***

Today's the day... The day of the exam. I was both excited and nervous. Nervous that I would fail and excited if I ended up passing. It was a pretty good balance if you asked me. I had spent the past few days studying for this exam so I was more than prepared. I wonder what the exam will be, though. Will it be an exam on paper or will we be doing a more hands-on type of exam? These were the questions that I craved to be answered... And they will be soon seeing as I'm already at the exam.

I was standing with a big group of people who were also here to take the exam. I wonder how many positions they have open. If they don't have a lot then the exam would be a bit harder than normal so they can narrow down the number of people there are. A servant was leading us to where we would be taking the exam.

"Once all the examinees have arrived, we will proceed to the orientation room," The servant moved to the top of the stairs to stand in front of the door. The other examinees and I gathered around, "Please wait patiently until then. Don't worry it won't be much longer."

I let out a sigh. They always say this when they want you to stay and not leave. I could only hope that it wouldn't be a long time and they're not lying. I surveyed the examinees when my eyes fell upon a young boy. It was the same young boy that I had seen at the pharmacy. He was walking down to where the outside garden was. I looked around at the examinees before I backed away slowly. Once I was out of the crowd, I went in the direction the boy went.

I walked down the steps and smiled at the sight of all the herbs and flowers. I admired them fondly as I continued to make my way down the steps. I stopped when I saw the boy again. He had a basket beside him with some herbs in it and he was reading a book.

"That's a compound for suppressing coughs. All he's missing is some rainbow leaf and koko grass," I looked back at the boy to see him staring at her. I blushed, did I say that out loud? I thought that I didn't do that anymore. I used to do that all the time when I was younger. I quickly bowed to the boy, "I'm so sorry! Please forgive me for interrupting."

The boy looked to the herbs in front of him, "Yes, I will need some rainbow leaf and koko grass, but they're not ready to pick yet," I straightened back up again. "I'll do it right at dawn when the medicinal properties are at their most effective."

"When they're most effective, you say? Oh, yeah," I hit my hand into my palm, "Shirayuki told me about the technique! You know when?" I tried to do the technique myself but was never able to get the hang of it. My timing was always off.

"Yes, it took centuries to figure this out by the ancient folk who lived in nature and off the land. Current medical literature has no category for it, but I remembered because it's important," The boy explained. I walked over to him. He really knew a lot for his age. Even I didn't know that much when I was young like he is, "The people who spent time studying the actual plants knew best. I'd much rather learn my skills from them."

I crouched down beside him. The boy turned to me and I gave him a smile. The boy got flustered. He quickly packed up his stuff and left. It's a shame. It was actually really fun to talk with him. I know one thing for sure now, "I can't wait to learn about living medicine here." I stood up.

"Emiko!" I heard someone call out. I turned in the direction of the voice to see Zen. He stood up top and was waving at me. Kiki and Mitsuhide were a little behind him. He came running down the stairs toward me.

"Hey, Zen!" I gave him a small wave.

"Your test starts soon," Zen told me when he finally reached me, "Think you're ready for it?"

"Kind of." Even though I did study for the exam for a few days, I did procrastinate a little bit too. I could never just stay on task. I always got distracted by something. I did get a bit of information for the exam crammed in so at least I wasn't going in unprepared.

"What do you mean, 'kind of'?" Zen asked.

I just grinned at him. I leaned forward and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. I pulled away just in time to see him blush. I rushed past him, starting to make my way back to the top. I looked back with one last wave and smile, "Wish me luck!"

***

A woman with blonde hair stood behind the desk in front of us. We had been led to the exam room and all the examinees now sat in desks of their own. The nervousness was finally getting to me. I had faith that I knew enough to get a good score, even if I didn't pass. I shouldn't worry so much. I studied a lot for this. I can't get cold feet now that I'm already here. I totally got this. I just need to calm down.

The blonde woman raised her hand as she introduced herself, "I am the chief herbalist, Garak. Welcome. This exam will measure your ability to manage both herb gardens and medicine storage, as that's the primary work of a court herbalist apprentice," I looked down at the paper that we had all been given, "You will be responsible for a small medicinal herb garden in the castle, protecting and tending to the environment and plants inside the garden. After two days, there will be an inspection, and following, you will submit a report. That is all. Please read the document for further details."

By the time we had been let out, it had been getting dark outside. Each one of us had been led to our own gardens that we had to tend to. There was a top part and a bottom part of the greenhouse and aqueducts irrigated the entire garden. I was walking along the top part and wrote down important notes on my clipboard. In the corner of my eye, I spotted some mud in the water.

"It looks like some mud got in the water," I managed to take care of it. I was tending to some of the plants on the bottom when I heard footsteps. Was it one of the examiners coming to check up on me? I turned and saw Zen standing there. He was looking outside with a hand on his sword handle. I looked at him with confusion, "Zen?"

Zen stiffened and his eyes widened. He quickly turned to me to give me an embarrassed wave, "Hey, Emi!" What was he even doing here? Why did it look like he was on edge? When did he get here? I didn't even notice him.

"You startled me a little bit," I made my way over to him, "What brings you here?"

Zen held up his hand to stop me, "Wait!" It certainly worked because I stopped on the spot. He started running to me, "Stay where you are-" He cut himself off when we heard a noise. The two of us gasped as we saw that the door had been closed. A figure could be seen running away, but he was barely visible. Zen ran over to the door to try to open it. He seemed to have no luck, "Great, we're locked in."

I sighed, "I thought I heard it lock."

"Do you know who might do this? Was someone meeting you here?" Zen inquired.

I shook my head, "No. I wouldn't be meeting someone because I happen to be in the middle of my apprentice exam right now."

"Interesting," Zen went back to trying to open the door, "They must've locked us in knowing that." I don't see why he kept trying to open the door. If it was locked then there wasn't a way to get it open without kicking it down.

"Zen," I called out to him, "It's better if we wait. It doesn't seem like the door is going to open any time soon. Whoever's going to be doing the inspection in the morning can let us out."

It looked like he was about to break off the handle if he kept trying. Zen's voice made it seem like he was struggling, which he kind of was, "Yes, but my being here would be problematic if they think I'm helping you."

Aw... He doesn't want me to get disqualified. I'm actually kind of touched. He didn't want to leave because he had better things to do, he wanted to leave so he didn't get me in trouble. I smiled at this revelation, "I see," That's when it hit me, "Hey, was there any reason that you came by here?"

Zen let go of the door and he turned to me. The blush on his face was way more than obvious, "Uh, no, I was just... In the neighborhood."

"Oh, okay then." A knowing smile appeared on my face.

Zen sighed, leaning back against the door, "I feel like an idiot, now. When did you first get here again?" Wow, I didn't really think about that. Time really has flown, huh?

I scratched the back of my head, trying to remember, "I think it might have been yesterday."

"Did you get enough sleep?" He asked me.

"Sure, I did. I took a little nap." That was a complete lie. I hadn't slept or taken a nap since I first got here. I was so worried that something might happen while I slept and I wouldn't be able to fix it in enough time. Besides, who needs sleep? Sleep is for the weak... Don't tell Shirayuki I said that, she'll kill me for avoiding sleep again.

Zen crossed his arms, "Sometimes, it seems like you're sidestepping the real question."

"How could I even think about sleep when I'm surrounded by such a rare and beautiful garden?" I said it once and I'll say it again. The castle has some of the most beautiful gardens. The smile I had on my face fell when I noticed something. There were some yellow flowers that were facing downward. I narrowed my eyes in confusion and ran over to them. I lifted one of the flowers up to inspect it better. I hummed.

"Something wrong?" Zen was leaning over my shoulder.

"This flower is supposed to be blooming facing upward from late at night until morning, so why is it..." I trailed off. There was water flowing underneath it and the environment was fine... But the flowers were still wilting. I stood up and scooped up some of the water in my hands. I sniffed the water before taking a small drink. I gasped, "Why is this water sweet?"

I ran up to the top part to check the water up there. I did the same thing I did with the other water and took a drink. This water was normal. Why was this water normal while the other was sweet? Something's definitely up here. I walked back down to where Zen stood.

"So, what's the verdict?" Zen had his hand on his hip.

"There are some toxins in this water." I probably should have worded that differently.

"Toxins?" Zen quickly grabbed me by the shoulders. He stared at me with wide, panicked eyes, "And you decided to drink it?"

"Don't worry!" I tried to reassure him, "It doesn't affect humans. I'm going to be fine."

"Are you... Are you sure?" I nodded in response to his question. Zen let out a breath of relief, letting me go. It's nice to know that he was worried. He stumbled back a bit before sitting down on the edge of the garden. He brought a hand to his head, "Don't scare me like that," I apologized for scaring him. After a moment, he looked up at me, "Well? Explain it."

I nodded once, "Yes, um... Of the toxins that the medicinal herbs and plants can carry, one of them tastes very similar to honey. Someone may have mixed it in with the water. I'm not really seeing the plant that could be making the toxins, though. The problem has to be down here since the water up top was clean. I took a moment to survey the garden. My gaze stopped at some pink plants, "This isn't akegi shigure... It must be yura shigure!" Zen was obviously confused, but I didn't have time to explain. I took one of the plants and ripped off a root so I could chew on it. The root was sweet which meant that, "This is yura!"

"You're certain?" Zen questioned.

"Yes," I started to explain to him so he could understand, "There are two types, yura and akegi, and it's hard to tell the difference until the flower. You see, this yura plant was grown in the same environment to bloom as an akegi would be."

"So are you saying it was actually planted in the wrong way?" Good, he's catching on.

"Exactly," I replied, "If it was in a foreign environment, yura would be unable to bloom, and their roots would produce toxins, which would end up flowing into the aqueducts from the soil," I turned to him, "Zen, I need you to close the aqueducts from here all the way to the other side. I'm gonna dig all of these up and replant them." I rolled up my sleeves and got ready to get my hands dirty.

"That's all right? If I help you, it might negatively affect your test score." Zen told me.

He was definitely right. But fixing this was so much more important to me than my test score, "You are right, but I have to do what's necessary to fix this."

"Are you sure you won't get disqualified or fail?" Zen continued to question me.

"Not if I stay on track. I can do anything and it's all because of you, Zen." I said.

Zen's eyes widened before he let a small smile show up on his face, "Well, then. How could I resist? I'll help you."

He held up his fist and we fist-bumped. It was time to get to work. This was going to be a long night, but it's not like we have anywhere else to be. We're kind of stuck here. And so, we spent the whole night working to fix the garden. By the time we were done with fixing everything, the sun was shining into the greenhouse. I looked around. Hey, there's some rainbow leaf and koko grass. That's what that boy was waiting for.

I laughed a little when I looked over at Zen. Zen was beyond tired from helping me out. He probably hasn't done so much work like this. A beautiful sound echoed in the greenhouse. The door had finally opened. I turned to see the chief standing there with a man behind her.

"Good morning, Chief!" I greeted her.

"Good morning," She started. The chief looked down at Zen who was cleaning up against one of the things the garden was kept in, "Why are you in the garden, Your Highness?"

"I'll explain it later." Zen even sounded exhausted.

The chief gave me a confused look, "Emiko, what happened in here?"

I started to explain, "I noticed something wrong because the water on the bottom part was sweet. So I rearranged things so that the yura shigure would flower. It had been mistakenly planted as akegi shigure."

"You figured that out?" She asked.

I nodded, "Yep."

"And replanted the rest of the garden?" Chief Garak seemed surprised. She was probably not expecting someone to go as far as replanting most of the garden.

"Yeah, I didn't want them to be affected by the remaining toxins in the aqueducts," I told her.

"You did this in one night?" Chief Garak straightened up. She quickly asked me, "Did you receive any help from the prince?"

I shrugged, "It only makes sense. Seeing as some of these herbs just might save his life one day."

Zen chuckled a little bit. If Chief Garak wasn't shocked before then she certainly is now, "I suppose that's a logical explanation. There was an examinee who was mistaken for a prowler last night. That person must've locked the door."

"Perhaps a competitor wants to eliminate Emiko." Zen theorized.

"Perhaps," Chief Garak agreed, "I can assure you, this matter will be investigated thoroughly."

Zen rested his chin on the palm of his hand, "I can tell you the person was wearing a long coat, and had tied-back hair all the way down to the waist." Zen got a better look at the guy than I did. I only saw a glimpse of the person before they were completely out of my sight.

"Thank you, Highness. Emiko," Chief Garak called out. I looked back to her and sat up a bit straighter, "Please know there's a proper time and place for your friendship with the prince."

I nodded, "I completely understand, ma'am."

"Hold on, it was my choice to come here," Zen stated.

"Prince Zen, your status affords you carte blanche to make all decisions without being challenged. All it takes is one word from you. Your friend could be accepted as a court herbalist unconditionally, with no further questions asked." The chief was definitely right. Zen held so much power that he could do almost anything. If he wanted to make sure that I became a court herbalist then he could've just made me one himself if I ended up failing. But I wouldn't let him-

It seemed like Zen had been reading my thoughts, "She's too proud for that. Plus, if I did, she'd get mad at me and leave the castle grounds. And the last thing I wanna do is make her angry."

I smirked, "I'm just gonna take that as a compliment."

The chief was quiet before breaking out into laughter. The man behind her was surprised, "Chief!"

"Sorry. How did Emiko fare on the test, Yastufasa?" Chief Garak continued to laugh.

Yatsufasa checked his notes, "She has passed with flying colors."

Chief Garak cleared her throat, "Well then, congratulations. Emiko, you have officially been accepted as an apprentice court herbalist," The chief chuckled a little. Zen and I shared a big smile. I'm so happy that I passed. I can actually come to the castle without having to use Zen's influence, "The examination was not just about testing your knowledge of tending gardens, but about yura and akegi, too, and if you knew the difference. It would've been enough if you had just noticed and wrote it in the records. But I didn't think anyone would actually replant the whole garden," She laughed and turned away, "Ryu's going to be in for a real surprise."

"Ryu?" I inquired.

She turned back to me, "That's right. Our youngest court herbalist. He's the one who devised today's exam."

"Are you talking about the quiet one with the black hair?" That would make a lot of sense. He seemed to know a lot about herbalism. He was also at the pharmacy that day and no ordinary little boy would be at the pharmacy by themselves.

"Indeed. It seems you've already met," Chief Garak was a little surprised at this information, "Alright. Then we'll appoint him to be your supervisor."

"That's great!" I exclaimed. The chief started leaving when I remembered something. I stood up as quickly as I could and yelled, "Oh! Chief Garak, please. I was wanting to ask your permission for something."