Your POV~
When I walked into Zen's office, he wasn't there. He said he'd be in his office all day because the staff were harassing him to do his work again.. where is he??
"Hey, Y/N."
I snapped my head over to the source of the voice--Obi was sitting in the window with a grim expression on his face.
"Obi," I muttered, frowning. "Where's Zen?"
He turned away from me, amber eyes blazing into the floor. "I'm not sure. He..."
"...nevermind."
My brows furrowed. "No, what were you going to say?"
He sighed. I'd never heard him this defeated. "Look." When he looked up at me, his eyes were glimmering with unshed tears. "It's not my place to say, but--you should talk to Shirayuki. And I'll look for Zen..."
I sighed, realizing how serious this must be. "I--okay. Where is Shirayuki right now?"
He looked outside. "She's in the garden right now. She'll probably tell you she's working--that's she's busy and not to bother her, but don't listen to her, okay?"
My frown grew deeper, and I nodded, walking up to the window beside him. "Let's meet back here in 10?"
He gave me a solemn nod before dropping out the window. I quickly followed, watching for just a moment as he ran off to find Zen before I turned towards the large greenhouse and ran, my feet pounding almost rhythmically into the grass.
When I reached the massive structure, I didn't waste a single moment before yanking one of the glass doors open.
Shirayuki looked up from where she was working on a planter box, her eyes looking slightly bloodshot--that was the first warning sign.
"Hey Shirayuki," I paused, trying to figure out how to ask her when I didn't even know what I was asking about. "I heard someth--"
"Sorry," Shirayuki bowed, "I'm busy. I need to go ... Ehm... Organize the seeds in the herbal closet."
She was a terrible liar.
I stopped her as she tried to walk away, staring into her green eyes. I guess I was trying to figure out what she was feeling, but I was no story protagonist--nor was I emotionally intelligent enough to tell what she was feeling on just her eyes alone. So instead, I grabbed her by the shoulders and decided to be blunt.
"Obi seems really worried about you." She flinched, clearly uncomfortable, but I continued. "And we can't find Zen. Clearly, something happened. Mind elaborating?"
She stuttered, going red in the face, before signing and sinking onto the stone bench next to her.
"I..."
She swallowed hard. "I know me and Zen's wedding was only two weeks away..."
"But I--" her voice cracked, "I couldn't do it. I told him ... I told him I was growing feelings for someone else, and that I couldn't go through with our marriage."
I blinked, completely dumbfounded. No but--but that's impossible! Her and Zen were madly in love!!
Wait... Who is she growing feelings for?
I placed one hand on the stone bench, leaning over as I stared down at her. "Who?" I was almost afraid of her answer.
All my fears were confirmed when she slowly opened her mouth--her whole body was trembling at this point.
"I think... I think I'm falling in love with--" she choked, and it was only then that I noticed tears were rapidly filling her eyes. "I'm falling in love with Obi."
"I'm falling in love with Obi."
My stomach rose up to my lungs and then sank, and chills rippled over my skin as my blood went ice cold.
"You're... You're serious?"
"I'm sorry," she cried, "I know I've--I've ruined everything, I had so much going for me and I just--you brought out parts of Obi I'd never seen before, I--I couldn't help it..."
My nails were digging painfully into my thighs now, but it felt numb to me. "How long?"
She looked away. "I found feelings just a week after he brought you here." I took a shaky breath, trying to calm my goosebumps and nausea.
"Where's Zen?"
She frowned. "He ran off after I told him... He probably went to that abandoned mansion in the forest--he... He said that place helped him escape reality..." A sob hiccuped out of her throat, "I never meant to hurt him. This is all my fault."
All the emotions were making me dizzy--but I smiled the best I could, patting her shoulder. "Feelings kill, and we don't have much control over them, unfortunately."
Then I sighed, standing from the bench--I hadn't even realized I'd sat down in the first place. "I'm assuming you told Obi about your feelings... What did he say?"
She bit her lip. "He looked... Really stressed out. I think he blamed himself... He told me not to worry about anything and then took off."
I clicked my tongue. "Just like him," I muttered beneath my breath, and when Shirayuki gave me a confused look, I smiled again.
"None of this is your fault. You should just relax with these plants... Now I need to go find those two numbskulls."
And with that, I charged out of the glass building.
Obi's POV~
I fell to my knees in front of him. "Master, I'm so sorry. This is my fault, I know it, and I can disappear if that's what you wan--"
Something hit me on the back of the neck, and I lifted my head slowly to see him smiling down at me with tearful blue eyes.
"It's not your fault," he replied, before sighing. "Love is such a fragile dance."
"So... Don't let Y/N go, okay? That's all I ask."
Then he held out his hand. I frowned at him, standing on my own. "Zen..." WAIT I DIDN'T MEAN--
He gasped. "So you are physically capable of using my name!" He forced a smirk. "Right then, I'll be expecting that from you from now on."
"Seriously though..." I muttered, "Master, are you gonna be okay?"
He took a deep breath in. "I don't know, Obi--" he sighed, "But I wouldn't be much of a good prince if I let feelings get in the way of my duties. I'm gonna go back and finish some paperwork... Toodaloo!"
He ran off before I had the chance to call back to him.
This is all my fault. Everything would've been fine if I had just disappeared like I planned to--everything would've been fine if I wasn't weak. If I didn't stay just because of my feelings for Shirayuki.
And now I can't even return her feelings. What kind of failure am I? All I do is ruin everything.
I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose as I sank to the ground beside a tree, leaning on its trunk.
What is Y/N gonna think when she hears what happened? She'll probably be so disappointed and--
"Obi."
I flinched, lifting my head from where it was resting on my knee. Y/N stared solemnly at me, and my heart sunk at the look on her face.
"Did you find Zen?"
I nodded softly. "I've never seen Master cry so much..." My brows furrowed. "It's all my fault. I swear to God, I can't do anything but hurt people."
She stepped forward. "That's not true. We catch feelings like a disease... It couldn't be helped... And--"
"I planned on disappearing from Shirayuki's life forever years ago," I muttered, cutting her off. "If I'd only stayed away... If I didn't give in to my feelings for the Miss..."
At some point while I was talking, she'd sat next to me. She laid her hand over mine, smiling at me.
"There's no point in thinking 'shoulda, coulda, woulda'. Did you ever stop to think that maybe their relationship wouldn't have worked out in the end, even without you in the picture?"
I blinked.
"Some things just aren't meant to be," she squeezed my hand, "You've done bad things, sure. Everyone does. But this isn't one of those times, you know? You can't keep blaming yourself for everything."
I gripped her hand and pulled her towards me, crushing her in a hug. "I love you, Y/N."
"I love you too," she murmured, before we separated again. "C'mon, let's go back to the castle. Those two have never needed us more."
We didn't get far through the forest before we heard voices--the voices of Master and Shirayuki.
We both paused. Y/N spoke, "Do you hear that?" I responded with a nod.
"We may not be compatible as lovers anymore, but--" Shirayuki paused, "--but I still love you as a friend. You're so, so important to me, and I couldn't live without you. So... I know it's a lot to ask, but could we still be friends? I can't lose you."
"Of course," Zen's voice replied, "I'll always be by your side, no matter what. Love is fragile, Shirayuki--but friendship is what keeps the world spinning."
"I love you."
"I love you too."
When we stepped forward, we could peek through the trees and see that the two were hugging.
"See, they're still inseperable--" Y/N spoke from beside me, "--All you did was help their relationship evolve."
I held her hand tighter.
"This right here," I gestured to our connected hands and to where Zen and Shirayuki were hugging, "This is what true happiness feels like."
-THE END-
I hope you all enjoyed! If you like my work, I do post other original work on here. So, see ya later maybe!