Lily brushed out the crinkles in her dress as she waited for Frederick to finish washing his face. His hair had curled into almost devil-like horns and his face wore an even more unamused expression than usual when she laughed herself to tears. It didn’t seem like he was very used to being woken up so early in the morning; the sun had yet to rise and even the rooster hadn’t given his usual alarm.

It might have been unusual for him but even on her days off, Lily woke at the crack of dawn in order to get on with her adventures. The earlier she woke the further afield she could go and then more mischief she could get away with. That meant that Frederick would rise with her, and sleep when she wanted to. It wouldn’t take long for him to get used to it, but she would enjoy his frustration until he did.

Since today was the first day of their time together, Lily wanted to start by introducing him to the animals of her farm. They lived there too and it was only right that they are introduced to their new neighbour. And while she did that she could take the opportunity to check on the baby cow and see how Daisy was doing.

Mimi was setting the places at the table as she prepared fresh fruit from the farm for them to enjoy. She was excited to be able to eat them but at the same time, it didn’t seem that starting with a rare treat was such a good idea. It was better for Frederick to learn now that his meals would not be the usual grand feasts that he was used to. They definitely couldn’t afford to go to the Farmers Market every day to get new food for him to enjoy.

Frederick stormed out of the bathroom still trying to tame his hair. When his gaze fell on the table he clicked his tongue and rolled his eyes, grumbling frustration under his breath. His expression was rather indifferent even though he made a point of turning away from the table of treats.

“Having fruit for breakfast is a rare treat.” Lily smiled as she skipped over to the table and took her usual seat.

Frederick followed at a much slower pace than Lily. “We have at least ten different kinds of fruit every morning.”

“How lovely for you dear,” Mimi added before Lily could shout at him, making sure to give her a pointed look to let her know that such behaviour would not be welcome at the breakfast table.

“I don’t need ten different kinds of fruit.” Lily looked at Frederick with an examining gaze. She was a little surprised to see him looking at her with what seems to be the full force of his attention. “As long as we have strawberries then I’m happy.”

“I’m rather fond of grapes myself,” Mimi said with a smile.”What about you, dear? Which of the ten kinds of fruit is your favourite?”

Frederick stared at his hands as he gripped onto his trousers. His brow creased and he chewed on his lower lip as he considered Mimi’s question. It was strange that such a simple question had made him so confused. After a moment he simply shrugged. “I’ve never really thought about it before.”

“Don’t you taste your food?” Lily raised an eyebrow at him.

“Didn’t your parents teach you it’s not good to be a picky eater?”

No, they didn’t. Her parents had probably told him that since it was their job to care for him personally. But that was a lecture she never received from them. Mimi always apologised for the blandness of her food, so Lily learnt to eat what she was given - and to enjoy it - so that Mimi didn’t look so sad. Even so, she still had favourites. Sweet things were always good -the bakery in town made a sweet chocolate bread that she got every year on her birthday. On the rare times her parents would come to visit, they would bring her a different kind of cake that they were personally gifted by the queen as thanks for their service. And, of course, crackers with grapes with cheese on Mimi’s birthday were also one of her favourite treats. Somehow it was sad that Frederick didn’t have anything like that even though he must get to eat lots of different delicious foods everyday.

Every now and then they would be invited to the neighbour’s farm for a meal. Joseph’s wife was an amazing cook, and she’d promised to teach Lily some of her recipes when she was old enough to use an oven. Then she would be able to make Mimi all the delicious things she wanted and they wouldn’t need to worry about bad food ever again.

Still, she wondered what it was like to have delicious food every morning. It didn’t seem like Frederick knew how to appreciate what people made for him, especially if he frowned at the food in the palace as deeply as he did the food on her table.

Mimi’s sigh caught Lily’s attention. Her heart almost stopped for a moment as she considered what she might have done to cause it. She was fairly sure she wasn’t glaring at Frederick…but then she may have been looking at him for too long and made him uncomfortable. That didn’t matter to her so much, but she didn’t want Mimi to be disappointed.

“It would be good if you thought of some food you might like, dear. Your father is going to be ensuring you eat well enough to keep strong.”

Frederick snapped his attention to Mimi. “He is? Then what’s this?” He pointed at the meagre portions of fruit that sat on the table.

There wasn’t much. Some small strawberries, plums, and grapes. She had heard of a number of delicious sounding fruits enjoyed by noble people, but they were far too expensive for her to be able to enjoy. Joseph even told her that the nobles got to eat fruit that couldn’t be grown in their home. Once she saw some seeds in the market, but they were much too expensive, and the merchant told her they were the kinds that wouldn’t grow naturally in her home country. It was a sour taste in her mouth, but she had to admit she was jealous. Part of her wished she had ice magic, so she could work for the ships that transport the delicious goodies. They could pay her with food. But only noble families had magic - everyone knew that.

“These are the fruits that Lily worked so hard to grow.”

Frederick’s eyes widened for just a moment before he turned to her. “You grew these?”

“Yes? I have a small garden here.”

“Oh.”

That was exactly the kind of non-reaction she had expected from him, but she still deflated a little at it. They were small, and there weren’t many of them, but she had worked very hard to even get that amount of yield from the land here. They used to be able to grow all kinds of food, but for the last couple of years, it was difficult to even grow grass. The forest was much better, so she moved all of her favourite crops and flowers there. She kept the small garden near their house so that Mimi could still harvest some fruit sometimes, and she was always happiest when there were plants growing nearby.

Lily looked over at Mimi pleadingly, but she didn’t get much more than a sympathetic frown. Poor Mimi. She was sick enough without a rude brat invading their home. For her sake, Lily began stuffing her mouth with fruit in an effort to get breakfast over with as soon as possible, so she could take Frederick away and let Mimi rest. Her rushing had no effect on him, and he ate each piece with a delicate elegance she had never seen before. For some reason that made her hands tingle, the same way they did when she wanted to shout at people. But she couldn’t do that when Mimi was around.

“What are your plans today, children?” Mimi asked as she placed a hand on Lily’s wrist. A silent order to slow down.

Frederick shrugged, his frown yet again deepening. If he kept that up she was sure his lips would reach his neck eventually.

“I’m going to show him around the farm. I want to check on Daisy.”

“I don’t want to do that,” Frederick said flatly.

“That’s too bad. It’s your first day here and you need to see the farm. Daisy will be upset if I don’t introduce you, and Milly might bite you.”

That last part was a lie. Milly was useless as a guard dog and was far better suited to being a nanny. Still, she figured there was no way he would agree without a good reason, and it was the best she could think of off the top of her head. Mimi shook her head, but since she didn’t call out the lie, so Lily figured it was okay.

“Fine,” he grumbled as she chewed on a grape. She silently hoped that each piece of fruit was tart, but that was unlikely. The fruit she grew was always sweet no matter what. Usually, that was something she was proud of, but today she cursed her green thumb. Not that it mattered since he didn’t react to a single thing he put into his mouth. It seemed like he really didn’t taste his food. Or maybe he was just very good at hiding what he felt? It was strange but other than when he had panicked the night before, she couldn’t really tell what he was feeling at all. He always seemed unimpressed when talking to them, but every now and then he looked almost sad. It wasn’t very nice, not being able to tell how someone was feeling.

She pushed her bad thoughts to the back of her mind and resumed her meal. Conversation with Mimi was as easy as always, but neither of them could convince Frederick to talk more than a couple of words at a time. She tried to ask him about his family, what food he liked, whether he had any pets, and each time she was met with a dismissive grunt. Mimi didn’t seem to mind, still doing whatever she could to involve him in their conversation even though he did everything he could not to participate.

In her mind she made a silent promise with herself; she would keep count of how many times he grunted or gave a dismissive answer, and he would earn a prank for each one. That would surely teach him a lesson.