The week passed like the slow dripping of venom.
Ether didn't waste a second. While Miral Raven waited for her "Golden Ticket" to ripen, Ether was busy turning his new laboratory into a fortress of biological deception. He didn't just study the shipping manifests Kai brought back; he studied the very air of the West Wing.
"The arrival of Barin is a variable I didn't calculate for this early," Ether murmured, his fingers dancing over a flask of shimmering blue fluid. "A 'Reader of Spectral Channels'. In my world, we called them Neurological Scanners. If he is as good as they say, he won't just see the healing—he'll see the scars I left behind."
The "Glass Barrier" he had installed in Valerian wasn't a physical object. It was a Frequency Dampener—a microscopic layer of dormant Rust cells woven into the Count's neural pathways. To a normal doctor, it looked like healthy, regenerated tissue. To a master, it might look like a masterpiece of sabotage.
"I need a catalyst," Ether whispered. "Something to blind the professional eye."
The day of arrival was shrouded in a thick, gray fog that rolled in from the Shattered Sea.
Doctor Barin was a man who looked more like a vulture than a healer. He was draped in heavy, dark robes, and his eyes—augmented by silver spectral lenses—seemed to peel the skin off everyone he looked at.
Miral stood in the grand hall, her expression a mask of noble hospitality. "Doctor Barin. The Raven family is honored. My brother's recovery is... miraculous, but we require your expertise to ensure its permanence."
Barin didn't smile. His voice was a dry rasp. "Miracles are usually just ignored symptoms, Lady Miral. Let us see what 'miracle' has taken root in this graveyard of a residence."
They moved to the East Wing.
Ether stood in the shadows of the upper balcony, watching the procession. Beside him, Kai was a silent statue.
"He smells of ancient herbs and distilled soul-essence," Kai whispered, his enhanced senses twitching. "He is Rank 2, but his mental energy is concentrated. He is dangerous, Ether."
"He is a relic," Ether countered, his eyes fixed on Barin's silver lenses. "He reads the 'spirit'. He doesn't understand the 'cell'. But even a relic can break a plan if it falls in the wrong place."
Inside Valerian's chambers, the air grew heavy.
Barin approached the bed. He didn't use needles or potions. He raised his hands, and ten thin, glowing threads of silver light extended from his fingertips, hovering over Valerian's chest.
[Spectral Reading: 15%... 40%...]
The room went silent. Even Miral held her breath.
Barin's lenses flickered. His brow furrowed. "The pathways are... clear. Too clear. The regeneration is flawless. Almost as if the tissue was grown, not healed."
Valerian looked up, his voice tense. "And the ceiling, Doctor? Why can't I break through to the Second Tier? My energy circulates, but it hits a wall I cannot see."
Barin moved his threads toward the heart, the exact location where Ether had performed the "surgery".
Ether, watching from the balcony, felt his own pulse steady. He reached into his pocket and crushed a small, dried leaf of Spirit-Dampening Moss.
Now.
A faint, invisible vibration traveled through the stone walls—a frequency Ether had spent the week calibrating to match the room's natural resonance.
Barin's silver threads flickered. A sudden spike of "Ghost Energy" erupted from Valerian's old wound—a false signal Ether had planted days ago.
"Aha!" Barin hissed, pulling back. "Residual trauma! Lady Miral, your 'doctor' was sloppy. There is a pocket of stagnant energy trapped in the pericardium. It is acting as a natural brake on his progression."
Miral's eyes sharpened. "Can it be fixed?"
"It is a delicate matter," Barin said, his greed finally showing through his professional mask. "It will require expensive soul-stones and a week of my personal cleansing. Your slave didn't fix him; he merely patched a sinking ship."
From the balcony, a faint, ghost of a smile touched Ether's lips.
Checkmate, Doctor.
By giving Barin a "mistake" to find, Ether had given him a reason to stay—and a reason to stop looking for the real truth. Barin would now spend a week "cleansing" a phantom problem, while Ether earned the one thing he needed most.
Time.
"Kai," Ether whispered as they retreated into the darkness of the West Wing. "The ship Barin arrived on. Tell me about its hull. Was there a crest of a Blue Whale on the rudder?"
Kai blinked. "Yes. How did you know?"
"Because Miral isn't selling me to a power on the Continent," Ether's eyes glowed with a cold, predatory light. "She's selling me to the Biological Inquisition. And Barin isn't just a doctor. He's the scout."