Naked Caleb, who was standing beside me, said, "Why don't you let us inspect your body and see if we can identify where the spell is and who cast it on you?"
"And when you find that out," I said, "what would you do then?"
Lord Geoffrey said, "We'd lift it."
Quietly, I said, "What if I don't want to lift this spell? It's quite nice having it on me, to be honest."
Caleb said, "It's a dangerous spell, Alfie."
That got my attention, and Lord Noah said from the pool, "High-tier magic has a life force of its own. For it to function, it needs to draw the owner's qi, and the longer you have it on you, the weaker you become. And eventually—"
I didn't need to hear the rest of Lord Noah's sentence. I said, "I'll die? Because the spell draws and uses all of my qi?"
Lord Ethan said, "Unfortunately, that's the way it is, Alfie. If you value your life... Considering that your qi, despite being pure, is so weak and with that high-tier spell cast on you, you won't last long."
I paled immediately. "How long...?" I swallowed hard and repeated, "How long is my lifespan if I don't lift the spell?"
Lord Noah said, "I'm afraid it'll be six months at most."
I felt my knees weaken at hearing the information.
"Only six months?" I whispered under my breath.
That wouldn't be a long enough time for me to do my research and find my way home. After all, crossing between two realms would be no easy task. As I'd learned so far from reading Lord Noah's books with my broken Aurora Realm language, this type of phenomenon only occurred at a certain point in time and space, very much like the alignment of our planets in the solar system during the solar or lunar eclipse, which happened once in a blue moon. Despite that, I had yet to figure out what type of event had to occur and what planets, stars, and whatever else was involved so that the Aurora barrier would open and allow me to cross over. I knew that six months wasn't long enough for the next incident to happen.
I felt my body trembling in dread at the thought of my own death due to something like that—a spell eating away at my qi and hence, my lifespan.
How dare someone have the nerve to cast such a despicable spell on me? Did that person want to slowly kill me without my noticing or something? Could this be the reason I felt so weak the longer I stayed here? Which I had noticed since I had entered this realm.
Lord Victor said, "Your life is important, Alfie. We believe identifying that spell and lifting it as soon as possible is the best option."
"Then..." I licked my lips and continued, my voice trembling. "Then how do I find this spell that's on me?"
Lord Noah said, "There should be a mark, like a sign or symbol, on your body."
I shook my head. I remembered checking my body from head to toe yesterday morning when I had found, during my bathing, that my body had changed due to the consumption of the golden pill.
I said, "I've already checked myself, my lord, but I didn't see anything like that on me."
Felix said, "What about your back?"
I frowned. That, I hadn't since I obviously couldn't inspect my own back properly, could I?
I shook my head. "No, not my back."
Caleb said, "Then take off your shirt. I'll check it out for you."
I blushed suddenly. Caleb? Inspecting my back?
He came close and started for the buttons of my shirt.
I freaked out and said, "No. It's okay, I'll do it myself."
I sighed. I saw no other choice. Hence, I turned to face the other way so that my back was directed toward all the lords. Then I started unbuttoning my blouse. Once it was finally undone, I timidly slipped it off me and proceeded with the binding.
Aaron asked, his voice sounding perplexed, "Why do you have that around your chest? Isn't it tight?"
"A custom from your homeland, Alfie?" Lord Ethan asked.
My cheeks burned hot. I said, "It's for protection, my lords."
"Protection?" Felix asked. "What is there to protect around the area of your chest?"
Aaron said, "The heart, of course."
Lord Victor said, "If you wanted to protect your vital organs, a chainmail garment is best, Alfie."
I rolled my eyes. They were going way off topic here.
Once the binding was undone and the material slipped from my fingers, falling to the wet marble floor, I said, "Please hurry, my lord, so that I can get dressed again."
Gosh, having my breasts bare in the presence of seven men just felt so naughty and morally wrong.
Suddenly, I felt this intense, electrifying energy pulsating in the air as Caleb moved even closer. So much so that I could feel his warm breath on my skin. My heart started racing once again, and my body was quivering delicately as I waited.
I felt Caleb's hand gently touching my arm, which was followed by his fingers gently touching the strands of my hair and brushing them aside.
Suddenly, I heard the splashing of water and stomping of feet, and a flick of a second later, Felix was right in front of me in all the glory of his nakedness, his body dripping wet with water droplets.
I lifted my gaze to him and noted the dark look in his eyes, which oddly enough made me weak, and I started trembling, both inside and out.
What is wrong with Felix? Why does he look so... intense?
He said, his voice low and dark, "Let me help."
He gathered the bunch of my long hair and lifted it off my skin as he and Caleb proceeded to inspect my back.
For what seemed like an eternity, I felt both their hot, intense gazes on me, their eyes scrutinizing every small detail of my back, which was very unnerving to say the least. The fact that my nipples started getting aroused and my womanhood started, umm, becoming excited didn't help with the matter either.