The Ogre Strength Fairy and the Eldest 'Son'-Chapter 395 - Valmenf Family: The Emotionally Motivated Refusal

What they saw was the black clad cultivator, flecks of ichor still on their shoulders and blazer sleeve, take another drink from their cup. The small clink of ceramic against wood was very audible in the sudden silence.

One woman, the Empath from the strike force no one was paying attention to, looked particularly uncomfortable during the motion. For she and her spiritual attention felt the sudden spike of emotions from the head of that table.

’This is bad... this is bad... oh, but I really want to hear and see what Qatrand is going to do!’

Standing slowly, the Yecine’s movement drew every eye in the pavilion - including the few who had been too far to hear or pay attention to what was going on. It almost felt like her Cynosure had activated and everyone there was a Voidling for a few heartbeats.

When she spoke, her voice carried the same low, controlled tone she used when giving out battlefield commands - calm, clear, and absolutely certain. Her strike force members even straightened their spines with attention and tension. As did most every soldier or former soldier at the party.

"I appreciate your family’s interest in securing an alliance with mine, Lord Valmenf. And I’m sure your daughter is as accomplished as you describe."

Pigeon blues moved to look over the ’offer’ briefly - not unkindly while thinking her hair was like Yatrel’s and Onya’s in color - before returning to the father using her as a tool.

"But... I feel the need to address a fundamental misunderstanding in your proposal to me."

The surrounding silence gained a weight to it as Qat’s voice gradually grew in intensity. As her very spirit Anchored itself in the spot she stood and as the Gravity of her thoughts filled her cadence.

"You speak of political necessities. Diversifying partnerships as if love were a resource to be allocated for maximum advantage. You suggest I should expand my household as if my wife were... *insufficient* for my needs."

A dangerous edge crept into her tone as she emphasized the word. The ordeal with Kefa was now almost a month old, but still felt fresh with visceral disgust that she hadn’t felt as strong back when the Coiled Serpent liaison had flirted with her.

She wasn’t sure why her reaction over such things as others coveting her had grown so strong lately... though she was starting to think it was a growing understanding of her wife. As well as a growing displeasure with any desire in them being born by the deception of her gender.

"Allow me to unequivocally clarify my position on this matter. For you. For everyone listening to my voice. But first, I have some questions. May I ask them?"

"...Of course."

Dris er Valmenf had found himself speechless, but Nysoi had a voice to give. She was going to speak her mind anyway - regardless of a yes or no - but the not so raven-haired anymore cultivator turned the other teenager’s way and nodded gratefully. Then her eyes found the man once more.

"Can your daughter light up my life half as much as my El does when she smiles at something I’ve said, even when it was foolish? Can she support me in ways no one else knew I needed support - while having the spine to tell me when I’m the one being unreasonable for not trying to be greedier?"

Qatrand’s voice carried to the furthest corners of the gathering, courtesy of the sound amplification sigil pattern embedded in her brooch. The waveform traveled in a way that it was not especially loud for those close-by but was still entirely audible and lossless to those far away. One of the many marvels embedded in the multi-purpose cultivator tool.

"More importantly - and I mean this with all respect to your family, as well as the strong-for-her-age cultivator standing bravely here for this unintended humiliation I have to put her through... is she even a tenth as beautiful in spirit as my wife?"

’She also isn’t even cute. Not like El.’

"You wouldn’t know, because you’ve never met her. Just like you know nothing about me, only what you’ve heard from others. Because as you started all of this with, we have never met."

The questions before weren’t just rhetorical challenges - they were statements of absolute conviction. Assertions wrapped in interrogative form only to stress her points more eloquently to the man who had made a bad calculation... and to everyone else.

’I swear I will wear a sign that says all of this too, if these people do not spread this and keep others from attempting similar offers...’

"My strength as a cultivator, my achievements on the battlefield, my ability to lead others - all of it flows directly from having someone who sees me completely. Someone who has always loved what she finds there. Someone who challenges me to be better while accepting who I am now."

Calloused fingers moved unconsciously to her chest, seeking comfort by pinging the lonely, silent fragment in her chest. The returning pulse was not to be found, but she felt subtly better anyway.

"To me, what you’re offering isn’t an alliance - it’s asking me to diminish the very foundation of everything I’ve accomplished by forsaking the importance of my promised spouse."

The voice of the blonde cultivator had softened for a short period as she continued speaking, but dropped back to it’s commanding tone. Turning and unsheathing the blade sitting against her former chair, she held the weapon aloft like an offering. Then declared one final thing as a vow - with the finality of an inviolable order.

"I will never seek another partner in my life. Not for political advantage, not for family pressure, not for any reason under the sky or upon the earth. Even if... my wife is never found. I will spend whatever years remain to me honoring the love we shared so briefly, rather than replacing it."

The declaration was like a thrown gauntlet to the very universe. Challenging not just the Valmenf proposal but the entire system of political marriage arrangements that many in attendance had built their lives around. Including her own.

But she understood that it was a very ’auspicious’ exception.