"Let me put it this way: it's been years since I last met her."

Years can be anything above a single hexarchate cycle, right? And Mikodez had been away from home since entering Shuos Academy, so in truth, he's only had contact with Istradez on the many, many occasions when he needed to arrange for outside assitance on a school prank, or when she was working on her own school applications, or when he wanted to arrange a gift for their family on New Year's, or...