Chapter 18: Let’s Go Home
“BLEUET, you can’t!” Reseda hastily stepped back.
“I’ll be fine. With all the energy you clearly have, you can’t possibly be sick.”
“But…”
“I heard all about it from Cytisus. Quite the character, that fellow,” Prince Bleuet continued with a sly smile.
Reseda blinked dubiously. “What do you mean?”
“Well, he claims to have already ingested the vaccine himself.”
“WHAT?!” Iris shrieked. They both whipped their heads around to look at her in alarm. She quickly composed herself.
“According to Cytisus, he tried it himself to make sure of its preventative properties before recreating it. Then, to make sure his magic circles were functioning as intended, he gathered volunteers among the other mages to ingest it as well. We learned of this a short while after your incident, when he reported his actions to us. Naturally, he and the other mages were all sent off to quarantine at home. But then one of the nobles accused the Temple of Magic of being ‘diseased.’ The fairies were so furious, they put the whole Temple on lockdown—it was a nightmare, I tell you. But eventually, the mages’ quarantine came to an end, the Holy Maiden herself stepped in to play mediator, and now the Temple is open again. Oh, and I’m told the Orange Fairy Leader himself made an appearance.”
Bleuet seemed to find all this rather amusing, but Iris certainly didn’t!
“Wh…wha…?!”
Iris bit back the urge to scream. What were you THINKING, Cytisus?! Why didn’t you cast a protection spell or ask the fairies for help?! Look, I get that you needed to make doubly sure, but—but WHY?! And the fairies all went on STRIKE?! Good Lord! If I wasn’t thirteen, I’d pour myself a stiff drink!
“It’s their fault for having doubts about something Lady Sauge made!” said the little purple-winged fairy, peeking out from one of Iris’s ringlets.
“Us fairies are pure and good!” said another. “We don’t like yucky stuff, and we don’t do bad stuff! If anything, the humans are diseased, not us! They don’t belong in the Temple of Magic!”
“Listen, I understand where you’re coming from,” Iris replied, massaging her temple, “but these people can’t do their jobs unless you let them in.”
“We don’t caaaare!”
Reseda had warned her that angry fairies were not to be reckoned with. But in her foolishness, she hadn’t taken that warning seriously…until now, that is. Now she understood why even the royal family readily bent the knee to a Fairy Leader. Fairies didn’t operate by human logic, and if they were going to coexist with them, they needed to establish an understanding—because humans needed them far more than they needed humans. This probably explained why the royal family kept the fairies protected.
Powerful little creatures, aren’t they? Reseda and Iris both stood stock-still, their faces ashen in terror.
“Long story short, I’ve come to take you home, little brother,” Bleuet continued.
Reseda snuck a glance at Iris. To him, their happy little quarantine was coming to an end. But from her perspective, it was good news all around.
“Congratulations, Your Highness!” Iris told him brightly. He waited until she looked away, then let out a sigh. But this was not lost on Bleuet, who smiled sadly. He knew full well that his little brother despised having to live at the stuffy old palace.
“Before I depart, Lady Iris, might I ingest your vaccine as well?”
“What? The vaccine?”
“I’ve always been of poor constitution, you see, and if I ask Cytisus, he’ll surely refuse. But in my view, it’s those like myself that need this vaccine the most.”
Iris could see the light of determination in his gentle eyes. He had a level-headed outlook of his own condition, and he was clearly trying to do the responsible thing. But as much as she wanted to help him…
Just then, there appeared a fairy with sky-blue wings, a white alb, and a sky-blue stole reminiscent of Sauge’s, though it was embroidered with little daisy-like flowers rather than sage plants. Clearly, this was another Fairy Leader.
“Lady Camomille, the Blue Fairy Leader!” Reseda gasped. Iris immediately straightened her posture. Camomille was Bleuet’s guardian fairy, or so Iris was told.
“I humbly ask for your cooperation on dear Bleuet’s behalf,” Camomille told us.
Iris looked at Reseda; he gave her a nod. So, she went and fetched the jar of vaccine powder, then handed it to Bleuet. “Go ahead and ingest it here, Your Highness. I can only imagine the scandal it would cause if you were to bring it home with you.”
“Right you are. I’d better keep it hush-hush for the time being.”
“Here.” Reseda handed his brother a straw.
Summoning all of his courage, Bleuet let out a deep breath. Then he plunged the straw into the jar and took a big whiff. Instantly, he began to cough. Camomille gently rubbed his back until he had recovered. Then she shot Iris one final smile and, with a curtsy, vanished into thin air.
“Are you all right, Bleuet?”
“Yes, I’m fine. It’s strange, in fact—you’d almost have to wonder if this vaccine has any effect at all.”
“Well, don’t you go testing it!” Reseda declared, pointing firmly. At this, Iris couldn’t help but giggle. He shot her a funny look.
“One wonders whether you have any right to be concerned, given the mischief you get up to yourself, Prince Reseda,” Iris explained.
“An amusing sentiment, coming from the most mischievous girl I know! And I do believe I told you not to call me Prince,” he replied with a sunny smile. Iris averted her gaze, and Bleuet chuckled.
“Come now, Reseda. Let’s go home. I know you enjoy it here, but the family’s waiting for you at the palace.”
At this, Reseda’s eyes widened. He nodded quietly, then turned back to face Iris.
“Thanks, Iris. That day you got angry on my behalf… It meant a lot to me.”
Iris thought back to the time she snapped and told him he wasn’t just a spare. At the time, his bright, genuine smile was breathtaking—as beautiful as a garden of flowers. It delighted her that she had made him so happy… She staggered slightly, then caught herself. Meanwhile, Reseda seemed to be waiting for her to say goodbye.
“Er, Iris? Are you all right?”
“I apologize. I felt a little dizzy just now, that’s all. Oh ho ho ho!” Iris let out her most haughty laugh to play it off. “I very much enjoyed our time together, and I hope you’ll tutor me again in the future.”
She curtsied gracefully. He reached out and gave one final tug on one of her ringlets. “Yes, let’s study together sometime soon.”
And with that, the two brothers went back to the palace—in a royal carriage this time instead of the shoddy one Reseda had arrived in. Thank goodness.
The entire Chevalier estate came out front to see them off; naturally, the maids all swooned over the two handsome princes waving back from the window. And after the carriage disappeared from sight, they promptly started gossiping amongst themselves.
Yes, yes, Prince Reseda is very dreamy indeed—as long as he doesn’t turn into a possessive control freak!
Just then, goosebumps pricked up Iris’s arms as she realized:
“That day you got angry on my behalf… It meant a lot to me.”
The comment he’d made to her just now was identical to one of his lines from the game, originally directed at Camille.
Is this some sort of event flag? Wait...but the game hasn’t even started yet! Where’s the UI?! Where’s the choice points?!
Iris clutched at her hair in terror.
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AND so, Reseda was welcomed back as a heroic young ruler who put his own life on the line for the good of his people. After it was made clear that Reseda and Cytisus were both still in good health, and with endorsements from multiple Fairy Leaders, the vaccine was made freely available to all.
As promised, Nigel was the first in line to take the vaccine during this phase, helping to promote it among the younger demographic at the palace. From there, the government moved to distribute the vaccine to the commoners as well.
Once it became apparent that more powder would be needed, Iris asked Reseda about the possibility of further developing and preserving the vaccine. In turn, he made a formal proposal, and it was soon decided that the Temple’s Specialized Arts Division would take over production of the vaccine.