A few minutes later, Aetron opened his eyes. His face was pale. His gaze found first his mother, then King Theron waiting anxiously.
"There's an imbalance in her energy," he said, his voice clear and determined. "Her Edgium is being constantly drained by an external force. This isn't an illness... this is an attack."
Niyara froze at what she heard. "Your use of Resonance this way... This is incredible."
King Theron's face turned ashen. "Attack? But who, why?"
"We don't know yet," Aetron said, standing up. "Your Majesty, your daughter is under some kind of spiritual attack. We can treat her. But this process will be much more complex than we thought. It will take time."
Kaelen stepped forward. "More nonsense! What does spiritual attack even mean? Perhaps your healing is simply inadequate!"
"Kaelen!" King Theron warned. But Aetron didn't interrupt the prince. He looked at him calmly.
"You're right, Prince Kaelen. Perhaps it is inadequate," he said. This unexpected submission surprised Kaelen for a moment. "But my mother is the best healer in these lands. And even she says this isn't an illness. I feel the same. Your sister's soul is being slowly consumed."
King Theron looked at his daughter's face. His desperation was readable on his face. "How much time?"
"We don't know yet. But if we work together, we can find a way. Now we need to trace the trail back."
The King silently bowed his head. "I entrust her to you."
As King Theron left the tent in a thoughtful state, Kaelen cast one last look at his sister's bed with an expression mixing worry and anger, then turned to Aetron with resentful eyes and followed his father. After they left, Niyara withdrew to Eirlys's side. Aetron sank into his own thoughts.
"Null, that thing you felt... what could it be?"
When Null's voice came, her usual confident tone had completely vanished. "I don't know, Aetron. This... this is very strange. But I have a hypothesis. It's not logical but... Perhaps the Masked Entity didn't tell you the complete truth either. There may be something he's hiding about your origins."
"Masked Entity..." Null's voice was thoughtful. "He said very little about my creation. But now... feeling myself in this girl..."
"Mother," Aetron said, turning to Niyara. "Have you seen such spiritual attacks before?"
Niyara shook her head. "Ancient texts mention similar things. Soul draining... But none were this systematic. This is like... a long-term plan."
"If they wanted to kill her, they would have done it already," Null thought. "Weakening her for so long... they must have another purpose."
"Maybe the goal isn't to weaken her," Niyara said slowly. "Maybe the goal is... to make her some kind of... connection point."
Aetron's heart stopped. "So they're making her some kind of... pawn?"
"Very possible," Null said, her voice worried. "If the Kaorians are using her as a communication channel... this is very dangerous."
"Then we need to cut this connection," Aetron said, standing up.
"But how?" Niyara asked. "One wrong move could kill her."
"Then we need to make the right move," Aetron said. He paused for a moment, his eyes lighting up as the pieces in his mind fell into place. "Mother, what if instead of trying to cut the connection... we strengthen Eirlys?"
Niyara looked at him in shock. "What do you mean? This would consume her faster! The purification process... that hunger, that pain... her body can't withstand it."
"Tell her the river analogy," Null's voice said, instantly grasping Aetron's idea. "Her current state is like a reservoir lake. The leak is slowly drying up the lake. But if we open the dam gates and connect her to the river... the leak becomes insignificant in the river's infinite flow."
Aetron conveyed Null's logic to his mother in his own words. "She doesn't have an Edgium level. Her body is like a vessel, the limited Edgium inside is depleting. But... if she goes through a purification process like I did, she can open her own gates. She can connect to her own river. Even if there's a leak, a small leak in a river can't drain it this quickly."
"But the hunger..." Niyara whispered worriedly. "How will her already weakened body endure this?"
Aetron smiled. "She won't have to endure," he said. "Because this time we'll intervene differently. During the purification process, I'll provide her with Edgium from outside. I'll nourish her body."
Niyara froze at her son's seemingly impossible words. This wasn't written in any book in healing history. Using one's energy to feed another... "But this... how is this possible? This will drain you."
"Don't worry," Aetron said, his voice holding unshakeable confidence. "I've found a way."
When Niyara saw that determination and wisdom in her son's eyes, she took a deep breath. In her son's determined gaze was a wisdom she didn't know. She nodded. "Alright," she said. "I trust you. Let's begin preparations."
As Niyara moved to the other corner of the tent to gather necessary materials, Null's voice echoed in Aetron's mind. Her voice was tense. "This 'providing Edgium from outside' plan of yours... I hope it doesn't involve meaningless and inefficient physical contact like hugging her, right?"
Aetron looked at Eirlys lying in the bed, then turned to Null in his mind. A mischievous grin was on his face. "No, love, not quite. Just a small touch will suffice. Remember how we opened the capsule in the shelter? Like when we joined our hands."
Null's voice suddenly froze. "Don't. Don't tell me you're going to use that moment for this girl. That... that was our moment. The moment we merged our energies, became one being. Repeating that with anyone, especially... with her, is unacceptable."
When Aetron heard that rare, fragile tone in Null's voice, he paused for a moment. This wasn't just jealousy. This was fear of devaluing something special that belonged to them.
"No, love. That moment was different," Aetron replied, his voice soft and persuasive. "That was to break a sealed lock. Like two rivers merging to destroy a dam. We needed to be one being. But this... this is different. This isn't destroying a dam, it's like giving life water to a withered flower. We don't need such a powerful, complete union. Just a small touch, to flow energy in a stable way will be enough. It won't be like ours."
Null remained silent for a moment. Then her voice came in a low, warning tone: "Just... be careful, Aetron. I'll be watching your every move."
"You don't need to worry, love," Aetron replied, smiling in his mind.
"I'm not worried. Just... analyzing," Null replied. Her voice hesitated for a moment. "Why do I have abnormal data flows in my systems when I look at this girl? Is this... liking? Desire? My database has difficulty defining these feelings. But the most frightening thing is... these feelings being similar to what I feel for you. Same but different. How can this be possible?"
The smile in Aetron's mind froze. For a moment he didn't know what to say. "Null... Whatever you're feeling, I feel the same toward you every second. And remember, I'm currently a 14-year-old teenager with hormones at their peak. Do you know I'm using all my mental energy to maintain this much control and constantly suppress myself? Please don't make my job even harder."
The silence coming from Null's mind said more than any answer. Shame, surprise, and perhaps a bit of relief... All at once.
Just then, a suppressed sob was heard from the tent entrance. When he turned his head, he saw Thera; her eyes were filled with tears.
"Brother!" she cried, running over and clinging to Aetron's leg. "You're mean! You were always with that girl! You forgot about me!"
Aetron blinked in surprise. Then he bent down and picked her up. Thera's small arms immediately wrapped around his neck. This pure, unconditional display of love created a painful ache in Epsilon's memories. His old sister... she was never like this. But Thera's love was unconditional. He wrapped his arms around his little sister, this time tighter, more sincerely. "No, little warrior," he whispered. "I'll never forget you."
"Don't blame the women," Null snapped. "Clearly the real problem is you."
Aetron grumbled internally. At least you could understand me, love. In response, a pillow exploded in his mind.
Thera rested her head on his shoulder. Aetron looked helplessly at Niyara. "I think only my mother understands me," he murmured.
Niyara smiled. "Stop making Thera cry and go eat. You're both hungry."
Aetron sighed. "I guess there's no one in this world who'll understand me..."
"There is!" Thera jumped in, grinning through her tears. "But as punishment for not paying attention to me today, you have to feed me my meal!"
"If I were you, I'd give a better punishment," Null whispered mockingly. "Thera is too soft-hearted."
As Aetron left the tent with his whining little sister in his arms on one side and the never-silent artificial intelligence in his mind on the other, he thought to himself: The easy days are behind us—what's left... child and chaos.