The Maid and Her Princess [On Hiatus]

Food and Bruises (Spring 2)

II.

"C-commoner's food?" Madoka looked at the dishes. It was bad enough that the princess was in the kitchen preparing the meals with her, but she was eating commoner's food too? "Y-your highness, surel-"

"Nope, nope nope! Nae waahh!" Princess Fiara said as she flipped the meat up. Their sword training went as well as Madoka expected. However, after some feelings of stress overwhelmed the maid, she found herself letting loose into her training. Princess Fiara effortlessly chopped away without looking, the sizzling slabs meat hissing away into perfect sections on the board. Madoka glanced at her more than a few times at her newfound strength. Something about her princess's beauty stirred in her heart. "These foods are so much better than the crap they serve in the Palace. Full of nutrients and protein - I can roughly keep tabs of what I need to eat, like an athlete."

Madoka suspected that Princess Fiara still believed that the King or Prince was going to betray them. She sighed. Sunlight filtered through the Spring trees, it seemed beautiful enough to bring the food upstairs to the balcony. Madoka shifted her hair behind her shoulder and sneezed. Oh, kind gods, she must have missed more spots to dust.

"Come, come, eat with me!" The princess set the dishes on the manor table by herself. Her fellow maids looked at her as if they were used to her antics. Madoka was mortified.

"I couldn't possibly—"

"Madoka-san," Princess Fiara said, plopping herself down on the head chair. "Remember what I said to you back in the Palace? During our secret, emergency meeting? You and I, we are no longer in a work relationship, okay? Besides, Father might as well say he disowned me since... you know."

"Forgive me, Your Highness... I," Madoka started. With a bated breath, she folded her maid uniform out and sat next to the princess, trying to resist how foolish this situation was. "Shouldn't have brought it up. It must be terrible for you, Your Highness."

"It's fine," the princess told her this a lot of times but none of them assured Madoka any better. "I hated it all, you know. This... condition of mine as you people call it. Like being right but unable to express it."

She pointed out the window towards those same idyllic hills and countryside. The Spring trees were bordering the small towns and the bluffs ahead, with the palace watching over them all.

"It will all burn, Madoka," was all she said more on the subject. Madoka didn't press any further. Princess Fiara carried on like she didn't say a harrowing prophecy.

A ray of sunlight pooled in the princess's blue eyes as she ate, like tiny gold coins. She closed them as she tasted the foods in delicate satisfaction. It was times like these that reminded her of how messy she used to be while eating. She licked her two fingers clean, properly as a true Royal should. One of her eyelids opened and the treasure beneath looked at her with suspicion.

"Eh, have I got somethin' on my face?" She asked. Madoka simply kept her gaze on the princess.

"You've come a long way since what, a couple years ago?"

"We were 12, weren't we? Birthdays seem so rare when you're a kid..." the princess scoffed but could not hide her blushed cheeks. "Tch. Of course a sweet girl like me would get thrown into this body... And I noticed you haven't eaten. Try it! I cooked it myself!"

Those words yet again did not inspire confidence in the quality of the food. Madoka gulped and then took a bite.

The food was savory and melted upon the moment it touched her tongue. A myriad of flavors, full and filling, rested on her tongue and chewing caused more of the flavor to draw out. Madoka was afraid and embarrassed, she only ate as a commoner. She was not allowed to eat with anyone before, especially with the princess of all people. Still, the desire to taste more of the wondrous food outweighed her troubled thoughts.