged glances and, obeying Idan’s request, stood up, taking their son with them.
"Huh?" — Ivette exclaimed in surprise when she saw her daughter and son-in-law standing up. She wanted to get up too, but Irene gently put a hand on her shoulder, holding her in place.
"He wants to talk to you alone, Mom," Irene said, shaking her head to convince her not to get up.
"Him?" — Ivette asked, looking at Idan in surprise. Idan had changed a lot, and although Ivette thought he looked a little familiar, she couldn’t recognize him.
Idan certainly didn’t blame her. He just smiled and said:
"It’s been a long time, Mom."
It was only then that Ivette realized who was standing in front of her, and her eyes immediately widened in surprise.
Ivette was in complete disarray, and Irene and Arslan, leaving them alone, entered the house.
She remembered a thin young man with a sullen expression and tried to compare him with this handsome and healthy young man, who had a warm smile on his face. And she couldn’t immediately accept that they were the same person.
Looking closely, Ivette noticed the same familiar black hair and brown eyes, as well as some of the features of that sullen guy on this handsome man’s face.
"Idan?" she finally said his name, still not believing her eyes. "Is... is it really you?"
"Yes, Mom, it’s really me," Idan nodded with an awkward smile on his face, seeing that his mother didn’t recognize him because of all the transformations he had gone through after becoming an awakened one.
Ivette stood up abruptly and, going to Idan, hugged him.
Idan was very surprised by this act of his mother. His mother hugged him very rarely in his entire life, and he couldn’t even remember the last time.
After a moment’s hesitation, Idan hugged her back.
"Idan, it’s really you," — Ivette said, hugging him.
"You’re back," she continued.
Soon, she released her grip and began to stare intently at Idan’s changed appearance.
"The most important thing is that you’re okay," Ivette said with relief. Then, smiling, she added: "You’ve changed so much that you’ve become a completely different person."
It was only after those words that she realized what it meant.
"Have you become an Awakened One?" asked Ivette, holding her breath.
"Yes, I have become an Awakened One," Idan confirmed, surprising her.
"Let’s sit down and talk," he suggested. Ivette nodded and returned to her seat, and Idan took the seat opposite her.
Ivette couldn’t help but rejoice at his new look.
Idan, for his part, couldn’t take his eyes off his mother. She had the same brown eyes and black hair as him, but there were already white strands among them—age was beginning to take its toll.
After a short silence, Ivette asked a question:
"Where have you been all this time? And why didn’t you come back for so long?"
"Until recently, I lived in another world, Mom," Idan confessed. And before Ivette could ask another question, he added, "Not because I didn’t want to come back, but because I didn’t have the opportunity."
This admission surprised Ivette very much. All this time, she thought that Idan was just hiding from everyone, or worse, something terrible had happened to him, which she certainly couldn’t imagine.
"When did you become Awakened?" asked Ivette.
The last time she saw him was at that very gala, after which there were rumors that Idan and the girl from the Morgan family had disappeared. She watched so many TV series and dramas that her mind started coming up with the most incredible theories.
Remembering that day, Yvette’s eyes widened as the image of the young, beautiful girl who had brought her food in recent days appeared in her mind.
This girl was so charming that Yvette, after thinking for a moment, quickly noticed the resemblance to her son-in-law Arslan. The girl had the same red hair and azure eyes as Arslan.
"I became Awakened the very day Arabel and I disappeared," Idan said frankly.
"Arabel is the name of that girl from the Morgan family? The one who brought me food?" asked Yvette, wanting to make sure.
"Yes, Mom, that’s her. Her name is Arabel Morgan, and she is Arslan’s older twin sister," Idan confirmed with a big smile on his face. "Besides, she’s my girlfriend and fiancee."
Idan’s confession exploded like a bomb in Yvette’s mind.
She would never have thought that this beautiful girl was not only Arslan’s older sister, but also Idan’s fiancee.
Irene and Arslan never talked about Arabel in front of her. Therefore, despite the initial rumor she had heard, Yvette had never heard of Arabel. Over time, she forgot that Arabel was Arslan’s sister and the one Idan had disappeared with. Because of this, she did not recognize her at the first meeting, only thought that she was from the Morgan family, where red hair and azure eyes are not uncommon. ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ 𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹⟡𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓮⟡𝙣𝙚𝙩