Standing with the two brothers she had interacted with more today than their entire lives put together, a certain swordswoman found herself sowhere between treating them like they were close - and like they were just random Guild trainees. anwhile, an illusionist drank it all in with great ’joy’.
Seeing her Qat frow and try sothing right in front of her was always enjoyable.
"Corde hez Iralev and Talva er Ryleon. Both accomplished cultivators in their own right. Would you say they seed weak?"
The boys exchanged uncertain glances, clearly struggling with the contradiction between what they’d been *taught* to think and what they’d witnessed. The oldest of the two started to speak carefully.
"Father..."
He trailed off when rembering who he was speaking to. Just that morning, Qatrand had made a point of having them set aside Anper’s words. Children are sotis wise about what matters in the short term, but fail at considering the long effects.
"No. There seed to be almost as many ladies in the group that finished their climbs as n."
This ti he was the one who spoke very quietly. He knew instinctively that he shouldn’t say those words to a certain soone else, but let himself share the truth with the ’elder’ in front of him. That was what the person asking now had requested.
"Good. You observed honestly and drew your own conclusions from what you saw."
Qat’s pigeon blues ward with approval as she watched both children process that praise. She felt a thread of ’satisfaction’ from Elua over the direction she was taking. Guiding them to think beyond what they were told aligned perfectly with the reincarnator’s own values.
"Now, regarding the end of the ceremony. The bit of trouble my wife accidentally caused. I noticed sothing you may have missed. It was understandable... considering you were unsettled."
The swordswoman paused and waited for them to clearly be thinking of Elua er Goltbred. It did not take long.
"Did you realize that all of those elders gathered there - every single one of them - felt just as uncomfortable as you did?"
Ajoreal’s eyes widened. The concept that those stern-faced n could feel *this* ill at ease about *anything* seed to startle him more than the earlier events.
"But they’re..."
"Above such things?"
A suggestion of ’knowing’ entered her low voice.
"Your sister-in-law’s presence affected everyone equally at that mont. She didn’t care about any of them. All she cared about was . It’s all she ever really cares about."
The reincarnator couldn’t tell if she was being praised or not during this follow up!
’I’m also not sure if the way she describes it to them should be applauded for its correctness - or worked on because of how narcissistic it makes her sound...’
"Can you think of any ti all your focus went to just one thing?"
With that bit of urging from Qat, Kaland opened his mouth twice before he ventured to respond. His voice was still a bit quiet and ’off’ as if unsure whether the comparison he would make was acceptable.
"Sotis I get so focused that I stop paying attention to everything else... when I’m practicing our forms."
Ajoreal’s face scrunched in thought.
"Yeah. But father says we should never ignore our surroundings. That proper Yecine swordsmanship always remains aware."
"Your sister-in-law is... quite different from most people. She has her own way of showing what matters to her."
Elua was almost certain that her beloved was actively teasing her with the choice of words. If she was not, then her bold husband-wife must really describe her like this to people!
"Sotis that ans forgetting everyone else exists when she’s excited to see . Other tis, she’ll spend hours working on a single project while skipping als... even though she loves eating so much."
"I could start kissing you in front of them if you really want to tease like this. Maybe I didn’t leave your lip quite red enough, did I?"
The ’sweet’ threat right beside her ear made Qat’s fingers twitch, but she maintained her composed face. The boys remained focused on processing her description... fully unaware of their invisible nightmare’s ’mock’ nace. Eventually, the youngest clenched his fists and looked directly at the tall boy and his pigeon-blues.
"That sounds... lonely. Only caring about one person."
"I’m sure it can be."
Qat agreed softly. From the bottom of her heart, she was honored to have been chosen by soone like the cute girl she married. Reincarnation aside, being the practical center of soone’s world - even before she could truly understand that it *was* what was happening - had made parts of her life better.
"That’s why I ran to her. We shouldn’t let family feel lonely when it is not necessary. My wife is an amazing person, but she can be bewildering if you get to look past the surface."
The swordswoman’s tone shifted, maintaining its basic soft-spoken quality but adding an edge of firmness.
"By the way, her surface is very cute. Cute. Not ugly. I don’t appreciate that one of you might have left that note under her door at our estate."
Underneath it, the heiress saw the tiniest spurt of ’anger’ that didn’t even make a blip in the fragnt. and smiled. Both boys tensed at the sudden shift in conversation... but Kaland’s flinch betrayed him. His younger brother looked between them with growing confusion.
"What note?"
"The one calling my wife an ugly witch who doesn’t belong there."
A spike of ’warmth’ at Qat’s choice to defend this old grievance here and now warred with the brunette’s impulse to provoke her fortress. Her arms locked down and she flexed her fingers while softly groaning.
’I really want to dance around and point at my face while singing that she thinks I’m cute!’
She resisted only because she wanted to see how the response played out. Kaland’s fingers twisted in his sleeve as he struggled between honesty and ’fear’. Plus there was always later... yes, she decided to be obnoxious later!
"Father said... he said she was trying to change everything. That she’d make you forget our Yecine values."
His voice grew smaller with each word. He noticed his elder sibling’s expression darken at the ntion of their ’family values’. Qat let out a slow breath, rembering her own struggles with those words.
The concept of ’proper’ values had been wielded against the younger generations like a sword for so long. An invisible, heavy blade all its own that they grew up learning to carry with them. However, these two were children who needed her guidance.
’Not judgnt. Not for surviving as best they can.’
"Tell sothing. When you saw take second place, did you think it brought sha to our family values?"
The seven year old blinked a few tis before snapping out of it. He had obviously not expected to be asked such a thing by how animated he suddenly beca.
"No! You did really well. No one complained at all. Father just said you shouldn’t have..."
He trailed off once he realized that he was about to repeat criticism about-
"Shouldn’t have ntioned my wife? Being honest about who supports and believes in you is also a kind of strength."
Qat’s voice didn’t waver. It was not hard for her to imagine Anper grumbling such a thing in their earshot.
"Alright. How about when I warned others about the water traps during the climb today?"
"That was just protecting people. Our duty as cultivators."
The six year old chid in to not be left out. The ancient cultivator watching it unfold appreciated how her fortress was leading them to their own conclusions - though she didn’t imdiately connect that the thod had been stripped from her own style of teaching.
She just thought her Qat was so good!
"Exactly. Those are the values I choose to keep above all others. Being strong enough to protect others. Caring enough to want to. Elua er Goltbred helps be better at both."
The tall cultivator let that settle for just a mont before continuing.
"I understand being uncertain about who to believe when Father has told you things. However, he doesn’t see everything. He refuses to consider how she helps be stronger or that she does it in ways that honor our family."
Qat’s hands settled briefly on each of their heads. The gesture carried both ’affection’ and ’reassurance’ - sothing they’d rarely experienced from their elders. Only *very* occasionally from their father.
"Sotis change lets us keep what matters while growing beyond what holds us back. More importantly, your sister-in-law would never *purposely* do sothing that I dislike."
She saw a small finger halt just short of poking her in the nose. Even without looking over, she knew her wife was likely sporting that particular pout. That blown up cheek that always made her want to-
’No. Focus.’
"I will not ask you to hide anything we talk about. But... I also will not ask you to defend my El to our father. Trust when I say she can take care of herself."
Both boys nodded slowly. Of course, Kaland still looked troubled. After wringing the hem of his little blazer, he finally managed to speak.
"I’m sorry about the note I wrote. I shouldn’t have written those things without knowing her myself."
"Make sure you rember that statent and things can be settled with . Though soday you should apologize to her directly, even if she was not hurt by it."
A short giggle suddenly ca from the squatting illusionist and Qat couldn’t help but look. One hand kept the folds of her silver dress skirt pulled aside as the other was tracing doodles on the ground. Specifically, she was mimicking the wrongly written symbol in that note.
’So it was the older one who made the obvious mistake. I’ll have to rember to make fun of him so day. Then the next week. Three days after that...’
If there was another thing her past ’friends’ could say about her humor, it was that when it was not *dark*... it was simply ’an’. Elua on the other hand, just saw more instances where the annoying people from back then didn’t laugh!
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