"Subsequent to observing the changes in the DNA Methylation, namely the epigenetic clock and epigenetic drift, in her blood, I can safely say that the Empress' physique is similar to that of a toddler's, organs, muscles, bones, and all. Her outer appearance is probably the doing of the spell to match her supposed growth. Physical aspects aside, the mana residing in her body has not matured at all. Be that as it may, there is one thing that I'm utterly curious of."
Sarakiel regarded Sura to notify her of his upcoming probing.
"What is it My Lord?"- The maid said, giving him the go-ahead.
"I can detect multiple layers of mana veils encompassing the Empress' body. Howbeit, the mana signature of the veils is dissimilar to the fragmentary immortality spell. As I've concluded, correct me if I'm wrong, this concealment is your feat, isn't it? It is emitting the same aura that you and your siblings have."
"Yes, that is right, Lord Helian. It is the combination of our efforts. Our spell activates at the end of the dier, provided that there are wounds to enshroud. The veils are sectional, concealing only the areas of injury."
"I see. Then why did you do it? I cannot make out the necessity for it when the immortality spell has a function of healing Her Highness' wounds in an instant."
The older twin leered at her sister, hoping to pass the responsibility of discussing the overcomplicated topic. Dismally, Tara looked tensed, still upset from the recollection. Sura had no other choice, so she responded herself.
"You see, Your Grace, we haven't assimilated how the spell works entirely. Apropos to your confusion, except for some instances wherein the wounds were nothing but insignificant, this incantation does not heal any of the Empress injuries, nor it covers them up."
Sarakiel tilted his head to the side, markedly further puzzled of the new data.
"Insignificant? What's the basis for that?"
"Predicated on our observations, bruises and lacerations that are twain smaller and thinner than the tiniest magic circle that could be drawn suffice the insignificant criterion."
"Isn't that considerably small?"
"Yes, My Lord. It's akin to the size of an eye pupil."
"And how many layers are in effect?"
It was an indispensable query to broach, born from the concern of a healer. Withal, somehow, through scrutinizing the mien of the maid, it was a topic she wanted to avoid. Sura repeatedly opened and closed her mouth, debating with herself if she's in the right to tattle. After a while, she settled on pursing her lips, an answer in itself.
"Well, if it's burdensome for you to discuss, then can you give us permission to find it out ourselves? Otherwise, we'll have to waste time in convincing the two of you." Sarakiel proposed, honest to his purpose.
Truth to be told, the discretion on the procedures to be done on the Empress does not fall on the twins' decisions, but to Duke Helian who's the main worker. Regardless of that, he made it a point to seek for the siblings' input for the sake of civility.
"11 aethras worth."
"Pardon?", Sarakiel faced the source of the voice, a fog clouding his vision. Mikhail and Zelel's reactions reflected the one that the lad had.
"11 aethras worth of concealment is the response you are looking for, My Lord. In that window, there was never a dier that Her Highness spent without torments that greatly jeopardized her life.", Tara conveyed, in a feeble manner, her reply that struck the knights like a mace on their heads.
"11... aethras?" Sarakiel trailed off his last word, utterly bewildered to the point that the info did not register in his mind. The duration was far too lengthy to be considered of no consequence.
The Duke's disorientation stemmed not solely over his concern on the Empress' well-being, but also from encountering a dilemma so infrequent that the possibility of it occurring was near to a negative. The gears in his head started to turn, igniting his desire to cure the Empress even more ablaze.
"At present, how many aethras has passed since Her Highness' initial death?" Sarakiel asked as he shifted his attention from the Maids towards the woman who's motionless in her slumber.
He found it odd to say the word 'initial' before the word death since it only comes for a human once in their lifetime. However, adding the circumstance of Khamael who was revived by an angel, it was the good side of 'odd' for the Duke to know that there were really people whom death had paid a visit, but managed to escape its clutches.
Forthwith raising his question, Sarakiel's eyes changed into a shade of orange, reminiscent of a cloudy twilight, as he assessed the wholeness of the Empress' body.
Meanwhile, Sura placed a hand on her sister's shoulder, gripping it stiffly to warn Tara that she should resign early lest her further tattling about their master's esoteric biography. The younger twin remarked the signal quickly, seeing that she's at fault, resolving to keep her silence from that moment on.
Sura made her way to the nightstand adjacent to the Duke. She proceeded to open the top drawer, picking up several parchments where the extensive history of the Empress' condition was written down. The maid handed it to Sarakiel, though she immediately retracted her hands upon realizing that the document was written in Meriviali, the language used in the Karche Kingdom. She went back to her spot by the door, looking at the documents as soon as she's settled.
"What I have here is the timeline for the official activities of the Empress and all the incidents connected to Vraxhen Riol Ferashnevrin, the immortality spell, and Ekshralon, our concealment spell. Should I read it out for you, My Lord?"
Sura asked for Sarakiel's permission first prior to proceeding. To begin with, she did not plan on bringing out the records. Withal, she debated on answering his query in detail, hoping that it will lessen the possibility of the emergence of another question.
Sadly, her opponent was one whose thirst for knowledge went beyond obsession. Duke Helian uttered his response sans facing the maid.
"Go ahead. Leave the other details and focus on telling me the timeline."
"As you wish, My Lord." The maid said as she bowed, consecutively lifting the parchments to a level that will able her to read the tiny letterings.
"It is presently the 10th dier of the 11th Mensith, 1116th Aethras of the Seraphiel Imperial Calendar, so I will adjust the count up to this dier.
1097 A - 14th M - 16th D, the Empress was born;
1103 A - 14th M - 16th D, she died at the age of 6, marking the dier when she became the test subject for the research on immortality;
1103 A - 14th M - 23rd D, the final verse of Vraxhen Riol Ferashnevrin was completed, letting Her Highness rise from the deathbed, but in a state wherein she's braindead;
1104 A - 5th M - 7th D, after Her Highness' older brother, the King, found out about the existence of Ekshralon in our grimoires, he hired us siblings to be the handmaidens of the Empress. We were urged to cast Ekshralon on that same dier, to supplement the spell they utilized to connect her soul to her healing body. It is good to note that, ever since we had cast our concealment spell, it never ceased in its activation, save for the diers when the 9 Orcuns are fully illuminated in the sky;
1114 A - 14th M - 16th D, she turned 17;
1115 A - 1st M - 12th D, the Empress, together with my sister and I, left the Karche Kingdom to address the marriage arrangement between our Kingdom and the Seraphiel Empire, perpetuated by the former rulers of the respective nations;
1115 A - 3rd M - 1st D, Her Highness visited the battlefield in the Verya Empire. She solely informed her arrival to the Emperor via a messenger. The rest of their communications were conducted in a similar method;
1115 A - 4th M - 39th D, the revolt against the tyrannic regime of the former ruler of Serpahiel begun with the Empress' signal and the current Emperor as the bellwether. She formulated the strategy for that operation;
1115 A - 4th M - 48th D, we returned to the Karche Kingdom after the Empress expressed her refusal to go through with the marriage arrangement;
1115 A - 5th M - 23rd D, the Emperor stopped by our Kingdom to convince the Empress to press on with the marriage. That was also their first time meeting each other in person.
1115 A - 6th M - 35th D, Her Highness ingressed the boundaries of the Empire;
1115 A - 9th M - 45th D, we arrived at the Seraphiel Castle and shortly occupied the Soltis Palace;
The total period of activation of Ekshralon is 11 Aethras, 3 Mensiths, and 25 Diers, summing up to 8617 times of usage. 8390 was recorded inside the vicinity of the Karche Kingdom, and 227 times outside." The maid articulated all the data that was authored on a parchment that differed in colour from the rest - It was relatively old, yet new at the same time.
A lengthy lag transpired subsequent of Sura's speech. It might be that Duke Helian was trying to process all of the information he just heard, which was actually the case. Sarakiel then halted what he was doing, the pupils of his eyes recaptured the hue of an old gold whiskey. Howbeit, his rear remained fronting his conversation partner.
"What is the significance of familiarizing me with the happenings unrelated to her condition?" This action confused the Duke for some reason. He failed to see the importance of uttering such diplomatic occurrences.