Chapter 68
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"The human body, like all the world and life itself, is composed of interconnected systems. But as each organ has its own function, we can examine each system separately. Some organs are part of multiple systems. The human body, to my knowledge, has eleven main organ systems."
I paused in my presentation to gauge the audience. The Duke and Duchess had chosen to observe at least the presentation and the first lesson, sitting side by side in the couch and holding hands. Sue and Charlotte were sitting side by side too, but on separate chairs behind a desk placed in the center of the room. They had identical looks of rapt attention. I had to warn them to take notes after the presentation, it was too dim for that and it would just hurt their eyes to try and split their attention enough they wouldn't remember the lessons. The assistant and bodyguard, Alan, sat off to the left leaning on a coffee table. He looked bored but tried not to look disrespectful.
Linze already knew some of these, so perhaps it was just as well that she wasn't here to be bored going over what we had already discussed. As the healers of the party, we had to be as efficient with our magical power as possible.
I continued, and the screen projected onto a hanging silk curtain showed anatomy diagrams in succession.
"The CIRCULATORY SYSTEM circulates blood around the body, delivering oxygen and nutrients to other organs and carries away waste products. Blood is also hot and serves to equalize temperature in the body. It is composed of the heart, arteries, and veins.
"The RESPIRATORY SYSTEM involving the lungs, nose, and throat, brings in fresh air to be mixed with the blood and brings out stale air.
"The DIGESTIVE SYSTEM carries out the mechanical and chemical processes that provides nutrients via the ingestion of food and drink, and eliminates waste from the body. This is done via actions of the mouth, down the esophagus, into the stomach, and then the intestines. The liver is also part of this system by the excretion of bile that aids in the digestion of fats and sugars.
"The ENDOCRINE SYSTEM is the signaling system of the body between organs, and the chemicals released into the bloodstream govern states like rate of digestion and metabolism, breathing, lactation, sleep cycles, growth, and mood. It does so through several glands; pituitary here in the brain, the thyroid here in the neck, the pancreas, the adrenal glands, and testes for males and ovaries for females.
"The INTEGUMENTARY SYSTEM is basically the protective covering of the body. The skin, hair, nails. Also usually combined with the EXOCRINE SYSTEM, which produces substances outside of the bloodstream, like sweat, tears, mucous, and so on. Some of there are in linings of the tongue, nose, stomach, esophagus, and intestines. The Pancreas is part of both ENDO and EXOCRINE systems by being able to release hormones into the bloodstream and digestive juices into the small intestine.
"The LYMPHATIC SYSTEM, also known as the IMMUNE SYSTEM, is a network lympthatic vessels that carry a clear fluid called lymph. This fluid contains what you might call the 'soldiers of the body', mixing with the blood and attaching themselves to the small carriers of disease and polluted blood, carrying them to the lymph nodes to be destroyed. They attack tumors and fight off diseases.
"Part of why it is called the immune system is that if you contract a weaker strain of something like the pox and your body fights it off, it will remember how it did so and makes you immune to the stronger strain."
"Excuse me, what?!" Alan's chin fell off the hand he was leaning on. "That's what that does? That's why they make us drink pox milk?"
I blinked in confusion. What the hay is pox milk?
"So there is some truth to the saying 'what does not kill you makes you stronger'...," Charlotte murmured. Her right hand began to twitch again, almost appearing to float off the table.
"Ooookay then. Next up is the MUSCULAR SYSTEM, which moves the body. Muscles are attached to bones, the SKELETAL SYSTEM, and combined they are the LOCOMOTOR SYSTEM responsible for human movement. It should be easy enough to understand – muscles are meat. Creatures and monsters would be just as willing to eat to eat us if we're not smart about things, and man should not be too arrogant to forget that in the end he's just another animal.
"The SKELETAL SYSTEM apart from supporting the weight of the body and protecting the organs from damage also has marrow inside the hollow bones responsible for the creation of new blood.
"And then there's the NERVOUS SYSTEM, which contains the brain, the spinal column, and the nerves, eyes and ears, which collects and processes information from the senses and tells the muscles to contract to cause physical actions. Nerves are responsible for all feeling of pleasure and pain and your brain is where all thinking happens. Contrary to expectations, deadening nerves doesn't make for a better power that can fight through pain – it leads to an ignorant fighter not knowing that they're damaging their body beyond recovery and causing muscle tears in small everyday things.
"Then we have the EXCRETORY SYSTEM, which filters the blood and takes away the chemicals it does not need into urine to be removed from the body.
"And then finally we have the male and female REPRODUCTIVE SYSTEMS responsible for making new humans."
Sue eek'ed and covered her eyes. Charlotte smiled and put a comforting arm over the little girl's shoulders.
"It's all right," Duchess Ortlinde said from the couch. "I was learning this at a younger age from my tutors. The children of farmers know even sooner how babies are made. There's nothing to be ashamed of in the miracle of motherhoood."
I didn't want to ruin Sue's innocence, but at her age she should have been learning it in science class. A doctor has no room for prudery. I waved and dismissed the opaque [Dark Wall] covering the windows. "Those are the systems of the human body to my knowledge. I will now be taking questions."
Charlotte raised her hand. "You didn't show the energy veins. In the Far East, they also speak of a separate spirit vein and points of power."
"Stabbing people can heal people, that's what they believe over there," Alan said with an arrogant yawn.
I shrugged. "You mean like chakra points?" I actually respected acupuncture as a treatment for the nervous and endocrine systems, but its therapeutic properties had a more direct effect on the body's hormonal balance than just realigning chi. "Well, as a healer I choose to deal with systems that are /physically present/ in the human body. While you could say that magic power varies with the individual, these systems are the very basis for human existence. Everyone has these organs. Even animals have these organs, if just differently shaped.
"There is no morality or philosophy in biological systems. Rather than diagnose for an imbalance in energies or humors or fluids or whatnot, diagnose exactly which parts of the body are failing and correct how the system is supposed to work for the sake of the whole. Failure in one part will soon lead to damage in the others."
Needless to say, don't look for me when it comes to more... abstract conditions, like mental health. Seriously, what sort of idiot tries to go to the recovering manic depressive about these things? Individuals are unique and have different means of coping and therapy. I can fix your body all day, don't ask me to heal your mind.
Or your heart, because all you need to know is to have only one waifu. Having too many waifu will ruin your laifu.
And then it was time for the lecture and study portion. The Duke and the Duchess, having already indulged their curiosity, left us be in privacy. Even Alan had to leave, mostly because he would be bored to death by it all.
But before they could go, Monika asked to lend the Duke one of the projector cubes. I handed one over, much to their surprise. They were already trusting me with their precious daughter, trusting them with a light emitting device (despite how irreplaceable it would be) did not compare. Monika's not IN the thing after all, she would hardly suffer from having it damaged.
--
--
And so as I brought out the study books (made via literally laser-printing using controlled pulses of the Monika Beam), the Duke and Duchess took another salon in the mansion. While I focused on the tutoring, meanwhile Monika gave back Duchess Ellen her [Blind Sight].
"Didn't Sir von Chara say this could lead to a permanent blindness?" Duke Alfred asked.
/"It would take several months, a couple more weeks wouldn't hurt,"/ Monika nonchalantly replied.
The Duke looked up sharply, and then his eyes narrowed. "You… you could heal Ellen's eyes at any time, couldn't you?! You're both just holding back so that Sue might do it instead."
Duchess Ellen blinked. "Why? Although I understand, it would make Sue VERY happy and I would be happy to endure blindness for longer just to allow her that… why indulge her so?"
She tapped at her chin and theorized "Is it that if she could understand systems, she would be able to heal anything? Could it be that Sue would be able to heal Sir Zah's own eyes, for some reason you are not allowed to do so?"
Monika smiled. /"That could be it, certainly."/
Duchess Ellen smiled back. "But that's not it either, isn't it so?"
The Duke looked at the identical smiles on the face of the two women and wisely decided to keep silent.
"You like Sue, and I feel that is true," the Duchess continued, "but I think it would be a bother if she grew too attached to you. You don't want to make Sue dependent on you, so that it won't hurt your conscience to just leave when it feels like being in this kingdom is chaining you down."
Monika crossed her ams and tapped at her chin, copying the Duchess' thoughtful gesture from earlier. /"How are you doing in finding out who is responsible for the attacks on your family? How well are you prepared to repel another attack, as obvious as another ambush or subtler by poisoning or magic? There's nothing like incompetence to make us leave in a hurry."/
"I should feel insulted by that," the Duke had to interrupt "But I'm not saying anything unless you are asking to be part of the investigation."
"But doing so will be asking to get even more involved. To be chained down," the Duchess noticed. "So I wonder, what are you after, oh esteemed spirit?"
/"What do you think I'm after?"/
Duchess Ellen's lips thinned into a line. "I am reminded that some spirits can /possess people/. And this makes me suspicious about your obvious attentions towards Sue."
Monika laughed. Long and loud. It was a creepy laugh.
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-
"The human body, like all the world and life itself, is composed of interconnected systems. But as each organ has its own function, we can examine each system separately. Some organs are part of multiple systems. The human body, to my knowledge, has eleven main organ systems."
I paused in my presentation to gauge the audience. The Duke and Duchess had chosen to observe at least the presentation and the first lesson, sitting side by side in the couch and holding hands. Sue and Charlotte were sitting side by side too, but on separate chairs behind a desk placed in the center of the room. They had identical looks of rapt attention. I had to warn them to take notes after the presentation, it was too dim for that and it would just hurt their eyes to try and split their attention enough they wouldn't remember the lessons. The assistant and bodyguard, Alan, sat off to the left leaning on a coffee table. He looked bored but tried not to look disrespectful.
Linze already knew some of these, so perhaps it was just as well that she wasn't here to be bored going over what we had already discussed. As the healers of the party, we had to be as efficient with our magical power as possible.
I continued, and the screen projected onto a hanging silk curtain showed anatomy diagrams in succession.
"The CIRCULATORY SYSTEM circulates blood around the body, delivering oxygen and nutrients to other organs and carries away waste products. Blood is also hot and serves to equalize temperature in the body. It is composed of the heart, arteries, and veins.
"The RESPIRATORY SYSTEM involving the lungs, nose, and throat, brings in fresh air to be mixed with the blood and brings out stale air.
"The DIGESTIVE SYSTEM carries out the mechanical and chemical processes that provides nutrients via the ingestion of food and drink, and eliminates waste from the body. This is done via actions of the mouth, down the esophagus, into the stomach, and then the intestines. The liver is also part of this system by the excretion of bile that aids in the digestion of fats and sugars.
"The ENDOCRINE SYSTEM is the signaling system of the body between organs, and the chemicals released into the bloodstream govern states like rate of digestion and metabolism, breathing, lactation, sleep cycles, growth, and mood. It does so through several glands; pituitary here in the brain, the thyroid here in the neck, the pancreas, the adrenal glands, and testes for males and ovaries for females.
"The INTEGUMENTARY SYSTEM is basically the protective covering of the body. The skin, hair, nails. Also usually combined with the EXOCRINE SYSTEM, which produces substances outside of the bloodstream, like sweat, tears, mucous, and so on. Some of there are in linings of the tongue, nose, stomach, esophagus, and intestines. The Pancreas is part of both ENDO and EXOCRINE systems by being able to release hormones into the bloodstream and digestive juices into the small intestine.
"The LYMPHATIC SYSTEM, also known as the IMMUNE SYSTEM, is a network lympthatic vessels that carry a clear fluid called lymph. This fluid contains what you might call the 'soldiers of the body', mixing with the blood and attaching themselves to the small carriers of disease and polluted blood, carrying them to the lymph nodes to be destroyed. They attack tumors and fight off diseases.
"Part of why it is called the immune system is that if you contract a weaker strain of something like the pox and your body fights it off, it will remember how it did so and makes you immune to the stronger strain."
"Excuse me, what?!" Alan's chin fell off the hand he was leaning on. "That's what that does? That's why they make us drink pox milk?"
I blinked in confusion. What the hay is pox milk?
"So there is some truth to the saying 'what does not kill you makes you stronger'...," Charlotte murmured. Her right hand began to twitch again, almost appearing to float off the table.
"Ooookay then. Next up is the MUSCULAR SYSTEM, which moves the body. Muscles are attached to bones, the SKELETAL SYSTEM, and combined they are the LOCOMOTOR SYSTEM responsible for human movement. It should be easy enough to understand – muscles are meat. Creatures and monsters would be just as willing to eat to eat us if we're not smart about things, and man should not be too arrogant to forget that in the end he's just another animal.
"The SKELETAL SYSTEM apart from supporting the weight of the body and protecting the organs from damage also has marrow inside the hollow bones responsible for the creation of new blood.
"And then there's the NERVOUS SYSTEM, which contains the brain, the spinal column, and the nerves, eyes and ears, which collects and processes information from the senses and tells the muscles to contract to cause physical actions. Nerves are responsible for all feeling of pleasure and pain and your brain is where all thinking happens. Contrary to expectations, deadening nerves doesn't make for a better power that can fight through pain – it leads to an ignorant fighter not knowing that they're damaging their body beyond recovery and causing muscle tears in small everyday things.
"Then we have the EXCRETORY SYSTEM, which filters the blood and takes away the chemicals it does not need into urine to be removed from the body.
"And then finally we have the male and female REPRODUCTIVE SYSTEMS responsible for making new humans."
Sue eek'ed and covered her eyes. Charlotte smiled and put a comforting arm over the little girl's shoulders.
"It's all right," Duchess Ortlinde said from the couch. "I was learning this at a younger age from my tutors. The children of farmers know even sooner how babies are made. There's nothing to be ashamed of in the miracle of motherhoood."
I didn't want to ruin Sue's innocence, but at her age she should have been learning it in science class. A doctor has no room for prudery. I waved and dismissed the opaque [Dark Wall] covering the windows. "Those are the systems of the human body to my knowledge. I will now be taking questions."
Charlotte raised her hand. "You didn't show the energy veins. In the Far East, they also speak of a separate spirit vein and points of power."
"Stabbing people can heal people, that's what they believe over there," Alan said with an arrogant yawn.
I shrugged. "You mean like chakra points?" I actually respected acupuncture as a treatment for the nervous and endocrine systems, but its therapeutic properties had a more direct effect on the body's hormonal balance than just realigning chi. "Well, as a healer I choose to deal with systems that are /physically present/ in the human body. While you could say that magic power varies with the individual, these systems are the very basis for human existence. Everyone has these organs. Even animals have these organs, if just differently shaped.
"There is no morality or philosophy in biological systems. Rather than diagnose for an imbalance in energies or humors or fluids or whatnot, diagnose exactly which parts of the body are failing and correct how the system is supposed to work for the sake of the whole. Failure in one part will soon lead to damage in the others."
Needless to say, don't look for me when it comes to more... abstract conditions, like mental health. Seriously, what sort of idiot tries to go to the recovering manic depressive about these things? Individuals are unique and have different means of coping and therapy. I can fix your body all day, don't ask me to heal your mind.
Or your heart, because all you need to know is to have only one waifu. Having too many waifu will ruin your laifu.
And then it was time for the lecture and study portion. The Duke and the Duchess, having already indulged their curiosity, left us be in privacy. Even Alan had to leave, mostly because he would be bored to death by it all.
But before they could go, Monika asked to lend the Duke one of the projector cubes. I handed one over, much to their surprise. They were already trusting me with their precious daughter, trusting them with a light emitting device (despite how irreplaceable it would be) did not compare. Monika's not IN the thing after all, she would hardly suffer from having it damaged.
--
--
And so as I brought out the study books (made via literally laser-printing using controlled pulses of the Monika Beam), the Duke and Duchess took another salon in the mansion. While I focused on the tutoring, meanwhile Monika gave back Duchess Ellen her [Blind Sight].
"Didn't Sir von Chara say this could lead to a permanent blindness?" Duke Alfred asked.
/"It would take several months, a couple more weeks wouldn't hurt,"/ Monika nonchalantly replied.
The Duke looked up sharply, and then his eyes narrowed. "You… you could heal Ellen's eyes at any time, couldn't you?! You're both just holding back so that Sue might do it instead."
Duchess Ellen blinked. "Why? Although I understand, it would make Sue VERY happy and I would be happy to endure blindness for longer just to allow her that… why indulge her so?"
She tapped at her chin and theorized "Is it that if she could understand systems, she would be able to heal anything? Could it be that Sue would be able to heal Sir Zah's own eyes, for some reason you are not allowed to do so?"
Monika smiled. /"That could be it, certainly."/
Duchess Ellen smiled back. "But that's not it either, isn't it so?"
The Duke looked at the identical smiles on the face of the two women and wisely decided to keep silent.
"You like Sue, and I feel that is true," the Duchess continued, "but I think it would be a bother if she grew too attached to you. You don't want to make Sue dependent on you, so that it won't hurt your conscience to just leave when it feels like being in this kingdom is chaining you down."
Monika crossed her ams and tapped at her chin, copying the Duchess' thoughtful gesture from earlier. /"How are you doing in finding out who is responsible for the attacks on your family? How well are you prepared to repel another attack, as obvious as another ambush or subtler by poisoning or magic? There's nothing like incompetence to make us leave in a hurry."/
"I should feel insulted by that," the Duke had to interrupt "But I'm not saying anything unless you are asking to be part of the investigation."
"But doing so will be asking to get even more involved. To be chained down," the Duchess noticed. "So I wonder, what are you after, oh esteemed spirit?"
/"What do you think I'm after?"/
Duchess Ellen's lips thinned into a line. "I am reminded that some spirits can /possess people/. And this makes me suspicious about your obvious attentions towards Sue."
Monika laughed. Long and loud. It was a creepy laugh.
--
--
--"The human body, like all the world and life itself, is composed of interconnected systems. But as each organ has its own function, we can examine each system separately. Some organs are part of multiple systems. The human body, to my knowledge, has eleven main organ systems."I paused in my presentation to gauge the audience. The Duke and Duchess had chosen to observe at least the presentation and the first lesson, sitting side by side in the couch and holding hands. Sue and Charlotte were sitting side by side too, but on separate chairs behind a desk placed in the center of the room. They had identical looks of rapt attention. I had to warn them to take notes after the presentation, it was too dim for that and it would just hurt their eyes to try and split their attention enough they wouldn't remember the lessons. The assistant and bodyguard, Alan, sat off to the left leaning on a coffee table. He looked bored but tried not to look disrespectful.Linze already knew some of these, so perhaps it was just as well that she wasn't here to be bored going over what we had already discussed. As the healers of the party, we had to be as efficient with our magical power as possible.I continued, and the screen projected onto a hanging silk curtain showed anatomy diagrams in succession."The CIRCULATORY SYSTEM circulates blood around the body, delivering oxygen and nutrients to other organs and carries away waste products. Blood is also hot and serves to equalize temperature in the body. It is composed of the heart, arteries, and veins."The RESPIRATORY SYSTEM involving the lungs, nose, and throat, brings in fresh air to be mixed with the blood and brings out stale air."The DIGESTIVE SYSTEM carries out the mechanical and chemical processes that provides nutrients via the ingestion of food and drink, and eliminates waste from the body. This is done via actions of the mouth, down the esophagus, into the stomach, and then the intestines. The liver is also part of this system by the excretion of bile that aids in the digestion of fats and sugars."The ENDOCRINE SYSTEM is the signaling system of the body between organs, and the chemicals released into the bloodstream govern states like rate of digestion and metabolism, breathing, lactation, sleep cycles, growth, and mood. It does so through several glands; pituitary here in the brain, the thyroid here in the neck, the pancreas, the adrenal glands, and testes for males and ovaries for females."The INTEGUMENTARY SYSTEM is basically the protective covering of the body. The skin, hair, nails. Also usually combined with the EXOCRINE SYSTEM, which produces substances outside of the bloodstream, like sweat, tears, mucous, and so on. Some of there are in linings of the tongue, nose, stomach, esophagus, and intestines. The Pancreas is part of both ENDO and EXOCRINE systems by being able to release hormones into the bloodstream and digestive juices into the small intestine."The LYMPHATIC SYSTEM, also known as the IMMUNE SYSTEM, is a network lympthatic vessels that carry a clear fluid called lymph. This fluid contains what you might call the 'soldiers of the body', mixing with the blood and attaching themselves to the small carriers of disease and polluted blood, carrying them to the lymph nodes to be destroyed. They attack tumors and fight off diseases."Part of why it is called the immune system is that if you contract a weaker strain of something like the pox and your body fights it off, it will remember how it did so and makes you immune to the stronger strain.""Excuse me, what?!" Alan's chin fell off the hand he was leaning on. "That's what that does? That's why they make us drink pox milk?"I blinked in confusion. What the hay is pox milk?"So there is some truth to the saying 'what does not kill you makes you stronger'...," Charlotte murmured. Her right hand began to twitch again, almost appearing to float off the table."Ooookay then. Next up is the MUSCULAR SYSTEM, which moves the body. Muscles are attached to bones, the SKELETAL SYSTEM, and combined they are the LOCOMOTOR SYSTEM responsible for human movement. It should be easy enough to understand muscles are meat. Creatures and monsters would be just as willing to eat to eat us if we're not smart about things, and man should not be too arrogant to forget that in the end he's just another animal."The SKELETAL SYSTEM apart from supporting the weight of the body and protecting the organs from damage also has marrow inside the hollow bones responsible for the creation of new blood."And then there's the NERVOUS SYSTEM, which contains the brain, the spinal column, and the nerves, eyes and ears, which collects and processes information from the senses and tells the muscles to contract to cause physical actions. Nerves are responsible for all feeling of pleasure and pain and your brain is where all thinking happens. Contrary to expectations, deadening nerves doesn't make for a better power that can fight through pain it leads to an ignorant fighter not knowing that they're damaging their body beyond recovery and causing muscle tears in small everyday things."Then we have the EXCRETORY SYSTEM, which filters the blood and takes away the chemicals it does not need into urine to be removed from the body."And then finally we have the male and female REPRODUCTIVE SYSTEMS responsible for making new humans."Sue eek'ed and covered her eyes. Charlotte smiled and put a comforting arm over the little girl's shoulders."It's all right," Duchess Ortlinde said from the couch. "I was learning this at a younger age from my tutors. The children of farmers know even sooner how babies are made. There's nothing to be ashamed of in the miracle of motherhoood."I didn't want to ruin Sue's innocence, but at her age she should have been learning it in science class. A doctor has no room for prudery. I waved and dismissed the opaque Dark Wall covering the windows. "Those are the systems of the human body to my knowledge. I will now be taking questions."Charlotte raised her hand. "You didn't show the energy veins. In the Far East, they also speak of a separate spirit vein and points of power.""Stabbing people can heal people, that's what they believe over there," Alan said with an arrogant yawn.I shrugged. "You mean like chakra points?" I actually respected acupuncture as a treatment for the nervous and endocrine systems, but its therapeutic properties had a more direct effect on the body's hormonal balance than just realigning chi. "Well, as a healer I choose to deal with systems that are /physically present/ in the human body. While you could say that magic power varies with the individual, these systems are the very basis for human existence. Everyone has these organs. Even animals have these organs, if just differently shaped."There is no morality or philosophy in biological systems. Rather than diagnose for an imbalance in energies or humors or fluids or whatnot, diagnose exactly which parts of the body are failing and correct how the system is supposed to work for the sake of the whole. Failure in one part will soon lead to damage in the others."Needless to say, don't look for me when it comes to more... abstract conditions, like mental health. Seriously, what sort of idiot tries to go to the recovering manic depressive about these things? Individuals are unique and have different means of coping and therapy. I can fix your body all day, don't ask me to heal your mind.Or your heart, because all you need to know is to have only one waifu. Having too many waifu will ruin your laifu.And then it was time for the lecture and study portion. The Duke and the Duchess, having already indulged their curiosity, left us be in privacy. Even Alan had to leave, mostly because he would be bored to death by it all.But before they could go, Monika asked to lend the Duke one of the projector cubes. I handed one over, much to their surprise. They were already trusting me with their precious daughter, trusting them with a light emitting device despite how irreplaceable it would be did not compare. Monika's not IN the thing after all, she would hardly suffer from having it damaged.----And so as I brought out the study books made via literally laser-printing using controlled pulses of the Monika Beam, the Duke and Duchess took another salon in the mansion. While I focused on the tutoring, meanwhile Monika gave back Duchess Ellen her Blind Sight."Didn't Sir von Chara say this could lead to a permanent blindness?" Duke Alfred asked./"It would take several months, a couple more weeks wouldn't hurt,"/ Monika nonchalantly replied.The Duke looked up sharply, and then his eyes narrowed. "You you could heal Ellen's eyes at any time, couldn't you?! You're both just holding back so that Sue might do it instead."Duchess Ellen blinked. "Why? Although I understand, it would make Sue VERY happy and I would be happy to endure blindness for longer just to allow her that why indulge her so?"She tapped at her chin and theorized "Is it that if she could understand systems, she would be able to heal anything? Could it be that Sue would be able to heal Sir Zah's own eyes, for some reason you are not allowed to do so?"Monika smiled. /"That could be it, certainly."/Duchess Ellen smiled back. "But that's not it either, isn't it so?"The Duke looked at the identical smiles on the face of the two women and wisely decided to keep silent."You like Sue, and I feel that is true," the Duchess continued, "but I think it would be a bother if she grew too attached to you. You don't want to make Sue dependent on you, so that it won't hurt your conscience to just leave when it feels like being in this kingdom is chaining you down."Monika crossed her ams and tapped at her chin, copying the Duchess' thoughtful gesture from earlier. /"How are you doing in finding out who is responsible for the attacks on your family? How well are you prepared to repel another attack, as obvious as another ambush or subtler by poisoning or magic? There's nothing like incompetence to make us leave in a hurry."/"I should feel insulted by that," the Duke had to interrupt "But I'm not saying anything unless you are asking to be part of the investigation.""But doing so will be asking to get even more involved. To be chained down," the Duchess noticed. "So I wonder, what are you after, oh esteemed spirit?"/"What do you think I'm after?"/Duchess Ellen's lips thinned into a line. "I am reminded that some spirits can /possess people/. And this makes me suspicious about your obvious attentions towards Sue."Monika laughed. Long and loud. It was a creepy laugh.----
