Chapter 7: Special Medicine
Quartz appeared before everyone, out of breath and panting, much to the surprise of Jade and Finn. Ruri was surprised as well, and she stared at Quartz, her eyes wide.
“Master Quartz?” Jade uttered. “Why? Didn’t you leave for the Nation of the Dragon King?”
Quartz nodded. “Yes, I did leave, but it wasn’t to simply go home. I wanted to bring her here.”
“Her?”
Behind Quartz stood a woman who didn’t even try to hide her displeasure. Ruri cocked her head, wondering who the woman was, but Jade seemed to be shocked beyond words.
“Why did you bring her?!” Jade cried. “What is the meaning of this, Master Quartz?!”
Ruri could tell that the woman must have been an acquaintance of Jade’s, but she was still the only one who didn’t know who the woman was.
The woman looked a little older than Ruri. Her hair had probably been neatly tied up before traveling, but now it was extremely frazzled and blown out, resembling a bird’s nest. She had been trying to fix it with a comb, a sulky look on her face.
Seeing the difficulties the woman was having because of her long hair, Ruri pulled her own comb out of her pocket space and asked, “May I?”
The woman merely nodded.
“Okay then, here I go,” Ruri said, running the comb through the woman’s hair, and soon the luster returned to her silky strands. Her hair was so smooth that it impressed Ruri a little bit. How in the world had her beautiful locks ended up looking like a disheveled bird’s nest?
“I have that lizard over there to thank for my hair being a mess. I knew I shouldn’t have come along with him. Imagine having to drop off the court ladies I brought with me halfway because they were too heavy for you. I’m speechless.”
“You sure are talkative for someone so speechless,” Quartz quipped. “It’s only natural that your hair would get messed up since you were riding atop my dragon form at high speeds, isn’t it? You knew that would happen, and yet you went through the wasted effort of neatly tying up your hair.”
“Hmph! I know there’s no way a lizard could understand a woman’s heart. Seraphie has terrible taste in men if she chose someone like you.”
It seemed that the woman was acquainted with Seraphie as well, but who in the world was she? Question marks popped up around Ruri’s head as she continued to comb the woman’s hair, until she finally decided to ask, “Um, Jade-sama? Quartz-sama? Who might this person be?”
Upon hearing her question, Jade made a sour face and Quartz awkwardly grinned.
“Yes, well, you see, she is the Queen of Yadacain,” Quartz answered.
“What?!”
Ruri stopped her hand in surprise and stared at the woman. “The Queen of Yadacain as in...that Yadacain? Isn’t she also a Beloved?”
“This is the first time you’ve met her, isn’t it?” Quartz asked. “Her name is Pearl. As I said, she is the Queen of Yadacain. Pearl, the girl fixing your hair at this very moment is the Beloved of the Nation of the Dragon King. She’s also Jade’s mate, but I assume Jade needs no introduction, yes?”
Pearl glanced at Jade, turned up her nose, and promptly looked to the side, instead focusing her attention on Ruri. “So you’re the Beloved, are you? Ruri, was it?”
“Yes, ma’am. Ruri.”
“If you ever get fed up with your lizard husband, then you can come to my kingdom. You and Seraphie are welcome.”
“Erm... Thank you very much, ma’am.”
“Sorry, but Seraphie will never get fed up with me, so she won’t be going back there,” Quartz declared.
“Hmph. I wouldn’t be too sure about that,” Pearl retorted. “She might get tired of being a lizard handler, you know.”
Ruri had noticed that Pearl had been saying “lizard this” and “lizard that” for a while, so she ventured a guess that “lizard husband” referred to Jade.
It was taboo to call a dragonkin a lizard, but Pearl was using the word like it was going out of style—she had quite the nerve. Jade, however, seemed to be more concerned about the fact that the Queen of Yadacain was here than her name-calling.
He also didn’t seem too fond of Pearl, but, well, that was somewhat understandable. After all, Jade had been locked in conflict with Yadacain not too long ago. Welcoming her with smiles and open arms might have been difficult for him.
Ruri, on the other hand, didn’t get a negative impression from Pearl, judging from what she’d seen so far. She had imagined a more selfish and ill-tempered woman, but Pearl appeared to be no different than any other person. Even though Ruri knew it to be true, it was hard to believe that this woman could have caused such a major issue. That being said, the question on Ruri’s mind at the moment was what she was doing here in the first place.
Quicker than Ruri could ask, Jade spoke up. “Master Quartz, what is the meaning of this?!” he pressed Quartz, not even hiding his irritation.
“Now, now. Calm down, Jade,” Quartz replied.
“How do you expect me to be calm?! Have you forgotten what she and the Spirit of Darkness did to our kingdom?!”
“I am also responsible for that. As well as the Spirit of Darkness.”
“Where is the Spirit of Darkness? Did you not bring him along with you? He was supposed to be tasked with keeping an eye on the queen.”
Pearl looked miffed as she interjected, “He is not my watchman, nor does such a task exist. I do not need your permission to come here. Get that straight.”
“Do you still not realize the gravity of your actions in the past?” Jade growled.
Sparks flew between the two as Quartz watched in exasperation, his hands figuratively tied.
“Okay, okay. Stop fighting. I’m begging you,” Quartz pleaded. “Now isn’t the time for that, is it? That goes for you too, Pearl. Why do you think I even brought you here?”
Jade stopped glaring at Pearl and instead directed his gaze to Quartz. “What do you mean by that, Master Quartz?!”
“Jade, calm yourself. I’m about to explain myself.”
Ruri also intervened to calm Jade. “Okay, Jade-sama, deep breaths. This isn’t like you, and you know it. Let’s put the fighting on hold and hear what Quartz-sama has to say, okay?”
Jade took a few deep breaths to calm himself, perhaps realizing that he was more agitated than usual. As expected, he regained his composure in no time. Rin wasn’t wrong when she’d said that dragonkin were a rational race.
Yadacain had kidnapped dragonkin in the past, so given his sense of camaraderie, Jade had reacted very strongly to the queen’s presence. Just thinking of his brethren would trigger that response.
“I brought her here in order to cure the emperor’s illness,” Quartz said.
Everyone’s eyes widened.
“Can she?! But, Lady Seraphie, she...” Jade trailed off, not wanting to say the word “died” in front of Quartz.
Nevertheless, Quartz seemed to understand him well enough. “Yes, Seraphie died. Because of her death, I set out on a journey to search for her, but that led me to Yadacain, where in the process, I met with its queen. We were alike in the sense that we had both lost a loved one, and not only that, but the disease that had taken our dearly beloveds was one and the same.”
“The tachyotoxian bug,” said Ruri, the first to speak up.
“That’s right. Yadacain is one of the few places in the world where tachyotoxians live. But since they are only found in a very small area, you’re usually in no danger if you stay away. The people of Yadacain know this and don’t enter their habitat, but a child accidentally did. Pearl’s fiancé went to help them, resulting in him being stung and dying shortly thereafter.”
“Then what about Seraphie-san?” Ruri asked, remembering that Seraphie was in the Nation of the Dragon King as Quartz’s mate when she fell ill. Also, she had been mostly shut up in her room by Quartz, who hated letting her out in public.
“As for Seraphie, I don’t know how the tachyotoxian’s venom entered her body,” Quartz explained as Seraphie—who’d exited from the ring in the midst of the conversation—furrowed her brow. That was a sign that she had no recollection of how it had happened herself.
“Anyway, let’s put that aside for now,” Quartz said. “The important facts are that Seraphie and Pearl’s fiancé both died due to tachyotoxians and that the disease wasn’t curable even with dragon’s blood. However, Pearl couldn’t allow someone else to die by tachyotoxians in the same way in the future, so at the same time she was looking for a way to resurrect the dead, she was also developing an antidote for the tachyotoxian venom.”
It now became apparent to everyone why Quartz had brought Pearl along.
“So there is a medicine to fight off the tachyotoxian venom?” Jade asked, his eyes hopeful.
Quartz nodded, and a glimmer of hope shone in the room, but Quartz’s expression remained dour. “There is, but it seems I unfortunately didn’t make it in time to save the emperor...”
The atmosphere instantly turned grim.
“Honestly, I wanted to come quicker, but Pearl launched into a tirade about why she had to make the medicine and demanded that I bring the emperor to her.”
“That’s crazy talk,” Ruri said, the words escaping from her mouth before she realized. Adularia had already been in such poor condition that she hadn’t even been able to get out of bed, much less take a daylong trip to Yadacain.
“It was out of my hands,” Pearl elaborated. “Much preparation is needed to make the medicine. I thought it’d be quicker to bring the ill to me while I readied it. I am also the only one who can make it, so I can’t leave the task to anyone else.”
“And that’s why I brought her here, thankfully. Seraphie convinced her as best she could,” Quartz explained.
Pearl snorted, her arms folded. “I came because Seraphie asked me to. I’m not here on a reptilian charity call.” Apparently, she didn’t have the best impression of Quartz.
Quartz had said they were alike in that they both had lost a loved one, but there were probably a lot of complicated feelings related to that that only the two of them could sort out.
“That aside, this whole trip was a waste,” Pearl stated. “The emperor is dead, isn’t she? We rushed all the way here for nothing.”
“Yes, I suppose so,” Quartz muttered, looking downcast.
To everyone else present, though, his timing couldn’t have been any better.
“No, the word is that the first prince has come down with the same illness as Adularia,” Jade explained.
“What? Really?” Quartz asked, shocked by the news, but he could tell that Jade wasn’t joking from the look on his face. He put his hand on his chin contemplatively. “The Spirit of Light told me that tachyotoxians do not exist in the Imperial Nation, but could it be that he somehow ingested some of the emperor’s blood?”
“I don’t know about that, but can you cure him with the medicine?” asked Jade.
“Well? Can you?” Quartz asked Pearl.
Pearl, looking displeased, asked, “How long has it been since the symptoms started?”
“Only a few days,” said Jade.
“Then there might be a chance. But I can’t make the medicine without seeing how the disease has progressed in person, because the mixing amount will vary based on that.”
“Jade, can we see the first prince?” Quartz inquired. “Once he hears that there’s a chance to cure him, I’m sure we’ll be allowed to see him right away.”
Jade nodded before quickly turning to Finn, who recognized the signal and rushed out of the room. While waiting for him to come back, Ruri finished fixing Pearl’s hair. Finn soon returned with permission to have an audience with the first prince.
“They said we can see him right now,” Finn announced. “Encouraged us to come quickly.”
“Okay, then,” Jade replied.
The group walked to the first prince’s room, where he greeted them all with a bow while sitting on his sofa. It seemed that he couldn’t even stand up, because he started with an apology.
“I am sorry for the seated greeting, Your Majesty and party.”
He was likely having a rough time. It was easy to see that the blood had drained from his face.
By the first prince’s side stood Corundum. “Is it true that you can cure him? Not even the dragon’s medicine that His Majesty supplied us with has worked.” He was justifiably apprehensive about Jade’s claim considering that he had already lost Adularia.
That being said, even Jade was skeptical about the validity of his own claims. “I would suggest you ask not me, but the Queen of Yadacain herself.”
“The Queen of Yadacain?” repeated both Corundum and the first prince.
Pearl stepped out in front of the confused duo. “The younger one there is the one stricken with the disease, I take it? Let me take a look at him.” She took out a needle and pricked the prince’s finger.
“Yowch! Hey, what are you doi—”
“Silence, boy. This is required for the treatment,” Pearl barked, smacking the prince across the head for resisting as she drained his blood into a vial. Once she was done, she carefully wrapped his finger with a cloth. “Keep this tightly under wraps. This illness infects others via blood. If you don’t want to kill anyone else, be sure not to let others touch your blood by any means.”
Shocked, the first prince made sure that his finger was wrapped up tight. While he did, Pearl held the vial of blood up to the sunlight as if to verify something.
“Mm-hmm, this is indeed the work of tachyotoxian venom,” she deduced.
“Will my son be cured?” Corundum asked anxiously. His wife had just died and now his son had fallen ill with the exact same disease. One could only imagine how much heartache he was experiencing.
“Yes, this can be cured. You are in luck.”
Corundum and the first prince breathed a sigh of relief, but then Corundum had a somber realization.
“If you had come earlier, would my wife have survived?” he asked.
He knew there was no point in postulating about what-if scenarios; Adularia had already passed away. Be that as it may, the thought still lingered in his mind. The wounds of losing his wife, his one true love, had yet to heal.
Pearl informed Corundum, “To be honest, from what I was told of the emperor’s symptoms, I believe it would have been a lost cause. This medicine only works on those in the early stages of the disease. I was told that quite some time had passed since the emperor exhibited symptoms. I most likely would have been too late even if I had shown up early.”
Corundum’s shoulders slumped. “Oh... I see...”
No one could find the words to say to him—no one except Pearl.
“I...I too have lost a loved one to the tachyotoxians. And I have made a great deal of errors because I could not bear the sorrow.”
Quartz shut his eyes.
“However,” Pearl went on, “I’ve come to realize that my beloved was by no means unhappy, even in demise, and that his memory still lives on inside of me. Although, it did take quite a while to realize that.”
Corundum covered his eyes with his hands. “Yes... Yes, you’re right. She had a blissful smile. Her smile is indeed forever etched into my memories.”
As Corundum choked back sobs, Jade looked on with a very conflicted expression.
“Jade-sama?” asked Ruri, having noticed this.
“I can’t forgive the queen’s crimes, but I can’t blame her either. I haven’t lost you yet, so I can’t understand her feelings or Master Quartz’s,” said Jade.
“It’s best that you don’t have to understand those feelings.”
“Perhaps, but knowing that I’ll experience them one day hurts my heart immensely.”
“That’s true...”
If she could, Ruri would want to live and die with Jade, but everyone knew that it just wasn’t possible. Death always came equally for everyone, which is why they wanted to cherish the time they had together. Ruri softly squeezed Jade’s hand, and he firmly squeezed hers back.
“I couldn’t save your wife, but I can save your son,” Pearl declared. She then turned to Quartz and ordered, “Bring out my things.”
“Right, right,” Quartz said with a reluctant smile as he brought out item after item from his pocket space and put them on the table in the room.
“I’m going to make the medicine now, so hold on a second.”
“Thank you very much,” said Corundum, and he and the first prince bowed their heads together.
Pearl then got to work, drawing what appeared to be a magic circle on a large piece of paper.
“Erm, Quartz-sama? That’s part of the medicine-making process, I assume?” Ruri asked just to make sure.
“That’s right. Apparently, the remedy for the tachyotoxian venom is made with a mix of medicine and sorcery. I don’t quite understand it either, but Pearl is a very skilled witch, so just have a little faith and watch. Of course, she’s not using any Spirit Slayer magic, so you can rest easy.”
“Right. I will.”
“The bigger question is how Prince Roy contracted the same disease as the emperor?” Quartz prompted, and all eyes except Pearl’s turned to the first prince. “The illness can be transmitted by tachyotoxian bites or by taking contaminated blood into your body. So, I ask you, Prince Roy, have you touched the emperor’s blood with a cut on your hand or put any of it in your mouth?”
“No, I have not,” the first prince insisted. “I only had a chance to speak with my mother, but I never had a chance to come in contact with her.”
In that case, how had he contracted the same disease?
“Hmm... Maybe this means that there are tachyotoxians inside the palace?”
Just then, Ruri raised her hand. “Quartz-sama, about that. I was actually afraid of those bugs being around, so I asked Kotaro to search the palace for any.”
“The supreme-level Spirit of Wind never fails. Did he find any?” asked Quartz.
“Well, he gathered all of the spirits in the imperial capital to investigate, but he said that they couldn’t find any. Right, Kotaro?”
“Indeed.” Kotaro chimed in. “Just to be sure, I extended my search to the capital, but there was neither hide nor hair of the tachyotoxians. If wind spirits could not find them, it is hard to believe that he was stung by one of them.”
“Then I guess it’s more likely that he took in either the bug’s venom or the blood of someone stung by them,” Quartz deduced. “Although, I can’t imagine him taking it in by sheer coincidence.”
Suspicions coursed through everyone’s minds.
“Corundum, we can’t intervene from this point on,” Jade interjected with a stern look.
“Yes, I understand,” Corundum said with a look just as stern. “We will search the palace at once to find out if someone poisoned Roy.”
As everyone conversed, Pearl completed the medicine and said aloud, “It’s done.”
All eyes focused on Pearl, and Ruri approached her with great interest.
“Wow! So it’s really done—? Ugh!” Ruri cried, her face turning pale. She quickly covered her nose.
The bottle that Pearl held in her hands was emitting a very strong, very pungent odor. Not only that, but the liquid was a sludgy color—one that would make anyone wonder how it came to be—and it was spurting bubbles.
“It stinks!” Ruri exclaimed.
As the odor rife enough to cause dizzy spells traveled through the room, Jade and the others also held their noses. For those with a dragonkin’s acute sense of smell, this was probably tantamount to unleashing a bioweapon.
“Pearl, is that the medicine?” Quartz asked, holding his nose.
“What else does it look like?” Pearl retorted, thrusting the bottle before Quartz as if he had asked the most obvious question in the world.
“Queen Pearl, are you supposed to drink this?” Ruri timidly asked in place of the first prince, who was probably the most concerned person in the room. She thought maybe it would have been better if she’d asked if you could drink it.
“Yes,” Pearl affirmed. “Keep drinking this five times a day for three days and you’ll make a full recovery.”
“Five times a day?!” Ruri cried, shrieking in terror in her head.
Everyone in the room then turned to the first prince, looking at him with sympathy.
“F-Father...” Roy said with pleading eyes.
“Bear with this, Roy,” Corundum ordered, hardening his heart—and turning his face away as he pinched his nose.
“I can’t do this! That’s not fit for human consumption!” Roy argued, believing that he would die of different causes if he were to drink the mystery concoction.
Pearl mercilessly pressed the bottle to his mouth. “Now, down the hatch. Swallow every last drop.”
“Yeek!”
The first prince tried to run away, but Corundum hooked his arms into a full nelson. “Now, Your Majesty, please proceed as you were.”
“Yes, very well. Open wide, now.”
“Urghhh...” The first prince, unable to avoid his fate, downed the unknown liquid.
“How dreadful,” Finn muttered in disgust. Retching sounds beyond one’s wildest imagination echoed throughout the room.
While it was a terrible sight to behold, this was simply part of the treatment. Yes, a very needed treatment. It was definitely not torture.
Forced to swallow every last drop, the first prince lost consciousness the moment he was done. By everyone’s standards, passing out was unavoidable. They even praised the prince for his valiant efforts, but at the same time, they were concerned if he was still breathing.
“All right, he drank it. Next dose is in three hours,” Pearl stated.
The first prince, who lay unconscious, was probably lucky to have not heard those words. If he had, it would have likely killed him.
“Quartz-sama, is that really the cure? The prince isn’t dead, is he?” asked Ruri.
“M-Maybe...and...maybe,” Quartz replied, even though he was the one who’d brought Pearl here. He likely hadn’t expected the cure to be such a powerful medicine.
However, even if Quartz had known, they would have had no other choice but to make the first prince buckle down and drink, seeing as how the medicine was the only way to save him.
Three hours later, the first prince finally awakened—only to be immediately accosted again by Pearl with her horrible medicine.
“Time for your medicine, sonny!”
“Noooooooo!” the first prince screeched, the sound traveling far down the hallway.
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