After getting Prince Suzaka ashore, Rishe, Arnold, and their knights raced him to the nearest hospital. There, a physician, and nurse looked over him with sallow expressions. Rishe joined them when Suzaka's skin turned paler and his face greener. He struggled to breath and sweat soaked from his skin.

"What's wrong with him?" Arnold asked.

"Illness, your majesty. We've seen this before. It comes from some of the local islands. People from this continent generally have an immunity to it but people from across the sea can contract it if they stop at the islands."

"We must have an cure!" Rishe cried but the nurse shook her head.

"Sadly we just ran out. Most people here are immune, and foreigners rarely stop at the islands, so we never keep that much stocked and aren't expected to get more for some time."

"But he's a foreign ambassador!" one of the royal knights wailed.

Rishe bit her lip and glanced at the letter in his hand. They found it on Suzaka's person, the only belonging he had left. It carried a purple wax seal of the Kagai Emperor. Suzaka was not just an ambassador but a prince and letting him die on their watch was out of the question.

"There must be a way," Arnold said rather than asked.

The doctor and nurse gulped but Rishe stepped in for them.

"He's right, what are the ingredients to this cure?"

"Well, most of them come from across the empire, its why it takes so long. But there is another way to make it. The problem is that the key ingredient comes from a rare serpent located on one of the nearby islands," the physician said.

"We'll go and get it then!" Rishe declared with a fierce smile.

"Your majesty, that island is extremely dangerous! There are all kinds of vicious creatures that live there besides the snake!" the nurse yelped.

Rishe did not flinch. She was an accomplished hunter during her fifth life, bringing down many man-eating animals. Arnold gave her a stern expression, but Rishe did not budge, and he exhaled alongside the royal knights.

A few hours later, she stepped off a boat wearing leather boots, thick trousers, and a padded gambeson, her hair still in a ponytail. Arnold wore similar hunting attire while the royal knights remained on the beach.

"Please be careful, your highness," the captain pleaded.

Rishe gave him a cheeky grin before leading Arnold into the island interior. A thick forest sprang up around them with the ocean waves disappearing amid the cry of strange birds and rustling of foliage around them.

Rishe watched every step she took, remembering everything she learned during her fifth life. Watch for tracks, be aware of the sounds around you or lack of sound and recognize that you are always out of place in the wild. Rishe had a hunting blade on her belt and another in her boot while a crossbow rested on her back.

"Watch for these ingredients too, Arnold," Rishe said while opening a book with illustrations. "Everything should be here."

He nodded and looked over them again.

"I wasn't aware of an embassy from the Kagai scheduled to arrive," Arnold said in a cold tone.

"We can figure that out later, Arnold-" Rishe started.

"Rishe, I'm sure you're aware of the Kagai Empire's sins against us," Arnold's voice turned even harsher.

Rishe went still and felt a chill crawl down her spine. She had almost forgotten the troubled history between both empires. A year before Rishe turned fifteen, failed negotiations over rights to trade ports in neutral nations between them led to the Kagai Emperor striking indirectly at the Galkhein Empire.

Apparently the Kagai themselves were struggling against local pirates who plagued commerce among the islands. Killing two birds with one stone, the Kagai Emperor issued pardon to all pirates and even offered them ships capable of deep ocean travel if they kept their piracy exclusive to the Galkhein Empire's vessels.

"That was my first-time commanding in a war," Arnold said while stroking the pommel of his sword. "Those men refused to surrender, so we had to kill them all. Crew by crew, ship by ship."

Rishe gulped, and the vivid thought of Arnold hunting down pirates who refused to surrender,

made her tremble. She looked back at him, but blinked after a smile crept back over his face.

"But you're right, my love, I want to find out why Suzaka has come, it may prove interesting,"

Rishe let out a sigh of relief. As efficient as Arnold still was in executing his duties, he had not

become the ruthless conqueror he had in her previous lives. She too pondered why the Kagai

Empire sent one of their prince's without notice. But that would have to wait until they saved him.

Deeper and deeper they penetrated the forest. More than once, both detected potential danger.

Rishe guided them away from a pit of scorpions and Arnold spotted concealed jaguars amid the trees. As they navigated further, Rishe pondered her brief trip to the Kagai Empire during her first life. Looking back, Rishe realized that her trip to acquire silkworms was the last trip she took before her death.

While there, the Empire, already weary of outsiders, tried to detain her as a potential spy. Apparently, a member of their royal family went missing near the Galkhein Empire causing the Kagai to send more privateers. In response, the Empire led a punitive expedition against the Kagai.

Rishe gasped and covered her mouth, thinking of Suzaka. She was not here in that timeline, meaning Suzaka died at the hands of the pirates. This was it! She had the chance to save him and mend relationships between the Kagai and Galkhein. Rishe's eyes lit up at the potential for so much prosperity, from trade deals to the exchange of knowledge, she and Arnold could do it all.

"Rishe!" Arnold snapped.

The princess jumped and only then realized that she had stumbled into a patch of what looked like oversized Venus fly traps. The plants opened their jaws and snapped at her. Arnold slashed through the plans, severing three heads. Several vines shot out and ensnared Arnold's wrists, only for him to tear them off.

Rishe drew her daggers and fought back-to-back with Arnold, cutting a fly trap's head in half then stabbing another that almost got her leg. After another few minutes, she panted while Arnold wiped the green plant insides from his blade.

"Try to pay attention, Rishe," he said.

Rishe gave a sheepish look and nodded. However, a wide smile returned after she turned back to the dead plants and examined her book.

"Perfect, these ingredients will help!" Rishe collected everything and a few extras, things to experiment with later. Soon enough, the princess lost herself in the treasure trove of rare plants and ingredients, beaming as she stuffed more and more into her ever growing pack. After ten minutes, Arnold had to carry her away, slung over his shoulder.

"Just a few more! We have time!" Rishe pleaded as she reached longingly for the plants.

Arnold did not respond and kept holding her until they cleared the area. Finally, after another hour of hunting, the two crawled up to a den area. From the clearing, they spotted a massive black serpent, fast asleep over what had to be its kills. Rishe spotted the head of a goat body sticking up over a large lion's corpse.

"That's some snake if it killed a lion," Rishe muttered.

Arnold narrowed his eye and stroked his chin, clearly deep in thought.

"One good shot to the head ought to do it," Rishe said, taking careful aim with her crossbow at the snoring snake.

"Rishe, wait-" Arnold started and he tried to grab her arm.

However, all this accomplished was making her shot miss and hit the snake in the center of its coiled body instead of the head.

"Arnold-" Rishe groaned but then gasped as the serpent hissed and rose, but not alone. The goat's head rose too, as did the lion. The princess went pale. Her mouth hung open but not words came out, for the snake, goat, and lion were not separate creatures, but one.

"It's a chimera!" Arnold took Rishe by the hand and pulled them away.

Not a moment later, the chimera jumped through the air, paws out and came inches from pouncing on them. It pivoted and tried to snap its jaws around Arnold's head, but he slashed, cutting deep into its snout. As the lion head roared, the serpent tried to jab at Arnold from behind. Rishe drew her daggers and slashed, cutting deep into the scaley skin.

The chimera backed up then leaped onto the clearing. From there, it circled the couple, eyeing them with all three of its heads.

"I have the lion, can you get the snake?" Arnold asked.

"Yes!" Rishe said and started loading another bolt.

Seeing this, the chimera jumped for her. Arnold slashed up, cutting deep into its side and sending blood trickling out across the grass. Rishe rolled aside, helped by Arnold's attack which made the chimera lurch a little. She raised her crossbow just in time to shoot straight down the snake's throat as it tried to bite her.

The snake let out a violent hiss and thrashed about, blood spewing across the den. Rishe tried to sever its head when the goat rammed its horns into her side. She landed on the ground with a grunt, sharp pain tearing across her body that knocked the breath from Rishe's lungs.

"Rishe!" Arnold jabbed at the lion's head, forcing it back before he leaped up and slammed his foot into the goat. Its horns shattered like glass and the chimera itself flipped like a ragdoll, landing flat on its back.

Even as she gasped for air, Rishe spotted the bleeding snake head trying to jab Arnold from behind. Moaning from the strain, she drew her daggers and came down with both upon its neck, pinning the serpent into the rocks. At the same time, Arnold whirled around and cut the lion's head clean off.

Rishe quickly took out a small glass bottle and stuck it against the snake's fangs, forcing it to excrete purple venom until it filled the contained. Rishe corked the bottle and collapsed onto her stomach, struggling to breathe.

"We did it," she said while panting.

"Yes, now, let's get out of here," Arnold leaned down and lifted Rishe up bridal style, giving her a kiss on the cheek as he carried her back toward the shore. After such a battle, Rishe could barely stand and gave a relieved smile that Arnold carried her, then promptly fell fast asleep, savoring his warm presence.