The Ogre Strength Fairy and the Eldest 'Son'

"Qatrand er Yecine. Are you giving up already?"

The older child stiffened at the words with pigeon blue eyes looking at but through the person speaking. Elua was not most pleased by that, even if she reasoned that there was enough pressure… and enough which the young 'boy' considered to be at stake to warrant that thousand-yard stare.

Her open palm reached up and softly touched the cheek of the one who made an *unwise* yet sweet promise to her, jolting the dark haired child from 'his' spiraling thoughts. Her mint irises were more than a foot away but suddenly maintained a presence so great that they seemed to fill her future arranged spouse's entire sight.

She didn't expect that the young person before her could really understand the intent behind the spirit pressing at them. It had been a long time since she had to prove her sincerity to another female, let alone a romantic candidate. The reborn cultivator felt their 'similar' young ages combined with these circumstances might make it easier in some ways - and harder in others.

She took a 'steadying breath' before speaking.

"There's no way for me to know why you are doing this, but please hear me out. You are correct in thinking that I do know your gender. However, I will never be the one who tells another person any of your secrets. Do you understand? I want to be… no, I *am* and will forever be your ally, your friend, and your most important person."

The brunette child wrapped her other arm around the waist of the one she was speaking to and leaned her forehead into their chest. It was almost as simple as walking forward with their height difference. She idly wondered if the other party was going to employ something like cloth wraps in the future or adopt more drastic ways of hiding any feminine growth in this area.

Like the eventual techniques to reforge the body.

'Perhaps it was why this 'son' had already unlocked a Physique… as there are certain methods a cultivator in the middle of the Enchanter Echelons can use to control or suppress various bodily functions. Including hormones and other growth factors.'

No matter the case, as long as her 'husband' was actually doing what they wanted to do, she was fine with it! Whether any of it was her honest desire could be discussed over time getting to know each other. For now, the little Yecine seemed to be nervous if the tempo of her heart was anything to go by. To the Goltbred it meant more *heartfelt* words of 'reassurance' were necessary~

"I don't care about fancy things like ceremony and tradition, Qatrand. You promised to cherish me. I accept that gladly. I wasn't lying when I responded. You are definitely *worth* liking. For all I care, I may as well be your wife right now… though we are kids and our parents probably have their own thoughts."

She knew she was getting ahead of herself - and that the poor young fiance was confused to say it lightly. Unsettled would be another description, which she quite honestly would not mind being told directly!

It's not that Elua was particularly a sadist or had some other quirk about being looked at by someone 'oddly', but she knew well that there was only so much time to savor the chaotic swirl of emotions that existed in a fledgling romance before 'acceptance' or 'rejection'. The latter especially might come unfortunately quick…

If she only wanted to startle, confuse, and be looked at with complex emotions by just anyone - well there are plenty of servants in the household that would have done that job. They merely would not 'polish up' nearly as nicely as her special newfound gem, so there had been no point in 'rubbing' against them that way.

"How… do you know?"

The soft spoken voice finally asked as though ignoring everything else that had been said. The young Goltbred knew this would happen. Every word she just spoke would need to be repeated again and again in the future. To make sure the carefully struck planes of the shiny rock she found displayed their beautiful inner luster was a time consuming process!

"My spirit is a *little* stronger than your tool. That is also the reason I speak well and think like I do… Qat. Qatrand is a little long, don't you think? Qat is much cuter and more intimate. Do you mind?"

When she answered in such a way and still hadn't been pushed away as she spoke, she slowly embraced the tall girl's back with her other arm as well. Elua had been hugged by her parents and many of the servants as she grew up. While portraying the 'role' of a sweet, innocent, and darling little heiress she had even *initiated* a number of them!

This time was… 'a little different' than that.

Her parents already 'belonged' to her by way of blood relation - and the servants were theirs and, by proxy, hers by something of a work contract. She had recognized that well enough and didn't feel special one way or another about it. But… this 'husband' while arranged and while offered in *amusing* deception - was absolutely *accepted* in her still child-sized heart unlike anything else in quite a few millennia.

It had been since the era of her final disciple that she had felt anything like this emotion. A sense of intense possessiveness over an individual. She would admit part of it was how 'interesting' the situation was. This girl that had 'chosen' to fake her gender, perhaps been 'forced' by familial circumstance, or more *likely* some mix of the two… would be hers in the future-

No, Qat was *already* hers!

She felt 'some' of her honed control slipping as a world warning bloodlust rippled a few meters outward while a protective oval of spiritual power was instantly woven around the pair. The young Yecine didn't even notice anything about all of that, as the energy encapsulated and protected from exposure the almost totally at-a-loss taller child being so firmly held onto by the limpet-like smaller one.

Even though the cross-dressing girl was stunned, she still felt she needed to answer about the nickname. She wasn't sure about 'intimate', but being 'cuter' was…

"I… I can't be cute. Not like you."

The bubble and bloodlust collapsed like it was *smothered* by a different intent. Though it came from the same unhinged little source.

'Hyaa! A natural smooth talker! No, calm down. It's not what she meant. At least it's not *entirely* what she meant!'

Not bothering to suppress her unseemly *reddened* face, Elua shifted her head out of Qatrand's chest to look up at the culprit. The older girl was already suspiciously gazing at some random floor tile far away from the top of the brunette's head. By the new panic in 'his' spirit, the smaller girl knew they had spoken that out without thinking too much, but that was even better!

She too, could say things 'naturally'.

"Even if you want to become 'fierce' and more 'masculine', your cute younger wife won't mind."

In the silence after she spoke, a door was opened in one of their psyches - or more accurately seemed to be blasted off its hinges by lightning. While the firstborn of the Yecine had clearly witnessed many men that she associated with in her training and lessons *similarly* referring to themselves by a dominant and defining trait like 'strong' or 'handsome', Qatrand had not interacted extensively with almost any girls her age.

The older women certainly did not call themselves or others their age by the term 'cute' anywhere she could overhear it, but this small girl just did - without a stutter - within the first hours of meeting… and it made her realize that someone could actually be so vibrantly bold!

So narcissistic but also so accurate! The Yecine barely took into account that they spoke the compliment first.

Their amazement and opinion was of course amplified by the hurdle that it was in her mind to have the 'leeway' to ever obtain and sustain that *particular* quality - after being somewhat forced, somewhat coerced, and somewhat willing to become the eldest 'son' for her father. She really couldn't ever be that word, as things were.

Her thoughts eventually left her even more confused. She kind of understood her own reasons, but really didn't understand anything about this Young Miss Goltbred at all. Qatrand didn't understand why she was… 'okay with things'.

"If you know… then why?"

Elua scoffed inwardly, less at being annoyed by the question and more at the amusing mind of the one in front of her. She seemed to circle right back to her more pressing need for an answer about her gender deception - after thinking about then clearly ignoring whatever extraneous new information she had been assaulted with.

Luckily the smaller 'child' could follow the purpose of the extra short and out of sync questions a lot better than a normal kid would. Though it made it clear that any intentional flirting in the future would have to happen *after* the taciturn girl was more relaxed and assured. Or else it might just be ignored in the same way.

"That 'if' isn't right… isn't it rather: because I know, therefore I became interested?"

Until Elua realized some of what was going on, she fully intended to dispose of the arrangement when it was appropriate. That her Qat was a female made her reconsider, the undercurrent of 'plotting' made it spicy, and everything else she sensed within her spirit made it *excellent*.

"…You sound unsure."

"Do I? I promise I'm not, it's probably just that it's a little difficult to explain. However, if I am being asked so many questions does that mean it's alright for me to ask one of my own?"

Qatrand er Yecine tilted her head and lightly squinted her pigeon blue eyes. They were so clear and honest despite what the child was involved in that, if the brunette didn't trust her spiritual sense, she might think she was the one being *somehow* fooled.

"You also knew I was a girl, but were willing to try and deceive and marry me. Ah, don't worry, I don't particularly care right now what your father or whoever is after. But…"

Elua er Goltbred grimaced and avoided those eyes for a brief moment. They were quickly becoming too entrancing now that her talking partner was so willing to meet gazes with less raw 'concern' about their secret being revealed. There hadn't even been much ripple in her spirit, even before Elua decided to hastily clarify her position regarding the Yecine scheme again.

"If… he gets it… or doesn't get it… whatever is supposed to happen in his plans. Will you then break the promises to me?"

The courtyard was quiet, but the world inside one reborn cultivator's mind was a raging storm. Her Astralism had started running drastic simulations in a fragment of her spirit that stemmed from a bit of… fear of rejection.

'Contain. Contain. No matter what she says, keep control. You are a proper scheming cultivator, not one of those silly murderhobos. Even if the response is bad, you can just plan to kill her father later and either hide your involvement… or preferably make sure she understands that I did it all for her sake. Once I gather evidence of that. You can't just start immediately at killing and kidnap-'

"I won't."

The chaotic emotions broke apart and caused Elua's eyes to glisten with suddenly 'unrestrained' emotion. The taller girl continuously tried to firmly stare back, but would flicker away in shame for brief moments as she started speaking again. Qatrand had never made someone cry before, let alone the same person *twice* and it felt quite bad!

"I… I might have lied, to you… and almost everyone… about myself. But I don't… I don't break promises. I don't make them if I know… if I know I won't try hard to keep them."

"…Then say it in your words instead of just nodding to my question this time, please?"

A quiet and dull whisper hit the three year older girl after the shorter one had buried her head, once again, into the breast of 'his' blazer. The dark haired youth breathed deep and placed a single arm around the arranged fiance. When she was drilled about how to act today, Qatrand hadn't known it would all be so useless!

She had not been trained to improvise against someone that spoke things this fluently so could only go with what felt right.

"I will protect… and cherish… my wife. More than anyone else will."

A playful smirk that couldn't be seen due to their position emerged from the brunette. It was another 'unwise' promise by her reckoning.

'Oh, Qat. You are going to have an impossible time making good on that one without my assistance. I'll need to concoct a few scenarios for you to even 'protect' me. Also… while it's twisting what you intended by those words… I highly doubt anyone is ever going to protect and cherish their wife more than *I* will! Even if my wife might be known for all time as my 'husband' if she wants. A husband-wife. Hah!'

She tried to 'keep it inside', but broke out into sweet childish giggles at her errant thoughts. Yet she knew it was easy to misunderstand and kind of rude after such a declaration, so she rapidly prepared more words.

"And you asked me why I would still want this arrangement despite knowing you were born as much girl as me? Really unbelievable. You don't get how special you are. I'll have to make sure you learn your real value, Qat."

She closed her mint eyes, stood on the tips of her toes, and placed another 'longer' chaste kiss on her betrothed's cheek. Then she danced out of the shocked girl's loosened arm and showed off one of the happiest expressions since she had been reborn - as *genuine* as she was ever capable of.

"You are simply irreplaceable. Please, keep it in mind~"

More and more childish giggles echoed in the cloister.