Rhiannon's strong front falters the moment she takes her final step, which makes her stand right in front of Christopher Raynard.

"Where have you been?" Rhiannon says lowly, looking at him with accusing gaze.

Christopher chuckles lightly, "I went to Elysian to visit my brother, Richardo. I've informed your mother about it. Surely you'd know that by now?"

"I know that!" Rhiannon says, losing her temper for a short while, shocking the professor and her classmates with her lack of respect towards Christopher, whom people have known as the academy board member, "I needed you the most these past few months, where have you been?"

"Miss Barin, manners!" Professor Dorian cuts her off sternly. Christopher smiles without looking at the professor, shaking his head while telling the professor that it's fine.

"Mrs. Dorian, can I steal this student of yours for the rest of the lectures?" Rhiannon frowns at her father figure's sudden request. The professor nods, giving him permission to take her student away.

"Go and pack your belongings," Christopher curtly tells Rhiannon, making the pissed off girl frowns even more. Rhiannon huffs, stalking back towards her seat to pack her things.

"Are you alright, Rhi?" Ellena questions worriedly. Rhiannon smiles, nodding to assure her that she's fine.

"I'm okay. Just a bit pissed, is all," Rhiannon says when she's finally done with  packing her stuff. Rhiannon waves her hand to bid her farewell to Ellena, who still seem to be extremely worried about Rhiannon's well being.

Christopher slides the classroom door close, ushering both of them out. Rhiannon frowns when her father figure suddenly walks away without saying anything.

"Where are you taking me, pa?" Rhiannon questions. Christopher humms, thinking to himself while Rhiannon taps her foot impatiently.

"Do you still like to eat in the bakery we used to go to that sells purple yam doughnut?"

Rhiannon nods curtly, trying to hide her excitement; carrying her angry daughter facades​ on.

"You're excited, don't even try to deny it, you idiot daughter," Christopher ruffles her hair affectionately, finally dropping his business like gesture once they're finally out of the academy's ground.

"I'm not an idiot, papa!" Rhiannon pouts, folding her hand in front of her chest, "And I want lots of doughnuts!"

"Of course you're not an idiot," Christopher chuckles, walking towards his waiting car, "Especially not after I've seen that demonstration you did in your weaponry class."

"You saw that?"

Christopher opens the door of his car to let Rhiannon in, ushering himself after her. He closes the door after both of them finally gets into the car, "Take us to the usual bakery, Jozier."

"Well, I've always been an intelligent person, after all," Rhiannon shrugs, affirming Christopher's earlier statement. He snickers when he looks at the girl he always regards as his own daughter.

'She hasn't change at all,' Christopher thinks, leaving Rhiannon to her own devices.

***

"Have you seen Rhiannon?" Ellena look up at the stranger in front of her, frowning slightly as confusion starts to cloud her mind.

"I'm sorry, but, who are you?"

"I'm Alexander, Alexander Raynard," Alexander answers, looking extremely impatient to get an answer out of Ellena's mouth.

"You're the son of that board member old man," Ellena mumbles, looking at the wizard with awe. Alexander looks at her weirdly for a moment, before shaking his head once more to clear it.

"Yes, yes, I'm the son of that man," Ellena nods, accepting Alexander's explanation, "Now, do you know where Rhiannon is?"

"She's with your father," Ellena states matter-of-factly. Alexander groans, massaging his temple to ease his stress.

"Do you have any idea where they might be right now?"

"How should I know?" Ellena frowns, "I'm an elemental magicians, not a seer."

"Damn, you're helpless," Alexander sighs, replying with a voice filled with disbelief, "No wonder Rhiannon spends her time worrying about your watery mess a few days ago."

"Oh, so you're the guy Rhiannon mentioned that time," Ellena replies, a sudden realization dawns on her, "I thought she was bluffing when she told me about a guy giving her advices and stuffs."

"Of course she's not," Alexander says, raising one of his eyebrows up, "I went somewhere immediately after, which is probably why both of you can't find me."

"Oh."

"So, you really have no clue of their whereabouts?"

"Nope, no idea, sorry."

Alexander huffs, feeling defeated all of the sudden, "Alright then. Thanks Cordelia."

Alexander immediately steps away from the lunch table Ellena's sitting at, tapping at his phone to text someone. Ellena frowns, suddenly finding their entire conversation to be weird.

'Did he just called me by my last name? But, how did he know that?' Ellena shrugs, getting back to eat the half eaten burger.

***

"Have you been working hard in your study?" Christopher says while observing Rhiannon; who's busy munching on her purple yam doughnut.

"I have," Rhiannon replies with a mouth full of doughnut, "I have also been missing both my dad and my father figure. One who went to Elysian without personally telling me about it and the other who currently teaches at Nerezza state University."

Christopher sighs, a regretful look gracing his entire face, "I'm sorry, but I've had no time to tell you about it. I only get to inform Gracie. She passed the information to you, right?"

Rhiannon nods, answering the repeated question silently.

"Your sudden leave..." Rhiannon begins after she's through with chewing her doughnuts off, "Does it have anything to do with the Gualtiero feud?"

Christopher stills, confused on how he should try to approach the subject.

"I heard that you've been chosen to enter the Gualtiero's special program, is that right?"

"You're trying to change the subject," Rhiannon states flatly, looking at her father figure dead in the eyes.

"I'm not," Christopher frowns, looking annoyed at her bold antics, "I really am interested in that."

Rhiannon smiles sadly, "I can't tell you anything about it, pa," she chuckles, "But everything is fine."

Christopher's frown gets deeper, confusion clouds his mind after hearing his daughter's cryptic answer.

"The sudden leave has nothing to do with the feud," Christopher says suddenly, attempting to assure Rhiannon, "I really did have to help Rich with things in Elysian."

Rhiannon nods, accepting his explanation, "Okay, pa."

"So, Rhia... About the special program-"

"Hello, I believe you asked me to wrap some purple yam doughnuts for a take out earlier?" A girl with long, black hair says, cutting their conversations off. Rhiannon smiles while looking up at the girl who doesn't seem to be that much older than her.

"Yes, I did. Thank you for this, miss-" Rhiannon squints her eyes, trying to read the waitress's name tag, "Pandora?"

The waitress named Pandora smiles back, nodding, "Yes. You're a regular costumer in here, is that correct?"

"Yep!" Rhiannon beams, grinning happily, "I've loved this bakery's purple yam doughnut for a long time."

Pandora nods excitedly, "I see. I'm glad that you like it! My family is actually the owner of this bakery, and this is the first time I've helped my parents out here. I've seen you around since my last year at the academy though."

"You're an alumni of Aranéia private University as well?" Christopher asks, surprised by the revelation.

"As a matter of fact, I am, sir," Pandora smiles politely, "You're Christopher Raynard, right, sir? The academy board member and an elite officials of the Gualtiero empire slash government?"

"You seem to know a lot of things, miss Pandora," Christopher curiously observes the innocent looking girl with interest.

"My ears are everywhere, sir," Pandora grins, "Oh, and I also happened to know that this girl is supposed to be your daughter."

"She's not my real daughter, biologically speaking," He shrugs, snickering when he caught Rhiannon looking offended by the claim, "But emotionally, she's as much of a daughter as my three biological sons."

"That's nice," Pandora says, looking at Rhiannon with a serene gaze, "You're chosen for the Gualtiero talent enhancing program, right? But you-"

"Pandora, this program is old news, right?" Rhiannon gives her a fake grin, while trying to send a code to cease talking about the subject.

"Ooohh," Pandora gets the message immediately, "But, you know... It was such a prestigious program. Only extremely talented Ragnildians were chosen for it. Me and my friend Raeline was looking forward to it. We hoped to be chosen, seeing as both of us got extremely high scores at the final elimination test and set a record for the most complex elemental development in our year."

"Really?" Rhiannon answers with excitement, completely missing her point, "What element do you have?"

Christopher silently listens to the two girl's conversation, feeling amused by their youthful spirit.

"I have two, actually. Air and thunder."

"Wow, so having two elements really isn't that rare after all," Rhiannon muses, "And what about your other friend?"

"Raeline?" Pandora scratches her head, trying to remember her good friend's element, "Her basic element is air, her second one is fire... Or did I get them mixed up?" Pandora frowns slightly.

"I feel so ordinary now."

"Well, it might be true that you're not THAT special," Christopher says, shaking his head at his daughter's big headed complain, "But people with more than one element is still very special on their own. It's far from ordinary."

Pandora nods slightly, "Your father figure is right, you know. We are special. But not so much that we feel cocky about it."

Rhiannon sighs, feeling powerless all of the sudden, "I guess, you're right."

Christopher chuckles, "As much as I'd like to stay here and chat, I need to return to my office soon, and Rhiannon still have classes she needs to attend. So we have to go back now."

"Aww, I wish we could chat more often though," Pandora says with a defeated tone, "Come here on the weekend if you can, Rhiannon! I'll ask Raeline to come along and chat as well!"

"That sounds fun!" Rhiannon answers, feeling happy that she finally gained another talented friend, "I'll come back this Saturday. See you around, Pandora."

Rhiannon walks ahead, followed shortly by Christopher before Pandora suddenly calls him out, halting his steps.

"Sir? I want to ask you something."

"What is it?" Christopher answers shortly, giving her his serious, businessman treatment.

"Is the government trying to recruit random Ragnildians secretly right now?" Pandora frowns, "A mysterious person approached me and my friend Raeline a few days ago, he gave us a short interview and suddenly asked whether we'd like to join him for a government mission."

"Hmm, I just got back from a long trip to Elysian, so I can't really tell. But can you tell me if the person comes to see you again? I'd like to know about the mission."

"Okay, I'll do that," Pandora nods, "But how do I contact you, sir?"

Christopher asks Pandora for her phone number, which he calls straight away. Pandora saves the number to her contact list immediately.

"Alright, I'll notify you if this person comes again."

Christopher smiles, "Thank you, Pandora."

"You're welcome. Oh, and, sir?" Pandora stops him for the second time, "Your daughter actually got into trouble over her loyalty towards your family. The Gualtieros kicked her out of the program because of it."

Christopher frowns, a shocked expression painted on his tired face, "She... What? How did you know about it?"

"Everybody knows about it. I'm also aware of the feud between your family and the Gualtieros," Pandora says nonchalantly, "I used to stand by Gualtiero's side, as any normal person would. But after seeing you with your daughter today... I don't think that you're a bad person."

Christopher gratefully thanks the small waitress, "I'm glad. Call me when the mysterious man shows up again, okay?"

"Alright, sir."

Christopher waves his hand, bidding his farewell to the young waitress. He hurriedly gets into his car, telling his driver to drives them back to the academy.

"What took you so long, papa?" Rhiannon asks, raising one of her eyebrows at her frowning father figure.

"It's nothing," Christopher calmly says, ruffling her hair to ease her curiosity down.

'It's nothing that you need to know about right now, Rhia,' Christopher thinks as he look at the passing scenery outside of his car window.

'I have to keep her safe,' Christopher sighs tiredly, 'For now.'

***

Alright, so here's the fourth chapter. I guess we get to finally see a glimpse of the conflict here, and I get to introduce one more character! Yaaay!

Also, here's a "screencaps" version of this chapter's convo:

As per usual, VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE if you like the chapter, and give out some constructive comment! :)

Until next time!
XOXO,
S R Jones.