Rather than going back to class, Ro headed straight for the Chancellor's office to submit her withdrawal. She didn't want to do it, but she felt like she had no choice. As she approached his office, his secretary greeted her from behind a stylish glass desk.
"What can I help you with today?" The perky woman asked. She wore her sandy blond hair short in a pixie cut. Her almond shaped brown eyes sparkled with mischief.
"I am here to submit my withdrawal." Ro said sadly. She immediately thought of Momo and Aerie and how she would miss them. The woman's brown eyes looked confused for a moment but nevertheless she pulled out a form from her desk. She attached to a clipboard and handed it and a pen to Ro.
"Sit there and fill this out. The Chancellor is in today, so he may want to see you." The woman gestured to a row of cushioned chairs lining the wall of the hallway. Ro did as she was told.
When she was finished with the form, she handed it back to the woman. She took it with a bright smile and rapped on the door to the Chancellor's office. She must have gotten the go ahead to come in because in she went. She was gone a few minutes. When she returned, she told Ro that the Chancellor did indeed want to see her.
Ro stood up, straightened her clothes and went through the door. The dim light in the room took a moment for her eyes to adjust to. When they cleared, she saw the Chancellor who looked remarkably like Ky gesture for her to take one of the big wooden chairs in front of his desk. Chancellor Arzandia; read the name plaque on his desk. 'Was he possibly Ky's father?' she wondered as she sat feeling uncomfortable.
"Why do you want to leave?" He began, asking like a concerned professional. "Are you unhappy here?"
"No, I just have to." She said. Annoyance flickered over his handsome face.
"Is the pace too stressful? You are aware winter break starts soon?" He asked.
"Yes, I am aware, but I have to go." Ro said.
"Well the answer is no, you cannot leave."
"But I need to, and I thought that school was voluntary." She said in confusion.
"It's voluntary as long as you want to stay." The Chancellor said with a smile. "Now perhaps I can help you. Is another student threatening you?" Ro nodded slowly feeling uneasy. "Who is it?"
"Rin." She said at last. Irritation now passed over the Chancellor's face.
"I see and how is he threatening you?"
"He's saying he'll take away my family's farm and he might actually hurt them too if I don't leave. He also threatened to take away my uncle's life savings." The Chancellor's face darkened. Ro didn't know what that meant.
"Was that it?"
"Yeah, I think so."
"I'll see to it that he cannot hurt them." Ro felt a massive amount of relief. "Now go to back to class." Knowing a dismissal when she heard one, Ro stood. "Oh, and one more thing. The school is requiring you to go on that trip next week. It'll be good for you to see how we live." Ro opened her mouth to ask what trip but he forstalled her with a hand. "Tell Professor Arzandia that it was his delay that caused the trip to happen and there is no point coming to discuss it. I won't change my mind. Dismissed."
Feeling thoroughly confused, Ro left. When Ro returned to class Ky gave her a relieved smile as she took her seat. Momo and Aerie told her to tell them about it at lunch. They all concentrated for the remained of the two periods on their magic practice.
After Ro had told them what had happened at lunch, Momo looked troubled, Brawn was uneasy, and Aerie looked disgusted.
"Threatening people you care about? That was low even for him. But now you see why we told you to stay away from him." Aerie let out a sigh after she finished her speech.
"You don't think he'd just let it drop when it doesn't work, do you?" Brawn asked.
"No, I doubt that we've heard the end of this." Momo agreed quietly. "You should tell Ky what happened. He might have some ideas on how to protect you." Ro nodded resignedly.
Their relationship had begun to feel inappropriate to her. She still went to the extra morning sessions, but she had begun to feel uneasy about what happened when he was successfully able to invade her mind. One time she had found her hair untied. Another time her body had felt warmer than usual. She always returned to find herself sitting in the chair across from him but sometimes when she looked at the clock several minutes had gone by. These lapses in time and her feelings of vulnerability did spur her on to become better faster but she still couldn't stop him every time.
And then there were the dreams. They had been sporadic at first but now it was every night that she dreamt of him. The Ky in her dreams never did anything but hold her and yet she was uneasy about that too. If she were dreaming about a male she liked, shouldn't he try at least something with her in the dreams. Rather, he was too respectful. And the dreams were different than she usually had as well. Her dreams were usually violent and exciting, but these dreams were tame and quiet. He would watch her as she played in the snow or he would hold her as he showed her some new fantastic magic. However, it was always snowing like it had been in his mind.
Ro shook herself out of the reveries to see everyone looking at her.
"What? I'm sorry." She said. Aerie huffed.
"Momo was wondering if it wasn't time for you to lose the Nug." Ro gaped.
"But I thought I needed it." She said with confusion.
"But the Nug may be in trouble." Momo pointed out.
"I'll think about it, okay?" Ro said. "If it does seem too troublesome, then I'll stop wearing my glasses." She agreed slowly. Satisfied everyone began to talk of the upcoming announcement of the tournament's rules. They stayed on this topic for the rest of lunch.