Beta-chapters are on hold due to some issues which I need to sort out. Pardon my grammar mistakes.

Title: Remedy from the Seeds

Inspired by: Chapter 38 of the Manga Akagami ni Shirayukihime

Character: Izana Wistalia, Ryuu

Wordcount: 678

Rating: General

Status: (22 August 2017) Chapter beta-ed by Kartara. Please check out her profile and support her works.

To cure the poisoned people, the remedy will come from the seeds from which the disease originated.

I kept repeating those words inside my head after Ryuu accompanied me to visit the young boy, Kirito, in one of the wards set aside to isolate patients afflicted with the mysterious disease.

Kirito looked very different from the boy I met several days ago; his lips were blue, and his blond hair looked whiter. His skin is very pale, and from where I stood at a certain distance, he is struggling his best to keep warm, even as doctors poured warming medicine down his throat. Even I was prevented to see him, for fear that Kirito's health was not stable enough to allow visitors to see him.

I wanted to ask him where the two went, but it might be too much of a strain for him. Ryuu shared that they questioned him earlier when he was brought in by Obi, and they found the stream with dull, shiny water. And because the water is pure, they could clearly see the seeds resting at the shallow bottom of the spring.

"They went out again to find the source." Ryuu consulted Kirito's medical data and nodded in satisfaction, before muttering about asking Shidan about something, but he's been nowhere to be found.

"The seeds are being processed by Yuzuri," Ryuu hurried along and I followed him after checking that Kirito was stable. "Cnce we have extracted the inner seeds, we will proceed with distilling and combining it with a curative to neutralize its harmful effects. And then it will crystallize. Once it reaches that stage, the crystals can be grounded into powder and mixed into a drink as a cure. The patients should continue consuming the powdered medicine until their temperature stabilizes."

I nodded. I was about to speak when Maruko suddenly appeared at my elbow.

"Your Highness." He handed me a small parchment. Ryuu stopped walking and looked up, waiting for me.

I scanned the letter quickly, frowning a little.

"Is there a problem?" Ryuu asked, concerned.

"Your boss is coming. And she would be arriving very soon." That woman moves fast, I thought to myself, folding the parchment again before looking back at the Garack's young protégé standing beside me. No doubt, she wishes to find out more about the disease and include it in her annual health report to be presented to Her Majesty, The Queen.

His eyes grew wide, and he paled a little. "Garack?" he almost squeaked, panic rising.

I nodded. "If you are concerned about how she would react with the disease spreading around us, I think you are mistaken, Ryuu. You have provided nothing but invaluable insight and service." I reassured him.

He seemed to calm down at my encouraging words, his cheeks flushing a little from embarrassment at the compliments.

"Thank you, Your Highness. I keep thinking that I should be doing more," He mumbled.

Placing a hand on top of his head, young Ryuu reminded me of my own brother. It's hard to believe that our health and Lyrias' salvation lies on the hands of a young one such as him. For without his help, Lyrias would be reeling from the death toll. We have tried to keep the casualties to a minimum, but ever since the breakout of the illness, a handful of people-mostly older ones-have succumbed to the disease. Ryuu has been working around the clock to prevent more deaths.

Now that the cure has been deciphered from the book, all that is left now is to test out the instructions and hope for the best. If the first batch of medicines created from the seeds brought by Kirito, Obi and Shirayuki, are successful, we could start administering the medicines in a few days' time.

I left Ryuu when we reached the pharmacy labs. I told him to wait for me while I fetch Garack, and he nodded, already muttering about the complicated process of creating medicine and the time it needs to bring out the plant's healing properties.