A/N: Thank you guys so much for reviewing my other rune factory story, it means a lot! I really hope you guys enjoy this one too. I'm probably just going to write a bunch of scattered lil teensy oneshots of different pairings.. haha.
After being in Selphia for over three years, Frey was totally accustomed to the life and havoc the village offered. Like this, she was also very aware of the villager's and their own little habits. Like the fact that a certain butler had a tendency to wreck his own little havoc on things sometimes.
The same butler that was in Frey's workroom right now. Who had just tripped into her bookcase, knocking seeral books down onto the floor.
"Vishnal! Are you alright?" Frey gasped, rushing over to the butler to usher him back on his feet. It wasn't often that Vishnal went into her workroom, but he had asked her to teach him what she knew about cooking. After trying his cooking, she decided to attempt to teach him the simplest there is—the onigiri. He couldn't mess that up, right? She sure hoped so.
"Ah, I'm okay, princess!" He offered her a smile and brushed himself off. "A butler can't be deterred by things like that!" He smiled at her for another moment before suddenly deflating. "But a butler should also learn how to be more careful…" He cast his eyes away from her, and focused on the books laying on the floor in a heap.
Oh, Frey knew what he was thinking. He did this sometimes—He would get down on himself because he wasn't absolutely perfect. "Vishnal," Frey called, watching his eyes flicker up to meet hers. "I want you to pretend right now that I am not me," She saw his face contort in confusion but continued on anyways, "And I want you to tell me what you think of the princess of Selphia. Just pretend I'm a complete stranger—a tourist that's visiting for the first time."
"A-ah! Okay!" Vishnal paused for barely a second before opening his mouth once again, "Well, Princess is amazing! She's strong, and I've never met someone who could farm so well! I believe this town was blessed when she fell out of the sky, she's like an angel!" He beamed at her. "I feel honored to serve her, and I want to be her butler forever!"
Frey's eyes widened, and a blush quickly covered her cheeks. He had told her frequently that he thought highly of her, but when he put everything like… that. And the smile he was giving her was so… pure. He meant everything he had told her.
Vishnal… He was such an honest person sometimes, and almost naïve to the point of being childish. "Well, what if I told you that that same princess, the other day, was reaping her crops and wasn't paying attention and accidentally reaped far more than she was supposed to! A whole few weeks of farming down the drain, and it isn't going to be summer forever on that farm!"
Vishnal merely blinked at her, clearly not getting the point. Sighing, she placed her hand on his arm. "You see, what I'm trying to say is, we all mess up Vishnal, and there's no use sweating it." Offering him a smile, she gestured to the books littered on the floor, "Let's pick this up."
They both kneeled to the floor. Some of the books were older than others, and Frey, sans her usual gloves since she had expected to be cooking, felt the brittle textures of them underneath her fingertips. "Arthur had lent me a few books that I haven't had time to read yet," She said, flipping one of the newer books open and scanning across the contents.
Of course, when you're not wearing your gloves, you're susceptible to the stinging pain of papercuts.
Cursing under her breath, Frey dropped the book, frowning at her hand. "Princess!" Vishnal cried, having heard Frey curse, but his expression of shock quickly turned to concern when he saw her shaking her hand. "Princess, what happened?!" Quickly clambering over to her, he inspected her finger, see the teensy cut.
"I'm fine, thanks, it's only a papercut." But dang did those sting. "See? We all are a little clumsy sometimes." She was just about to pull away and pick up the remainder of the books when Vishnal grasped her hand a bit more firmly. "Vish—"
She was cut off by the sight of Vishnal pulling her hand towards his face and pressing a kiss to the cut. Frey's face was on fire by the point, as she just stared wide-eyed at him. Letting go of her hand, Vishnal smiled at her, "My mom used to do that to me when I would get papercuts."
When he released her hand she drew it in close to her chest, holding it in her other hand. "Vishnal!"
"Yes, Princess?" He seemed totally oblivious to what he had done.
Staring at him for a moment longer, Frey shook her head and smiled at him, her cheeks still slightly pink. "…Nevermind. Let's go make some onigiri."
