“ we can talk without this spell. ” to say that she was uncomfortable staying in one place would be lowest on the scale of emotions sounding off within her head. nothing could overpower the sheer embarrassment of being frozen in place by her father, of all people. truth be told, she’d react as angrily if it had been a friend, but seeing their frowns wouldn’t be as awful as having to stare at her father’s.
the student’s coughing causes her eye to twitch but she withholds any groan or sigh that would have been let out on instinct. though hayato refusing to lift the spell almost causes her to break her patience.
but she stays silent and takes his words with only a dull glare. “ if i am a grown woman then why are you the one getting reports on my behavior. if they wish to speak on their opinions of me, then have them come to me! besides you stand unaware of anything that those students might have done to receive my anger. ” rhajat does not show the hurt that his words strike her with. instead, she does as she has taught herself to, and unfolds the guilt into frustration, the frustration into neutrality.
and it easily ( pathetically ) falters at the mention of corrin. of course she knew of corrin’s place here. though hayato’s question proposes that she, too, might be going through a similar problem as mitama. unlikely, though, the lady is married and someone who expresses obviously that they’re married. still…
“ corrin?! i… n-no, of course not! this has nothing to do with her. why would you, ” she stops herself, gathering her senses and composing herself before setting her expression back into one that’s unimpressed. disappointed, even. “ my arrival here was only on a childish impulse. and coming here to immediately be told that a friend of mine is the subject of others and their foolish attempts at her heart was quite the joy, i suppose. i am only doing as i must. ”
( if she was to add on and say that the thrill of cursing others has yet to leave her mind, even through the year she’s spent idling and maturing after the war, then hayato’s reaction would be far from pleasant. so she holds her tongue. again. )
rhajat smiles, awfully sweet. unfortunate that such a smile doesn’t look natural on her face. “ there! we’ve spoken, as you’ve asked. now, lift the spell. you’ll never see me or my… problem solving skills again if it means that i can leave. ”
“ I clearly remember you just a moment ago telling me how ‘we don't need to talk.’ If this hex wasn't up, you wouldn't even be talking to me right now, Rhajat, ” Hayato huffs, unwilling to budge. “ I'll release you from it in due time. I'm not so interested in standing here forever either. ”
He hears the coughing student manage to struggle his way into rushing out for some solution though there would be little. Hayato gives nothing more than a cursory glance to him, just glad he's gone and they no longer had an audience.
He listens to Rhajat's counter, giving her his full attention even as he folds his arms across his chest, doing his best to look as imposing as he can whilst still being unable to fully meet her height much less tower over her.
“ You're doing this... because your friend is being hit on? ” He couldn't fathom caring this deeply about someone else's love life that wasn’t connected to his own, much less seeing it as his duty to ward off potential suitors, but he can tell his daughter's dead serious about the topic, so he simply heaves a sigh. “ Rhajat, who do you think told me about what you're doing? Hardly anyone here even knows we're related, much less that I'm your father. ”
He hadn't even bothered mentioning it to the admissions board, and he doubts she would have either with neither of them aware of one another's presence at the academy. The story Rhajat tells him suggests no time for her to have made new friends either, and there were few if any people present at the monastery currently who would both potentially be Rhajat's friend as well as someone who would know to report to him.
“ Does your friend even want this of you? If you wish to use your magic to help protect her, there are other ways to go about it. ” It was literally his field of expertise even, not that he supposes his daughter would know. He hadn't had the time to teach her his charm making, to pass that knowledge on... and even if she knew, this would hardly be the time to offer the opportunity to learn underneath him, not when he's lecturing her.
She's not having fun, and telling her to spend more time with him wasn't exactly the best selling idea in times like these. Hayato knows this, yet he still says:
“ And Rhajat, I don't want to never see you again. You're my daughter. ” The fact she would even suggest as such as some kind of boon to him, something worth parleying with him in this moment, stings. Though they had smoothed over one issue in the past, perhaps he hadn’t given Rhajat enough reason to believe he cared for her. This was hardly helping.
His voice drops its edge, resignation to his failures marring his face in a moue of disappointment. “ ...I just want you to stay out of trouble and get along with your friends, not be sending them to me to complain about your behavior. ”