The Requiem Of An Empress 20 Mien: ?Βη 「Hebe」

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 is 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 pa.s.sed 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 circ.u.mstance 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 a.s.sessed 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 doc.u.ment was written in Meriviali, the language used in the Karche Kingdom. She went back to her spot by the door, looking at the doc.u.ments 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 goes beyond obsession. Duke Helian uttered his response sans facing the maid.

"Go ahead. Leave the other details first 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 casted our concealment spell, it never ceased in its activation, save for the diers when the 9 Coituses 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 auth.o.r.ed 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 is 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.

"They are not all that insignificant, My Lord. As a matter of fact, the events after the Empress turned 17 are the precedents of the instances wherein Ekshralon was activated for at least 6, at most 11, diers straight. It was accompanied by Her Highness being reduced to a state of comatose for the duration of the activation."

Sarakiel suppressed a groan, bewildered of the situation becoming more and more strange. Not to mention, the spells involved are previously unknown to him. Duke Helian embraced a busy silence while he organized the thoughts in his mind.

'I initially deduced that the spell lingered simply to cover up Her Highness' past wounds. That deduction came from my observation of Eshkralon's mana activity. It hasn't consumed any fresh batch of mana for the past couple of aethras. What is going on?' - He merely thought of the inference that he arrived at.

Usually, Sarakiel finds it fascinating to learn novel information apropos his craft and the complications that came with it, yet he appears wholly distressed in his contemplation. He could neglect the weight of the duty that was a.s.signed to him, but not the nagging incert.i.tudes at the back of his mind.

'There are a myriad of things that I want to be enlightened on. However, I do not even know where to start asking.'

Surveying the tensed shoulders of the Duke, Sura wondered on how she could offer up her a.s.sistance.

"My Lord, do you have any queries? We wi-"

Ultimately, she decided on reminding him that he can quell his curiosities by interrogating the twins. Nonetheless, the maid discontinued her response, considering that the Duke was not listening. She just heaved a heavy sigh and waited for Sarakiel to take action on his own.

Duke Helian lowered his head, bringing up his index finger to touch his chin synchronously. There are details that he cannot grasp that kept him high-strung.

'Just how do these wounds and diseases unfold out of nowhere? Is it a side-effect of the immortality spell? Or is it a different spell? There are minuscule remnants of innumerable spells left on Her Highness' body, probably due to the experimentation. It has been too far in the past that their histories are no longer traceable. There's still the issue of the immortality spell not being able to cure the damages that befall upon the Empress.'

He bit the nail on his thumb out of frustration, disregarding the strength of his bite.

'Be that as it may, what's mightily vexing me is that Ekshralon already desisted in consuming mana for more than nearly two aethras ago. What is it? What is happening?!'

As his tongue perceived the metallic taste of blood, a plausible scenario prevailed in his chaotic thoughts.

'Did it, perchance, became animate?'

Sarakiel suddenly jerked his head up, bewildered of the conjecture that he formed.

'Animated spells are one in a billion. A whole generation could live their lives without descrying one. Surprisingly, I did encounter three of them in the short window of a mensith, the invocatory spells of the angels and possibly Ekshralon. To conjure an animated spell, one must give a certain amount of their blood, depending on the grade of the spell, to the corresponding magic circle. For all that, what if it is dwelling inside the body of someone who had been revived?'

It's inefficient to brainstorm by himself when there is a person as well-versed as he is in the specificities of spells, standing ten feet away from him. Hence, the Duke hurriedly met the gaze of his commander to seek Mikhail's opinion.

"My Lord, how would you describe a parasitic or animated spell?"

Thankfully, Percival aptly deduced what Sarakiel was attempting to realize. The simplicity of the question did not surprise him at all.

"Well, a spell of the parasitic type can permanently reside in any matter, regardless of whether they have a life force or not, until their eventual destruction. This type of spell has no will of their own, as opposed to an animated spell. Anim"

"Stop with the textbook explanation, My Lord. I want to learn of the discoveries you made in your research." - Sarakiel interposed on Mikhail's speech, his tone slightly indicative of his urgency.

The commander complied p.r.o.nto, unperturbed that the study he conducted in secrecy was brought to light.

"These two types are in the highest tier grade of spells, making them the rarest of the rare. Generally, parasitic spells are on the borderline of being cla.s.sified as curses. On the other hand, animated spells are technically curses, but they are regulated with the sole sacrifice of blood. They can coexist in the same body. Though in two separate ident.i.ties, unlike other spells that can be combined. " - Mikhail spoke with not the least bit of faltering.

Sarakiel appeared to ponder on the answer, albeit briefly, before responding with a query.

"What's your verdict in a healing spell evolving into an animated-parasitic one?"

"At the outset, the attributes of mana exploited in both of these spells are in leagues that are poles apart. The probability of evolution is close to a fracture of a percent. Unless an interaction capable of catalyzing a change in their nature happens, that percentage isn't going to increase."

"So it's possible then?", the young lad spoke with uncertainty even though an answer was given.

Mikhail narrowed the scrutiny that he had on his subordinate, clearly disappointed on the course they're taking. It seems that the Duke has not recovered from his earlier mishap. Percival then trod the floor, his heels sonorously hitting the wooden panels, en route Sarakiel.

"Sarakiel, it's clear that you are still distraught from the argument you had with Lady Kishnar. You are not doing a good job in deliberating information properly and correlating them with one another." - The commander uttered as he halted, a meter in front of the knight.

The matter of violence against children is a long-standing, uncured trauma of the Duke. If it was any other normal dier, Mikhail would have let Sarakiel off of his incompetence, yet it was not as such. They are on the job and hanging on a thread with the Empress' life.

With his eyes shaking in lieu of being discovered, Duke Helian stared at Percival. The latter exhaled, acknowledging that the former's action cannot be helped.

"Vraxhen Riol Ferashnevrin is an animated spell and Ekshralon is parasitic. If Ekshralon was exposed to the several aethras of Vraxhen consuming blood, then it's a no brainer that Ekshralon will evolve. Parasitic spells cannot function without the caster feeding it with mana. Hence, if there is an available supply of an alternative, it will obviously make use of the blood that Vraxhen collected. We've previously speculated that immortals have an indispensable supply of blood at their disposal, instead of being independent from it. Isn't it a perfect condition for Ekshralon and Vraxhen?"- Mikhail explained, absent any pauses, his personal take in the development of the spells.

Sarakiel slowly nodded his head, the fog in his mind languidly clearing up. The push that he needed now presented by Mikhail.

"I see. In exchange for providing it with blood, Vraxhen appointed Ekshralon to be the spell responsible for healing Her Highness. They metamorphosed into a single animated-parasitic spell. Yes, thank you, My Lord. The limits of what a human could heal, I can see it."

It was a vague response, to say the least. Still and all, Duke Helian gave the impression that he knew what to do.

"My Lord."

Sarakiel turned his gaze at the Empress with an afresh conviction as he called out to Mikhail.

"What is it?"

"Do you remember Ierathel's gift?"

"Ierathel? You mean the angel in Ikdes? What of it?"

"I'm planning to use it here, to cure the Empress."

It may be that the pair was merely too careless. However, they were oblivious that they're blurting out cla.s.sified info afore two people who should not be privy of it.

"Tara, did you hear that? He said Ierathel.", Sura whispered in a voice inaudible to the three knights.

"Yes, Sura. Those pesky judgmental creatures sure are annoying. We have to interfere in Sarakiel's plan."