Some days later, Corrin decided to have breakfast in the mess hall. If he remembered correctly, it was Azura's turn to cook. The air outside the cafeteria smelled pleasant, like fresh bread and honey, which all but betrayed the surprise of what was in store. He figured everyone else had already eaten, because he found the inside almost completely vacant, save for Azura humming in the kitchen and another head of bright blue hair sobbing at a table in the corner. Next to her was a wrapped container of some kind.

"Peri," he began, trying not to upset her more than she was, "are you crying again?" She sniffled and nodded. Corrin took the seat across from her. "Won't you please tell me what's upsetting you so much?"

"...Why do you care?" she hiccupped.

"Why? Well, because we're allies."

"Allies..." Peri sat up, wiping her eyes with her napkin. "Lord Xander said it's important to have those." She looked at Corrin. "In that case, I guess it's safe to tell you."

Corrin smiled. "I'm honored that you'd confide in me."

Peri attempted to compose herself. "I'm sad because everyone looks at me like I'm weird."

"Really?" he asked, adopting a shocked expression, though he hoped she couldn't tell that he wasn't all that surprised. In truth, he probably thought many of the same things as the other troops.

"Yeah," she nodded. "But of course I'm different! I come from a really noble family."

Corrin was now exactly as surprised as his expression let on. "You're the daughter of nobility? No one mentioned that."

Peri smiled, many of her tears having disappeared. "Well, now you know!" She began to reminisce, describing her background with boisterous hand gestures. "At home, they called me 'Lady Peri,' and I had servants waiting on me hand and foot. They all loved me, even when I killed a few of them."

The adopted Nohrian prince couldn't tell if he was expecting that last part. "B-back up there," he insisted, a bead of sweat forming on his temple. "You killed your own servants?"

"Uh-huh," she said casually, as though that was perfectly normal. "I was bored, so I picked up my sword and THWACK!" The cavalier swung her hand through the air, pantomiming the attack. "I took a blood bath in the spray that came out. It's good for your skin, you know."

"E-eep..." Corrin was mortified. He didn't know which was worse: the fact that she'd done such a thing, or that she'd done it enough to find out that it was exfoliating. "You..." he attempted, not wanting to make her upset as she had been, "answer to Xander, yes?"

"I do! Me and Laslow are Lord Xander's top retainers." She grinned again. "Lord Xander's great because he gives me lots of chances to bathe."

What was he thinking?!

"Did you say something?"

"Me? No!" he responded almost too quickly.

Peri looked down. "Lord Xander doesn't look at me weird, but everyone else sure does," she said sadly. "Every soldier at the castle kept their distance from me."

Corrin cleared his throat, happy to be past Peri's casual servant-slaying. "Do tell..."

"Some allies they were!" She pounded a fist on the table. "They looked at me funny, and now they have to die!"

Soldier-slaying, however... "Th-There's no punishment you go to first before killing them?" Who have I let into my army?! he thought. I can't let her go killing people willy-nilly...!

Peri shook her head and stood. "Thanks for listening. I feel a lot better!" She reached down, picking up the gift-wrapped box and handing it to Corrin, much to his surprise. "Here, you can have this in return. I baked it myself!"

Finally. "A hidden talent, eh?" He inspected the box. It wasn't very big, maybe a foot-and-a-half all around, and was wrapped in a blue-and-pink polka-dot cloth. It smelled delicious; he honestly hadn't expected something like this from her. "Sure, I'll try it." He stood, allowing the one Hoshidan custom that stuck with him to show by giving her a slight bow. "Thank you very much, Peri."

She hopped a few times and clapped her hands. "You're very welcome!"

She gave him a gentle squeeze, skipping out the door. Corrin only had time to register the faintest red glow on her cheeks before noticing it on his own. With a smile, he tended to his gift.