Finishing with that, he began preparing for the operation.
The girls were very worried, so Ray said at one of the dinners:
"If the operation goes well, I'll continue to live."
Pausing, he added:
"If not, you must promise me you'll stick together and take care of Elena and Alice. I don't think you'll need to go into the field — our people have infiltrated the political elite of most countries. You can focus on training future generations."
When anesthesia plunged Ray's consciousness into darkness, he thought it would never return, because Violet had agreed to fulfill his request and grant him the long-awaited peace. But contrary to his wishes, he opened his eyes again.
Next to him was Deya. She was sitting on the floor, her head resting on the edge of the bed, holding his hand.
With difficulty lifting his head, Ray saw his legs — in their place were a pair of the most modern prosthetics.
Realizing he had been outsmarted, Ray put his head back on the pillow and smiled bitterly.
Waking up, Deya gave him a tender smile and said:
"Daddy, now you can't run away from me."
"Give me six months, and then we'll see who gets whom."
"I knew you'd ask Violet for that. All I needed was to persuade her not to do it," Deya explained.
"It seems I'm getting old, becoming so predictable," Ray remarked with a smirk.
"Age is a thing. I hope you're not planning to go back on your word?"
"No, but I hope you won't take advantage of your old man's helpless position. Let's come back to this conversation when I start walking. You'll have time to think again and decide if this is really what you want."
"Okay, Daddy, I'll be a good girl, but I've already made up my mind, and you won't get out of it. As for children, we need to raise Alice and Lena. If you want to have your own children, I think I have a couple of candidates in mind."
"Honestly, life has shown that I'm a lousy father, so I think there's no point in trying again," Ray said bitterly with a smirk.
"As your daughter, I can confidently say you did a good job," Deya declared firmly.
"Yeah, especially considering the fact that you want to jump into my bed."
"Girls often look for men who resemble their fathers. I just decided not to look for a pathetic copy, but to take the original. That's all," the little one explained with a laugh.
"Where's Yuno?"
"She's with the children. We took turns caring for you."
"How's Susan? Any attempts at sabotage?"
"No, she's even too good. I don't think there will be problems with her."
"That's good, but keep an eye on her anyway."