Chapter 5 - A Fever and a Whisper
The boy was laid across Elric's cot, his small frame twitching with each shallow breath. Beads of sweat clung to his forehead, and his skin had a reddish hue beneath the chin. His mother stood nearby, wringing her hands.
"Please, Your Highness. He collapsed this morning. He's burning up."
Elric didn't reply at first. His eyes scanned the boy like a scanner in his old life. Pulse weak. Lips dry. Muscles spasming lightly. Breathing rapid.
He reached into his satchel of hand-made tools—some sharpened bone, cloth strips, a sealed pot of crushed frostleaf mixed with vinegar. Nothing sterile. But he'd worked with less before.
"Lira," he said without looking back. "Boil water. Two kettles full. Add rosemary if we have it."
"Yes, right away!"
He turned to the noblewoman. "Did he eat anything strange recently? Fall? Bleed from anywhere?"
She shook her head. "No, my lord. He only played in the field yesterday... near the old well."
Elric's fingers paused. "The well?"
She nodded. "It's been dry for years. The children play near it sometimes."
Contaminated soil. Maybe insects. Maybe... something worse.
Elric knelt, unrolling a cloth. He dipped a strip into vinegar and wiped the boy's arms and chest to cool his body.
The mother watched nervously. "You're not using a healing potion?"
He looked at her flatly. "If potions worked, he wouldn't be here."
The woman flinched. Lira returned with steaming kettles, cheeks flushed from the heat.
Elric worked swiftly. A cold compress. Crushed herbs under the tongue. He made the boy sip a broth of boiled basilisk root and honey slowly. Then he waited.
For hours.
As the moon rose high and stars bled across the sky, the fever began to ease. The boy's breathing steadied. His fingers twitched—but not in pain this time.
"His fever is breaking," Elric said, wiping his brow.
The mother dropped to her knees. "How—how did you know what to do?"
"I didn't," he lied gently. "I only followed what made sense."
She clutched his robe, weeping quietly. "Thank you, my prince."
He gently stepped back. "He'll sleep for a while. Keep him warm. Only soft food tomorrow. And don't let him near that well again."
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Later that night, Elric sat by the window, a half-burned candle flickering beside him. Lira returned with fresh linens and a nervous look.
"You saved him," she whispered.
He didn't answer.
"You always know exactly what to do. It's like... you've done it before."
Eleic stared at the stars. "Some things... you just feel."
She sat beside him, not asking more. But her eyes lingered on him longer than usual, filled with quiet curiosity.
She didn't know he was once a doctor.
She didn't know he came from another world.
But perhaps... she was beginning to suspect that the fragile prince from the palace had returned with something more than just clarity.
Something unexplainable.
Something powerful.
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