"... that would be all from my part. Unless you have anything to add, Lady Githaiy?"

Githaiy suppressed a sigh as the two of them kept walking through the hallways.

"Lord Jarkiyna, I am by no means here to undermine your authority," she insisted to the head physician of the Calhanar Hospital. "Her Highness simply wishes that the transport of her brother happens without any trouble."

"I am more than sufficient to ensure that," the head physician retorted.

"Then feel free to inform her of that. I am simply following her orders. Or do you want me to ignore them?"

"O-of course not! I'm just saying that sending two doctors of... at least comparable qualifications is excessive!"

Githaiy once again didn't let her feelings show. She knew Doctor Jarkiyna was fully aware that their qualifications were more than just "comparable". But as the royal physician, she technically outranked him despite her being "only" a baronetess. Most nobles, especially those from older clans, usually didn't like that.

Granted, she didn't know for sure if that was really what had ticked him off. She might have told him otherwise, but the fact that she was here insinuated that Her Highness didn't fully trust his abilities. Maybe she should have answered in a less confrontational manner.

"I agree, it is a bit much," she said trying to mitigate a bit. "But please, don't understand this as her mistrusting you. She is simply worried about her brother."

I'd wish she would treat her own health with the same level of care. But as long as I am her subordinate, all I can do is give her my advice. If she insists on not following it, there is nothing I can do.

"And to be completely honest, she has been under a lot of stress lately, so don't hold it against her."

A sigh from Jarkiyna was the answer.

"I guess you are right. Besides, it might not be that excessive after all. Since we are approaching the long rain, the weather is a bit unstable. The shuttle will be forced to fly slower, so in the worst case, it might take us an entire day to reach Viyrminar. We can take turns in monitoring his condition."

"A good idea."

"Oh, First Ones, get a room you two!"

The sudden call from the sickbed reminded the two that they weren't alone. They had been walking alongside the assistants who were currently in the process of transporting the young prince to the landing platform. Apparently, as the discussion had grown a bit heated, both of them had forgotten about their surroundings.

"I apologize, Your Highness," Jarkiyna said with a bow. "The behavior I displayed was highly unprofessional."

"Likewise," Githaiy added. "I am not familiar with the phrase you used though, so I assume it's from Nadine?"

"M-maybe."

"Figured," Githaiy chuckled. Maybe she should one day ask the small alien what some of her more curious idioms meant. "Say, Your Highness, you wouldn't happen to know what the request to "get a room" is supposed to convey?"

"I, uh, no. Nadine said she'd explain it when I'm older."

When he was older? Why would one's age be a relevant factor in that? Well, that was a topic for a different day. For now, they had reached the ambulance shuttle. While the assistants carried the injured prince inside, Githaiy and Jarkiyna did one final check to ensure they had everything they might end up needing. Kiyrtin's injuries were almost entirely external, so they thankfully didn't need many monitoring devices. The most important things were bandages, hardening agents, and larco-resin, in case a new tear opened in his shell.

I guess the silver lining is that he only touched Nadine with his front side. Thanks to that, he can at least more or less safely lie on his back. Let's hope we don't get caught in a storm.

There shouldn't be one according to the forecast, but flying to the other side of the planet was a long journey.

The flight was mostly uneventful up until around ten invas after the start. Kiyrtin had fallen asleep a while ago when the datapad of the head physician gave off a message sound.

"Something important?" Githaiy asked, more for the sake of small talk than actual interest.

"Lab report," her colleague murmured. "Her Highness managed to acquire a sample of the unknown substance that put the prince in this situation."

Ah, right, that story, Githaiy thought. Though I wasn't aware she sent in a sample of Nadine's sweat. Well, I wanted to do a thorough analysis myself, so I won't complain.

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"Could you send me the report later?"

"Sure. Okay, let's see... water-based solution, containing traces of ammonia, potassium, sodium chloride, something... that is unknown but potentially toxic, a variety of salts... what in the world is that concoction?"

Githaiy did her best not to chuckle at that remark. What would her colleague say if he knew the true origin of this?

"Just what were they trying to achieve with this?" he mumbled as he kept reading. "Or was it maybe a byproduct? But even then what was the... hm? WHAT BY THE FIRST ONES...?!"

The sudden outcry made Githaiy perk up. That reaction after already going through the previous contents... was there something Nadine hadn't told her?

"What does it say?" she carefully asked.

"The solution contains an insane variety of microbes! All of them unknown! A plethora of Bacteria, Viruses, and something uncategorized!"

"Pathogenic?" Githaiy questioned, shocked by what she had just heard. It wasn't that rare that a species had one or two types of symbiotic microbes in their body, but this amount... and what was the unidentifiable thing?

"I, uh... probably not? I mean, his Highness is fine right? I will definitely give this to the Viyrminar hospital, but we examined his highness often and thoroughly. We would have noticed if he had shown any symptoms."

That was true. Maybe it didn't affect them because they were used to Nadine's organism, which was so fundamentally different from the Vanaery? Still, she needed to look into this, just to be sure. Viral infections usually were not an issue between species of different planets as their organisms were too different, but on very rare occasions, they were similar enough for a mutation to allow the jump. She needed to make sure that wasn't the case between Vanaery and Humans when she came back. Bacteria were a lot trickier, but as her colleague had said, the prince seemed fine for now.

They reached the planet's capital, the great city of Viyrminar after a bit under a day. Sleeping in the shuttle hadn't exactly offered the most satisfying rest, but the prince's well-being was more important at the moment. After Kiyrtin had safely reached his new hospital room, Jarkiyna announced that he would stay for a few days to make sure everything went over smoothly. Githaiy on the other hand went back immediately to not be absent from the palace for too long.

The ride home was expected to go faster because there was no need to fly as carefully as before. Despite being tired, Githaiy did her best to stay awake so she wouldn't mess up her sleep cycle too badly. But apparently, she had dosed off for a moment as the pilot's voice tore her out of her stupor.

"Milady?"

"Mh? Huh, what?"

"It's now the 17th inva in Calhanar. You wanted me to tell you."

"Ah, yes, thank you."

If they went by schedule - which was to be expected - the negotiations should have a break right now. As Githaiy issued a call to the Star Palace, the servant in charge informed her that her Highness was indeed free at the moment, and after a short waiting period, the princess's face appeared on the screen.

"Doctor," she greeted. "Is there an issue?"

"Not so far, Your Highness. I merely wanted to inform you that your brother's transport went over without any problems."

"That's good to hear. Do you know when you will return?"

"Probably not until tonight, you will likely be already in bed by then. But I also called for another reason. How are your headaches?"

With a worried expression, the princess took a long pause before answering.

"In all honesty, it's been getting worse. During yesterday's negotiations, I did... I did exactly what I wanted to prevent from happening. And I don't feel like the medicine is working."

No effect? Sure, she had given the princess a weaker version of the medicine, but there still should've been a noticeable improvement. Maybe the headaches weren't from the stress. But what then? Headaches were unfortunately a symptom that could have a plethora of causes.

"Did you notice anything else?"

"Um, I... don't think so?"

That wasn't helpful.

"Can you cancel the talks for the rest of the day?"

"Actually, today there aren't any. Lady Kykla proposed a day off so I could rest."

Githaiy needed a moment to process what she just heard.

"The Tystrie ambassador?"

"Yes."

"Your condition is so bad that even the Tystrie ambassador proposed a break?"

"Yes."

"Then I hope you are taking it. Treat yourself with care. If it gets worse, don't hesitate to call for another doctor. I don't know how long exactly the rest of the flight will take, but if you're still awake when I come back I will take a closer look. If not, come to me first thing in the morning."

The sun had long disappeared when Githaiy finally reached the Star Palace. Tired from the long flight, she entered through the side entrance and made her way to the west wing. While the lights in the corridor were still on, not a single servant was in sight around the princess's room. This could only mean Her Highness had already gone to sleep. There was also no one waiting for her. Relieved that it at least hadn't gotten worse, and glad that the princess had gone to bed early for once, Githaiy entered her office, and through it her private chambers. Her tiredness won as soon as she laid down and she fell asleep.

She didn't know how long she had been sleeping. All she knew was that a loud and obnoxious beeping noise made her wake up. Why was her alarm clock going off? It was still the middle of the night!

No, this wasn't her alarm clock. This was the emergency alert. Great, so it wasn't enough for Prince Kiyrtin to annoy her during the day, now he even had to rob her of her night's rest. And the worst part? To make sure she wouldn't miss it, she had made it so the alarm wouldn't stop on its own. She actually had to get up and open the door to turn it off.

...wait, Kiyrtin was at the hospital.

In an instant, she was fully awake and practically jumped out of her bed. Whoever this was, if they pressed the emergency button in the middle of the night, it was important. She was just about to leave her bedroom when suddenly, she froze upon hearing some sort of impact, so violent that it made the floor vibrate. What by the First Ones was that?

A second impact made her overcome the moment of shock. She ran through her small living room, but her left foot got caught on the doorstep, she stumbled into her office and fell to the ground - which was luckily cushioned by the soft carpet. Just as she pulled up her head and looked towards the entrance, the third impact hit.

With the sound of metal failing its duty, the lock got ripped out of the doorframe. The door burst open, crashing into the adjacent wall with so much force that the upper hinge broke apart. In the corridor, there stood Nadine, one foot raised. Had she seriously just... kicked the door open?

But before Githaiy could voice her bafflement, she noticed the princess's unconscious body draped over the small alien's shoulder.