Chapter I|II|III|IV|V|VI|VII|VIII|IX|X|XI|XII|XIII|XIV|XV|Setting
~~~~
In a possible future, in a world not unlike our own, one single kingdom rose as the dominant and only power. It was an ethereal realm with castles made of gemstone and technology so great it was indiscernible from magic. A land where humanity had advanced so far that to live in comfort and excess was the standard, and a life of hard labor and servitude was a rarity. It was known as the kingdom of Celene.
To be a worker or servant in this kingdom was a special privilege. They were the 1% who slaved their lives away so others may prosper. Alas, to be a worker was not a simple choice but a burden granted at birth. As in our time, where to be noble meant to be part of a family lineage, in this kingdom, a worker was a sort of birthright. Grand worker families spread their branches across the domain. To be born in one meant a life of hard work and labor, no matter your personal opinion.
However, their best and brightest were chosen for the highest of honors. To be personal servants for the eternal royal family that ruled this ethereal kingdom. Among those best and brightest exists one family. For generations, that family has held the grandest honor of being the only ones allowed to attend the Queen and her daughters. However, such an exclusive honor can create odd results in exceptional circumstances. Such abnormal results greatly influenced the life of the young woman Serena Diane. Suddenly thrust from her life as an average girl into one as the personal maid to the kingdom’s youngest princess. Such a life should be one of poise, elegance, and formality. Alas, Serena is not so lucky, as the Queen, princesses, and high nobles are anything but…
Previously on Maid in Fantasy: Through her connection to Lady Aphros, Serena ran afoul of Lady Aré, the kingdom’s head of faith and the Queen’s closest confidant. What started off as relentless criticisms of her work ethic exploded into a full-blown duel thanks to Aphros’s big mouth. Thankfully, the Queen arrived to defuse the situation and turn it into a simple pancake baking competition. Alas, Serena soon learned that if she managed to beat Aré in the competition, she’d make the noble her enemy for life. Worse yet, Aré is not the best cook, and she’d be furious at any attempt by Serena to throw the competition. This left the maid in a tight spot, but a devious idea has formed in her mind that will hopefully “win” the day…
~--~
Serena and Lady Aré’s pancake baking competition was a mere hour away, and the former was a bundle of nerves. She stood in a hastily put-together practice room, practicing her recipe one last time while Lady Aphros coached. Princess Atlanta and Orion watched from the other side of the room, the former seated while the latter brought her tea.
“My hands are still shaking,” Serena looked at her practically vibrating hands.
“It’s okay, Serena, you’ll be fine,” Aphros put a hand on the younger girl’s shoulder.
“I really want to believe that,” Serena replied and went back to practicing. Atlanta observed this exchange before turning to Orion, who was chewing on his lip.
“Concerned for her safety?” The princess inquired.
“I am, Princess,” Orion admitted. “I’ve heard many terrible things about people who’ve made an enemy of Lady Aré.”
“It’s true,” Atlanta agreed. “Aunty can be crazier than my mother sometimes. She just doesn’t want to admit it.”
“Princess, pardon my rudeness, but did you just call her aunty?” Orion asked.
“No,” Atlanta replied and quickly looked away.
“Your concern is very comforting,” Serena’s words were practically dripping in sarcasm. ‘Regardless of whatever that’s about,’ the maid thought, ‘if all goes even slightly to plan, I’ll be the big loser, and Aré will feel so good about herself she’ll never think of me again.’
~--~
The grand hall of the palace was opened to vigorous applause. Once fitted for dance and party, the giant room was now redecorated as the stage of the baking competition. Its massive windows were covered, bathing the location in darkness, an effect strengthened by strategically placed fog machines. Studio seats, mirrored baking stations for both contestants, and dozens of cameras also now filled the hall. It was almost exactly like the sets found on similar competitive cooking shows on television, although with a touch of royal flair.
Practically overnight, Aphros had made promotional material, printed off flyers, and sold tickets to the event. Now, nearly every noble and servant in the palace had arrived to watch the bake-off. Currently, the competition stage was bathed in darkness as all the spectators waited for the event to begin in earnest.
“Welcome one and all,” a single spotlight shined on the far side of the hall, revealing Aphros in a ritzy tuxedo fit for a game show host. “Today, we of the New Celene Palace present to you a historic event. The first Noble/Worker baking competition, Silver Skillet!”
‘She already has a name for it?’ Serena and Aré thought in unison, both hidden in the darkened stage.
“I am your host, Lady Aphros, here to introduce our competitors,” the blonde noble declared. “In this corner,” she pointed towards Lady Aré, who now had her own spotlight, “the head of faith, the fiery jewel of the palace, Lady Aré!”
The crowd cheered as the noblewoman stood proud on her side of the competition floor, surrounded only by the finest cooking ware and ingredients. When the applause was starting to die down, Aré glared back at the audience, and they renewed the cheer for another moment. Serena watched this with an exasperated sigh.
“And in this corner,” Aphros pointed towards the now spotlighted Serena, “the savior of the third princess, the maid of the hour, Serena Diane!” The young maid put on her best brave face as the crowd cheered for her, but the sudden attention did little for her nerves.
‘Dear Lord, those cameras,’ Serena noticed, ‘please tell me this isn’t being broadcast across the entire kingdom. How did Aphros and the Queen set this up so fast?’
“Finally, introducing our lovely trio judges,” Aphros spun around, a spotlight shined on a trio of royal thrones behind her. Sitting upon them were the Queen and the first two princesses.
“Our lovely, eternal Queen Celene,” Aphros announced. The Queen simply smiled and waved at the cheering crowd.
“Our ever-lovable first princess, Atlanta,” Aphros stated. The princess gave a rigid wave and a forced smile.
“And our wonderfully mysterious, second princess,” Aphros declared. The noticeably unnamed princess’s face was obscured behind a white curtain, but she smiled and waved just like her mother. Once the applause for the royals died down, Lady Aphros marched toward the two contests and resumed speaking.
“Now, the rules are simple,” Aphros turned to both competitors, “you two have one hour to craft the perfect stack of pancakes from scratch for our judges to sample and grade. You will have access to almost any ingredient your heart may desire from our fine stock. The one whose delicious hotcakes win the majority favor of the judges shall be declared the winner.”
‘Easy,’ Lady Aré smiled.
‘Here we go,’ Serena sweated.
“And now, before we begin, let’s take a page from the classics and introduce today’s secret ingredient,” Lady Aphros posed and gestured behind her.
‘Secret ingredient?’ Both contestants thought in unison. Behind them, a large tray rose up from beneath a fog machine. It opened up to reveal…
“Chrona Coconuts,” Aphros introduced a plate of large and very animate coconuts. Like the giant vegetables Serena encountered before[1], these coconuts had cartoonish eyes and jumped around wildly. Now free from their metal prison, the coconuts scattered around the stage. “You’ll probably need these,” Aphros handed both contestants a battle axe. “Now, without further ado,” the noble raised her hand into the air, “contest start!” A massive digital clock lit up on the ceiling, accompanied by several smaller ones placed around the room. It began a countdown of one hour, signaling the start of the contest.
‘Dammit, Aphros!’ Both contests cursed internally as they raced after the animate coconuts. As the two scrambled, Aphros waltzed back over to the judge’s table, sat down among the royalty, and began pulling out some informative slides.
“So, I’m sure some of you in the audience are wondering, what in the Queen’s name are Chrona Coconuts?” The blonde noble stated.
“I certainly have an idea,” Atlanta commented.
“Well, it’s quite simple,” Aphros displayed one of the slides, which was more of an advertisement for the freakish fruits. “Developed and grown by our own General Chrona, the Chrona Coconuts are a genetically engineered super nut,” the noble double-checked her cue cards. “Err…drupe. Designed for incredible flavor and durability.” The latter description was proven true when Serena slammed her axe down on one of the rogue coconuts, only for the weapon to be left with a perfectly round dent.
“Gaaaah!” Serena screamed.
“But, if they’re so durable, how are you supposed to open the coconut?” The Queen inquired.
“It’s more about the challenge,” Aphros replied. “Or at least, that’s what Chrona told me.”
“Oh, I see,” her highness accepted the explanation, much to Atlanta’s exasperation.
“Alright, you little buggers,” Lady Aré fumed as she pulled out a ruby-colored crossbow from seemingly nowhere.
“I think we’ll have to bleep that for international markets,” Aphros commented aside.
“Let’s skip a few steps in the recipe,” Aré pulled back the bolt, causing the crossbow to load itself with a bolt made of fire. “Cooking starts now!” She pulled the trigger, releasing the infernal projectile, which shattered four of the coconuts.
“Leave it to Aré,” Aphros gestured.
“Not now,” Aré picked up the remains of the coconuts, tossing half of them to Serena.
“Wha?” The maid was confused by the noble’s sudden aid.
“Forget Aphros’s stupid game. We have a competition, and we’ve already wasted eight minutes,” Aré explained and ran back to her station.
“Well, that was…okay,” Serena accepted the gesture and ran back to start baking. ‘Alright, mom’s old recipe,’ she flattened out an old piece of paper onto her table. ‘Plenty of coconuts. I guess I can use these to make a garnish, or maybe flour?’ She considered. ‘And last but not least,’ she pawed over a bag of tools she brought with her, ’a little something to tip the scales.’
~--~
Both contestants got to work baking their hotcakes. Serena brought her mom’s old recipe, altered slightly to use coconut flour. Meanwhile, Aré stealthy hid a couple gourmet cookbooks around her station and based her hotcakes on the recipes within. The competition moved on much more smoothly at this point, barring the occasional interference from one of the animate coconuts. That was until…
“Oh no,” Serena gasped dramatically as one of the burners on her stove practically ignited and torched her first batch. “Guess I’ll have to start all over.”
“Oh, bad luck for Serena. Those gas flame burners can be dangerous,” Aphros provided color commentary.
‘Make it any easier, why don’t ya?’ Lady Aré thought as her hotcakes cooked gracefully on her skillet.
“Oh dear,” Serena’s second batch of batter was suddenly ruined by a broken utensil.
“Double bad luck for our plucky maid. Can she recover?” Aphros continued to commentate. The crowd seemed drawn in by Serena’s rash of misfortune.
‘How clumsy can you get?’ Aré rolled her eyes and focused on her own work.
“Oh dreadful,” Serena’s next set of ingredients was destroyed when a faucet broke and soaked them in water.
‘Alright, what the hell?’ Aré paused and turned towards the unlucky maid. ‘Once or twice is one thing, but three times in a row? Something is amiss.’ The noble scanned her eyes across the stage.
“Poor Serena just can’t catch a break today,” Aphros shook her head to the camera. The crowd mirrored her pity towards the maid’s situation.
‘Of course, the answer’s been looking me right in the face,’ Aré narrowed her eyes. ‘Well, two can play at that game.’
~--~
‘This is going better than expected,’ Serena tried not to grin. ‘Not only am I so far behind, there’s not a chance I’ll win, but I’ve earned a little sympathy too. At this rate, if I’m lucky, Aré will have to leave me alone after this. Lest she look like an even bigger jerk.’ The maid carried her fourth batch of batter. With only twenty minutes left on the clock, she had to get her real batch started now, but not before one last touch.
‘Now, to start Serena’s homemade, extra burnt pancakes,’ the maid poured her batter into the hot skillet. ‘The burner should be adjusted just enough that it’ll burn these around the edges. Hopefully, it won’t incinerate them. If that happened twice, I’m sure Aré would be suspicious.’
The raven-haired girl began to bake her pancakes and waited for the moment of truth. Alas, time came and went, and her pancakes came out perfectly. In fact, even she was taken aback by how good they smelled.
‘That can’t be right,’ Serena thought, ‘did I use the wrong burner? Whatever, I tainted the next batch of batter. Classic salt and sugar mixup, among other things.’ The maid turned to retrieve her batter but noticed it looked a little different. A quick taste test confirmed something was wrong…or rather right. ‘This tastes great…Dammit! What’s going on?’
~--~
Aphros watched the last several minutes of the competition with a look of confusion, even her color commentary slowing to a crawl. For an unknown reason, Aré was using some phenomenally fast footwork to dash behind Serena (out of view of the cameras, of course), do a little something, and then dash away again. At the same time, Serena’s luck had turned around drastically. If the blonde didn’t know any better, she’d think that Aré was actually helping the maid.
‘That’d be silly. Aré would never help her own opponent,’ Aphros laughed at herself for even entertaining such a silly thought. However, the small gesture caught Aré’s attention, and the dark red-haired noble glared back at Aphros with a look that could kill. ‘What’d I do now?’ Sensing a lull in the action, Aphros sauntered over towards Aré, ostensibly to do a mid-match interview but mostly to sate her curiosity.
“So, Lady Aré, how goes it, anything you want to share with the viewers back-?” Aphros held up the microphone to the other woman, a camera crew right behind her to record the whole thing.
“Don’t play coy with me. I know what you’re up to!” Aré interrupted. “You, cut the camera right now!” The noble nearly slapped the camera out of the cameraman’s hand. The crew wisely retreated and decided to cut that portion from the broadcast.
“Buh Wah?” Aphros was completely taken aback.
“I know you’re sabotaging the poor girl,” Aré snapped. “What? Are you afraid she’ll beat me, and I’ll get even angrier? So long as she loses, it’ll be fine?”
“I don’t know what-,” Aphros tried to get a word in, but the other noble wasn’t having it.
“I busted my ass undoing all your little hindrances,” the redhead explained. “Broken burner, tainted ingredients, and convenient butter spills right in her walking path. She probably doesn’t even know what’s happening. The poor thing is probably confused as all hell.”
~--~
‘Who keeps undoing all my hard work self-sabotaging,’ Serena was utterly confused by her own success.
~--~
“Aré,” Aphros put up her hands, “clearly the stress and your competitive streak have gotten into you. Now you’re thinking that some horribly bad luck on Serena’s part is a conspiracy. Are you so desperate for competition you’ll cheat in your opponent’s favor?”
“Are you blind?” Aré blew her lid, “That was hardly bad luck. Her station was clearly sabotaged. I’ve been finding random tools hidden all around that have clearly been used with malicious intent toward her cooking station. Even if you didn’t do it, you should be observant enough to notice these things. That’s literally your job as a commentator.”
“Well, actually, I’ve been mostly talking to Celly,” Aphros admitted, “I kinda checked out of this whole thing twenty minutes ago.” The blonde turned away and laughed, but when she looked back, she felt a shiver down her spine. Aré simply twitched while clenching her teeth, the meltdown of a lifetime was coming, and Aphros was not at the minimum safe distance.
Aré took in the breath for a yell that would have shattered all the windows in the grand hall, only to be interrupted by the sound of Serena’s main stove exploding. “Shit,” the noble cursed. “I should have figured you’d have one of your cronies do it instead of getting your own hands dirty.” She turned on her heel and prepared to dash away. “Don’t think you’re off the hook.” Aré bolted away, disappearing into a blur.
“Seriously, what’d I do?” Aphros shrugged.
~--~
Serena doubled down on her attempts to facilitate her loss. Despite all the stuff she was sure she had broken magically fixing itself. Plus, all the ingredients Serena knew she had tainted becoming perfectly fine; the maid would not falter. If she was going to fail, she’d have to do so spectacularly. It’d be embarrassing in the moment, but it’d hopefully be forgotten in the span of a few weeks. Besides, the bigger her loss, the better Lady Aré looked by comparison, which hopefully meant the noble would be less likely to bother her again.
The raven-haired girl pulled out all the stops in her self-destructive rampage. She “fixed” all her stoves and ovens to practically be time bombs. She ruined every ingredient of hers she could find. Serena even turned her entire station into a safety hazard by spreading as much butter and water on the floor as possible, all under the guise of simple mistakes and clumsiness. Now it would be practically impossible for her to win. If it weren’t for Lady Aré.
Aré tripled down on her efforts to undo all the sabotage. Despite the noble’s best efforts, everything she had fixed behind Serena’s back was now broken worse. She lost count of how many times she defused the stoves or replaced all of Serena’s ingredients, but the noble refused to let it happen. If Lady Aré was to win, she’d do so fair and square, even if she had to do half the work for Serena. It was a frustrating situation, but it’d make the hard-earned victory all the sweeter. Aré didn’t want to just win. She had to triumph over an actual challenge. She’d never let herself, or Serena, live it down if the whole competition was a wash.
‘How is this happening?’ Serena thought as she, to her frustration, successfully cooked another set of pancakes. ‘That’s it. I’ll just break the damn thing.’
‘Who is doing this?’ Aré thought as she, to her frustration, undid every obstruction in Serena’s way to cooking her pancakes. ‘Wait there,’ the noble spotted a hand moving towards the burner with intent to destroy. The redhead caught the hand in mid-movement and followed up the arm to find the culprit.
‘What…?’ Serena saw a hand from nowhere grasp her wrist and followed up the arm to find the culprit.
‘…the heck?’ The two thought in unison as they locked eyes. They looked down at their hands and back up, confirming what they were seeing was, in fact, real.
“You were sabotaging yourself?” Aré realized.
“You were the one helping me?” Serena’s eyes went wide.
Suddenly the whole stage went silent as all the spectators and cameras were trained on this peculiar sight. Even Aphros was at a loss for words while the Queen giggled at the spectacle.
“I should have known,” Aré declared, “Aphros put you up to this, didn’t she? Self-sabotage to humiliate me. Making a fool of yourself in some stupid attempt to make me feel better, is that it?”
“Aphros has nothing to do with it. This was my own idea!” Serena refuted. “Why are you, of all people, helping me?”
“This is supposed to be a fair competition. A proper duel in the form of a pancake bake-off,” Aré explained. “I won’t stand for cheating or subversion, even in my favor!”
‘Yeah, unless you lose,’ Serena thought. ‘Is something burning?’ The maid sniffed, noting her pancakes had been sitting on the stove a little too long. ‘Like I care, this has already gone to hell in a handbasket.’
“What do you think you’re doing?” Aré moved to grab the pan, “If that burns, you won’t have time to make more.” It was true, as the timer was down to under five minutes, not nearly enough time to undo another mistake.
“Forget it. I don’t want to win,” Serena struggled with the noble.
“Yes, you do!” Aré fought with the maid. The minor scuffle quickly broke out into a full-blown fight, during which Serena’s pan was knocked into the air.
“Come on, fall, fall,” Serena moved out of the way.
“Don’t fall, don’t fall,” Aré jumped after the pan, only for Serena to meet her in mid-air. “Stay out of my way. I’m helping you whether you want it or not!” The noble drew her magic crossbow and pointed it directly at Serena’s head. The maid wisely pulled back to the ground, only to grab a pair of cast iron pans and leaped back into the air. “Stay back!” Aré let loose a fiery bolt as a warning shot.
“No way,” Serena blocked the projectile with the pan. The sudden rise in heat was unbearable, but the raven-haired girl would be damned if she was going to quit now.
Meanwhile, Aphros and the judges watched with a whole new type of confusion. At least Aphros did. The Queen watched the display with rapt attention, Atlanta ducked under the table, and the second Princess was fast asleep. The crowd was in an uproar, uncertain if this was part of the show or a serious event.
“Uhhhh,” Aphros was at a loss for words. “I certainly didn’t expect this to happen…although I probably should have,” the blonde shrugged. “You got any takes on this, your Highness?”
“I’ve never seen such a heated competition before,” the Queen clapped. “Oh, bad joke, I know,” she giggled and leaned closer to Aphros. “You should probably stop them before someone gets hurt,” the monarch whispered.
“On it,” Aphros jumped forward and raced towards the stage.
Serena and Aré continued their mid-air dance, the noble unleashing a volley of flaming bolts. At the same time, the maid struggled to parry them with her cast iron pans. The eventual outcome of the battle was clear. Serena couldn’t get so much as a hit in, while Aré never relented in her assault. But, the maid had a plan or at least part of one.
‘Are the pans melting?’ Serena noted, it certainly seemed like it, but that might have been a mirage from the intense heat. ‘Forget it, time for my ace.’ The maid smiled and said, “I must admit defeat, Lady Aré. There’s no way I can stop you from saving those hotcakes.”
“Finally, you see reason,” Aré reached for the pan, which was on its way down.
“Alas, the same can’t be said for yours,” Serena gestured towards the noble’s station. The gourmet pancakes Aré had left on her own stove were beginning to burn. “If only there were time to save both.” The once uproarious audience was dead silent as they watched the climax unfold with bated breath.
“Grrrr, I chose…” Aré grit her teeth and glanced at both sets of hotcakes. “Both!” In a single fluid motion, the noble smacked the bottom of Serena’s pan with the butt of her crossbow. The pan and its contents were sent flying higher into the air. Next, she fired an extra powerful shot from her weapon, using the recoil to send herself flying back towards her stove. Serena hit the ground simultaneously, immediately bouncing back up into the air.
“I chose neither,” Serena flung her two pans, the first towards her pancakes and the second at Aré’s stove. “Can’t stop both!”
“I have two hands,” Aré drew a second crossbow and, with pinpoint aim, shot both of Serena’s pans out of the air. However, the two shots screwed with her trajectory, sending her tumbling to the ground. She hit the floor, rolled under a few tables, and popped up next to her stove. Thirty seconds remained on the clock.
“No, no, no,” Serena fell back to the ground and decided to screw reasonability. She hefted up an entire table and chucked it at her pancakes. Twenty-five seconds remained.
“Not on my watch,” Aré grabbed her pan, threw it into the air, and leaped after it. Twenty seconds remained.
“Alright, you two, break it up,” Aphros rushed down to the stage, just a moment too late.
After flinging herself into the air, Aré fired two more shots from her dual crossbows, blasting the table out of the sky. Serena emerged from behind the explosion, having used the table to hide her ascent. Armed with a new cast iron pan, she deflected one of the bolts that had sailed right through the table. Fifteen seconds remained.
“Can’t dodge in mid-air,” Serena challenged.
“Watch me,” the dark red-haired noble gathered more energy than before to charge her crossbows. She fired at a 45-degree angle behind her, sending herself flying above Serena, right where both of their pans were meeting in mid-air. Ten seconds remained.
Serena prepared to meet the noble head-on, but Aré used the momentum from the launch to send herself into an aerial summersault. With a spinning kick, she knocked the maid right out of the air, caught both pans, and brought herself to a sudden stop. Five seconds remained.
The two fell to the ground. Serena crashed to the floor while Aré landed on her feet and, with a flick of her wrist, sent two sets of pancakes flying into the air. Several stacks of delicious sweet hotcakes landed in a designated delivery area, an equal amount for both contestants, right as the buzzer sounded for the end of the competition.
“That’s how we do that,” Aré brushed back her hair, her face beaming with pride.
“Well, it was good while it lasted,” Serena muttered on the ground.
“You, okay? Sorry, stupid question,” Aphros came to the raven-haired girl’s aid and helped her up.
“Fine as I’ll ever be,” Serena muttered as she pressed her head into Aphros’s stomach. The noble responded by her wrapping her hand around the back of Serena’s head.
“It’s okay, Serena. I know you meant well,” the noble assured.
“At least my pancakes will probably suck,” Serena mused. “I’ll still lose. That was my goal after all,” the maid sighed.
~--~
With the fight broken up and (mostly) edited from the ongoing live broadcast of the event, the competition was pushed forward to the judging at Aré’s insistence. Aré and Serena stood before the judge’s table as the three judges before them were served the fruits of the competition. The Queen and the two princesses savored the hotcakes, starting with Aré’s gourmet batch. While the royals ate in relative silence, their smiling expressions telegraphed their feelings clearly.
“So light, so fluffy,” the Queen stated.
“I wouldn’t say it was worth all the fuss,” Atlanta remarked, “but they are excellent. The texture is so soft but a touch crispy around the edges. You really used the coconut to its fullest.”
The second princess simply raised a thumbs up.
“As to be expected,” Aré puffed out her chest. The judging of the noble’s dish concluded without issue, and they moved on to Serena’s. The maid had slunk off to the side, doing her best to appear invisible. Being beat up on national television does that to a person.
“Hmm,” Atlanta hummed, “not bad, just different. Alas, I prefer Aré’s.”
‘As to be expected,’ Serena thought. Ten minutes ago, she would have been ecstatic at this ruling, but now it just hit her like a sack of bricks.
“…” The second princess made an almost audible sound of pleasure. Something with the maid’s pancakes seemed to click with the royal, and she smiled dreamily while chewing on the treat.
“Yum, just yum, that’s all,” the Queen commented as she elegantly (as one could) scarfed down the hotcakes. The three finished off Serena’s pancakes without further comment and, after a moment of deliberation, moved on to the final judgment. The lights on the stage flickered dramatically as an electronic screen rose up behind each judge.
“Now that all the fuss is over with,” Aphros jumped back onto the scene, “let us commence the final judging of the first annual Silver Skillet competition.”
‘She’s still calling it that?’ Serena and Aré looked at her in unison with the same completely unamused look.
“Princess Atlanta, what is your choice? Whose hotcakes are the most heavenly of all?” Aphros inquired.
“Umm,” Atlanta did her best to ignore Aphros’s colorful commentary. “My vote goes to Lady Aré’s gourmet dish. Nothing can touch their soft and fluffy texture.” The screen behind her lit up with an image of Aré’s face.
“Second princess, ahem,” Aphros coughed, “what is your choice?”
The second princess remained silent as usual and made a series of wild gestures indicating her presence. Alas, no one knew what she meant.
“Um, can I get a translation, please?” Aphros laughed nervously.
“One second,” Atlanta leaned towards her sister, the younger sibling whispered (assumably) in her ear. “She says Serena,” the first princess revealed as the monitor above the other princess displayed Serena’s face.
‘Yeah, yeah…Wait, what?’ Serena snapped her head towards the noble.
“Why?” Aré exclaimed. “For what reason could she possibly prefer the maid’s?”
“No clue. She only told me her answer,” Atlanta shrugged. “If you want to know the why, ask her,” she pointed at the second princess, who was smiling happily.
“Forget it,” Aré rolled her eyes and let the judging continue.
“Last but not least, my Queen, what is your choice. The winning point is all up to you,” Aphros asked.
“Well,” the Queen touched her chin thoughtfully, “Aré pancakes were a truly wonderful treat. So soft, so fluffy, and enriched with the finest ingredients. Dare I say nothing could match them on quality.” As the monarch continued, Aré’s seemed to grow in place. Serena could feel the noble’s ego inflating like a balloon.
“So, it is with absolute certainty I declare,” the Queen stood up. Lady Aré was chomping at the bit, ready to leap atop the judge’s table to accept her victory. “Serena to be the winner.” Aré jumped up, likely prepared to deliver an acceptance speech, only for her brain to properly parse out what was said a few seconds later. Once she realized she hadn’t actually won, the noble tripped and crashed into the ground.
“My Queen, why?” Aré asked from the ground, her voice croaked as though she were on the verge of tears.
“Nothing beats home-cooked pancakes with a touch of a mother’s love,” the Queen explained. “Also, I like them a little burnt. It’s my preference.” The screen behind the Queen lit up with Serena’s face, then all the screens in the hall followed suit. The whole kingdom would now know that Serena was the winner.
As the confetti rained down from above and the crowd cheered for the maid’s victory, Serena stood utterly stunned at this outcome. Even as she was handed the silver skillet trophy by the Queen. Even as she shook hands with the monarch in front of hundreds of cameras, the maid was still frozen in shock. After being sent through another whirlwind media blitz, Serena found herself still clutching the trophy in the backroom where she prepared for the competition.
“You must be proud of yourself, triumphing over a noble. You didn’t even have to try to win either,” Aphros praised the youth. Serena didn’t reply. She just muttered nonsense.
“Serena, are you okay?” Orion burst into the room, a first aid kit in hand. “There wasn’t any time to get you medical attention during the competition, but I’m here now,” the butler began to bandage the maid’s injuries from her disastrous fight. Again, Serena offered no real reply. “It’s a good thing I got here before Lady Aré did. Who knows what might have happened?”
“Yes, who knows,” Aré voice sizzled behind the butler, who practically jumped onto the ceiling in surprise. “So, maid, enjoying your hard-fought victory?” Aré radiated heat. She appeared before Serena almost like a walking geyser of flame.
‘Well, it was good while it lasted,’ the maid closed her eyes and waited for the worst of the noble’s wrath. However…
“Yep, she didn’t even have to try. Guess you aren’t nearly as good a cook as you thought you were, Aré,” Aphros butted in. “Serena must be the luckiest girl alive. You practically did half the work for her. You even beat her up for the right to win it for her.”
‘On second thought,’ Serena quietly stepped aside as Aré’s head turned slowly towards the other noble with an audible creak.
“This isn’t the first time you’ve embarrassed yourself publicly,” Aphros chatted. “Remember your dance recital? Oh, how about the time you were photographed in your favorite pajamas? The fuzzy one with the kittens?”
“Orion, let’s get out of here, now,” Serena grabbed her friend, and they hightailed it.
“APHROS!!!” Aré voice was deep and demonic.
“What? Let me guess, you challenge me to a duel?” Aphros put her hands up in mock surrender.
“Cooking competition, donuts, now!” Aré demanded.
“Pfft, you’re on,” Aphros stood her ground. “Don’t come crying to me when you lose again.”
~--~
The next day, Aphros was left crying in the prep room, half-heartedly comforted by Serena. The blonde noble had lost, with the victory a clean sweep in Aré’s favor. The contest wasn’t even close. In fact, even the Queen had nothing nice to say about Aphros’s donuts.
“Lady Aphros, pardon my rudeness, but you need to learn when to shut up,” Serena advised.
May This Fantasy Continue A Little Longer…
Next Time: Chapter XVI: Diane’s Aren’t Forever
~~~~
Workplace contests are great team building exercises that can strengthen relations between coworkers and managers. Remember, it is all to be in good fun and no one need feel lesser based upon their victory or defeat.
Whew, what a heavy block of writing this was. I never expected Maid in Fantasy chapters to grow so long. I intend to take a step back from the story for a moment and get a better grasp on how I want to move forward. I might shorten chapters, while keeping the same overall story length (ie. something like Heavenly Hotcakes would be broken up into four chapters instead of two). I do want to take more time to edit and revise the chapters though.
As a result, there might not be a full a chapter of Maid in Fantasy (or a regular short story) released next month. Instead, I'll put out some shorter stuff while I work on the next chapters in the background. The next few chapters are going to be fairly important, so I want to get them right. For next month, look forward to more poems and hopefully some Maid in Fantasy shorts. I'm thinking stories under 500 words (probably even shorter), but I'll release them in groups of two or three.
At time of writing, it's actually the beginning of May, so hopefully by the time you're reading this I've figured something out.
Until next time, Read, Comment and Enjoy
