"Master, she’s ready."
Luna said after administering the anesthesia. I looked at the sleeping elf, and she looked absolutely gorgeous lying there, her eyes closed, sleeping peacefully.
"I’ll be extracting her memories since I’m sure she must have missed something in her explanations."
The memory stone floated in the air above her head as a translucent spell floated above it. This was a spell specifically used when using the memory spell, a sort of anchor.
’Extract ’
The memory stone started to glow as it rotated above her head. Different kinds of small images started to appear inside the stone. They were too small to see exactly, but I knew they were Kianah’s memories.
Below, Kianah’s body twitched occasionally as the memories were forcefully pulled off. It was a shame there wasn’t a spell to search the memories without the use of stones. There were just too many restrictions on the matter of mind and soul.
"Done."
The memory crystal floated into my hand. The memories inside had sort of organised themselves in a kaleidoscope of colors.
"Let’s start from her first memory. "
This was when she was a year or so old when her mind had developed enough to remember. What stood out from those childhood memories was the female dark elf who was beside her and caring for her. There weren’t any other elves around which made her statement true.
What was still weird as we moved on through her memories was that the woman’s face remained blurry; it was as though something was preventing us from seeing it. That just made my curiosity bigger. I moved on until I came to her memory of planting most of the poisons and Zelph understanding them.
It was unfortunate that all of them required the help of a dark elf. When I reached the first memory of myself, I paused; it had been when I was ten. That had been the time I started to leave the duchy occasionally.
"She seems to have lived near the city for a while."
Luna, who was beside me, looking at the memories, said. I nodded. From her memories, she was just looking for ingredients for spells and potions.
"We should erase that."
I said the moment we reached the drawing I had left at the cave. Luna nodded. The memory square broke into pieces. That memory is gone.
"And that one."
"Master, if I could make a suggestion?"
Luna asked cautiously and pointed at her memory of the castle.
"You may."
"You can make it into a friendly fight and then remove all the memories about the first operation."
I nodded her suggestion was better than mine.
"You’re right, I had thought of erasing everything about me or our meeting, but making me into a friend would make her trust me easily ."
Luna nodded. We did just that, erasing all memories that seemed extremely negative and modifying some to make us look friendly and loving.
This would alter most of her personality, but as long as she was able to plant and remain fully committed, I couldn’t care less.
"This should be enough, let’s not mess with a lot of her core memories. "
"You seem to have forgotten something young master. "
Luna said. I was just about to put the memory stone down.
"She said her guardian forbade her from ever telling anyone, you haven’t erased that."
"Ooh, yes, how could I have forgotten that?"
I ran a hand through my hair. That was a memory that could dismantle almost everything. We hurriedly went through it and found it. She had been told during her first teaching when she was five years old.
"Let’s begin the operation then."
Luna nodded and stepped back. She organised the tool table and gave me the scalpel. The memory stone only copies memories , i had to destroy her memory storage part of the brain first.
"Won’t she turn into Isis at first?"
Luna asked curiously whole wiping my sweat. I liked talking during these straining operations, which kept me more engaged, and Luna knew that.
"No, this is different. For Isis, I basically destroyed a lot of her memory, emotions, personality, and anything that would associate her with a slave. They always carry resentment. "
Luna nodded and leaned in to suction the gathering blood. I continued talking after the small pause.
"This one we are just replacing her memory. She doesn’t need to learn anything at all."
We pulled through the operation with small talk as I pulled out small pieces of her brain, then started replacement and reconstruction.
I added the spell used to return her memory and another spell to destroy them if it ever backfires. I wasn’t really sure if the memory stone was foolproof.
The process took four sand glasses since I needed to pick a small, specific part. It was delicate enough, and I didn’t want to touch another part.
"Bring the stone"
I said to Luna, extending my arm towards her, I wanted to put her memory back before Luna stitches her up. The stone floated above her forehead and the color drained from it as it flowed into her head.
The memories couldn’t be seen physically after they drained from the stone. The only way to know was to look at the colour.
Looking at the process, a question flashed through my mind, and I pushed it to the back. That would be for another time.
"Stitch her up."
I said to Luna the moment the stone drained all its colour. I stepped back and she took over me. Now the only thing we had to do was to wait for her to wake up so that I could see if my impulsive research had paid off.
I had never done this to any other slaves. The only thing I did was just create mere dolls for students and teachers who asked. I can say that it became quite the business in the academy.
Unlike Luna’s worries, I had not faced any trouble for that yet.
"She feels like a half-made doll since she has most of her memories. "
I said in amusement to luna who was finishing her stitches. Right now I was sitting by the operation bed since I had to be the first person she saw when she woke up.
It was a hassle on its own but it was part of the process.
"I’m done master."
Luna’s voice took me out of my musings. She had started to clean the blood in the operating room.
"Master, she’s starting to wake up."
Luna said. I stood up and looked down at Kianah. Her eyes moved beneath her lips as her eyelashes flustered before her eyes opened.
Grey eyes looked at me in confusion. She glanced around before she turned to look at me again.
"Do you know who I am?"
I asked with a smile on my face. She blinked before a smile curved on her face.
"Young master Lucian. "
I chuckled. It had worked perfectly.
"Yes, dear Kianah, it’s young master Lucian."
She giggled. As long as she remembers me, it means the memory change worked. I couldn’t care less about any side effects.
"Why am I here?"
She asked after a moment of silence as she looked around. I help her sit up slowly. She swayed a little as a spell of dizziness hit her.
That was to be expected since her brain had to adapt to the memory erasure.
"You got attacked."
She looked at me in surprise as she tried to recall what I was saying.
"What, but I don’t remember anything."
She said doubtfully as she touched her body hesitantly looking for injuries.
"I’m not really sure, but I found you at the estate gates unconscious. There was no one around. I apologise for not arriving on time. I healed most of the injuries on your body but the main wound on your head will take a day or two."
She looked distressed before she took my hand into hers and started to play with my fingers.
"It’s okay, as long as the young master saved my life. I owe you my life."
A sad smile was on her face. I pulled her into a soft hug as tears started to drip down her cheeks. She burst out into full sobs the moment I held her.
"I .... I don’t know....why ... I...crying.."
She said between sobs. This was probably her body’s traumatic response and a warning to her. The brain was really complex. It was still trying to save her.
"Probably just tired, crying helps relax the body."
She nodded against my shoulders. She cried until sleep took her.
"Let’s take her to the annex."
Luna nodded and followed behind me as I carried her out of the room. The annex was a smaller house separate from the main house.
Since it was empty, Jeneviv had taken to staying there. She will be a good friend to Kianah since she is naive and overly friendly.
Jeneviv warmed up to us after experiencing the full benefits of staying with me.
"The sun has already set? Time sure flies."
I said the moment we stepped out of the laboratory.