"Sunset herb!" Ro gasped. The animals at the stable showed no sign of waking up.

"I must make the rose tonic to wake them up!" she looked at the greenhouse where she saw the island roses, which could be used as a cure against the poisonous herb.

"I'm sure Prince Antonio would let us use them." Sagi assured.

"I'll go and ask him."

"I couldn't ask him, the guards didn't let me in." Ro sighed, worried for the animals.

"That's terrible.." Sagi commented. "But we can't delay this, Ro. The animals need the tonic as soon as possible before they starve to death!"

"You're right, Sagi. Their lives matter more right now than anything. We should get those roses whether the king and queen likes it or not...it's for the best!"

Ro immediately ran to the greenhouse which she had been taking refuge for the past three days in civilization. She plucked the biggest island roses and used their stems and petals mixed with some water to create the tonic.

"There! This should do it…" she looked at the sun, it was already high noon. "Let's hope there's enough."

"To the stables, quick!"

Ro approached the stables and was pleased to see no one around. She knew many wouldn't trust her procedure to cure the animals.

"Hold the pigs, steady…" she whispered. Tika held them as Ro fed them the tonic.

"Hopefully it starts to work soon! In the meantime we must-"

"Hey you!"

Ro froze.

"What business do you have in the Royal stables?!" the stable keeper approached. "I'm sure you and your beasts are the ones spreading this disease!"

"Please, no! We're just trying to help! The animals have been poisoned with sunset herb and I can cure them."

"What nonsense is this! Who would poison them!" the stable keeper glared at the girl, preparing to make her leave the stables.

"Please believe me, the animals, they will-"

Oink, oink!

Ro watched in amazement as she saw the pigs awake from their slumber, gathering everyone's attention. She was surprised that the tonic worked this fast.

The stable keeper watched in disbelief, "How did they-"

"Sunset herb. Trust me. A tonic made from the island roses can cure them!"

"Can you-"

"But wait! First we need to make sure the animals don't eat that food again! It's poisoned!"

"You're right!" The stable keeper rushed to empty the animal's feeding containers. Ro helped.

"Thank you so much." The stable keeper finished emptying the last of the feeding troughs before filling it with new food.

"No problem." Ro checked if the new food was poisoned as well. Luckily it wasn't. "We must make more tonic, there could be more animals poisoned!"

"Actually, all the animals in the kingdom have been reported with the same sleeping sickness… All except yours, however…"

"Hm… I'm not sure why… but that doesn't matter, we need to make more tonic right away!"

"We can't…not at the rate required to feed all the animals by sunset. I must go tell the king!"

"Thank you, please be fast!" Ro felt an overwhelming sense of relief to see that at least someone trusted her here and that the animals in the stable were now awake and fed. However she couldn't stop worrying for the rest of the animals still starving in their sleep. "Tallulah, the horses…"

"Everything alright, Ro?" Sagi asked her. "All the animals should soon be treated with the tonic now that they have proof that we aren't the ones spreading the disease."

"I hope so… but how is it that you three weren't poisoned and the rest of the animals were…?" Her face strained with worry and confusion. "What does this mean…who could do these two all of the animals?"

"Maybe princess Luciana?" Tika suggested.

"What? No, Tika. Why would she ever-"

"Ro!" It was Antonio's voice. He ran to her, with the scientist, Frasier, following him, "You know how to cure the animals?"

"Yes, the island roses can be used to make a tonic."

"Thank goodness" He held her hands in his as he watched the animals in stable move about, like they were never poisoned. "My parents are convinced it was you who spread the disease."

Ro wasn't surprised. "I...um, sorry I had to use roses from the greenhouse to make the tonic. I wanted to ask you first-"

"It's alright." He smiled at her. "You did it to save them."

"Your Highness" Fraiser interrupted, "I need Ro's guidance on how to create the tonic."

"Yes, of course!" Ro walked over to the scientist, she knew this would keep her away from Antonio, but most importantly, the animals needed to be cured fast.

….

By dusk that day, barrels of tonic were produced and distributed to all the animals in the kingdom. The effect was almost instant and luckily no animals had starved to their deaths.

"Thank you, Ro, for coming up with such an effective cure against the herb." The king had invited her to have dinner at the castle tonight, along with his family, to express his gratitude.

"I'm glad I could help."

"I still wonder, who would poison the animals..." the king questioned.

"Who poisoned the animals?" Queen Ariana hit her fists on the table, gathering everyone's attention. "Are you sure this girl didn't purposely poison the animals when she knew the exact cure? Don't you question why her animals were left unpoisoned?"

Everyone remained quiet for a moment as Ariana glared at Ro, and Ro at her, trying to resist the urge to defend herself. She feared if the king would actually believe in Ariana's false claims against her.

"I believe the true criminal shall be revealed through time's progress." Antonio broke the silence, his voice stern. "You may believe Ro had attempted to kill the animals but so far we only know she had pure intentions to save them and not let a single one die."

The king nodded, "I agree. Time shall reveal the true one behind this plot."

Ro was in awe to hear the king and prince speak for her defence against the woman who made her feel unwelcome and inferior the most. For the first time she truly felt like she belonged here. In fact she suddenly felt bold enough to speak up for the first time.

"I think in the meantime it's more important that everyone's food is checked for safety before they are consumed." Ro turned to the king, "Your majesty, you are never sure who the next target is. Today it's your animals. Maybe tomorrow, it's your own people." She gave Ariana a quick glance before returning to the king.

Ariana glared back. Ro couldn't help but smirk at her because it was quite obvious she was the mastermind behind all this.

The king and the queen were both pleasantly surprised to hear the girl speak up, and even more by how regal she sounded like she was never brought up on an island after all. They must have underestimated her more than they thought.

"I agree. With the wedding ceremony expected to commence in two days, I shall see that all food is prepared and served with precautions by the royal cooks." the king responded.

Ro, upon hearing about the wedding, flinched, "In two days? It's that soon?"

All eyes went at Ro.

"Why, yes." Ariana smirked at her. "I'd say it actually could have been moved up by one more day!"

Ro felt her face grow hot, she once again embarrassed herself while dining with the royals.

Antonio, forced to sit across the table next to his fiancée, had noticed the sudden discomfort the girl felt when hearing about the wedding date. But if this news saddened her, why didn't she respond to the note he left for her in the greenhouse?

He would have to talk to her.

After dinner was over, Antonio invited her to take a stroll with him in the palace gardens. She hesitated at first but accepted.

"Ro, thank you, again."

"Anytime." she smiled. "I'm glad everyone's safe."

"We never had anything like this happen before. Also to have all the animals fall asleep on the same day… doesn't seem like a normal disease spread for me." He tried to distract himself from asking her if she had read the note he had left for her yesterday. "I hope we find out who was behind all this, soon...before that person comes up with any newer and deadlier plans."

"Do you have anyone specific in your mind who could have done this…?" Ro asked.

"My money is on queen Ariana." He chuckled. "This morning she was the one who suggested you and your animals spread the disease. Her reasoning was that since your animals didn't sleep they must have been the carriers as they are immune themselves. My father was furious and was about to put you into the dungeon!"

"Oh my…" Ro shook her head. "And then she also claimed that I tried to poison them myself and cure them."

The prince laughed, "Yes, I wish my parents could see the obvious as we do."

"I know. Maybe you should tell them."

"Ro, so, last night…did you find my note?"

"What? Your note?"

"Uh, yes. I left a note for you in the greenhouse."

"I didn't find any. What was it you wanted to tell me?"

"Ro, I want you to sail away with me."