It had been almost half an hour now. Shirayuki was picking flowers in the middle of the forest, putting them in her basket that she was carrying with her. It was unknown if those flowers were meant for decoration or to make herbs out of. After all, Obi was watching from a distance, making sure that she had no idea he was there.

It wasn't unusual for Obi to stalk her. He couldn't help it; he always had the urge to be close to her. But he never said anything about it, to anyone, especially to her. He didn't have the right to intervene between what Shirayuki and Zen have together. And he accepted the fact that he would would be a spectator watching from the sidelines. Just being a friend was good enough for him too. As long as he could be near her from time to time. Wait, doesn't that make him sound like a creep?

Maybe I should stop doing this.

That's how he had been thinking about it for a while now. But his opinion on that matter soon changed.

"Hey, you!"

Shirayuki was startled by the voice. She hadn't heard footsteps of someone walking up on her. The flowers at her feet had taken all of her attention. She planned to bring some back to the castle to decorate her room. After quickly turning around a tall, muscular man appeared in front of her. Quite close as well. His face didn't look familiar, and it certainly didn't look friendly either.

"Can I help you?", she kindly asked.

"That red hair. Rumors 'been going round that Prince Zen got himself a girlfriend, and that she had red hair unlike anyone else."

"Girl... girlfriend? I... I'm sorry but is there something you want from me?" She was kind of shocked that a stranger in the middle of the forest knew about this.

"I was just walking around looking for something to eat 'dis night. Boy did I know that I would run into you! I'm sure the prince would pay quite a lot if he happened to lose you..."

Lose me? Wait... WHAT?!

"...sure could use some money. I'm sorry kiddo, or actually I'm not. I'll be taking you with me. Now stand still so I can tie ye' up."

IS HE STUPID?! Does he really think he can just take me with him to have Zen pay him money to release me?! Wait.. why is this happening to me? I should not have refused the guards' offers to come along with me this morning. I'm sure Zen will do something when they hear about this at the castle. But that doesn't mean I want to come along with a freak!

"Y-you can't do this. Do you really think they will just give you money to release me? They will put you in jail for this!"

"Ye' don't seem to have knowledge 'bout how negotiations like these go so please shut up. I don't feel like talking here all day."

He seemed like a mad man, not caring about her at all. He was just about to reach for her, grabbing some rope out one of his pockets...

ZING

Shirayuki was startled by another sound. A sound that she had heard before. Something made out of metal, flying through the air at high speed. She fell down, scraping her hand on some rocks. Soon after some blood flowed out of her skin.

"Tell me something..."

"Do you want to die?"

Now Shirayuki was completely shocked. Not because of the words. But because of the person that said them.

With another knife ready in his hand, Obi stood in front of Shirayuki, between her and the man.

"Who are you brat? Well, doesn't matter, move aside or I'll have to hurt you too."

"I am a close friend and personal guard of prince Zen Wistaria, which I'm sure you heard of. I'm in a good mood right now, so I'll give you one chance only. Walk away from us. If you don't I'll just have to throw another dagger, but this time in both of your legs, and then I'll carry you to Zen himself where you can explain to him how you tried to abuse someone close to him. And after that you'll be thrown into prison, of course."

Obi said all those words in a steady, low voice without a single trace of fright, even though he was facing a man almost twice his size. The man chose the safest route, and walked off into the forest, not without letting out a curse just before appearing out of sight.

"Hey, Shirayuki."

"W-what...?"

...

"Did you see how scared he was! I was afraid he might crush me if he got a hold on me. Man, my heart was beating out of my chest..."

And there he stood. Obi, who scared off a big thug a moment ago, had a wide grin on his face.

"You're bleeding."

"Don't worry, it doesn't hurt-"

Obi had already teared his right sleeve off. Not saying a word, he wrapped the cloth around her hand to act as bandage. It stopped the bleeding.

"Thank you I suppose," said Shirayuki.

"But Obi, what in the world are you doing here? Where did you come from?" She hadn't seen Obi the entire day.

"I came here to see you of course. I could not resist being apart from you."

"I don't believe you." She knew it was a joke. But it still made her slightly blush.

"Ha, you got me. You're right. I got special orders from Zen. Sometimes he still asks me to keep an eye over you to make sure you're safe. But don't let him know I told you that, as he feels kinda embarrassed about it." He lied.

"Oh really? That's very sweet of him."

Yeah. Zen is very sweet, trying to protect you. Don't mind me though. I'm the one constantly on watch, and just now I even risked my life for you. But as long as it's Zen's idea..

"Thank you Obi."

"Huh?"

"Thank you for protecting me. I don't know what would have happened if you weren't there just now. Thank you very much for risking your life."

Shirayuki spoke those words, and then smiled. Obi was completely flustered. Who knew a cute girl's smile could make your mind go blank?

"Give me that," Obi said, pointing at her basket of flowers. He had already picked it up before she could even answer though. He already knew she was gonna refuse anyways, because she's always so stubborn.

They spent the rest of the day together, Shirayuki picking flowers with Obi accompanying her, talking about their daily lives and other trivial stuff. During the night, Obi had trouble sleeping. The smile on his face wouldn't go away.