The real Prince

New land

Shirayuki opened her eyes. Blinking tiredly, she rubbed the sleep from her eyes and began to smile as the memories of yesterday slowly came back. It had been a very eventful, nerve-racking and above all frightening day, but Shirayuki immediately felt butterflies in her stomach again as she thought about how the day had developed and what had happened in the evening. Suddenly her face began to feel really hot, her cheeks felt like they were glowing and she hardly dared to open her eyes as she slowly turned to the other side in her bed. Indeed - there he was, peacefully asleep. All blush drained from her cheeks as she watched with a gentle gaze how his breath moved a strand of his beautiful hair, the extraordinary color of which she loved so much.

------ 48 hours earlier -------

"Miss? Are you awake?" Obi knocked several times on the red-haired court pharmacist's door. "Young mistress, it is very inconvenient for me to have to wake you up, but we have to go! The carriage to Tanbarun leaves in half an hour - and surely you still want to say goodbye to the prince," Obi added with a grin. It took only a few moments for the young lady's door to open and for her to step out into the hallway - to his surprise - already fully dressed. "Good morning Obi!" His heart warmed at the sight of her radiant smile and the sound of her voice as she said his name. "Shall we?", she asked. "But of course my lady, let me escort you to the carriage." He offered her his arm and Shirayuki accepted it with a smile.

"Zen!" Obi couldn't help but grin. Of course, as they turned the corner, she had let go of his arm on the spot to run towards the second prince of the kingdom of Clarines as soon as she caught sight of his white hair. A joyful smile spread across the prince's face as the red-haired beauty ran towards him and he greeted her while placing his hand on her head and looking at her gently. Obi considerately moved away so they could say their goodbyes in peace. He decided to check the carriage and horses one more time to make sure everything was ready and safe for the young mistress' journey.
As soon as he was done with that, he turned around and saw the two of them coming towards him. 'Something is different...' Obi thought to himself. His suspicions were confirmed when Mitsuhide and Kiki appeared as well, clearly carrying more luggage than was necessary for two people. Zen stepped up to him and patted him on the shoulder. "Obi, my faithful messenger, looks like we're finally having another journey together! Mitsuhide and I will be accompanying you!" Obi's eyes widened. This was unusual. "B-but Prince, what's going to happen to the castle if you leave it all unguarded like this?" Zen laughed. "All unguarded? Careful Obi, I might get the feeling that you doubt my competence! Of course, I made sure that the guards know exactly how to line up. Besides, my brother is still here, and Kiki is also staying in Clarines to take care of everything during our absence." Obi bowed to the prince. Even though he did not yet understand the reason for the decision, he respected it and also felt a sense of gratitude. The more protection for the little miss, the better.
And so he swung himself onto his horse, while Shirayuki let Zen help her get into the carriage. Kiki, Ryuu, chief court Pharmacist Garack and Yatsufusa waved at them until they could no longer see them (even though he doubted that Yatsufusa had ever been able to do so). Obi tried to ignore the uncomfortable feeling in his stomach that had lasted all morning and told himself to trust that the trip would go well, but somehow he didn't really succeed this time.

Mitsuhide rubbed his eyes. They had arrived in Tanbarun the day before, late in the evening, with heavy legs from riding and exhausted from the long journey. They had been greeted by Prince Raji Shenazard in the most extensive and theatrical manner and then, when they had been able to politely , had sunk into their beds exhaustedly. Nevertheless, Mitsuhide had gotten up very early that morning to get an idea of the situation in the castle. After all, it was his job as a bodyguard to be prepared for anything. Additionally, his strong urge to protect Prince Zen and to keep him safe from any dangers in this foreign kingdom and in unfamiliar surroundings had restrained him from sleeping long and deeply. As usual, he immediately felt an uncomfortable feeling in his chest at the thought that something might happen to Zen. He had gotten used to the intensity of his own protective instinct by now, therefore he avoided delving deeper into why it was so strong. Sure, he had grown fond of all the people around him over the years and wanted to prevent any harm to them, and yes, the fact that his worries revolved around Zen the most was surely due to the fact that he had known him the longest of all and that the prince's safety had been entrusted to him personally. Nevertheless, at least the former was also true for Kiki, and even though he naturally worried about Kiki as well - he wouldn't be Mitsuhide if he didn't - it somehow felt... different.

He dissipated the thought as usual and began to search for Zen. Surely he would be awake by now as well. Mitsuhide smiled at the thought of the prince's discipline and responsible behavior. After knocking politely, he carefully opened the door to Zen's bedchamber.
Mitsuhide's well-toned chest swelled to twice its size with pride as he saw the prince's white-haired head bent diligently over maps and papers lying on his desk. He quietly stepped up to him and put a hand on his shoulder to get Zen's attention. To his surprise, however, the latter flinched strongly, quickly turned his head around and stared at Mitsuhide for a second before turning back around and hastily tossing the sheets scattered across his desk and stuffing them into drawers while muttering things like, "Um that was already lying... that was... I was just... you know... just out of interest... not for me." When he was done with that, he quickly turned back to his bodyguard and asked in a tone that was probably meant to cover up the previous behavior, "Well, Mitsuhide, wh-what brings you to me so early? Everything going well, hm?" Mitsuhide, who couldn't explain at all what had just been going on, looked at Zen with concern. "Z-zen, is... everything alright with you?" "Yeaah, really, all is good, don't worry so much," Zen hissed in a tone that the knight was absolutely not used to from him. To end the awkward silence that followed, Mitsuhide simply decided to tick off the subject and get on with the normal business of the day, discussing with his prince the schedule for the day in Tanbarun.
Soon, the strange incident was forgotten, although Mitsuhide resolved to keep an eye out to see if anything might be bothering Zen and if he could offer him his help.

Obi was beside himself with rage. "You did WHAT?!!!" He knew that it was not proper for him as a simple messenger to speak in such a tone to the first prince of the kingdom of Tanbarun, but he absolutely did not care at that moment. Obi, who was usually calm and in control in any situation, and who always had a quick-witted and cheeky remark on his lips even in the most dangerous situations, could hardly control himself now. His arm shot forward and he grabbed Prince Raji by his shirt, pulling him close to his face. "Tell me again. exactly. what happened." Obi's voice sounded icy cold, but his cat-like yellow eyes flashed fiery. "I-I already told you- I...don't...know," Raji stuttered, his eyes bulging wide and a huge bead of sweat on his upper left forehead appeared. He couldn't finish his sentence, however, because (much to Raji's relief) Prince Zen and Sir Mitsuhide were rushing towards them at that moment. "Obi! What in the world are you doing?!", Zen shouted. Obi gritted his teeth, closed his eyes briefly and then finally let Prince Raji down. Slowly, Obi turned to Zen and looked at him seriously. He took a breath. "Shirayuki is gone."