The Ogre Strength Fairy and the Eldest 'Son'
Chapter 53 - I Heard That A Groaning Ogre Haunts The Guest Wing

Chapter 53: Chapter 53 - I Heard That A Groaning Ogre Haunts The Guest Wing

"I think you should lie to them."

The schemer spoke shamelessly after eating her fill. Qatrand had confided in her that she was reluctant to have to go back and deal with the aftermath of Elua’s words and actions. Truthfully, the heiress had another plan in mind than just this, but-

"Uhm... what do you mean exactly?"

"No one knows what my ability actually is besides you. Your father has seen me affect the thoughts of some servants, but knows nothing about the how of it. There are plenty of Astralisms that could explain it - and a number of them would have allowed me to learn about what you were upset about without you choosing to tell me."

The girl locked eyes while lecturing the Yecine to show that she wasn’t just joking around.

"So... tell them you never did. You’ve been keeping other secrets of mine for years - I have a hard time believing that they never asked a single thing that you couldn’t tell the perfect truth to them about. Yet they seemed to not notice... or at least not care. Maintain the statement that you never told me and it will be enough of a smokescreen for them to not bother you."

She smiled ’smugly’.

"At least, they won’t hold you directly accountable. All their worries will be about me, instead~"

After a few seconds of tense and tenser silence, a hand rushed and grabbed the brunette’s head. The grip was firm and the ’uncomfortable’ cries were given appropriately.

"I don’t like this plan."

"That much is obvious."

After the calm reply, the index finger resting on her scalp began to tap nervously.

"It puts all the blame on you."

"Well, it was entirely my fault."

Fingernails scraped and hair was grabbed!

"Can you stop being so reasonable now that you are calm and full? I’m trying to tell you that I don’t want you to have me tell a lie that has people target you."

"Well, isn’t that just something... because I don’t want what I did to have them taking it out on you. It seems we are at an impasse. I guess the only thing to do is to have you stay the night in the guest wing, so that there is something real for them to be mad at you about?"

The tug on the young miss’s hair eased as the swordswoman processed this. She couldn’t help but feel, despite it seeming to come out of nowhere, that it was the destination all along. El’s mint eyes gleamed with mischief as she planned to hammer at this new conversation.

"So, your silence is a yes, correct?"

Qat raised an eyebrow. She had a feeling that this was the prelude to learning what being kidnapped meant. The hand that rested above brunette hair pat twice before pulling away.

"You seem to have this all planned out. I’m not sure what to say."

"Oh, come now. It’s not like you haven’t spent nights away from home before."

The heiress said with a playful tone. However there was clearly an undercurrent of something more serious. The swordswoman shifted slightly, almost feeling like she was entering a sparring match!

"True, but those were different circumstances. It was camping or at the dormitory while performing work. While undergoing Guild training. This feels more..."

"Intentional?"

The term was supplied by the reborn cultivator. Her facade showed a ’slip’ of vulnerability. Qatrand’s heart shook a bit as she nodded slowly.

"Yes. And given what you did today, won’t it cause more problems for you as well?"

Elua waved her hand dismissively. What was worth doing without risk and what was risk without rewards? They had been officially arranged to be married half of her life, yet they had never slept in the same house even once!

’I really should be careful, though... some rewards seem like a good thing to *take* at the time, but really end up costing more than you bargained for.’

"Perhaps. But consider this: you staying here of your own volition gives them something concrete to be upset about, rather than speculating about what I might or might not have said and what you might or might not have told me. We’ll both be ’in trouble’ with your elders for different reasons."

"That’s... a surprisingly logical excuse."

Qatrand admitted, a small smile tugging at her lips. She knew that the cute future wife was... not lying, but also still using an argument that was quite ambiguous and uncertain just to try and convince her.

"I have my moments~ Besides, I... I’d feel better knowing you’re here tonight. Safe."

The taller girl’s expression softened and her fingers brushed back her own blonde hair. The fact that she hadn’t used her time at the Youth Guild to change it back properly before going home...

’I guess I already didn’t want to return even before she came in a panic, did I?’

"You’re still worried."

"Yes. I’m sorry. Please don’t blame me for it."

Elua begged with her voice ’dulling’ and barely above a whisper. The older teenager reached out, taking the hands of the ’younger’. She wasn’t very sure if what she was going to say was ’right’... but it felt close enough.

"I suppose I can’t. Nor do I think I would. But I want to ask you something."

Her pigeon-blue eyes moved closer to the other girl, their noses practically touching.

"You believe that I can handle myself with them, right?"

The girl responded quickly without a single quiver in her spirit.

"Of course. It’s not about your capability. I trust your very being. This is... it’s about... having you close. I like it - but more importantly I can use it to meditate and hopefully help prevent something like this."

Unable to help herself with the distance, the brunette planted her lips on the quiet girl and pulled them away just as quickly before scrubbing her cheek against that of her husband-wife.

"I wasn’t prepared to handle any similarities to my past and that was my mistake. I underestimated this body and its impatience. I don’t want that to happen again and drive you away."

A silence fell between them, as their intimacy extended beyond their physical skinship. Their spiritual energies tangled together in a comfortable way... with the mint-eyed girl trying her hardest not to let hers suppress the Enchanter. Qat could easily feel the ’careful’ behavior of it.

"Alright. I’ll stay. But we should probably discuss how to handle things tomorrow."

The heiress lit up with a mixture of ’relief’ and ’excitement’. She backed away and nodded.

"Absolutely. We’ll face it tomorrow~ Now, shall I show you to the guest wing - or would you prefer to sleep in an... otherwise occupied bed?"

The ’suggestive’ tone in the voice made Qatrand flustered, and she couldn’t help the small nervous chuckle that escaped her.

"The guest wing will be fine, El."

With the decision made and the sight of her spirit’s reaction saved to an illusion in her collection, the small girl sighed dramatically. Then she looked back up with eyes that twinkled with ’amusement’.

"If you insist. This does mean I’ll be checking on you throughout the night. With my spiritual sense. For my meditation purposes, of course."

"Of course. Lead the way, then."

Her ’fortress’ echoed with a dry but affectionate tone. Qat thought her excessive clarification that made you question her motive was... actually charming. She stood and looked off to the side, her thoughts drifting.

’It might not be the worst to hold her while I sleep. There was that time we napped on the sofa long ago...’

"You know, this could be seen as good practice for when we’re married. Are you sure-"

As they left the room, Elua couldn’t resist adding and the swordswoman’s response was to gently grip the back of her head. She was sure that the girl couldn’t read thoughts, but that one had been too close! It elicited a ’yelp’ of mock protest from the smaller girl. Neither of them would have it any other way.

---

Later in the night, the spiritualist sat cross-legged on her lonely bed. Her eyes were closed and her breathing steady. The room itself was lit only by a few flickering candles that she had played around with lighting and snuffing by Fire Element mimicry. Encountering the cousin had made her ’reignite’ a passion for that sort of Gaseous technique... as she felt Qat might think!

’If only puns could also burn...’

She’d been meditating for hours while trying to center herself and address the day’s tumult of emotions. The heiress reflected on any past relationship that she felt might have bad events or other similarities that might affect her calm. The fact that thousands of years of experience doing the same thing had failed still stung. The schemer felt she should have better control of her self!

But even as she thought this, the brunette felt a familiar warmth of ’hunger’ spreading through her body. Her mind drifted to the muscle-clad fiance, sleeping just a few rooms away. The urge to go to her, to touch her, to—

Mint eyes snapped open, her breath coming in short gasps. She groaned fiercely at the intrusion of ’evil thoughts’.

"No. Not yet. Why is it so hard to..."

Instead of trying her best to force them away, she quickly closed her eyes again. The cultivator focused her spiritual energy to examine her body for the umpteenth time. As she did, she felt the ’familiarity’ of her Ogre physique. It was always there, the energy poised just beneath the surface and ready to be triggered.

But it also seemed to be responding to... other stimuli.

’Is this why? Is my physique affecting more than just temporary strength?’

The realization was both illuminating and frustrating. In her past life, she’d understood her body perfectly. With a Physique that only made changes to a single bodily organ, gathering everything it did was quite easy. Her self-named ’Ogre’ Aspect was turning out to be a wildcard - variables now proving unknown inside an equation she thought she’d solved long ago.

And things she thought she *just* solved!

"Damn this young body and damn an Aspect that ignores that I’ve already controlled the release of these hormones! I even spent the last few days in careful use of Limited Reforge..."

Frustrated but also grateful for finding something to blame besides herself, she tried to redirect her thoughts. Elua attempted to focus on the potential *realistic* consequences of her actions earlier that day. The kinds of things she might expect of the Yecine family.

However, her mind kept circling back to her ’fortress’. To her inner strength, unfaked kindness, and her unwavering loyalty - just her *goodness*. Qualities she was always attracted to that blazed, even unpolished, in the young spirit of the ’boy’ back when they first met and she saw past the masking tool.

And then there were her muscles, now.

"This isn’t working."

The wavy haired young miss complained softly, putting her hands over her face and flopping back onto her bed. After a bit, she shifted her fingers and stared at the ceiling above her. She’d created this facade - the illusion of a ’sweet’, ’unimpeachable’ girl. But underneath, she was still herself — *ancient* and not at all *inexperienced*.

Her ’evil thoughts’ were far too detailed!

"I need to find a way to deal with this."

She might not fully understand this new Physique, but she’d reprimand *herself* if she let it control her... or even to enhance something already there that she didn’t *want* to enhance! She was Elua er Goltbred: daughter of a local hero and a kind of crazy mother that-

’No, a reincarnated cultivator of immense power! That should be my focus!’

As she settled back into a meditation pose on the bed, squinted mint eyes joined a small, ’wry’ smile.

"At least it hasn’t been boring since I returned."

As she sank into deep thoughts, she didn’t try to suppress the warmth that images of Qatrand er Yecine brought. Instead, she just acknowledged it. Examined it - in detail. Then gently set it aside. Knowing her ’enemy’ as well as herself might just take a few hundred illusory clashes...

And she didn’t fear that!