Elliot remembered one detail.
The Mourning Poetry Society was a legal society, and Damian had mentioned that its charter had been issued personally by Emperor Trist, with a drop of his blood on it.
And Thrice-Great had also been proposed by Emperor Trist.
Elliot directly controlled Vanessa to speak. "Flora, what's inside you isn't the real Thing of Immortality, is it?"
"That's right. This is just a replica. The Mourning Poetry Society lost the real Thing of Immortality..." Flora stroked her chest and sighed, her mood visibly sinking.
Vanessa stared at Flora's chest for a long while before suddenly asking, "Why is that hole still there?"
Flora froze. Only then did she notice that the hole in her chest was still there. Not only had it not shrunk, it had grown larger.
It even seemed to be a little larger still.
Now it was already as big as when it first appeared!
She hurriedly patted her face and looked at Vanessa in terror. "H-have I turned like that again?! Emotionless and cold!"
Vanessa shook her head. "At least your fear hasn't disappeared."
"But... why hasn't it disappeared?"
"Disappeared?" Flora looked puzzled.
Flora had only recently joined the Communion. She still didn't know that Advancement restored every aspect of one's condition.
And when Vanessa first gave her Advancement, she hadn't been a member of the Esoteric Cult yet, so Vanessa hadn't told her.
Elliot frowned in front of the Difference Engine.
Advancement restores bodily injuries. Even Maeve could recover after turning into a monster. There's no reason the hole in Flora's chest shouldn't recover.
Could it be... that this hole isn't in her physical body?
And why is it getting bigger? Does advancing make the hole expand?
Elliot shook his head. *Forget it. It can recover on its own anyway. I