"Close the door!" Volkanon barked at him.
Vishnal took a breathe to steady his nerves as he quietly shut the door and turned to face Volkanon's wrath.
"How could you be so careless! This is the kind of mistake that can ruin a butler's career!" Volkanon boomed as he gestured to something on the floor behind him.
Vishnal felt all the blood drain from his face as he looked toward the offending item—it was Frey's shipping box, the one she carefully packed all her crops in before they were picked up for ship-oh no, oh no! Vishnal thought his knees might give out as his whole body trembled. He had been supposed to pick up the box for shipment yesterday morning! The box was broken and Frey's lovingly tended, valuable produce was wilted and appeared to have been gnawed on by some pest. To say this was a disaster was an understatement.
"….not only has all her hard work gone to waste, but the loss of money, resources, and reputation with those who were expecting the delivery…" Volkanon was still yelling.
Vishnal wished the floor would open up around him. This was beyond a simple burnt dinner. How on earth could he have been so absentminded and careless? And Princess Frey… she must be furious with him. What if she sent him away? His mind reeled and he trembled just thinking about it. He'd do anything, anything at all, to make it up to her. He couldn't lose both his dreams at once, if she sent him away he'd never become a great butler. If she sent him away… he couldn't stand to be away from her…
"Well boy? What do you have to say for yourself? Answer me and don't make me repeat myself again." The pause in Volkanon's tirade finally caught Vishnal's attention.
"I—I'm…. s—sorry sir," Vishnal put an unsteady hand over his face, trying to hide the tears he was desperately holding back. He'd never been good at hiding his emotions.
Volkanon softened just a bit on noticing his apprentice's striken look, and brought his tone down.
"Vishnal, I know this was just a mistake, but it's a very serious one. Some masters would consider a mistake like this, resulting in the loss of so much work and valuable products to be tantamount to theft. Something like this cannot go unpunished," Volkanon tried to lay his hand on Vishnal's shoulder, but he flinched away, too lost in the terror of his own mind.
"W—what punishment has Princess Frey d—demanded for me?" Vishnal forced the words out.