【𝐀 𝐕𝐞𝐢𝐥 𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐞𝐥】➛𝓑𝓵𝓪𝓬𝓴 𝓑𝓾𝓽𝓵𝓮𝓻

15

"Woah! You're a professional at this, [Name]!" A rough voice exclaimed as he took a lick of the batter from the bowl in which the woman was skillfully mixing in, the other servants all surrounding her and watching with great intent, and helping at the same time. Had she come any later, or not helped at all...She was sure that Baldroy's arm would've been broken with the mess.

She had helped them clear the kitchen and set the table, assisting Finny in arranging the roses he had cut from the garden, making them much more presentable. And giving Mey-Rin tips on arranging the table, making it look much more tolerable than what they had originally done, yet still keeping their ideas,
"Mhm! With this, anyone would think you had gone to culinary school!" Finnian exclaimed, adjusting a rose in his hair that [Name] had put there herself while helping him with the flowers.

Mey-rin nodded frantically, agreeing while looking over [Name]'s shoulder, impressed by the sheer speed in which she was working, and being the one to give [Name] the ingredients, "Aha, I'm flattered, but I learnt how to bake in my spare time only a few years ago...Vanilla extract,"

The maid handed over what she was told for sure was the extract, so she wouldn't make a mistake and accidentally grab the wrong ingredient, the others had helped her lay all the things needed out.

"This shall be a three-layered cake, with this vanilla being in the middle and the top and bottom chocolate." her main goal, secretly, was to outdo Sebastian's cake, which she had had a sneak peek of.

"You learned how to bake all on your own? That's amazing! You must've known how to cook for a long time!" Mey-rin exclaimed, her hands over her cheeks as she blushed, admiring the woman before her.

"Hm, not exactly...I actually couldn't cook at all...I never had the chance to learn," [Name] replied, her smile flickering briefly into something more melancholy as she continued, "I was...kept busy with other things. And let's just say, the kitchen wasn't where I spent most of my time."

"Kept busy?" Finny asked, a look of concern in his eyes.

"Ah...yes, well, we'll leave it at that for now." She waved a hand dismissively, trying to steer the conversation away. "Now, the cake should be done in about 30-40 minutes. We should have time to decorate before they return, yes?"

Bard thought for a moment, "Well they are hunting...so, I'd guess around a few more hours?" he ruffled his blond hair before looking up to meet [Name]'s gaze,

"Well then, how about you all get cleaned up while I clean up a bit more here?" [Name] turned her back and grabbed the dirty mixing bowls and stacked them near the sink, running the water.

"Ehh? Are you sure?" Mey-Rin walked over, quite scared that Sebastian would find out they let a guest do the work, even though the woman heavily insisted.

"Well, I'm sure your young lord would be quite pleased if his servants were presentable for his birthday, no?" With her back turned, all of the servants jumped as they realised she was correct and rushed out of the kitchen to get changed, leaving the woman alone.

After a minute or two had passed, [Name] paused her movements, with arms elbow-deep in suds, turning around to look at the scene before her, not too much of a mess, the only mess being the dirty dishes...Which she had taken the liberty of completing quite quickly, making use of the time she had when the servants weren't here. Looking into the room in which they had set up the surprise, Mey-rin had kindly placed her gift in the middle of the table, but [Name] felt as if something else was missing when she stared at the scenery before her,