Year 3988, 1st Day of the 8th Moon
Fliamma Kingdom, Continent of Humana

THEY CONTINUED to stroll along the streets as Faylinn kept on buying things that were mostly for Elise and Erkhan was the one who was carrying it all.

"I think I can carry some," she tried offering help.

"It's fine. Erkhan can handle it," Faylinn brushed off.

"I don't even need some of this stuff," she said glancing at the jewelry boxes atop the large boxes that contained clothes.

Erkhan just smiled at her. "Let her be. You cannot stop Faylinn from doing what she wants. You're in your late teens, am I right?"

"Nope. I'm already twenty-one. Why?"

"The younger twins are eighteen. Your age is a lot closer to them so she acts like that. She just wanted a little sister to dress up," Erkhan told as his voice sounded melancholy for a second before his cheery expression returned. "That makes me twenty-two years older than you by the way."

"What?!" Her eyes were wide and her mouth hanging. She could never get used to their age.

"You're funny. You always looked like you were stunned. Must be the side-effects from losing memories." He even chuckled after he spoke.

"Erkhan!"

They were interrupted by Faylinn's shout. She was running towards them as if someone was chasing her. Her cheerful expression was gone and replaced with agitation.

"We need to go home. Faster! Hadrien was poisoned!"

The panic in Erkhan's face did not escape her eyes. He immediately whistled and a giant bird emerged over the bustling streets. It landed right in front of them and they hastily rode on its back. A few seconds later, they were up in the sky.

Everything happened so fast. Faylinn was in a state of panic, then now they were flying. She could not even react after seeing the dread look on their faces. Faylinn could not stop fidgeting behind her the whole ride while Erkhan's profile loomed with darkness.

An hour from the carriage a while ago became just a quarter of minutes when they reached the palace. Nausea rose from her throat but she had no time to wallow over it and they quickly rushed inside.

All of the siblings were there with a pair of servants assisting Hadrien. The elderly man from the morning was also there beside Aricson. When she finally had a clear view of the younger Flamion, her gut wretched. 

She had seen a lot during her time at the hospital but the amount of blood in front of her made her wonder if Hadrien was still even alive. It was as if all the pores were poked and excreted blood all over. He laid unconscious with a paleness that was almost as white as the sheet due to the contrast of the scarlet liquid all over his body and drenching his clothes.

"How did it happen?" Erkhan asked right away.

"From the looks of it, he seemed like he ventured to the borders again and met an accident. The poison in him can only be found in Desmidonia," Aricson calmly spoke.

"We have to call the Healers," Faylinn stated with haste.

"Gerald already called for them through the orbs but no one has yet responded. The Guardian knights had been dispatched. We also sent our fastest carriage to Medical City but it will take some time. Two hours at most." It was Brennan who answered.

"Why did it happen at such a bad time? Especially, with all of our Healers on leave," Dryann complained. Her frowning face was nowhere to be seen. She was biting her lip as she paced back and forth.

"We saw Arllian at Blaze, maybe she can help," Erkhan suggested.

"I've already sent an orb," Brennan informed them. "We just have to wait."

"How about calling Grandma?" Dryann proposed.

"You know fairies don't know anything about medicines or such since their bodies heal by themselves. What are you even thinking, Elder Sister?" Faylinn uttered in a no-nonsense tone.

"How sure are you? They live so many years they must have known a thing or two!"

"There's no point to make her worry! Hadrien will survive that!" Faylinn shouted.

"You think so?! Then where are the Healers?!"

"Drop it. While we wait for the Healer, you two quarreling won't solve anything."

The room grew tense until Aricson's voice made them shut up. The chaotic scene briefly reminded her of emergencies at the hospital as she tried to get the gist of what had happened.

"Please have a seat, my ladies. I have ordered tea to help calm down your nerves," Gerald intervened as well.

The two women listened to him to Elise's surprise.

"Why don't we transport him to the nearest Healers instead?" Erkhan recommended.

"It's impossible, Erkhan. The poison is from the thousand bloom and made his whole body profusely bleed," Aricson muttered in a grave tone.

The words rang a bell to Elise. It was one of the plants that caught her interest since it was similar to the shard fish that poisoned her but deadlier.

It was because, unlike the shard fish, the bleeding only happened on the wound, the thousand bloom could cause hemorrhage in the whole body. Another difference was that it reacted late. 

'Almost like a rat poison.' It had a component that can cause the thinning of blood which resulted in heavy bleeding but only that it was internally. She had never witnessed physical effects as gruesome as this. Her brows were drawn together for she had no choice but to recall the process she had read before speaking up.

"I think I can help."

All heads turned to her — all with varying reactions.

"You? Are you even a Healer?" Dryann was looking at her with mistrust.

"But you fainted at the sight of blood when we met," Erkhan blurted out.

She bit back a scoff. She was a celebrated surgeon. There was no way she would be afraid of blood.

"I did not faint because of blood. It was because of what you did. Anyhow, from what I know, it will be extremely dangerous if he will not stop bleeding after four hours. How long has it been anyway?"

"Almost an hour," Aricson replied. "He started bleeding as soon as he was home."

"Do you have any medicinal equipment or tools here?" she asked.

"Are you sure about this? I thought you lost all your memories," Faylinn expressed her concern with a hint of doubt.

"Just trust me. I would not dare to harm your family and I have confidence in my medical skills."

The rest of them looked at Aricson, and he was staring at her, making her nervous under his gaze. He let out a sigh and gave his approval.

"Take her to the Medicine Chamber, Gerald" Aricson ordered.

"Please follow me, Miss."

Gerald led her to the door on the right side of the room. The wall inside had small built-in cabinets with labels on every drawer. It was similar to what she had in her own home as well as most of the equipment displayed.

She had learned from her research last night how the people in this world followed the same process of traditional medicine that she stayed up all night learning about them. She did not know it came in handy so soon.

Elise opened the drawers where all the herbs she needed were. But the most important was the guiding herb. A herb that could neutralize and combine the effects of the other herbs for the body. For an odd reason, their medicinal ingredients did not include a guiding herb despite how similar their medical process was. 

She racked her brain for a solution. There are some plants that had similar components to the world she came from and only the name changed. It was a stroke of good luck that her attention was all diverted to the magical plants and one plant came to mind. She scanned each label in front but there was no blue-grass in any of the compartments. 

"Where can we find a blue-grass?" she questioned while she focused on portioning the quantities.

"Near the Ice Flame shore on the mainland." She flinched after hearing Aricson's answer. She didn't know she was not alone. Nevertheless, she tried to implore. "Can anyone get it? The more the better." 

Elise turned back to what she was doing without his reply. She grabbed the pestle and started mixing the ingredients.

"Erkhan, go get some blue-grass and do it fast." She heard him shout an order.

"Are you not going to leave?" she inquired as she ground the herbs.

"I want to know your abilities," he responded as she felt his heavy gaze. "You had mentioned you're a medical student but as you had described your world, it is entirely different from ours."

She could not blame him for being cynical since he did know the truth. The only good thing about this world was it matched her passion for traditional medicines.

"Oh, did I forget to tell you I'm into old medical techniques and herbal medicine just like what you seem to have here?"

"I doubt you did but you seem capable," he commented.

He did not leave and she simply ignored him. She finally finished until all the ingredients were turned to liquid. She hurriedly returned to Hadrien's side and it seemed like all of them were still there.

She placed the mortar and pestle on the bedside table and asked for a separate bowl. She also implored the stationed servants to bring some water. She took out Hadrien's clothes and it did not pass Dryann's eyes.

"What are you doing?"

"Undressing him. He's been soaked with his blood for a while now and no one even bothered to clean him."

Dryann looked like she was going to protest but decided not to. She glanced at her brother before quietly returning to her chair. Elise transferred the medicine to the bowl. She lifted Hadrien's head and made him drink it until there was not a drop left.

She endured their stares as she washed Hadrien's body. But as soon as she wiped the blood, a new red liquid would flow once again. It was a miracle that he was still alive seeing the blood that covered the sheets.

A few minutes after, the blood turned green and the siblings were alarmed. Almost all of them stood up abruptly seeing the sight.

"It's fine. It was just the poison coming out from his body," she consoled them and continued cleaning Hadrien until Erkhan arrived.

After that, she took some fresh towels and wiped his body again. She immediately cleaned the blue-grass. As much as she was fascinated seeing a bunch of grass that was almost the same shade as a cloudless sky, she remained focused. She also washed her hands thoroughly and asked for more water. She started crushing every ten pieces of grass then putting each batch in a bucket of water on her side.

Once in a while she would stop grinding and wipe the blood away on Hadrien again then returned to grinding the grass into powder.

Wipe. Grind. Wipe. Grind. It was an unending cycle.

She grabbed another set of clean towels, dipped it into the water mixed with blue-grass, and started cleaning him. In his fourth bath, the effects were slowly showing. His blood turned to regular red color.

On the seventh pail, the heavy bleeding had slowed down. She finished ten buckets until there was nono blood that could be seen in the towel anymore.

"We need to change his sheets. Could someone carry him for a moment?" she requested no one in particular.

It was Aricson who came forward. He slowly lifted Hadrien and the servants hurriedly did their chore. Afterward, he gently placed Hadrien back in his bed.

She touched his pulse and it was beating at a steady rate.

"He'll be fine for now," she declared.

Faylinn suddenly hugged her and she was crying. "Thank you, Elise. You didn't know how worried we are."

She patted her back when a soft knock interrupted them and a male servant entered. "Lords, Ladies, a few Healers, and Lady Arllian are waiting outside."

"Send them out. Where were they when we need them?" Dryann grumbled and her face showed distaste.

"Let Arllian in." Brennan notified the servant.

"I will go and handle the rest, sire," Gerald volunteered and exited with the servant.