Chapter 66 Disease
The king turned towards the young elf, and immediately she stood up on her feet.
"Your... Holiness... This is Queen Elyndra of the kingdom of Troyra," The elf spoke, and Aiden turned his eyes to the Queen.
She didn’t move or make any attempt to meet his gaze; she was simply staring forward into space, almost as if she wasn’t herself.
"Is something wrong?" Aiden asked as he turned towards the young elf.
"The reason we came over here is that we need help. It’s also a delicate matter that even most of the nobles and lords of the elven kingdom have no idea about, so we hope to keep this matter this way"
The young elf took a deep breath before continuing. "The sickness is called Eternal Slumber. It is a disease that affects elves who have lived for a very long time. At first, the person simply becomes tired. Then they begin dozing off during the day, and sometimes falling asleep in the middle of conversation or while doing something"
"As the disease progresses, they spend more and more time sleeping, until eventually they enter what we call the Eternal Slumber"
Aiden instantly turned back to the Queen; she was still sitting quietly, her eyes were open, but her expression was empty. Even though she was awake, she didn’t seem to be paying attention to anything or anyone around her.
"Once the final stage begins, the elf falls asleep and never wakes up again. Their body continues to breathe, their heart continues to beat, and they can survive for a long time without waking, but their consciousness never returns. There have been cases recorded where elves remained in that state for years before their bodies finally gave out"
"Usually, the first symptoms appear anywhere from a week to a month before the Eternal Slumber begins; that is why we are worried. Her Majesty has been showing the symptoms for over a week now"
The elf bowed her head slightly. "We don’t know how much time she has left before she enters the final stage"
Aiden’s expression turned serious. He knew being called to the palace by the king was going to be serious, but he had no idea something this big was at stake.
Seeing the Queen in this state and knowing her fate made everything disturbing. Now that he was here, the king probably expected him to provide a solution. After all, the Queen of their allied kingdom was sick; if she was saved by Aiden, then the kingdom of Troyra would hold a huge debt to Elaris.
"You brought her here because you people couldn’t cure her?" Aiden asked as he turned back to the young elf.
"We tried everything," The elf replied. "It was of no use; every history book that made mention of the Eternal Slumber has no cure, only the progression of the disease"
The Elven warrior finally spoke; his voice was deep and his face stoic. "We’ve had three cases of Eternal Slumber in my lifetime; none of them could be cured. The disease is believed to be connected to the long lifespan of our people"
"We know it’s probably a lost cause, but please help us... We couldn’t ask you to come to Troyra after what happened here, so bringing a human priest would immediately attract attention, and if our people discovered the Queen is sick, it could cause panic throughout the entire kingdom.
Aiden raised an eyebrow as his eyes went towards the Queen again; it was truly strange how she stayed still but wasn’t asleep. She was upright, breathing normally, but her eyes remained fixed on nothing.
’Zero, do you think it’s possible to cure her?’ Aiden asked in his head.
[I can’t give you a straight answer, but here’s a possibility which I think is the closest to the actual answer]
’I’m listening’
[From everything you’ve been told, the symptoms don’t completely match a normal illness. The body isn’t failing; her body is healthy, but her mind is slowly becoming less active]
’So it isn’t an illness’
[Since her mind is slowly losing functionality, I think the cause of it is her memories]
’Her memories are causing her mind to shut down’
[Yes. Think about how long elves can live. Humans alone can live for several decades, and during old age most of them develop Alzheimer’s and dementia. But elves can live for hundreds of years. Imagine remembering everything that happened during all those years]
’That’s why the disease only affects elves who have lived a long life; the accumulation of their memories is causing the brain to shut down’
[Exactly, the mind was never made to carry such a burden, but I don’t know of any disease called Eternal Slumber; I’m just basing it off her symptoms]
’So the elven mind can handle it for a long time, but there’s a limit?’
[Yes, and once the mind becomes overwhelmed, it starts shutting down]
’So, the sleeping isn’t actually the disease?’
[No. It’s more like the response to the problem; since the mind is becoming overloaded, it randomly shuts down little by little until it does permanently]
Everyone in the room was staring at Aiden as he placed his hand on his chin. He didn’t speak and looked in thought, then he moved his head and stared at the Queen.
Now Aiden knew why there were no signs of an illness; her body wasn’t physically ill, and if Zero was right, which Aiden was sure he was, trying to heal her body wouldn’t solve anything.
’So the reason a cure hasn’t been found yet?’
[You guessed that right; everyone is looking for a disease in her body. They probably tried healing magic, purification, cleansing, and other forms of treatment. But the problem isn’t in her body but in her mind, so those methods wouldn’t accomplish anything]
’Now here’s the big question: does it have a cure? Can I heal her?’
[That depends, but currently you have nothing to use. Your healing magic, no matter how powerful, can’t remove this, as it isn’t a harmful condition. You would need to somehow reduce the burden on her mind]