How dare she just say, 'no,' and ruin his outstanding reputation? Doesn't she know better? She could have sat pretty with an endless stream of money, in a pretty castle, with gorgeous clothing, and a wonderful way of life. Prince Raji would have you know that he treats his concubines very well; their quarters are always fancy and clean. He'll let you know that he is in fact a fantastic lover, and she would have no desire to be near any other man, after she and Raji knew each other.
Besides, he couldn't simply offer her a chance to be his queen. Not any commoner, no matter how gorgeous, could really be allowed to marry the Crown Prince of Tanbarun, and then be given the chance to one day rule at his side. While, she was pretty, as even Sakaki attested to, Prince Raji would have to take their word for it.
She supposedly had hair as red as an apple, but having never met his soulmate, he only really knew what others told him. Though her hair was quite the article, itself, without being one that he could see in more than a darkish gray color; it was soft to the touch and oh, so long. It was gorgeous, and though he couldn't see the pretty color of it, he knew it had to be beautiful to match the sheer quality of it from what he could tell.
Though, of course, red hair, the color of apples, had given him an idea. So, he'd prepared poison, and coated a whole basket full of apples for her. Obviously, he wasn't a mind reader and therefore, had no idea which apple she'd grab to take a bite from. So, he'd give her a whole basket worth of delicious, freshly poisoned apples. Therefore, even unconscious she'd come to him, and he'd have a new, exquisite concubine.
Just, Sakaki ended up informing him that she wasn't the one to eat the poisoned apple. Where did she find self-sacrificing, goody two shoes friends? Obviously running away from home does not give you ample opportunity to really make friends. If it was that easy, all of his kingdom would be eating out of his hands so much so, that even one rather pretty woman would not have the gall to reject his advances, and the grand life he could offer her.
"So you're her!" Raji looked at her the way Shirayuki would look at a flower, half-analysis and half-awe. It's enough to send a shudder up someone's spine, enough to make her feel off somehow. "Come to me, Lady Shirayuki."
She was small, a shorter woman, but not exceptionally so. She isn't that much younger than Raji, despite the dull look in her eyes, she's pretty young. Too young to look like that Raji figures, but he's caught within the grays, blacks, and whites of his vision. Her hair looks almost a dark gray in his eyes, right in between black and white.
He would be blind to not notice just how pretty she looked, even in comparison to his other concubines, because surely, she wouldn't reject the offer now that she's standing before him.
"Prince Raji, might I have the antidote for my friend?" Lady Shirayuki steps closer, and as Raji looks at her, he can't for the life of him figure out why she looks so awkward and out of place. Once she's settled into palace life, maybe she'll feel a little bit better about being here or even near him?
"That comes later! Since I've been traveling incognito, I find myself short on time." Raji brushes away her concern; besides, soon her life will be filled with luxury and pleasures more than her heart can contain, and she won't mind any of this moment, let alone remember the wait.
"Huh...?" Her confusion was painted with ease across her face.
"The world can be so cruel... when you rejected my advances and ran, I became the laughingstock of the palace and the city. Why, my reputation may be in the gutter before long!" Raji looks away from her, already frustrated at the reminder of just what her rejection had done to his reputation, how it was already shriveling up his reputation and ruining it permanently, if they didn't do anything to fix it before it fully plummeted.
"And?" Shirayuki waits, as if she expects something to come from this, as if she's unsure of what Raji's next words might be.
"However the rumors all agree that you are at fault. In order to regain my honor... I need you to agree to become my concubine. I'd rather not have you shamed, commoner or not. So I painstakingly arrived at this amicable solution." Raji spoke as if it were indeed a hassle to find a solution, and Shirayuki looked on in disbelief.
"You're joking..." Her voice was flat, devoid of any humor on her part either.
"Ah! As luck would have it... I stumbled upon just the thing to make you say yes." Raji picked up an apple, familiar and graceful in his hands like a gift wrapped threat, "Why not bring one... to your ailing friend as a get-well gift, Lady Shirayuki?"
And Raji finally stood back up, and moved closer to her, close enough that his hand came to rest gently against her hair that sat by her face. And he finally really looked at her, as Shirayuki's head was still ducked down, in defeat or in submissiveness, it was hard to tell, as he finally looked into her eyes.
It was like a clock being slow to strike midnight, as if checking to make sure that it really was a new day, and then slowly color seeped in. Green eyes looked down, flat and dark at the moment, and Raji was struck by their simple beauty, and then he looked up, and her hair came to life. Red, the color of apples, as it had been described. When his eyes darted to the apple on the ground, it's red seemed less vibrant, less bright.
And he really looked at her. His next words choked in his throat, "I would hate..."
Raji isn't one for speechlessness, feels like words can tell a story all their own, but right now even his throat is dry. And there's this woman in color for the first time, breathtakingly beautiful. Sakaki and no one else ever described her as beautifully as she really, truly is.
"You would hate?" Despite the hollowed out look in her eyes, there's an element of determination to her voice, a challenge.
Raji swallows the lump in his throat, just for a new one to seemingly appear. Words suddenly evaporated, water in a glass that's gotten too hot underneath the sun's rays.
"I mean, Lady Shirayuki," Raji takes a deep breath prepares for words that he's only half-formed in his mind, "Will you marry me?"
"Huh?" She stares, baffled up at him, as if she's not quite sure what she's heard or why she's heard them. It's a far cry from offering for her to be his concubine.
"Will you marry me, Lady Shirayuki?" Raji asks, gaining momentum, "Surely, you felt what I just did?"
"No?" She stares up at him, half between outright refusal and half caught up in her initial decision to accept his concubine proposal for Zen's sake.
"I mean you are lovelier than anyone I've ever seen." Raji goes on, stumbling a little over the words, despite himself, half too excited to think through this all, "Your hair is redder than even apples, and your eyes are more captivating than anything I've seen. And well, you're my soulmate, so it only makes sense for you to be my bride, and one day, my queen."
"I'm not your soulmate." Shirayuki swallows, looking a little lost, "I have a soulmate, and he's not you."
"Nonsense!" Raji answers; his soulmate can't have a different soulmate, "Will you marry me, Lady Shirayuki? You'll be far better than a concubine, and one day, this kingdom will be yours as well."
"I'm not much interested in being queen." Shirayuki answers, despite herself.
"Lady Shirayuki?" Raji pauses, "May I call you Shirayuki?" It's as if no is an impossibility in his eyes, as if he suddenly knows a truth far greater than he'd ever known, and he longs for her company more than ever.
"You know nothing about me." Shirayuki looks down, a little unsure of how to refuse a marriage proposal to a man who is completely convinced that she's his soulmate, despite her objections on that front.
"But we'll have plenty of time to learn." Raji shrugs, waiting for an answer that he anticipates will come rather quickly. Surely, she first saw color looking into Raji's eyes as well, surely it's only a matter of time. Besides his father would be pleased to know that Raji is taking his future so seriously now, and that they will have a queen and hopefully heirs one day.
"I object!" The door is kicked open and a young man bursts through, "Stop... spewing stupid garbage in that girl's ear."
"Zen?" Shirayuki gasps, and what begins is the strangest turn of events that Raji has ever known. Apparently, the Second Prince of Clarines is Lady Shirayuki's soulmate, and that he has a pretty good poison tolerance.
Raji feels sick, and suddenly, he knows with almost absolute certainty that even his concubines can't cure this sudden and overwhelming heartbreak, like dark fog cast over his heart.