The Ogre Strength Fairy and the Eldest 'Son'
Chapter 159 - A Wife Sneaking Into An Open Bed Is An (Un)Reasonable Scheme

Chapter 159: Chapter 159 - A Wife Sneaking Into An Open Bed Is An (Un)Reasonable Scheme

A set of fingers had been wrapped around the door handle for nearly twenty minutes. Despite her years of experience with patiently waiting for the right moment, Elua’s grip remained nervously taut. So much that an average person’s hand might have cramped.

The ancient cultivator was quite thankful that trickling a small amount of physical energy to the muscles prevented such minor mortal inconveniences. It allowed her to stand staring at the hand gripping the metal, her whole body frozen in place like a slightly deranged statue.

’Just a little longer. Just a little-’

Eventually disregarding that mantra, her mind drifted to the private dinner she enjoyed with her beloved just a few hours before. The Talcres decided to invite her parents to a meal in the city. Having Qat all to herself in that environment had been wonderful.

Even if both of them were awkwardly distracted by the privacy. Her beloved’s pigeon-blue eyes kept darting to her throughout the meal and the ordinary meal conversations. There was a sort of anticipation and nervousness in her ’fortress’ that made her stomach flutter even as it was filled with food.

’Her attempt at a more open mouthed kiss before she left was... ah, so very clumsy and conservative.’

The brunette statue quickly came to life and shook her head. Thinking of that wasn’t the kind of distraction she needed! It was making her want to open the door right now and sneak out.

She tried to think about some of the other things that happened before the day was through. Having her personal servant hired as her assistant and general maintenance staff for the branch had gone smoother than she expected. Though she was unsure why Dima had been shooting the other woman pitying looks as she signed the documents.

In any case, the extra pay the woman would be handed was worth every bit. Even if just to see her husband-wife’s proud little smile when she explained how she’d arranged everything.

Elua was also surprised that her servant didn’t voice any objections to getting ’double paid’ for things that she would probably be doing willingly in service to the Goltbreds. Helping her charge and cleaning the areas the heiress would be spending time in. She was usually pretty upright, but instantly signed when handed that particular Guild contract.

’After all these years, is she learning to play along with my schemes without lecturing me?’

A soft chime from a clock somewhere nearby in the dark estate marked the top of the hour... and that another quarter hour passed with her standing in wait. But it was still too soon. She forced herself to maintain position in the room she didn’t much care to be in.

’This place they stuck me in is only good for camouflage.’

To that same effect, the sigil inscribed silver dress laying in her bed would take care of fooling any sudden visits from attendants. She had come that evening by herself to the Yecine estate for only one reason - and it was certainly not to sleep *alone* in the room they had provided.

Whether she admitted to planning things to Qatrand or not, it wouldn’t matter after she sneaked into the girl’s bed successfully. The only thing that mattered was that she felt like waiting another hour would greatly increase the chances of not being turned away. For the same reason, she had brought and changed into a plain night dress.

’If I make it seem like I tried to sleep here and failed before I took drastic measures, she’ll be less likely to make me leave.’

---

The soft click of the door closing behind her was barely audible. To a cultivator’s heightened senses in the dead of the night, it might as well have been a thunderclap. At least it would have been if the excited heart of the heiress didn’t sound like it was beating in her skull.

Elua turned with an unapologetic and triumphant smile on her face to the person waiting for her. Qatrand already had one hand moving towards her forehead. She sighed as her palm contacted the forehead of her wife and gripped.

"What do you think you’re doing, El?"

The words were sternly voiced... but the gentle pressure of Qat’s fingers belied her honest amusement. She had felt the bundle of ’mischief’ growing closer for the past minutes. Not to mention, over two hours of something she could only describe as ’endurance’.

"I came to spend the night and get some good sleep. What else?"

Her facade gradually retreated and her slow, confident words did not seem like a lie. The Goltbred leaned slightly into the touch of her spouse, not hiding the ’nervousness’ and ’hope’ sitting over all the usual parts of her spirit. The blonde arched an eyebrow.

"Is that so? And the sneaking was necessary because...?"

Elua shrugged, her nonchalance at odds with the way she leaned into Qatrand’s touch.

"Your family isn’t exactly welcoming to the way we interact. Besides, where’s the fun without a little intrigue? If I’d simply asked, you might have agreed ahead of time."

"I would have."

"Exactly. But because I didn’t, I got to feel the worry of you kicking me out."

The tall teenager sighed in frustration, but Elua could feel the ’joy’ starting to radiate through her spirit. On top of that, the tendrils of the swordswoman’s spiritual sense had been tightly coiling around her even before she opened the door. Which is why she knew she had been caught early!

"You’re impossible."

"I can’t be. You love me too much."

Elua countered quickly as the hand on her head pulled away. Pigeon-blue eyes stared at her before nodding. She wouldn’t ever bother to deny it.

’It’s probably true.’

"I have no way of understanding how love feels for others. I’ll have to take your word for it."

"Taking the word of someone that just tried to break into your room... doesn’t that prove it plenty?"

Qat drew the small heiress closer. Despite the girl seeming to try and argue her way out of being accepted into the room by bringing up her intentions so bluntly, it wouldn’t change her response.

After all, the brunette opened the conversation by reminding her that she had *not* been getting a good sleep. If her wife held some kind of confidence that resting next to her would solve that, she would never turn her away.

"You must be tired."

"Yeah. Just a little. This past week has been..."

Her El nestled against her chest. She inhaled deeply, luxuriating in the simultaneously ’soothing’ and ’agitating’ scent. The swordswoman had clearly taken a bath and still smelled of soap and wet hair. However, the faint undertone of Qat’s natural aroma remained.

’It’s like a heady spice. I wonder how flustered she would be if I told her that right now?’

The reincarnator felt like the answer was ’not very’... at least until she helpfully added that it was the very reason she took to eating spicy food with gusto much more in this life than the last. It was one very truthful admission that she was saving to have the highest impact!

"Tiring?"

The Yecine offered during the long silence with very dry humor in her tone. The Goltbred she held tilted her head up and looked at her with one visible mint eye. It was enough to tell that she had been using the break to put her facade back on, even before she spoke.

"I was going to say unusual, but to put it simply~ That’s why tonight I just wanted to be held. To sleep next to you... now that I’m certain I can handle myself."

She didn’t think she was perfectly in control. If she had been, then she might have explained the kiss she intended to give more at the branch - instead of gently prying open the mouth of her ’fortress’ without explanation.

But she was in *enough* control to stop from going all too far. She had proven it! At least she thought so at the time, hoped it would be true in the hours that followed the end of dinner, and still wished to be as certain of when her honeyed voice delivered the actual question.

"So is it okay if we cuddle and I fall asleep here?"

Qatrand’s spirit flickered with obvious interest and a touch of nervousness. She was unsure if this was a time when she should be indulging her or not. The eyes that looked up at hers held a rare vulnerability that matched the ancient spirit.

’It’s not mischief. She’s not out of control, unless she is hiding it. I don’t believe she would trick me on purpose.’

The blonde bent her knees and lowered her hips before lifting her wife entirely off the floor. A short spurt of ’hunger’ boiled up before calming quickly while staring into pigeon-blue eyes. That proved to them both that the illusionist’s goal wasn’t anything more than she stated.

"I think I’d like that, El."

She moved them to the bed, lying the heiress down first - on the side closest to the wall and furthest from the door. Qat slid in beside her and pulled at the smaller frame of the girl until her lower back was pressed against her stomach.

"Is this really okay?"

Elua whispered while clutching at the hand on the arm slung protectively over herself. Qatrand’s only immediate response was to intertwine their fingers. As some of the tension began to melt away from the reborn cultivator, the Yecine’s young spirit started radiating contentment.

"More than okay."

Her low and confident voice finally spoke in the low light. Elua felt herself deeply relaxing for the first time in days. Yet, it felt to her like it went far beyond that. Years of waiting for the simple nighttime warmth of her Qat next to her had been a toll she endured.

’This isn’t a dream.’

The body behind her. The steady rhythm of her breathing. The certainty that everything was as it should be. It all combined to create a moment of safety and peace that made tears drip silently out of Elua er Goltbred.

"El?"

"Mm?"

She was afraid to wipe at the soon to dry liquid and worry her beloved. The ’older’ teenager’s voice was slow and her tongue slightly numb from the quickly approaching sleep. Knowing about her usual rigid sleep schedule... was why the illusionist had felt the swordswoman would be laying down when she tried to sneak in.

"Next time, just knock. I’ll always let you in. Always."

The brunette smiled and tried not to choke up further. Her heart was swelling with as much emotion as the day of their wedding. She truly, irredeemably, unimpeachably loved Qatrand er Yecine.

’There looks to be no bottom to the bright abyss this time.’

"I know you will. But where’s the fun in that?"

Sleep claimed them both in minutes and the last conscious thought out of the heiress was of gratitude for failing her ascension.