They didn’t find anyone in the garden, but they kept following the path while occasionally looking up at the large glass dome above them. They approached what seemed to be a room where there were three figures all occupied with something.

At one wall of the inner room were small drawers and cabinets most likely containing dried medicinal ingredients and pills.

It looked like the setup of the imperial dispensary but on a smaller scale as it didn’t cater to hundreds of people in the palace.

It also seemed a bit more mystical since the outside was surrounded by other creeping plants. A few interesting flowers were also kept inside glass display cases where the sunlight hit just right.

There was a section with some empty vials and porcelain ointment bottles. The cabinets had glass doors and inside were small, labelled porcelain bottles full of different liquids and other apparatus.

“Oh, Prince Khayri and Sir Nima have graced us their presence,” joked Kamaria as she continued working with the small wheel of stone grinder.

“Why is your hand bandaged?” asked Khayri rushing forward to the large table.

Kamaria’s dominant hand was just fine so she had no trouble with mixing ingredients. The palm of her bandaged left hand wasn’t injured so it didn’t stop her from doing any work. The white coat also prevented anything from getting on her clothes.

After greeting the visitors, Lili and Raisa returned to cleaning around the room.

“Everyone is adding salt and spices to a very simple matter, don’t start as well. It’s just some scratches. We covered it so the ointment wouldn’t stain my clothes.”

Khayri could tell that he would not get anything out of her, so he calmed down and stood by her side instead and peered at the medicine grinder for a while.

“Never mind, let me do this,” he insisted while lightly pushing her aside. There was already some powder in the grinder, but he was not very well versed in terms of plants and their medical uses.

“What’s inside here?”

“Juniper berries.”

“Can they still make gin when they’re dry?”

Kamaria almost smiled as she measured out a cup of the dried berries. It was the most known use for the berries besides seasoning, but she was not planning on making alcohol at least not this time.

“Why would your Highness think this Princess has the ability to make such things as drinking alcohol? This is a healing medical facility. So of course, they’re for medical use. This species isn’t suitable for ordinary consumption.”

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Khayri gave his sister a sideways glance, continued working the wheel steadily.

“What are you going to use them for then?”

Kamaria smiled in an unexpected way.

“I can’t give out age-old medical recipes. If I tell you, I’ll have to kill you.”

Kamaria scooped up another small cupful of dried berries with the measuring cup and watched him turn them into a course brown powder. When she seemed happy, she prompted him to stop so she could check the texture then with little satisfied smile, hobbled away from the table.

“Lili, please prepare to mix this with the powder from earlier. Make sure we have full vials of aloe gel and arnica oil as well,” she requested, and Lili nodded.

Kamaria hung up her white robe and Khayri offered his arm to help her walk back to the table.

“Why are you using a cane today? Does it hurt?”

“I guess I’ve just been running around too much lately so my leg just feel a little numb. It’s nothing to worry about,” she assured.

“Prince Khayri here should be thinking about his birthday event in a little while.”

Khayri shook his head and placed his elbow on the table and his cheek on his palm. This was not an event that he was that excited about. If he had it his way, he would have forgone the entire thing but there was no way his mother would let that happen.

“I’m sure there’ll be plenty of eligible young candidates clawing their way to the youngest imperial prince.”

“Oh that, I’ve long decided on my people,” said Khayri with a dreamy smile.

Nima was facing away from the siblings but could obviously feel someone staring at him and when he turned around, the pair waved at him suspiciously. He made a face and then turned back to helping Raisa with some crates. He didn’t even want to guess what that had been all about.

“I’ll light a candle, a bundle of sage and a few incense sticks for the man,” mused Kamaria.

“What’s supposed to mean?” asked Khayri, suddenly snapping out of his dream state.

“Just that he’s very lucky. It’s all to wish you luck.”

Khayri narrowed his eyes while looking at her, not believing a word that she said.

“Have you thought about the big gift yet?”

“I haven’t completely thought it through, but it will have to be epic,” insisted Khayri while putting his arms in the air.

They came down in a hug as he playfully squeezed his “big sister” into his chest since he was taller. Kamaria couldn’t help but laugh at the sudden shower of affection and put her arms around him as well with a big smile.

“Is that a laugh I hear, a giggle? What sorcery!” he exclaimed while still hugging her.

It might have been hard to believe since they grew up together in a way, but it was the first time that Khayri had ever heard such a genuine laugh from his sister. It made him realise that although they all lived under the same roof, they knew almost nothing about each other and something about that felt sad.

Everything was always about the proper decorum and being able to maintain their social face even with family members no matter how young.

So, for Kamaria who had only ever known Raisa and Lili as her close family in the palace, it felt quite special to be considered family by someone else.

The three attendants could only smile as they watched the siblings. Putting aside all the bickering, rivalry, life threatening situations and other palace politics, in the end they were family. So, it was nice to see them getting on as such.