Unfamiliar: Obi x OC snow white with the red hair fanfiction

17

"Thanks, I was forced to attend the party. But please answer my question." I take a sideways glance at Shirayuki. "Or will Shirayuki answer for you?"

"I-I'm sorry!" Shirayuki squeaks, nervous fiddling with the sleeve of her herbalist uniform. "I-I didn't mean to, really, b-but Obi-"

I chuckle at her stuttering. "There's no need to be that scared," I assure her, amused. "I'm not going to report you or anything. What you're trying to say is that Obi roped you into this, right?"

When she nods, I turn with a sigh to Obi, who's standing there sheepishly. "You're such a troublemaker." I chide him softly. "And you even dragged poor Shirayuki into this."

"Hey, she was actually enjoying it a second ago," Obi defends himself. "She was into it, too, so don't place the whole blame on me!"

"I was not!" Shirayuki cries indignantly.

"Was too, Miss."

"I wasn't-"

"Shh." I put a finger to my mouth, tilting my head toward the wall in front of us. "Both of you, shut up for a second."

I hear Izana say through the bushes, "Zen, I was wondering what you two talked about at the welcome reception earlier."

"Oh, we just exchanged greetings," I hear an unfamiliar voice say. It resembles the whining of a mosquito, but mixed with a tone of aloofness. Is that Raji speaking?

"That's correct." Zen agrees. "After all, we've only just met."

"I see," Izana's voice turns thoughtful. "You know, Prince Raji, I've heard that you recently fell for a beautiful, red-haired girl." He pauses as Raji coughs into what he's drinking. "You'd be happy to know that that damsel of yours is actually here in this castle right now."

"Y-you're kidding me, she is?" Raji gasps, then seems to realize his mistake. "I-I mean, what girl?"

"Come on," Izana coaxes him. "Surely you know her name?"

"It- It was... Shirayuki, wasn't it?"

My jaw drops open and I glance at Shirayuki, who has crouch down again. Her eyes are wide, and her face is growing paler. Lifting my eyes, I see that Obi looks shocked and surprised, too. What exactly is going on here? Raji liked Shirayuki?

"I heard the girl left you, but perhaps you still care for her?" Izana says sympathetically, yet I can almost hear the smirk he undoubtedly has on his face. "If so, I can invite her to join us."

"O-oh no, that's okay." Raji sounds shaken up, a slight panicked tone in his voice. "These are just silly rumors- she didn't leave Tanbarun because of me, certainly not! She... simply wanted to experience living in a different country, and I whole-heartedly offered her my blessing to do so! There's no affection to speak of!"

"Why are you so reluctant to meet her?" Izana muses out loud. "Did something happen between you two?"

"Lord Brother," Zen speaks for the first time in a while, and I can here the warning in his voice. "You are reading too far into this situation."

"Oh am I?" Izana counters. "Who knows, maybe the girl wants to return to her home country." 

"Brother!" Zen almost shouts, and the whole party falls silent at his outburst.

"Yikes," Obi mutters. "Are you hearing this, Miss?" He looks down at Shirayuki.

The redhead looks spaced out for a moment, and after hearing Obi's voice, she rises to her feet suddenly. "I-I need to go. My break is over." She avoids eye contact with both me and Obi. I nod to Obi, frowning in worry for Shirayuki. He nods back, signaling that he'll take her back.