Kyle greeted Rishe politely, though he seemed supremely stumped. "Thank you for this unexpected delight, Lady Rishe. To think I would be so fortunate as to lay eyes upon you twice in one day; I'm not sure how to express the joy I feel from such a wondrous opportunity."
"Your Highness, I beg you—speak freely. Don't concern yourself with propriety."
"All right. As you wish." Looking worried, Kyle turned to Michel beside him.
"Michel, what exactly are you doing?"
Michel grinned. "I found this remarkable young woman in a courtyard. She's got something interesting, and I wanted to introduce her to you right away."
"Watch what you say, will you? This is the crown prince of Galkhein's fiancée."
"Oh, really? Eh, she just became my student a minute ago, so it's fine."
Kyle gave her a bewildered look. Rishe bowed her head to him, apologetic. Due to their past, she felt responsible for Michel's behavior, as if she were a family member.
"She's an aspiring apothecary, you see. I believe she has some medicine that would benefit you, Kyle."
"An apothecary? Lady Rishe?"
"She told me she studied under a mentor from Renhua ! From how she tells it, I think this mentor and I would get along well, isn't that right, Rishe?"
Rishe could only laugh in response. "Aha ha ha…"
Michel plowed on. "These aren't herbs I've studied myself, but I'm aware of their potency. This medicine should work, and its side effects shouldn't impact your daily life overmuch. I think we should experiment with them, Kyle!"
"Professor, you cannot 'experiment ' on the prince of a nation!"
"Huh? Was that the wrong way to put it? My, common sense can be difficult, can't it?"
Feigning surprise, Michel smiled at Kyle, who had quite a complicated look on his face. "I truly do pray for your full recovery, Your Highness. With every beat of my heart."
Ah, Professor, you can't say it like that…
Kyle had a very earnest, sincere disposition and thus was susceptible to others' sincerity. He believed his frail body to be a burden. "I understand."
Aaah.
Just as she expected, Kyle nodded his head gravely. Rishe was grateful for his cooperation, but she couldn't help her concern for him.
"Are you sure, Your Highness ?"
"The foremost scholar of my country urges me to try it and stands by its efficacy. I am dedicated to doing anything it takes—I consider the possibility fortuitous." With the utmost gravity, he added, "After all, a medicine prepared by such a goddess will doubtless have some effects simply by the very nature of its creator."
"…I'll just get it ready, then." Rishe took a moment to collect herself, then stood. She would have to report to Arnold before she administered any medicine, so she asked one of her guards to deliver a message to his office, where he was sure to still be working.
The guard returned with Arnold's reply: a simple "Understood." Apparently, his intention to allow Rishe free rein still remained. Unsure of what he was really thinking, Rishe got to work.
First: mix the medicine!
Rishe hastened back to the detached wing with her basket of herbs. She lit the kitchen stove and set the herbs she had already prepared to boil. Asking a maid to mind the pot for her, she returned to the reception room to interview her patient.
"I see…" Rishe murmured. "You weren't eating much on your journey."
"It embarrasses me to say so, but I was seasick for much of it… I was stuck in my cabin the entire time."
"That sounds awful. How about after you arrived in Galkhein?"
"Well, then I spent the rest of the trip carriage-sick…" Kyle said dejectedly.
Michel smiled softly at his prince. "Kyle was a brilliant patient, though. He fought his nausea the whole time. I felt so bad when he threw up the fruit I gave him, but he managed to keep down water and ice. I'm not really suited for tending the sick, though…"
"Michel," Kyle said. "Could you stop patting my head?"
"You should have brought a normal apothecary with you," Michel went on, "Instead of someone who doesn't know what he's doing."
Kyle frowned. "The queen is about to give birth. The royal family's supply of apothecaries is not limitless; as many as possible should remain with her, should they not? Perhaps I should have left you there as well…"
"No way. Childbirth is way out of my wheelhouse."
"You just came back covered in blood a few days ago, saying you attended the birth of a calf," Kyle protested. "Was that not for your research?"
"Nah, I'd just never seen it before. I was interested, so I got a little overexcited."
"You terrorized Coyolles Castle for that?"
The familiar banter warmed Rishe's heart. There are moments when the professor looks younger than eighteen-year-old Prince Kyle. Of course, no one knows how old he actually is…
The reason for that was simple: Michel himself didn't know it. He looked to be in his mid-to-late twenties, but he occasionally displayed the innocence of a much younger man and the wisdom of an older one.