Chapter 10 - Rivals Can Also Be ‘Made’

It didn't take long for the rumors to spread. The Youth Guild 'medical fairy' already had a marriage partner in mind! Whether members saw the girl as a mascot, a crush, or just a 'good person', all of them took interest in examining who the lucky individual was.

By the third week of sharing time together in lectures and 'playing fun games' on the training fields, over a hundred sets of eyes had attempted to size up Qatrand er Yecine as a person, a rival, or a fellow 'fan'. This kind of result was (more or less) squarely in the schemes of the reborn cultivator.

While taking a rest break in the viewing stands - and leaning her shoulder and head onto her fiance's arm to *rile* the onlookers further - Eula er Goltbred decided to start a conversation she'd been waiting to have since the moment she met her 'uncut gem'. Or at least 'one-third' of the conversation.

"Qat, has no one explained your Physique to you yet?"

"Uh - what?"

The Yecine was confused by both the abruptness of the quiet question from the girl with relaxed, closed eyes… and the content of it. The elders of her family *had* spoken to her about it - after a lot of tests that varied to cover all of the types recorded by the continental Guilds.

As 'resistance' type Physiques were rather common, this meant she was slightly 'tortured' with a highly varied set of ways of being damaged. For the ones that could be applied in such a way, they were done in a grid pattern over her back to look for logical inconsistency - looking much like a modern allergy test.

They could only say, after all the little injuries, that nothing much seemed to have changed about her body besides the usual expected improvement from rising along as a physical cultivator. It was neither a good or bad result, but it being unknown still made it 'useless'.

"That's what I thought. Would you like to know more about it… or should I keep it a secret?"

Elua's mint eyes opened lazily before she shifted her face towards the other youth. Her expression was full of 'severity' and none of the playfulness from when they had been chatting recently. While Qatrand couldn't see or sense it, she figured the other girl was somehow hiding this conversation from those around them.

"I can obviously tell that you've not told them any of what you know or suspect about me, because your father was very caught off guard the day he brought *that* into my home. But… this kind of information will be about you. I think you will feel compelled to tell your family this… as, other than possibly not explaining to them how you learned about it, it won't really be about protecting me."

The brunette also knew after all this time that her 'fortress' was still pretty misguidedly expectant that the masterminds that had been manipulating her since birth would care about her wellbeing… or more to the point, Qatrand expected that she could prove she had been 'up to' the tasks they set.

Her spirit was quivering with such a hopeful expectation over the idea of learning the information.

'If I really let myself get 'directly' involved, I'm sure I'd find that separating her from them would be the best thing in the long run… but I'm not confident she is mature enough to understand. I would probably become her 'enemy' if I removed her access to her family.'

It wouldn't have been the first time she tried to make such a decision 'for' someone that she cared about. For someone she considered hers. The rate of 'success' was unfortunately too low. She did learn to slowly let the other party 'realize' what she did and consent to it. However-

'I'm reluctant to even broach the subject. Especially since she seems to know nothing about the plan of theirs other than her role as my fiance.'

The Yecine settled her mind a little before responding.

"How… no, it's probably better not to ask that. Have you known about it… since we met?"

Elua opened her mouth before looking down, appropriately 'ashamed' while nodding softly. She knew there was a strong chance that this is how the conversation would go. She had already mapped a few 'routes' to take it from here.

Qatrand felt pinpricks of a strange emotion when she began hesitating to ask for another clarification. It felt *kind* of similar to the old despondency… from when she tried her hardest and didn't receive praise - but it clearly wasn't that. 

'El praises me almost too much.'

"Is it part of… why you, er, liked me?"

The smaller girl's fists curled up the loose fabric of her dress to show off how 'conflicted' she was. Her arms even began trembling!

"That's… true? It's one of the things I found interesting when we met. One of the components of what makes you special… not just to me. Qat… I…"

When she rapidly stood up and cupped their chin in both small hands, 'wet' mint eyes struck her betrothed's vision. She leaned a little towards the Yecine's face with *expertly* quivering lower lip still in view.

"Am I a bad girl? Do you hate me for not offering to tell you sooner?"

"I… I don't-"

The actress shook her own head with dramatic force while letting her hands fall away and taking… a mere half step back. But she also 'distractedly' dropped the Element manipulation that was helping to block their conversation from listeners.

"You must! You've probably been so disappointed and uncertain these years… but I… I could have-"

Tears started flowing as she 'choked' on her words. In her last life, she'd learned to cry on command to get by with 'various things'. It was even before she became a cultivator with expertise enough to control and stimulate the ducts. She did the latter this time instead of the new trick from the other day, in case her future 'husband' was unexpectedly sharp enough to catch her Element dragging the humidity onto her face. 

'That method is only for when I'm not being stared directly at~'

The panicked Qatrand did the first thing they could think of and started trying to gently wipe the *sudden rivers* aside with their palms. She was scared that the other was so upset, but more scared that she hurt her if she didn't control her 'greater' strength right… and also so flustered that it went unnoticed that the soft looking skin of the Goltbred's cheeks was far less 'pliable' than the swordswoman would have expected.

"I really don't! Please stop crying, El…"

"I… *hic*... I don't believe you…"

Elua was *excited*! Both that her 'fortress' was engaging her 'siege' in the way she planned… and that the scene had drawn so many 'useful' witnesses. She was sure that a number of the people that considered themselves 'potential rivals' to Qat would be unsettled that their opponent had *dared* to make their fairy cry in public.

'All is going as planned~'

As she inwardly *cackled*, the spirit of the one in front grew… resolute. Elua's entire being became alert so that she might react 'appropriately' to whatever they had decided to do… but really couldn't do much against what occurred unless she wanted to forcibly stop her betrothed by forgoing her 'fragile' pretense.

Or envelop her in an illusion, but that would have been a waste of this 'real' event!

The hands that had been wiping at her cheeks steadied themselves at almost the same time her blurry vision locked onto a pair of lips *pouncing* forward and tapping against her own. Barely missing their noses striking each other, it was incredibly swift in application and removal - yet it still left a 'first' tingle of sensation on that location of flesh… that she hadn't planned for at all!

'How could I have expected her to do something like this on her own!'

Qatrand then continued to go 'off-script' by shifting her hands from the face, into hanging onto the shorter child's shoulders. Her fiercely scarlet face hid in Elua's very fledgling bosom… a 'tactic' so often *taught* in reverse by the younger girl.

Despite her advanced spirit, it actually took the reborn cultivator two whole realtime blinks to replay the entire situation enough to finally react. She was performing a certain application of her Astralism. The memory based illusions in that 'permanent' little spirit fragment attached around her 'heart' certainly qualified to be studied later! 

"Y-you…you… that… w-why did… uh-"

She'd want to curse at her sudden social ineptitude, if only the 'real' emotion wasn't as appropriate to this situation as anything else she could fathom! It didn't make her feel any less like a greenhorn schemer! When plans need new improvisation in the field, being 'thought paralyzed' was as good as being dead.

'Ahh! So embarrassing~'

Some of those who had been watching the entire thing - as well as those who only started to look after some of those people had gasped or spoken colorful phrases - were 'graced' with seeing a uniquely rare red-faced medical fairy slamming some weak, alternating strikes on the upper back of the 'doubled over' Qatrand er Yecine.

"Look up at me, Qat! Don't pretend you can't hear me. Ugh~ It's not fair that you get to hide your face, everyone is looking at me~ Take responsibility already! You just took my first kiss!"

Half-truth and half quick on her toes, Elua er Goltbred spoke the words in a projecting voice. Since it had been *done*, it was better to make it 'worse'. In a way, the Yecine had hastened the advent of their own nearby rival's exploding 'animosity'!

"S-sorry, I couldn't think of what… else would make you believe me. That I don't hate you."

At the chest mumbled response, the brunette stopped with her ineffective 'beating' and just suddenly wrapped her arms around the skull of her fiance. Hugging and affectionately petting the raven colored hair at the kind of adorable reasoning and personality. But it wasn't like she was going to 'forgive' the 'boy' so easily.

"S-still! I wanted to 'give' it to you. Not be taken. My… kiss."

The closest intent listeners choked! Were these actually the words of their 'kind to everyone that *deserved* it' fairy!?

But that was the last line she wanted any of them to listen in on, for now.

A cocoon of swirling air acted as a barrier that muffled the sound coming in and out. She still didn't use her spirit this time, just in case someone that was paying attention could tell even though she doubted it. She then slid to her knees and bent the surprisingly 'docile' Yecine down further with her, so that their faces were side by side.

"I didn't want you to use it for something like that. To make me stop crying. It should have been a happier occasion. I really am a bad girl, to make you worry. But…"

Elua spoke in a tone calmer than before, with a 'righteous' cadence - before biting her lower lip and… deciding not to 'assault' the adolescent girl! For an extended moment she imagined showing the momentarily daring teenager what kissing could really be!

The mint-eyed girl closed her eyes with a 'shuddering' breath and only kissed the nearby temple of her beloved's face for a second.

"Thank you, Qat. I really liked it, even if I was surprised. Even though you were panicking. I'll wait patiently for you to do it again… when you *want* to~"

It was a shame she had an 'image' to maintain as a sweet young girl in this blasted little society. There were still almost four years left before they were legally married and she could better 'risk' being more *open* with parts of her 'real' personality.

The Goltbred honestly hoped to have her 'fortress' fully prepared to sequester every bit of it some day.

'But for the next step to that, I need to properly explain the details about herself. I'm tempted to make her promise me to keep it a secret… but I'm also equally curious what will happen if I don't.'

Elua readied a 'strict' style of speaking for a little lecture. It had been a while since she had 'taught', but still remembered that students learned better from figures of 'authority'.

"Since you've 'paid' me well for the knowledge, here it is. You're Physique is called…"