"Princess! Good morning! Um... it's the start of a new day! Wake up!" Vishnal's voice was chipper as he greeted the sleeping Frey - who had not stirred from her slumber. Drool was present near the corner of her mouth, while the butler-in-training just gaped in awe.

But... she never overslept before! Vishnal mused. I can't believe it, Princess just... sleeping there. I guess I'm going to have to shout...

He cleared this throat, his blue eyes showing a glint of passion as he did so. He'd never actually shouted at his girlfriend before, but he reminded himself it was for a good cause and proceeded to clench his fists (his ardor so strong fire was now in his eyes) and bellow with might, "wake up!"

That had finally elicited a response from Frey: a scream so loud it could easily rival Ventuswill's snoring. She quickly sat upright on her bed to look at her boyfriend. "What the devil?! Vishnal, you know you're a butler! You're supposed to wake me up with, oh, what's the word, dignity?" She uncharacteristically screeched at him, her brow furrowed in frustration.

Vishnal, however, just gave a toothy grin. "Ah, I'm aware of that. In fact, I did try to wake you up with dignity, Princess. But I surmise you were so tired you didn't hear me! So I had to shout." His toothy grin faded into a small, scared frown. "I.. I'm sorry if you didn't like it, Princess. I was just doing my job..."

"Ah!" Frey squeaked. "No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have reacted like that. But thank you for waking me up, anyway; I still love you!" Getting out of bed to stretch, she realized something didn't exactly... smell right.

"Erm - Vishnal. I hate to ask you this, but, did you... perchance, forget to take a bath today, or maybe even yesterday?" Frey's voice had now dropped to a whisper as she asked him this - it was possible that someone like Mr. Volkanon or Clorica could be eavesdropping, or maybe even Pico.

Vishnal didn't take kindly to that question. "I did take a bath today, and yesterday! Now, come on, Princess, I have something to show you! Something absolutely remarkable. Follow me to my room, please!"

The butler walked with a spring in his step and Frey followed, sauntering to the butler rooms. I can't wait to show Princess what meal I fixed up, he thought. Vishnal led Frey to his mahogany-wood table; and at the edge of said table was a silver platter. He removed the cloche from the platter and right in the center was... a rather unappetizing waffle (to Frey, at least) that had been burned to a delicate charcoal-like crisp. Syrup was elegantly poured on top of it, trapping the black crumbs inside its brown color.

"It's a waffle, Princess! I made it just for you!" He motioned to the side of the platter: there laid a fork and knife, set daintily on top of a folded napkin. "Try it! It was made with love."

Frey looked at the burnt crisp of a waffle. "Erm. Thank you. It looks... delicious."

She slowly picked up the fork and put the waffle in her mouth. At that moment, it seemed like the world stopped: her throat felt dry and there was a shiver up her spine. After what seemed like an eternity, she managed to chew some of it and to her surprise, swallow it.

"Is it good?" Vishnal asked, his tone hopeful. "I tried my best not to mess it up this time!"

"Huh? Oh. Yeah, yeah, it was," Frey exhaled, "great. Your.. cautiousness really paid off."

"Wow! That's awesome! I followed the recipe exactly, to a T! Well, actually, I wasn't sure if I was supposed to cook it in the oven for six minutes or sixty minutes."

Frey grimaced. Sixty minutes in the oven for a simple waffle seemed like enough time to actually start a fire in the castle.

Unfortunately, Vishnal took notice of her action and frowned. "Princess, are you sure it was good? You don't have to lie to me to save face... please tell the truth."

Frey's face began to pale. "I'm sorry, sweetie, but, oh, how do I say this, your waffle was... the taste is too terrible for me to even put it in words. It was burnt, for Pete's sake! Listen, I know you try your best to please me with your God-awful cooking, and I appreciate the sentiment, but you're not a very good chef. At all."

Vishnal blinked once, sighed, and sat down dejectedly on his bed. "I know. I'm a bad cook, I try to improve, practice, and whatnot, but... I just can't. I'll just be stuck like this, a butler with no cooking skills forever, huh. What a great butler I'll be, then."

A wave of guilt crashed down Frey. "Oh, no, no, no, you're going to be a great butler, you have all those books and everything, you're going to turn out great... You just need to, practice your cooking skills... and, I think I've got an idea!"

Vishnal's eyes lit up. "An idea..? If this involves me getting beat up, though, I'll sit it out."

"Er, no, nothing of the sort. Maybe I could... ask Porco for some cooking lessons...? Him and Dylas and probably Meg could all help you out and maybe the other lethal chefs in Selphia. In fact, the restaurant isn't even going to open today just for the lessons."

A smile crept onto the butler's face, which led to Frey internally sighing with relief. "Cooking lessons? Princess, that's a great idea. I haven't even thought of it! Yes, lessons help people learn. Lessons will help me learn! Look out, everybody! After these cooking lessons, I surely will be the best butler on Earth! No, wait, the best butler in the observable universe!"

Frey couldn't help but chuckle at Vishnal's confident rigamarole, if it could even be called that. Extending an arm out, she patted his hair in a loving manner. "Yes, you'll be the best butler in the observable universe in due time. But for now you'll have to get ready. The cooking lessons start at fourteen hundred hours. Or, you know, just to simplify it a little... two o'clock."

Vishnal let out a low whistle of concern. "Two o'clock? That's fine with me for the most part, but I'm worried about lunch. You'll be fine preparing a meal for yourself, won't you? ...And I suppose another breakfast. I'm sorry about that waffle."

His significant other just broke out into an ear-to-ear grin, much to his surprise and confusion. "No, it's fine, Vishnal. I'll be frank with you, I'm never that hungry during breakfast anyway. And yes, I'll be fine preparing myself a quick lunch. These days all I ever have for lunch is some onigiri, or grilled fish."

A nod and what seemed to be a murmur of assent escaped Vishnal's lips, and he suddenly found himself being ushered towards the door quite forcefully by none other than Frey.

"Now, listen, Vishnal. I'm sorry for cutting this whole conversation so short, but you have eight hours to do your butler duties before you need to attend Porco's cooking class. I don't want you to procrastinate and end up regretting having to do your work late at night, alright? So just go tend to your butler duties, I'll go kill some monsters and stuff, and we'll be a happy couple at the end of the day. Got it?"

"Yes, of course, Princess," nodded Vishnal once more, "I understand. I'll go and be a butler for most of the day. I will see you later."

With that, he gave a military salute to Frey, and began walking bristly to the door to meet up with Mr. Volkanon and receive his work duties.

Frey waved at him goodbye, letting a huge sigh out. Maybe when tomorrow arrives, he'll know how to make glazed ham with carrots?