User blog comment:Xilinoc/Ch. 586 - The Headless Star 5/@comment-11506376-20140625171259/@comment-5398287-20140627182347

That's the explanation I'm going with.

As for how long the Sternritter have been around, I would think so as well. After all, even the youngest among the Sternritter don't look like they're 9 years old.