If Ryuu were to use a word to describe himself, he wouldn't pick strong. He's not strong enough to lift someone up on to his shoulders to see or to grab loose papers, not like the way that Obi lifted him up and placed him there, not even a hint of a struggle or a stumble. And he wouldn't really say that he's strong enough to climb a tree, not like Obi can, who can scale a tree in seconds, already having sized out where to place his hands and feet, knowing just how to pull himself up, step by step, and knowing it so well that it takes mere seconds.
Ryuu isn't strong like that, and so, he doesn't consider the word the right one to describe himself. But, he is strong, just not in the physical sense. It takes a certain strength of will to sit for hours, researching and researching and researching again, until the plants become like an extension of himself, something he knows so well that many people look at him, baffled.
Ryuu's strong in his determination, the very essence of which, guides him further and further into herbology. He's had to be strong, when slowly but surely his family fell apart into tiny specks, until one day, it was just Ryuu, and he had nothing else to do. Emotion doesn't come easy to him; he's not aware of all the little odds and ends. What makes love romantic and not just friendly? What sparks the kind of desire to settle down with someone for life, when being alone seemed okay before?
Those kinds of things aren't his forte. He's not sure how one tells, but he has come to tell just when one has that. It puts a certain kind of warmth in his chest, to see others happy, and he particularly cares the most for those that he's somehow drawn the closest to.
He's always been so focused on herbology, as it is one thing that has never left him. He's dealt with loss before, bone numbing loss that he's grown accustomed to, not in a bleak way, but it feels normal. It feels normal to be alone, to work tirelessly on the next surprise that he finds in herbology, the next secret to uncover.
Ryuu's always had a laser drawn focus in his chosen field, and while he never really made friends his own age throughout his life. He was always just a little outside of the circle, and he never made all that many adult friends either. He's a kid, and sometimes he wishes people would treat him like one and yet other times, he wants to just be accepted as one of them.
He knows that it probably would have been easier to not be a child prodigy, but he doesn't regret pursuing his job at the castle either. It's a joy to be among the plants, to study cause and effect. It's a delight to be able to spend hours immersed in a book or with an herb in front of him. It's awe inspiring what being at the castle has helped him to discover.
It takes focus, an alertness, to figure out herbology, especially enough to become a Court Herbalist; it's this determination, this drive, this focus, that ultimately makes him strong. And while Ryuu has never paused long enough to consider that he's strong in his own way, it doesn't stop the strength from flowing from him, the same kind of strength that got him his job, that allowed him to thrive in it, and that inspires others around him.