The Princess' Harem -
Chapter 107: The Alchemist’s Pursuit
Chapter 107: The Alchemist’s Pursuit
Rissa, however, didn’t move much. She just stared at the sprout, her eyes wide, her brow furrowed, but not in worry, but in deep, intense focus. She didn’t celebrate, not yet.
"It’s slow," she murmured. "Very slow for a single drop. And it only works on the blighted part it touches. We need to find a way to apply this on a larger scale. A way to spread it, to reach the deep roots of the blight across the land."
Her words brought them back from the edge of full celebration. She was right. A single drop on a single leaf was a miracle, but the kingdom was dying.
"Can we dilute it?" Viana asked, her mind already shifting to practical solutions. "Mix it with water for broader use?"
Rissa shook her head immediately. "No! The core essence, the glowing dust, cannot touch water. It will be destroyed. I used Moonpetal Flower extract for a reason. It absorbs light, it doesn’t dilute the essence."
She tapped her fingers on the table, her mind already working at a frantic pace. "We need a delivery method that doesn’t involve water. Perhaps a mist? A fine powder? Or a direct application to the blighted roots themselves across the land."
The task suddenly seemed even larger than before. Finding the Desert’s Embrace was only the first impossible step. Now, they had to deliver its cure to an entire kingdom, an entire continent.
"How much of the Desert’s Embrace did you use for this vial?" Rayne asked, his voice steady.
"Only one small leaf," Rissa replied, pointing to the plant still contained in the sealed glass chamber. It seemed a little less vibrant, but still alive. "It will grow new leaves, but slowly. It is an ancient plant; it lives on a different timescale."
Viana looked at the plant. It had given so much. She then looked at the glowing vial. "One leaf for this small amount. This will not be enough for the whole kingdom."
Rissa nodded grimly. "Exactly. We cannot simply plant the Desert’s Embrace everywhere. It only grows in those harsh, dry conditions. We need to multiply this essence, or find a way to make the existing amount go much, much further."
"So, the goal now is to find a way to create more of this essence, or to apply it widely without water," Joel summarized, his practical mind already processing the challenge.
"Precisely," Rissa said, her eyes alight with renewed determination. "I need to experiment with different delivery systems. And I need to understand how the Moonpetal Flower extract binds to the essence. Perhaps there’s a way to replicate that binding without needing such rare flowers."
She looked at Viana. "I will need more Moonpetal Flowers. And perhaps other light-absorbing reagents. My work is far from over, Princess."
Viana nodded, her heart full of a new kind of resolve. The immediate crisis of finding the cure was over, replaced by the immense challenge of using it.
"You will have whatever you need, Rissa. Whatever resources, whatever materials. My kingdom’s future, and perhaps Valendale’s, rests on your work."
Rayne stepped forward. "My kingdom will also provide any resources you require, Alchemist. Valendale has access to certain rare ingredients, perhaps even some Moonpetal Flowers that might not be found here. I will send riders to fetch them immediately."
Rissa gave a rare, genuine smile. "That would be most helpful, Prince Rayne. Time is of the essence. The blight does not sleep."
The small group lingered in the laboratory for a while longer, watching Rissa return to her experiments with renewed energy. She was already setting up new instruments, pulling out more vials and strange powders.
The small, blighted sprout on the table, its green blush now more noticeable, served as a powerful reminder of what was possible.
Viana felt the weight of the crown settle more firmly on her head.
The journey to the Desert’s Embrace had been hard, but it was only the beginning. The fight for Elysia had truly just started. The blight was a vast, creeping death, and they had found a tiny, glowing spark of life to fight it.
Now, they had to turn that spark into a raging fire. She looked at the faces around her – Rayne, Joel, Reyes, Arden, Kaley.
They were tired, but their eyes held a new, fierce determination. They were ready. The city outside still suffered, but inside this small laboratory, a new hope had been born.
***
Days folded into weeks. Rissa’s private laboratory, established in a secluded wing far from the main alchemical chambers, became her entire world. The thick oak door rarely opened.
Inside, she worked tirelessly, focused only on the problem of replicating the cure. Supplies were delivered quickly, vanishing into her domain without question. She barely stepped outside.
Master Marion, despite her doubts, sent dispatches of rare ingredients, old books, ancient texts, trusting Viana’s strange intuition. The palace grew used to the mysterious alchemist, a strange, intense presence whose existence was known but rarely seen.
Viana spent her days managing the kingdom. The blight did not stop its silent spread. Reports from outlying villages spoke of wells drying up, of crops failing completely.
The initial green blush on the test sprout in Rissa’s lab was a beacon, but it was a single spark against a growing darkness.
One brisk morning, Viana met with the kingdom’s advisors in the palace war room. The large map of Elysia displayed on the table was marked with more and more grey patches, showing the blight’s progress.
"The drought continues," a grim-faced minister reported. "Water reserves in the northern districts are critical. We’ve begun diverting the Silverstream, but it’s barely a trickle now."
"Emergency food supplies are being distributed," another added, "but without new harvests, our stores will dwindle within months."
Viana listened, her face unreadable. She felt the weight of every dry well, every hungry child, every dying field.
She gave orders for more efficient water rationing, for scouting new, hidden springs, for establishing secure routes for food caravans.
Rayne, who had chosen to stay in Elysia, sat beside her, offering quiet advice, sharing his knowledge about any blights he ever studied. He was a constant, steady presence, his dedication to the cause as fierce as her own.
"We need a large-scale solution, Princess," Joel stated, his voice direct. He had taken on the role of overseeing the distribution efforts, his organizational skills proving invaluable. "These short-term fixes won’t last if the blight consumes everything."
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