The Ogre Strength Fairy and the Eldest 'Son'
Chapter 88 - A Wedding Story Thirty-six Parts ’’Auspicious’, Fifty-two Parts ’Fortress’

Chapter 88: Chapter 88 - A Wedding Story Thirty-six Parts ’’Auspicious’, Fifty-two Parts ’Fortress’

A brunette teenager ran her fingers through her shorter hair while tilting her head back and forth. Elua finally cut and styled her hair in the same way of the ’picked’ illusion she once showed Qat. She had been waiting until this very day to do it - it just felt like it would have more meaning for her fiance to notice it on the day they became officially married.

Another tongue-in-cheek vow... and a reminder of an awkward moment to help lighten any nerves!

Really, there was only a single thing the young Goltbred *herself* was ’nervous’ about. She worried, just slightly, over if her precious gem was having second thoughts about any of it. She had partners in her last life close to this ’official’ point that then ran off with all of their pretty promises shredded.

Two out of fourteen weren’t the worst odds, and was the bare minimum to pluralize it to partners, but it was still nearly one in seven!

’I wonder how she should feel to ever be told she is technically marrying a woman that was ’widowed’ twelve times? I’ll go out on a limb and say... bad. As well as ’concerned’ about why I outlived so many back then.’

The heiress adjusted the silvery lace dress collar around her neck while looking in the mirror. Despite her inward thoughts, her ’facade’ had a pair of softly upturned corners on her mouth as she saw herself how Qat would soon. The dress was quite beautiful and her secret modifications made it quite *functional*.

’Yeah. That will be a... *maybe* someday soon conversation. There’s only one spouse in my heart now, anyway. I’ve told her that much.’

---

At another private room in the venue, Qatrand er Yecine stood in front of a similar mirror - but frowning. The clothes looked okay even in this environment. Lots of traditional silver with, as expected from someone of her family, black details. It also fit well after the tailor’s adjustments.

The only thing that didn’t feel like it fit was what she was glaring pointedly at.

’If... she didn’t know my secret. My real gender. I probably wouldn’t have ever cared. It would have been only one *more* thing I was told to hide by them. But she does know everything. Which means I’m no longer lying about that - at least not to her.’

The ’young man’ touched ’his’ blackened bangs. The raven color was Yecine - it was their rules. It just wasn’t the truth.

’But this... this part is *wrong*. Yet she... she also knows that. So why am I this bothered? Why does it feel...’

"I don’t want to look like this for our ceremony."

A giggle sounded out from behind her after Qat had spoken the desire aloud. The swordswoman spun around quickly despite recognizing the sound. But she didn’t see the culprit immediately.

"Then don’t? Change it to whatever you like~ Are they going to hold you down and force you while I’m here?"

She had to look down much more than she was used to, because the one who had infiltrated the room was familiar but different. It was exactly the form of the six year old El from the day they were introduced to each other. The taller teenager was only taken aback for a moment.

She’d seen a much smaller version of the girl in the illusory training tool, after all.

"Are... you one that can talk back?"

The little child spun her hand and left her palm open.

"Technically - no. You’re ’talking’ to the real thing who is playing with vibrations along a channel of air to hear you... and just seeing this. I’m only ’seeing’ you with my spirit. But if you mean can we have a conversation, then yes~"

The husband-wife was nonplussed. She let out a sigh at the cute girl’s antics.

"Why didn’t you just come inside yourself instead of doing all that?"

The child stuck her tongue out before pouting.

"Maybe *you’re* not dressed and completely ready yet, but I am. Why should I ruin my enjoyment of getting to see your face light up in the middle of all those people watching you?"

The fact that she could fool Qat’s senses into seeing something different while she was in the room, had she wanted to, need not be said!

"Watching us."

The Yecine corrected. The illusory little girl fragmented into pieces before rebuilding itself - with a blushing little expression on the small face she wouldn’t look directly at the tall girl with.

"Y-yeah. That."

The ’fake’ child sighed theatrically, then changed to her ’serious’ mint gaze into the pigeon blue eyes.

"So are you going to just keep me waiting or are you going to fix whatever you need to... so that you will feel as happy and perfect on this day as I will?"

The teenager nodded immediately at the ’provocation’ of support.

"...I’ll be just a few minutes longer, then."

Somehow it was a lot easier to come to a decision when talking about it with El. Even if they didn’t actually ever say what it was they were talking about. Accepting almost anything was just easy... with that cute, mint eyed girl involved.

...

The schemer didn’t know! Not really. It could have been the hair as usual or something about the clothes - maybe even her husband-wife decided they wanted to show up as a wife-wife! She highly doubted that after all this time... but no answer really mattered to the Goltbred, as it was her fiance’s decision to make. She just had to support it even if it came down to showing off her strength!

’What better reason could there even be to show it off, besides making Qat happy.’

The girl hummed contentedly while affixing the hair accessory from her parents. At least by way of that short little talk she was assured that she wouldn’t have another runaway.

’Two out of *fifteen* it is... and nine in a row. I’m getting better at this. Too bad. If I have my way, the skill of picking a partner this life will only ever need to be used this once~’

She ’giggled’ at the idea of reaching such a perfected technique.

---

The silver-adorned terraces of the ancient plateau venue gleamed in the late afternoon sun. The middle cleaved cleanly in two was framed with metal clad arches and pillars. At the pinnacle, the circular dais stood ready with its overhanging lattice work.

Harsh reflections bathed the scene as rays danced off the intricate metalwork. The guests were gathered on either side of the wide steps leading up the venue. Their murmurs, excited and gossipy, carried away by the sea breeze.

Elua er Goltbred stood at the base of the silver-inlaid stairs, her heart thumping. The weight of thousands of years of experience sat on her shoulders, yet she felt as jittery as any young bride. She took a deep breath, steadying herself.

Her freshly cut hair brushed her shoulders and she extended her spiritual sense upwards. The familiar tendrils of her beloved’s energy reached out, intertwining with her own as each step brought her closer to the dais where Qat stood in wait. A hush fell over the Yecine family crowd as the heiress appeared at the top.

Qatrand er Yecine stood tall and proud, her natural blonde hair glinting in the sunlight as bright as any of the surrounding silver. The reincarnator now knew what she was supporting - a declaration of her true self. She was sure that detail must have drawn gasps from those who had only ever seen the ’young man’ with black locks.

The Yecine ’heir’s suit accentuated her strong frame amazingly and the pigeon blue of her eyes locked onto mint green. The cute girl smirked at her as she stepped closer, drinking in the sight of her and knowing that the swordswoman’s breath had just caught in her throat after seeing what she’d done to her own hair.

’Funny that both of us were so worried about that part of us for this. We’re quite a pair~’

The brunette’s facade slipped for just a moment, the dull features doing little to hide from everyone in range the adoration her spirit showered at the taller girl. In response to her thoughts, she felt a surge of ’determination’ and ’joy’ through their connected spirits. The three parents and many elders watched their young with a variety of emotions.

A respected member of the Argent Braid Fellowship, as the officiant, began the ceremony as they both stood staring at each other as if the rest of the world didn’t exist. The man wove his words together with both threads of cultivation philosophy and ideas of bonds generalized even for mortals,

"We gather here to witness the joining of two souls - two cultivators whose paths have intertwined in this life... and each finding strength and balance in the other."

The illusionist’s lip twitched at the truth in his words despite their trite usage in ceremonies. Elua and Qatrand intertwined their fingers as the officiant produced a length of silver cord. The surface of the object contained intricate looking sigils that as far as she knew did nothing.

"With this binding, we honor the mandate of union set forth by those who came before. May your spirits grow ever closer. May your bond remain as unbreakable as the mountain beneath our feet."

The man wrapped the cord around their joined hands while he spoke and - when the final spiral of silver settled onto her arm - a pulse of energy emanated from the cord. The sigil ’expert’ failed to stop her eyes from expressing their surprise. She wondered if her partner felt it... the touch of-

’No wonder I didn’t recognize any of it and thought it was nonsense. The Silver Divinity taught them to inscribe her own personal Connection ritual into a ceremonial object. Clever.’

"Now, the couple will speak the vows they have prepared to weave alongside the braid of matrimony."

Qatrand spoke loudly and eagerly with a voice as steady and clear as her blue eyes.

"Elua er Goltbred, I vow to be your anchor in this life. To cherish and protect you. To stand by your side in times of peace and in the face of any danger. You’ve shown me what it means to be truly seen and accepted. I promise to always see you - in all your complexities."

A ripple of soft sounds passed through the crowd at the eloquently voiced emotion coming out of the usually reserved Yecine. The Goltbred slipped and sent out a locally intense spiritual cascade, but the fragment in her beloved did its job and absorbed the brunt.

Her facade collapsed under the weight of her emotions and took an amount of time to be replaced that was noticed by the crowd. But the reincarnator didn’t care. She knew the only one important to her understood what she was going through.

On the slow blink that brought back the light to her eyes, she began to speak with her sugary cadence. But... it quickly hardened into something forged by the gravity of her prior lifetime.

"Qatrand er Yecine. My ’fortress’. My heart. I vow to love you with every fiber of my being. I will support all of you. I will nurture your growth and shield your strength that protects. You are the one I choose. I would do so again and again, unendingly."

The elder nodded approvingly, raising his hands once more.

"By the ancient covenant, I pronounce your union approved. By the cord that binds, so too shall your bond grow stronger with each passing day."

Qatrand leaned down for the final part of the ritual. When the pair’s lips sealed for the first time after the sacred ritual, an energy surged outward that kicked up a swirl of silver dust. It floated into an unnatural ring above the crowd, centered on the couple.

The gathered watchers gasped in awe, all of them feeling a small surge of the ancient Divinity. It seemed as if the very mountains hummed with approval. Elua broke the kiss from her official husband-wife with a mocking kind of mischief in her heart. She suspected the woman who once ascended might be paying too much attention!

’What did I ever do to her? I don’t recall either help or harm. There was absolutely no need to make this so... so spectacular.’

Even as she weakly complained inwardly for the *performance* they had been ’blessed’ with, the pair turned to face their guests with hands still bound by silver braiding. A monotone voice spoke quietly to her partner.

"Well... I suppose you’re formally stuck with me."

The blonde turned her gaze down and to the side at her, utterly unperturbed. She could feel the ’content’ feeling roiling away at the core of El’s form of ’love’. She hadn’t thought of the type of emotion she would like the girl to have at this sort of moment, but truly-

"I wouldn’t have it any other way."

In that perfect moment, surrounded by faces of friends, family, and the weight of history, they descended together from the platform. The afternoon sun was growing ever closer to the horizon, soon to set on the first Chapter of their fledgling marriage.