Paviar the Mischievous Wizard

••• Arabella’s POV ••• Hearing that the strange man in front of us was my best friend’s dad, Max reined in his Alpha aura, and I felt like spring had returned to the world - the unbearable pressure was gone, and everyone seemed to be able to breathe again and regain control of their limbs. They began to stand up and scurried away for fear of feeling Max’s wrath again. Rosa’s dad was still looking at us with a smile on his face when Rosa, panting and sweating, came running up to him. Looking at Rosa’s state, she must have been affected by Max’s aura, too. I couldn’t help but glance at Max, and he seemed to feel my gaze as he tilted his head down and looked at me. “Are you okay, Arra?” he asked with concern. I nearly rolled my eyes at him. He blasted his whole Alpha aura without giving me time to unleash mine to protect myself, even making Iris whimper in pain, and he dared to ask if I was all alright. “Come on, Ari,” Iris suddenly spoke in my head. “He did that to protect you.” “I know,” I sighed and added, “and I’m grateful. But he should’ve asked me to unleash mine so I wouldn’t be that affected.” “It wouldn't matter if you use your Alpha aura to defend yourself,” Iris said. “With an aura like that from our Alpha, we will still be greatly affected no matter what.” “You are right,” I sighed again. The drawback of having such a powerful Alpha as your mate... “Arra?” Max’s concerned voice sounded again. “I’m fine,” I replied and smiled. “Thank you for protecting me.” Seeing Rosa nearly reaching us, I quickly added, “You can put me down, Max.” “Are you sure?” he asked, still with concern. “I’m sure,” I nodded, and he placed my feet on the floor but still kept an arm wrapped around my waist in case I still hadn’t recovered my bearing. “Dad!” Rosa finally reached us while panting badly. Seeing my ring on his palm, Rosa became very angry and suddenly pulled her Dad’s ear. “Ouch, ouch, ouch!” Rosa’s dad yelled in pain. “My daughter, why are you being so cruel toward your father...” Rosa rolled her eyes before glaring and reprimanding her dad, “It’s because you played a prank the moment you met my best friend and her mate! Now give her back her ring.” “Can you let go of your dad’s ear first?” he asked with exaggerated misery. Rosa rolled her eyes again and let go of her dad’s ear. Her dad rubbed his ear pitifully, but Rosa was impatient with his act. “Give it back to her at once!” she glared at her dad. Her dad’s pitiful expression was replaced by a playful smile as he said to me, “I’ve already given it back to you.” And then we all saw the ring on his palm disappear and reappear a second later, but it was already on my finger! Wow... It was... amazing! “And don’t use such an appearance!” Rosa nearly yelled at her dad with frustration. “Go back to your usual appearance, or people might think I never take good care of my father.” Appearance? This was not his real appearance? The man nodded, still with his playful smile, and waved his hand. What we saw next was... mind-boggling. There was smoke surrounding him, and when we were able to see him again, instead of a thin and poor man, what we saw was a... short and plump man wearing a suit. The words ‘kind and mischievous uncle’ popped into my head as I saw Rosa’s dad's real appearance. Human uncles, since werewolves were all muscular due to our intense training. He dusted an inexistent dust on his sleeve before bowing his plump body at me and Max. “The name is Paviar,” he said before straightening up. “I was just playing a little joke on you. Please don’t get mad.” “Are you a magician?” I asked him curiously. “In a way, I am indeed a magic user,” he replied, his playful smile reappearing on his face. Rosa snorted, causing us to look at her. Seeing how the three of us were looking at her, she rolled her eyes and told us straight away, “He is not a magician. He is a wizard. I’ve asked him to come do us a favor because he is powerful.” Wow... We’d never talked about this before, but I always assumed that Rosa’s mom was the witch and her dad was the werewolf because there weren’t many male witches left in this world. Turned out it was the other way round... Paviar took my hand and kissed it as he said, “Not only that, but I would be happy to serve a beautiful lady like you, Princess Arabella. I think you are as beautiful as your mother.” “You know my mom?” I asked him in surprise. Why did Mom never tell me she knew a powerful male witch? “I was your Mom’s biggest fan back then, and I now see your mother in you. I was very fond of your mother back when I was young...” he said wistfully. I coughed awkwardly when I heard him say those words with that melancholic expression. Rosa rolled her eyes and reprimanded her dad again, “Shut up, Dad!” “If I can’t get the mother, maybe I can get the daughter!” Paviar’s eyes lit up with excitement and mischievousness. My jaw dropped hearing his words. This old man... “Dad, shut up!” Rosa yelled at him again. “Stop saying such strange and disgusting things, or I won't cook for you this month!” Max, on the other hand, grabbed my hand back and pulled me to him, creating distance between me and the flirtatious old man and asserting his ownership of me. “Thank you for coming to help,” he told Paviar calmly. “Max is jealous!” Iris squealed gleefully in my mind. “But he’s trying to hold back his anger because that uncle is your best friend’s dad, and he knew Paviar is a harmless and mischievous old man!” I giggled with Iris. It was indeed funny to see Max being jealous of an old man. Hearing that Rosa wouldn’t cook for him, Paviar put on a pitiful face. “Rosa, my daughter... Don’t be cruel to your dad,” he tugged Rosa’s sleeve like a small child afraid of angering his parent. I was amused. It never occurred to me that Rosa's father, a powerful wizard, could be such a person, and it was so interesting to see how he and Rosa got along. They looked like Rosa was the mother and Paviar was her child instead. “Go and wait for me at the car,” Rosa said as she pointed to Max’s car. “Will you still cook for me if I obey you?” Paviar asked, still with a pitiful expression. “I will,” Rosa nodded. Hearing his daughter’s answer, Paviar let go of her sleeve, and his eyes lit up with joy before running toward the car. I saw Max’s eyes twitching as he watched Paviar’s body bouncing with each step he took, and after only a few steps, he would always stop to rest. “Is he really powerful?” Max mindlinked his doubt to me. “Ari and Max, I’m sorry for my dad’s shamelessness,” Rosa apologized before I could answer Max’s doubts about Paviar. “He always likes to prank others and has always been such a flirtatious old man,” she added. “Oh, no worries, Rosa,” I waved my hand. “Max and I weren’t offended. We know your dad is harmless to us.” Rosa smiled gratefully at us and said, “Even though Daddy seems like an oddball, he is reliable as a father. As you know, my mom died when I was a child, and Dad had not only taken good care of me during my childhood but also entertained me and made me a happy child.” I smiled as I saw her love for her dad. “Oh, and don’t be deceived by his appearance and personality. He is actually uber-powerful,” she added. Remembering how Paviar could change his appearance and Lina could change a rogue’s face into Max’s, I couldn’t help but ask, “Can you also change your appearance?” “No,” she shook her head. “Only the powerful ones can do it. Even Lina could only change someone’s face and not the whole person, and it was easy for me to revert the process.” “So your dad...” “Yeah, he’s super powerful; he can change his whole appearance,” Rosa reconfirmed her words. “Well, that answers your question,” I mindlinked Max. “Paviar should be the prime example of the term ‘Don't judge a book by its cover’,” Max said through the mindlink. “True,” I agreed with him. Who would have guessed that plump man who would get tired after running a few steps to be so powerful? “We should bring your dad to the dungeon to examine the dead bodies and maybe find something new,” Max suddenly said to Rosa.