The first two weeks of my winter break were so uneventful that I started to wonder if I had entered paradise. Ever since the moment I stepped (more like fell) out of the carriage and onto the Academy grounds, I had been drowning is stress and worry. It got to the point that I was suffering from daily back, head, and chest pain due to the overwhelming amount of anxiety I was experiencing. So, instead of traveling or doing anything exciting during my four week winter vacation, I chose to laze about in bed all day while reading some romance novels that had been popular with commoners.
It was mid afternoon, and I was in bed finishing the last book of a mystery romance series that Elaine had recommended when I heard a knock on my door.
"Come in!" I grumbled, annoyed by the interruption. The book had just reached it's climax and things were starting to get steamy... What!? Don't look at me like that, how else is a young lady supposed to learn about the world!?
"Looks like you've been busy," Prince Philip said sarcastically as he entered my room.
"Why are you here?"
"It seems that my fiancé is excited to see me." The prince grinned.
"Is that all you have to say? Good, now leave." I snapped, eager to get back to my book. However, knowing the Prince, there was no way I would be able to focus on reading as long as he was here.
"What are you reading?" He asked, plucked the book from my hands so he could read it aloud.
"Heavy breaths filled the room as the dark haired man trailed traced the woman's- WHAT THE HELL IS THIS CALLISTA?" The prince shouted, flustered. He tossed to book back to me, covering his face which had turned bright red.
"How could you read something so vulgar? Where are your manners, how could you disgrace the Ducal house of Sylvester like this?"
Oooooh, so the Prince was the shy type huh, this should be fun!
"Have you not read anything like this before? If not you could always borrow it, I find that it can prove a great stress reliever if you know what I mean." I smirked with raised eyebrows.
"C-Callista, w-what are you saying? I have done nothing of the sort!" The Prince stammered.
"Hmmm, what do you mean by that, I never implied that you did anything. Anyways, it's not like its unnatural for a young man like you-"
"That's enough, I'm leaving!" The Prince shouted, and I watched as he stormed out of the room with scarlet ears. After the door slammed shut, victory swelled in my chest as I picked up my book. Hopefully I would have a little while longer to read in peace while the prince recovered from his embarrassment.
Two hours later, there was another knock on my door, but this time it was Evelyn. She came to inform me that dinner was ready and that the crown prince would be joining us.
My father was working in the capital, so mother sat at the head of the table this time, giving me a stern look as I sat down. She was probably frustrated with the fact that I had ignored the crown prince; ahhh... I would definitely be in for a scolding later...
Ryland sat beside the prince, awkwardly picking at his food. As the prince's personal knight, he was probably used to standing guard during meals, but my mother insisted that a young boy like him needed to eat properly. She wasn't wrong, I often worried about Ryland's health since he was always looking after the prince. He sure was a loyal guy.
Caden and Prince Philip dominated the conversation as they talked about the political standings of different families regarding the Cynth civil war. Prince Philip had come to the house in order to discuss the current state of the neutral party that was lead by both of our families. Right now, each of the three ducal houses were supporting separate groups involved with the Cynth war. Our ducal house remaining neutral, the Ludovic's siding with Cynth's prime minister, and the Delafontain's supporting Cynth's Queen. Duke Delefontaine had married the second princess of Sarchia, so it wasn't very surprising that he had chosen to support the same side as her home country. The only thing I knew about the family was that Duke and Duchess had a pair of twins named Ambrose and Adele, but they were only mentioned in passing during the game. They had turned fourteen this year, so the two would be attending the Academy during the next term. It was definitely going to be interesting with all three ducal houses being represented in the academy.
Caden, Prince Philip, Ryland, and I were walking towards the training grounds in order to practice sparring before nightfall. Though I acted as if I had been dragged there, I didn't mind practicing swordsmanship with the guys. After bumming around for two weeks, I was starting miss my usual training. I guess swordsmanship was more important to me than I thought.
As we exited the mansion, I noticed a commotion coming from the front gates of our estate.
"Let me through, I need to speak with Lady Callista!" A familiar voice shouted. I looked to see Vin, fighting against one of our knights, his movements rushed and panicked.
"Let him in!" I ordered, running towards Vin. The lieutenant was normally pretty level headed when it came to high pressure situations, so I knew that something must be very wrong.
"What's going on Vin?" I asked, grabbing the man's arm in an attempt to calm him down.
"The tenements, they caught on fire, it won't go out, and the people-"
"How long has it been?" Caden asked, stepping up next to me, his tone serious. He put a hand on my shoulder, knowing that I was about to sprint towards the town without a second thought. While I was the one to take action, Caden always made sure to understand the situation first.
"I was just outside when it started, the guards arrived a few minutes later and then I rushed here to tell you. It's probably been about twenty minutes by now." Vin explained through shallow breaths. I was impressed, normally it took thirty minutes to ride to the port town and Vin had made it here in half that.
"Vin, get Connor and Lily, tell them to gather all of the doctors and prepare a sterilized area. Tell Connor to bring the equipment I have been working on with him. I'll follow close behind." I said, and without wasting another second Vin leapt onto his horse and sped off.
"I'm going," I asserted, turning to Caden with the expectation that he would try to convince me otherwise. However, instead of telling me not to go, Caden said the opposite.
"I'm going with you, I can help control the fire using my magic."
"I can offer my magic too." The prince said, his eyes filled with determination. I turned to his personal guard, only to see that Ryland was nodding in agreement. It seems that I had underestimated these guys.
The four of us sprinted towards the stables, shouting for the stablemen to prepare the horses. As I prepared to mount one, Ryland grabbed my arm, pulling me towards him.
"Ride with me, you're slow." He said bluntly. Normally I would have taken his words as an insult, but this wasn't the time. The young knight was right, I was not good with horses and it would be hard for me to keep up by myself.
I held Ryland's waste tightly as we sped towards the port town. We were riding at the highest speed I had ever gone when riding a horse. It felt like I would fly off at any second.
Before the town came into view, the acrid smell of smoke was already clogging my nose, causing my eyes to water.
"It's bad." Ryland whispered once we entered the town. The fire could be seen from blocks away, smoke clouding the air. People exited their houses, hands covering their mouths as they watched the flames dance atop the buildings.
"Make way!" Guards shouted as the four of us sped through the town. Two cavalry men had met us at the town's limit so that they could escort us towards the fire.
I jumped off of the horse before Ryland could come to a full stop, sprinting towards the fire, heat licking my cheeks and cries echoing in my ears.
"Callista!" Connor shouted, somehow catching sight of me through the thick smoke. He was supporting a limping woman, covering her mouth and nose with a wet rag.
"Did you bring everything?" I asked, dodging a guard who sprinted towards the building with a bucket of water.
"Yes, all the supplies are set up where the smoke is less harmful. So far, most people have made it out without major burns, but there are still some inside." Connor shouted, his voice hoars from inhaling the smoke.
"Where are they?" Prince Philip asked, arriving at my side.
"They're somewhere on the far side of the building. The stair way collapsed before they could make it out."
"Nabiyre and her kids?" I asked selfishly, worried for the Cynth refugee who I had grown close to.
"I haven't seen them yet, but they may have already escaped." Connor replied, and I nodded.
"Your Highness, follow me, I'll tell you where to put out the fires." I said, grabbing his arm and running towards the building where the stairs had collapsed. As I ran, I noticed Caden controlling the flames so that they could keep from spreading while Ryland transported people on floating slabs made out of stone.
"Give me a sec." I said once we arrived at the building. After closing my eyes, I spread my mana in order to read the temperature of the world around me. I gritted my teeth, struggling to make out people's body heat in the sea of flames.
While I did so, Prince Philip had already created a rain cloud big enough to cover two of the tenement buildings.
"There are three groups, two on the third floor and one on the fourth. Each have two to five people." I said once I was finally able to make out the people's body heat. The prince nodded and shot out his other hand directing a concentrated stream of water towards the third floor. I watched in awe as the rain cloud continued to grow, putting out the flames.
Then, a crash sounded from the building, screams erupting from inside. Once again, I closed my eyes and spread out my mana. On the third floor someone was lying as if they were stuck under something.
"Prince, clear a path to the third floor, someone is being crushed." I shouted, sprinting towards the building. The prince didn't have time to protest as I plunged into the flames, using a protective shield of mana to keep the fire from harming me. As water poured down on me, quenching the surrounding flames, I closed my eyes, channeling life mana into my feet. With a burst of strength I shot up towards the third floor window, barely managing to grip onto the window sill as I slammed into the wall of the building. The prince shouted something that I was unable to make out, but I didn't pay attention to it, pulling myself up and vaulting through the window.
Thanks to the prince's water magic, the flames in the room had been put out, but it was still full of thick black smoke. I was barely able to make out the a woman shielding a child as she struggled under the weight of the ceiling that had caved in.
"Can you hear me?" I called, crouching by the woman who was covered in debris.
"Yes," she rasped, coughing violently.
"The girl-" she said desperately, shaking under the weight of the collapsed ceiling.
"Listen, I'm going to count down from three. When I get to one, you need to get out from under there, even if you can't feel your legs. You need to move." I ordered, channeling mana into my arms.
"Three- two- one!" I shouted, and used the strength from my concentrated life mana to lift the debris. The woman dragged herself from under the fallen ceiling, holding on to the unconscious girl she had been protecting. Once the two made it out, I released the ceiling, coughing as I failed to catch my breath.
"Callista!" Ryland's voice sounded, and I rushed to the window to see Ryland who had used the earth to raise himself to our window.
"Take the girl!" I shouted, picking up the unconscious child and placing her in his arms. Then, I helped the woman to her feet, and the two of us stepped onto the raised earth. Caden lowered us to the ground, and I helped the woman onto a stone slab Ryland had created as a make shift stretcher.
"Whoah there," Prince Philip said, holding me steady as I stumbled into his arms, coughing violently.
"Is there anyone else?" I asked, my voice sounding like gravel.
"I think we were able to evacuate everyone, and the fire has been put out." The Prince reassured, practically holding me.
"I need to see the patients." I rasped once my coughs died down.
"I'll take you." Prince Philip said, and scooped me up before sprinting away from the charred buildings. In moments like these, Prince Philip never tried to stop me like the others did. Instead, he was always the first to support me, no matter how bad I looked or how dangerous it was. The Prince trusted me, and for that I was extremely grateful.
"Callista, Prince Philip, I'm glad the two of you are okay." Connor said once we reached the tent that had been set up to treat the emergency patients.
"Thanks- and uhm Prince Philip, could you put me down now?" I asked, and he muttered an apology, setting me down on the ground.
Once I was back on my own two feet, I followed Connor to the tent with the critical patients. There were a total of sixteen people who suffered severe burns and injuries, which was actually really good considering that the fire had taken out three blocks. However, we still didn't know how many casualties there were.
Ten of the patients suffered third degree burns, while the other six had a mix of second degree burns and injuries from falling objects.
"Professor Walters, he's not breathing!" A young doctor called. Connor and I rushed to his side, where he was taking care of a patient with severe burns.
"Connor, did you prepare the tubes?" I asked, examining the man's burns. He was unable to breathe because the burns had made it to his airways. I needed to perform a tracheostomy, a procedure I often used as an EMT in order to allow airway into the lungs.
Connor dispatched the young doctor to get the supplies and turned to me with a concerned expression.
"Are you sure this is safe? I understand the procedure, but the risks from cutting someones neck open are too high. How can you do it without harming a vital organ?" He asked. Generally Connor didn't question me when it came to the new procedures I suggested. The two of us had been working for the past two years in developing tools that I used in my previous life. Of course, Connor didn't know about my previous life, so he was suspicious as to where I got the information.
"Even with the risks, he'll die if we don't try. Trust me on this," I replied, giving up on trying to convince him that it was not as risky as he thought. Yes, it required practice and knowledge of anatomy, but luckily I had been able to study that in medical school.
The young doctor returned with a scalpel and a small tube the size of one of those straw things you used to stir coffee... you know what I'm talking about, right? The surrounding doctors turned their attention towards me as I made a small incision in the man's throat, sticking the tube into his vocal cords. Gasps echoed around me as people watched in shock, thinking that I had just killed the man. However, after a few seconds, the man was breathing again.
After preforming the tracheostomy, I helped direct the doctors who had been hired at the hospital Connor had build from the reward he received from the King two years ago. With that money, he had also been able to develop medical tools and supplies, giving him the name "revolutionary doctor" since I had forced him to take credit for my "ideas". He didn't like it, but he also knew how sketchy it would be for the recent medical discoveries to be attributed to a young daughter of a duke with no prior medical experience.
One of the most helpful and easy discoveries had been the development of the IV, which were now set up beside each patient's cot. With the help of Lily, we had been able to develop some drugs that could be administered through the IV in the form of fluids, which became extremely helpful in this situation. Burn victims lost a lot of fluid, so it was imperative that they were replenished in order for them to survive.
"Callista!" Elaine shouted, running up to me after I finished dressing a patient's burns. She must have been home if she was able to make it here.
"I heard about what happened from one of my neighbors, what can I do?" She asked, tenacity burning in her eyes. I thought for a second, trying to go through the abilities she had as a light mage.
"Have you learned how to use regeneration magic?"
"Yes, but it's not potent, so strength wise it is lacking." She replied honestly.
"That's more than enough. You can control a lot of mana, so I want you to focus on spreading it around this area instead of focusing on one specific place. If you do that, then you can help speed up the recovery of all the patients and get rid of potential infections. Can you do that?" I asked, placing a hand on her shoulder. Elaine nodded, and bowed her head, folding her hands together as if she was preforming a prayer. Then, after a few seconds, a soft glow filled the medical tent as light surrounded Elaine. A warm tingling sensation swept through me, and the the aching pain that had taken over my body was washed away. Once the light dimmed, the tent was filled with silence, everyone staring at Elaine in awe. My brother Caden (who had been helping direct the guards with Prince Philip and Ryland) stood shocked, looking as if he had just seen an angel. At first I was peeved, but I decided that as a thank you for speeding up the recovery of my patients, I could help Elaine out with her crush.
"Caden!" I beckoned, breaking my brother away from the trance Elaine had put him under.
"Can you take Elaine to Connor's hospital, she will be able to help more patients there."
Before he could answer, I grabbed both his and Elaine's hand and brought them together before giving my brother a push. He stumbled awkwardly, but still held on to the pink haired girl's hand. Elaine was bright red and unable to speak properly, but I knew that she wouldn't have a problem. This was the first time I had ever seen Caden lose his composure because of a girl, and while it may have been surprising to some, it was not to me. When my brother was little, he was a huge fan of fairy tales and crushed on the princesses in the stories. If anyone resembled one of those characters, it was definitly Elaine.
"Open your mouth." Prince Philip ordered, sitting down next to me. Most of the patients had been moved to the hospital, and I was now taking a break on one of the empty cots that had yet to be taken back.
"Wha-" I asked, but before I could finish, Prince Philip had popped a bubble of water into my mouth. After a long pause, Prince Philip finally broke the silence as he leaned back looking at the night sky.
"You really are something Callista," He sighed.
"Honestly, no one else is as crazy as you are."
"What is that supposed to mean?" I grumbled and opened my mouth so that he would give me some more water. The prince chuckled and created another water bubble.
"It's not an insult, I actually respect the hell out of you when you do stuff like that."
I tried to reply, but I was interrupted by a water bubble filling my mouth.
"Since the day you saved me from the wolf, I have always believed in your strength and looked up to you. To me, you were invincible, even when you screwed up." He said with a chuckle. I rolled my eyes, but decided to keep quiet.
"But today, when you sprinted into that fire, you looked... so alone..." He trailed off. My breath hitched and I looked to him confused.
"But you were there," I said, not quit understanding him.
"You're right, but still... Ugh- I can't do stuff like this!" The prince groaned, messing up his hair.
"What I mean to say is, next time, take me with you."
Prince Philip looked away from me, rubbing the back of his neck. Honestly, I wasn't sure what this guy was going on about, but for some reason his words comforted me.
"Sure," I replied.