The Ogre Strength Fairy and the Eldest 'Son'-Chapter 26 - Will The ‘Fortress’ Raise A Mint Flag

The dark-haired swordswoman stood at the tail of the side street, right where it connected into the main. In front of her was the younger girl she’d known since she was nine. Waiting for an answer to a question that - until that point - the Yecine hadn’t realized needed to be asked.

At least, it *mostly* looked like her. The expression had that *less* familiar ambience - ’serenity’ that was yet seemingly missing something ’indispensable’. The lack of vitality in her voice and eyes had stopped being a strong *immediate* kind of worry for Qatrand, but it was still something that puzzled her.

Beyond all that was the energy she could feel... almost holding her in place. It was a lot more vast than her own and it made her not want to move. Qat was aware that higher rank essence users could suppress some of the control of those lower than them. She figured this was something like that.

Only... she could feel her spirit quite well, so she shut her eyes and tried to consciously use the advice on how to extend her spiritual sense and ’tendrils’ intentionally. The edges of the much stronger energy wrapped on top came into focus. The older girl noticed that it was... doing its best to stay away from actually touching the bulk of her own. Qatrand ’poked’ at it.

’Oh.’

It wasn’t that it was trying to avoid her entirely, she realized. That light touch of senses gave off the feeling of ’patience’ and ’carefulness’. She shifted the stance of her body and felt the mass of energy adjust along with her. Another brush released ’amusement’ and ’timidity’.

The swordswoman opened her eyes a bit to note that nothing had changed. Elua er Goltbred still had the dull lack of expression that the Yecine had been informed to understand as her *real* nature. It seemed she had no problem conveying emotions through this... other medium. Even though her face showed none of it.

’Alright, this... isn’t my task. I was asked a question. I was asked to think about the meaning of it. The rest happening is just...’

Elua’s spirit bumped hers with ’sincerity’ and ’safety’. Then again from a different side with ’pride’.

"As fun as it is to try and chat that way, I want to explain that I’m not trying to threaten or scare you. I hope that was obvious. But having you realize that I can also protect you as you protect me is... important. The answer I desired from you is one that also considered this, so I needed... to show you."

Her ’fortress’ nodded once before going back to thinking.

’If I don’t think about what my family wants - would I choose not to go through with it? I’ve been trying to think of things like that for a while. If I would be doing something if I wasn’t a Yecine.’

The task before her really hit hard. It required her to think of longer futures that went directly *against* the usual little guesses of what could happen if she *agreed* to what others wanted from her. She ignored that farther reaching question for a moment and took a few steps back.

If she had refused to carry the girl a bit ago...

’She might have tried to convince me further. Probably would have pouted.’

A slight smile curved the corners of the dark-haired girl’s lips before falling away once again.

’A single event is easy. Trying to think of everything else that might happen is incredibly difficult. For instance, I’m not sure the conversation with her attendant would have happened that way. Then her asking me this also might not have happened. At least not right now. So many things can change from one choice.’

Qat breathed deeply. The teenager really hated this sort of spiritual exercise. It wasn’t that she didn’t believe there was a benefit... but failing at it repeatedly with no results made it feel like a waste of the time. She disliked many things that she didn’t find herself any good at - when no one was asking it of her.

The only reason she was trying was because El had basically just done so.

’Maybe I’m thinking too much. In the end it’s just whether I want to or not. It seemed logical to think of the consequences. Nothing sticks out as a reason to refuse, but is that wanting to do it? Or just being willing. Would she be unhappy with only the latter? I don’t want-’

She stopped and twisted her neck to the side.

’It’s so easy to think of things I don’t want. Not seeing her... is something I don’t want. I’ve actually been frequently... annoyed that the elders told me I should only visit one time a week. And I was... upset about those girls. So that means I do want to spend time with her.’

’Would that have to be as her fiance? Her... ’husband-wife’? Or could it just be as friends? It’s different with her from anyone else I get along with, but I also don’t know if I should call those people friends. Then there are the things I promised that I shouldn’t go back on.’

’Protecting a friend might be one thing, but cherishing someone more than anyone else would isn’t... that isn’t... wait.’

The swordswoman suddenly remembered the wording they had used back then. She had definitely said ’my wife’ and not ’you’ or ’Elua’. Granted, she had been under a little pressure and she was younger and less... *intelligent* in some matters. Notably, her own feelings and those of others.

’Doesn’t that technically mean that it would be fine as long as it was *any* wife?’

The Yecine knew it would be rather disingenuous if she went that route. Back then, after talking to the arranged partner for the first time, she *had* been thinking of Elua er Goltbred when she said the words. So it was exactly the same as promising those things to the little El from her perspective.

However, it also reminded her of more of that old conversation. Of words that had been said... that someone didn’t seem to be holding as much to anymore.

"I thought you didn’t care about ’ceremony’ in the first place?"

The energy surrounding her fluttered with ’shock’. It really hadn’t been the first thing the heiress had expected to hear after her ’fortress’ had closed gates and called an audit!

"I did. I don’t. But..."

"If I said that I didn’t want to-"

A wave of ’sadness’, ’resolution’ and a hint of something deep underneath the two that was stronger but harder to understand. As might be expected, a person who had a difficult time with ’wants’ would have an issue identifying ’possessiveness’. Even when growing up within a family that treated her as a tool toward an end.

"-that would be a lie. You should at least let me finish answering before you do that."

The dark-haired girl did think that deep undercurrent in El’s spirit had something in common with ’jealousy’ - but it was also nothing like that little pang she felt when her time at dinner was ’threatened’.

"Sorry. Rather than doing it, you are just causing me to slip. Though if I wasn’t manipulating my spirit to be so close to you it wouldn’t be an issue. So, I guess I am doing it."

"What was that feeling? The one underneath the others."

A jolt of ’fear’ struck Qatrand as the tendril she pressed out managed to touch - right before the Goltbred pulled everything back and *tightened* it down over her form. A strong layer of spiritual *rejection* lined the edges of her essence field.

"That. Don’t."

There was still no tone to her face or eyes - though they were a little wide. But her hands were clenched and tight to her sides. Rigid.

"It’s one of my secrets. You said I could keep them. That - I can maybe explain it, but I can’t let you ’see’ it."

The Yecine attempted to shake the residual shock of emotion away. Her Anchor Astralism was supposed to prevent spiritual intrusion to an extent... but El was both stronger in that cultivation and someone she probably hadn’t been defending against. If her fiance was really feeling that scared, it made sense that she was posed in such a stiff way.

"U-ugh. O-okay. Can I ask... you to explain it and why you... are afraid?"

One of Elua’s fists unclenched and opened and closed repeatedly. Nervously.

"There’s not really a good way of describing it that doesn’t make me sound strange. It was my ’romantic love’. Others have also called it the more specific terms *obsession* and *possessiveness*."

’Also crazy, broken, too much, sick, unfair, irresponsible, outrageous...’

The kind of words that really didn’t mean that much to her, until they were said by someone she was interested in. That was the very reason she thought to ease Qat into it all. The way Elua saw it, the dark of night isn’t nearly as off-putting once you’ve memorized everything else in the room.

After encountering so many people and living for so long in her last life, she understood that they weren’t *exactly* wrong. The habit of caring about one thing (or one person) often to the detriment of all else was the primary reason she sought ’diversions’ to relieve her ’boredom’. Staying in the habit of splitting her mind towards many directions kept her... from hyperfocusing on her ’target’.

"I’ve been told that the weight of mine is too much. The love. It’s heavy enough to warp my opinion of what should and shouldn’t be done. I’ve also seen it change the feelings of people I cared about until I couldn’t recognize the qualities I fancied in them."

"Who told you that? Who did it change?"

The reborn cultivator realized that she was rambling things out loud that were a whole *different* conversation. She also realized that this was yet another case of a ’whim’ with her husband-wife turning into revealing too much!

"Well, that’s another secret. Listen to that. Isn’t it really unfair and irresponsible of me to have even asked you-"

Qatrand reached forward and stuck her palm on the brunette’s forehead. It had become a reaction when she felt the girl was upset. It only occurred to her later that she did it despite there being no expression on her face.

"Of everything in my life that might be considered unfair, you asking me what I want shouldn’t be one of them... no matter how you look at it."

"Ah. I meant asking you to marry me, but... okay."

It only took five seconds for her to forget herself and let her guard down. Some of her ’contentment’ leaked through the ’impenetrable’ spirit barrier at the site of her forehead being stroked, but so did *that feeling*. The swordswoman felt both of them and didn’t know how to endure!

She decided not to.

"So then... you feel that you own me?"

...

There was a little ’fear’ again, but it wasn’t as potent as the first time. There was also something like ’reluctance’. freewёbnoνel-com

"Oh. This is where I’m supposed to say no, but you don’t believe me after everything that went on. Or I say yes and you get upset because you can tell I’m absolutely not joking. Which of these makes you not... leave?"

A set of fingers gripped tightly on the lifeless voiced brunette’s skull.

"You keep saying things that make me want to ask questions but I’m starting to feel like anything I want to know you won’t answer."

"I’ll tell you everything if you want to marry me."

The ’older’ girl chuckled at the arrogance.

"You’re bargaining?"

"I’m just being honest. You’re not like me, you probably won’t feel anything akin to a sense of ownership in my existence unless we go through the ceremony. So that’s when it makes the most sense to give the information to you. It would be... preferable for you to want any of that."

Even without an emotional tone, Qat felt she could understand that there were some other insinuations there at the end by the little hesitation between words.

"Preferable - but not required?"

"Ah. Mm. Yes. You catch on quick. I do love that about you, Qat."

One hand poked at the more muscular girl’s abdomen while the other began pushing against the wrist of the hand still gripping on her head. All while attempting to re-engage her ’facade’.

"If we play around too much longer out here, then someone might notice I’m doing things I shouldn’t be capable of. I can only make so many people ignore the street and would prefer not to..."

She cleared her throat as a bit of rasp came back to it. She felt lucky that her spirit had been tightened in time, so that the other girl didn’t realize that the hoarse voice came from a kind of indescribable pain. The Yecine also obliged her unvoiced request and let her slide the larger hand into the air. Though she did want to protest about ’playing’ considering how serious everything had been.

"I would prefer not to make someone ’forget’ that this is the best route for their daily business. I believe that would be rude. More importantly I believe you wouldn’t like knowing I did that and I would feel like I would have to tell you."

Eyes with a hint of glistening wetness peered up at the currently dark-haired girl. The pigeon blue eyes were so incredibly calm. It was another thing she’d come to love about her.

"I plan to try and avoid doing things you wouldn’t like. I might not always get that right. Like I said before, if I cross a line please tell me? That’s also why if I’m not the one you-"

The taller of them leaned down and placed a kiss on the brunette’s forehead, which shut her up better than the initiator had anticipated. The floor to speak was now hers once again.

"You are, though? Someone I like. Someone I plan to marry. Someone I still want to protect and cherish."

The range of emotion that was ’returning’ marshalled itself into turning the mint-eyed girl beet-red. Liking was ’close enough’ - someone like her could easily turn a real-world inch into an inner-fantasy mile!

"It might be an unsatisfying answer, El. I can only tell you that I am not against it right now and have seen nothing yet that should make me ’leave’ you. Let’s both go to your home and eat before your parents start to worry. Especially your mother. It won’t be good for the child."

As she started getting led by the hand, the ’dazed’ little heiress barely thought of doing an important thing to keep herself ’hidden’ - releasing the servant from the illusion and wiping her memory of being in it for so long!

The woman blinked and regained her bearings, having ’once again’ been *daydreaming* about her family that was depending on her to keep this job! The attendant hurried to sit next to her charge in the carriage, who still seemed quite embarrassed over her behavior being compared to that of the woman’s kid sister.

For letting her speak so boldly as well as getting lost in her thoughts, she was *very* glad the Goltbred girl was so ’understanding’...

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