Snow White with the Red Hair (赤髪の白雪姫)

Found it!

The spellami herb. It's an ao shidare perennial.

If you steam and dry the roots, it can lower fevers,

and alleviate pain, too.

Oh, my goodness.

Gotta open the shop!

This is it. My own path.

It's my story.

If I had my way,

I would keep charting my own path like this.

No rules.

Mirror, mirror on the wall,

who's the fairest of them all?

Tell me true.

Your Highness.

What now, Sakaki?

This is in fact an informant from town.

I'm afraid he is not a mirror.

Ahem.

He's telling me what he sees, that's basically the same thing.

Still, please try to take things more seriously.

Informant!

Don't just sit there. Start talking!

Uh, yes, Highness!

You wanna know who the most beautiful girl

in the kingdom of Tanbarun is, right?

Well, there is... this girl I know of.

And who is this girl?

Ah,

she is a maiden born with exceptionally rare red hair,

as bright and rosy as a ripe apple.

Her name is Shirayuki, Highness.

Thank you, miss! Bye, bye!

Goodbye. Take your medicine now!

See ya soon, Miss Shirayuki.

Okay. Feel better, Yoshi.

Thanks for your patience.

You're still waiting for your medicine, right, Kino?

Yes, but please, take your time,

I just came to let my eyes rest on your beautiful hair.

I've never seen anything quite so extraordinary!

That's so sweet. Thank you.

But since I already have you here,

I'll start preparing another remedy.

I found some good medicinal herbs,

so please take some with you.

You have turned into a very fine young herbalist.

If only your late grandparents could see this.

They would be beaming with pride.

Oh, no. Kino, please don't--

Oh, my goodness! I believe I left the stove on, I must go!

Huh?

Oh dear, silly me.

I guess I can just take it to her later.

Did you forget something?

You said Prince Raj's... concubine?

Yes. In other words, you would be his mistress.

Absurd!

I can't believe he'd be interested

in a common girl like me

just because of the color of my hair.

I'd be an embarrassment to him.

Still, Prince Raj has taken a liking to you.

Therefore, you are required to formally appear

at the castle tomorrow morning.

I suggest you look presentable.

For Kino, something to ease her back pain

and her inflamed respiratory tract.

At Yuri's place, both the father and the baby

were starting to come down with colds.

Yes, so who's next?

That takes care of everyone.

Please know this wasn't your fault.

Goodbye, Tanbarun.

I'll miss you.

Excuse me!

Excuse me!

Is anyone home? May I come inside?

I can't just go in without being invited.

But it's already getting dark.

And I'm starting to get hungry.

Mitsuhide, Kiki! I'm going on ahead!

Hey, careful, braggart! You'll hurt yourself.

I told you so, Zen!

Are you hurt? Did you fall on your head?

Tell me, what's one plus one?

Purple.

Wait. Who're you again?

It's me, Mitsuhide!

Oh, I forgot. Was that your name?

Kiki! Not helping even a little bit!

Hold.

Mind telling me who you are?

And what you're doing in the woods all alone.

Oh, I just, uh...

I just left my home, and I was in a hurry

so I got rather lost and ended up on a random road and...

...I'm here.

You have very unusual hair.

Yeah, I know. I hear that frequently.

Oh, your arm. It's injured!

Eh, I've had worse.

You're in luck. I'm an herbalist.

I have a healing poultice you can use on it, that'll help.

No, thanks.

It could be poison or something.

I'm not going to fall for that little trick.

I wasn't born yesterday, y'know.

Trust is something earned, not given.

In other words, we're done here.

Oh.

So, off you go, then.

Well, he does have a valid point.

I guess I'll have to convince him I'm not any kind of threat.

Hey. What the--?

No-- What're you--?

Sorry to disappoint, but I don't usually carry poison.

She sure got you there, Zen.

I'm sorry about that. My name's Zen.

And mine is Shirayuki.

It's lovely to meet you, Shirayuki.

However, I think you're at least partially responsible

for my less than graceful landing.

Huh?

No one lives in this house, but we spend time here.

So, the one getting beaten at chess over there is Mitsuhide,

The one doing the beating is Kiki.

Zen, how do you know I'm losing

when you aren't even paying attention to the game?

I can just tell.

I'm shellacking you.

Okay, you're all fixed up now.

Wow, you've got impressive skills, Shirayuki.

I've been at this a while.

I did tell you I was an herbalist.

Yes, you did.

So, why would a talented herbalist run away from home?

The reason's not important.

Excuse me, I need some air.

Hey, why did you come with me?

I couldn't let you go into these woods all by your lonesome.

That would be quite ungentlemanly.

Oddball.

I became very comfortable in the mountains and forests

while studying to be an herbalist.

The time and air here seem to flow differently

than they do in town.

I actually like it much better.

I couldn't agree more.

Look who isn't all bluff and bluster.

Ow!

That really hurts.

Oh, looks like your hair's caught.

You have a strand that's longer than the others.

Huh? Oh...

I must've missed that piece earlier.

Uh, hey, Zen, will you cut it off for me?

Huh.

It doesn't have to be straight.

Possibly.

But I'll only do it if you answer a question for me.

Huh?

Did cutting your hair have something to do

with why you ran away from home?

If you tell me the reason, maybe then I can help you.

You're a terrible person.

You were ordered to be a concubine?

Yes, by a very famous boy.

He was born with a silver spoon in his mouth,

but he learned to speak in the red-light district.

He thought my hair was unusual,

and wanted to keep it for himself like a prize.

If I had obeyed his order,

it would've been just like he was buying an apple

at the fruit seller.

Shirayuki--

So that's why,

I thought that I'd give him at least part of what he wanted,

and I left my hair behind.

That was ingenious thinking!

Huh?

Good job getting away from that dunce.

It's your lucky red, after all.

What do you mean by that?

Well...

Color has meaning.

And red is supposed to represent fate.

You may not like it much now, but your red might lead

to something good when you least expect it.

Wow, you have an amazing outlook, Zen.

Oh! Some respect!

How 'bout that.

Not so suspicious anymore.

Yup, but it doesn't hurt

that Zen has taken quite a shine to her.

What's this?

Oh, no.

That's the ribbon I had tied to my hair.