The Ogre Strength Fairy and the Eldest 'Son'
Chapter 49 - Elua’s Guide To Overreacting (Now With 300% More Trauma Panic!)

Chapter 49: Chapter 49 - Elua’s Guide To Overreacting (Now With 300% More Trauma Panic!)

When the young miss of the house returned a little past the time that dinner usually started, she heard a *troubling* piece of news from the servants. While the pair had been out most of the day, Qatrand had stopped for another visit... but left! Elua opened her mouth and her face grew a little distorted before she spoke again.

"Did... did ’he’ say anything?"

The servant in charge of cleaning the nursery shook her head.

"No, miss. He waited for a while and played with your sister until she fell asleep, then simply departed."

The brunette’s facade cracked worse, her eyes losing their luster. She barely registered the servant’s concerned look as she stumbled towards her room. Once inside the heiress paced wildly, her thoughts spiraling.

’Why wouldn’t she wait? Did I do something wrong? Was she only here for Onya today?’

Her fingers twisted anxiously in her hair.

"No, no. There must be another reason. The doorman said she stated she was here to see me..."

The girl muttered the dull words while trying to rationalize things, but old insecurities crept in, whispering doubts. What if Qat had grown permanently tired of waiting? She had clearly been seeking a lot more intimacy on her own than before she left for the training. What if she’d realized that the reborn cultivator needed her ’fortress’ around to be *good* consistently and found that repulsive?

Elua’s breath quickened as the anxiety worsened. Her thoughts turned to that kind of ’good’ and what it always costs. She’d been so focused on helping that pair of orphans, she’d neglected the most important person in her life. How could she be so careless?!

"I have to find her."

Her words did not tremble, but her spirit did plenty of that work if anyone had been watching. Elua decided to do something more productive and stopped pacing. Without any more unhelpful thoughts, she rushed out of her room.

She couldn’t lose Qat. Not now. Not ever.

"What’s wrong, dear?"

A voice that the panicked girl recognized as Yatrel’s asked after nearly colliding with her mother in the hallway.

"Qat was here and left quietly. I need to follow."

Elua blurted out in a loud monotone, already moving past someone else behind the woman.

"But dinner-"

"I can’t. I have to find Qat."

Before the older woman could protest any further, her daughter was gone with the front door slamming behind her. The evening air cooled her face as she ran with a mind focused on one thing. Even still, her spiritual sense lanced out carefully and surgically ahead of where she moved.

Yet... her efforts to find her with that method were far less successful than she hoped. For all she could tell, the girl wasn’t even in the city! Her teeth clenched tighter, wondering what she’d ever done to deserve this *happening again*.

’Please, please. Please let her be okay. Let me find her. Let her be okay when I find her.’

She bargained toward anything that would listen to her plea as the streets blurred. Her panic drove her forward rapidly to the main destination she could think of that might have *done* something or needed her to return for some reason. Once she got close, she stalled and did her best to ’calm down’. If nothing was *actually* wrong, then her facade would be needed!

Despite it taking ’too long’, the barely contained spirit of the cultivator eventually managed to delude herself into acting something like the usual Elua, though a lot more *disgruntled* and *twitchy* than she often was. Which made sense, considering where she chose to look first. If anyone had *done* something to keep Qat away, it would be them. It was always the relatives!

’Not again. I won’t let them take her from me.’

The heiress paused, realizing her disheveled state extended to more than just her questionable facade and spirit. She quickly tamed her wavy hair that had turned frizzy and straightened out her clothes, knowing that appearance mattered greatly to the Yecine family. She couldn’t afford to give them any reason to dismiss her.

The Goltbred then stood ’waiting’ at the gates of an estate she’d yet to ever visit - after informing their doorman of her purpose.

’Hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry-’

The building style was denser and more like that of a dormitory in sections. It made sense, considering their numbers... and considering their martial focus. Her spirit touched a lot of the same kinds of sigilry that she had been working with in her training. Yet their heavy, defensive doors did have quite the ornate black and gold facade on it that showed they were not ’poor’.

When those opened, her ’worried’ face frowned further at who was made to come greet her... and she had to stop her body language at least from becoming hostile.

"This is an unexpected visit, Miss Goltbred."

With precise movements, the girl curtsied in formal greeting before responding.

"I apologize for the intrusion, *father-in-law*, but I was looking for Qatrand. Is... ’he’ not here?"

Anper furrowed his brow at the label and the tone. The rest of her greeting had been of incredibly proper etiquette, so he could not imagine that it was a mistake - it had been a choice. Just like asking to make sure had been a choice; her spirit had already probed almost the entire estate.

"As we have not spoken to each other in some time, when the doorman sought my advice on what to say, I took the opportunity to come out. I’m here to inform you that he has yet to return."

Clear ’frustration’ flickered across Elua’s face, as she had already wasted time here. Anper noticed and narrowed his eyes *almost* unseen. The girl spoke with a carefully controlled voice.

"Thank you for the confirmation. I won’t take up more of your valuable time."

She turned to leave quickly, but felt that the man was riling to say something. The reborn cultivator really thought it was unwise of him, but she also understood. Her hiding and the things she’d done since her rebirth had painted a certain picture of what she could and would do to people that were ’in her way’.

One that wasn’t as harshly colored as it should be.

"A final moment, if you would."

She froze in place and he paused, seeming to actually choose his words carefully to the young teenager. He had been told to drop his curiosity and concern over her unknown ability, since nothing seemed to have come up negatively... but actually talking to her again had reignited things.

"Your... concern for my son has always been admirable. However, I can’t help but wonder about the nature of your influence over him."

The small Goltbred slowly turned back so that her mint eyes would fearlessly meet the Yecine’s steel gray gaze. Her head tilted in a way that would have been ’cute’ if not for the unblinking nature of it.

"I’m not sure I understand your meaning when you say ’influence’, *Elder*. Can you please clarify it for me?"

"Come now, we both know you are able to do something that muddles the thoughts of others. An Astralism that is dangerous in the hands of those that plan to deceive. Ever since the incident where you confronted me about the use of that double in your home, my son has been... different."

The man’s tone was measured with a hint of edge. He was also lying through his teeth. He wasn’t sure of anything... and the ’changes’ he saw in Qatrand mostly started after he and the other elders stopped paying as much attention to cultivating his ’heir’ for their plan - which was easily explained away as lacking proper discipline and interacting with more people at the Guild.

The mention of that body double sent ripples of anger through Elua, but her outward composure remained intact. She was going to strike, but it wasn’t going to be thoughtless violence. This time of peace would already break soon enough when the Descent began... and she didn’t want to be the one that caused that kind of chaos early.

"Different how? Are you talking about how ’he’ started becoming more confident and capable? So much so that you had to warn ’him’ to lose to ’his’ lesser relative?"

Her chin raised in ’pride’ as she described Qat. Anper er Yecine was shocked by her boldness. He hadn’t thought she would answer directly, but he hadn’t expected her to say any of these either. Like his daughter, he wasn’t a man with a truly wide imagination.

"You seem surprisingly well-informed about *our* family matters."

His attempt to place her on the side-line with his emphasis made her ’sneer’, before the brunette spoke low and intensely.

"I care deeply for Qat. Which means I care about things that affect ’him’. Including any such words that might lead to doubt of ’his’ own worth and ability. Though it is helpful for me to know *exactly* what you think of your ’son’ in this ’useful’ marriage arrangement."

The silence between them after she was done seemed to grow the tension. The Yecine elder’s face was unreadable, but she could sense the wariness in his spirit. As it was, Elua could not identify whether it was because he didn’t think the swordswoman would confide in her, he didn’t want others to know what he said, or that he feared it would damage the arrangement in some way.

"You speak of matters beyond you, with only one side telling you anything. However, do remember Miss Goltbred - Qatrand is still and will always be a Yecine. Our family has its own ways of things. Its own expectations."

The small girl in front of him ’smiled’ but it clearly did not reflect in her eyes which were quite ’cold’. How could they not be when he just indirectly accused her beloved of lying to her? A former Demi-god realm spiritualist that already had a complete and cared for fragment of the person’s spirit enshrined in her heart.

"Of course they do, *Elder*. I’m also sure those ways include nurturing talent and encouraging growth up to an *acceptable* point. After all, wouldn’t that be what any logical family of cultivators would do?"

The implied challenge at their practical abandonment when it came to training the ’boy’ hung in the air, causing Anper’s jaw to tighten. He wanted to reply that the damned daughter wasn’t even worth spending his time on if it wasn’t for their plan, but knew that any of those ideas would not be wise to voice. Once more, the reborn cultivator performed a flawless curtsy.

So perfect that it was clearly making light of the tense situation.

"I apologize... as you have taken up enough of my time. Thank you for your attempt to assist me, *father-in-law*. I’ll continue searching elsewhere."

When she turned to leave, she could feel the Yecine’s gaze digging angrily into her back and feel his disdain for *something* about her. She assumed it was her mouthiness, but she’d been hated for more than one thing at a time before.

This time, she revealed more than she intended at the start... but the temporary satisfaction she gained by confronting him seemed very worth it. The nearly drunken feeling helped dull the worries she had over her fiance not leaving any message and just leaving off somewhere!

’You came to see me, so where did you go?’