Story Hub: [link]
\\~~~\\ 0 //~~~//
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 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 beat Aré in the competition, she’d make the noble her enemy for
life. Worse yet, Aré is not the best chef, 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…
\\~~~\\
I //~~~//
Antherós 2nd 758
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, rehearsing her recipe one last
time while Lady Aphros coached. Princess Atlanta and Orion watched from the
other side of the room.
“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 call her aunty?” Orion asked.
“No,” Atlanta replied and quickly
looked away.
“Your concern is very comforting,”
Serena’s words practically dripped with 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.’
\\~~~\\ II //~~~//
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.
Over the past few days, Aphros had
made promotional material, a marketing campaign and sold tickets to the event.
Now, nearly every noble and servant in the palace had arrived to watch the
bake-off. 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 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? And more pertinently, why?’
“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 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 tensed.
“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,
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, “contest start!” A massive digital clock lit
up on the ceiling, accompanied by several smaller ones 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.
“Let’s skip a few steps in the
recipe,” Aré pulled back the string, causing the crossbow to load itself with a
bolt of pure flame. “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 actual 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 to ‘accidentally’ 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 slightly different. A quick taste
test confirmed something was wrong…or rather right. ‘This tastes great…Dammit!
What’s going on?’
\\~~~\\ III //~~~//
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 better, she’d think Aré
was helping the maid.
‘That’d be silly. Aré would never
help her 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 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 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 that you’ll cheat in your opponent’s
favor?”
“Are you blind?” Aré blew her lid,
“That was hardly bad luck. Her station was obviously 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 shook 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 the fact everything she was sure she had broken
had magically fixed itself, the maid would not falter. If she was going to
fail, she’d have to do so spectacularly. It’d be embarrassing at the moment,
but it’d hopefully be forgotten in 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 even worse. She lost count of how
often 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 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.
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? Are you self-sabotaging to humiliate
me? Or are you 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 two 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 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 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 evident. 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 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
toward 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. Fifteen 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. Twelve seconds remained.
“Not on my watch,” Aré grabbed her
pan, threw it into the air, and leaped after it. Ten 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 through the table. Eight 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. Five 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. Three 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
wrapping her hand around 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, I don’t understand,” Aphros
laughed nervously.
“One second,” Atlanta leaned towards
her sister, the younger sibling seemingly whispered in her ear. “Her choice is
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?”
“I have not the faintest idea. She
only informed me of her answer,” Atlanta shrugged. “If you would like to know
why, you must consult 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 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, and then all the screens in the hall followed suit. The whole
kingdom would now know that Serena was the winner.
As the confetti rained 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 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 cute sushi mascots?”
“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…
>>>~~~~<<<
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.
Author's Note: And that's Heavenly Hotcakes. Only three more chapters to go and I'll be all caught up on fixing up the old chapters.
I already said it last week, but I really love how Heavenly Hotcakes came out as a story. Aré is a fun character to write and is a great foil for Aphros and Serena. If you've picked up on the not so subtle theme of office politics running through the character relationships. Aré is based on that kind of manager, you know the one. The kind every worker dreads and everyone in upper management loves, a results (and ego) driven dynamo who lives to work. The natural enemy to the "I didn't even want this job" Serena.
Regardless, we're onto the last story arc in this "volume." Those chapters will start releasing throughout December, which means next year the story finally continues. I can't wait.
Until next time, Read, Comment and Enjoy.
\\~~~\\
IV //~~~//
Antherós 4th 758
It was another quiet night at
Brando’s. Serena sauntered into the underground bar to find it empty of
everyone but Caenia and the bartender, as usual. The maid approached her
predecessor and sat beside her at the bar. Ignoring the annoyed look from the bartender.
“Give me the usual,” Serena
requested.
“You’re going to run me out of
business. This is a bar, not a coffee shop,” the bartender grumbled as he
poured her milk.
“Yes, because my milk orders are
responsible for your slim profit margins,” Serena rolled her eyes as she
glanced in Caenia’s direction.
“Yeah, yeah, point taken,” the
bartender grumbled as he walked off.
“Ya blaming me for this shit hole
going under?” Caenia glared at Serena.
“Well, either that or you’re
single-handedly keeping it in business,” Serena shrugged. “Could be either or,”
the maid gestured to Caenia’s stack of empty mugs, which still reeked of
alcohol.
“Whatever,” Caenia chugged her fifth
drink of the night. “I saw part of that baking nonsense on TV the other night.
What did you do to piss Aré off?”
“Partly from being a smart ass,
mostly from being connected to Aphros,” Serena admitted.
“Ha, sounds about right,” Caenia
chuckled.
“Thank the Lord Aphros decided to
open her big mouth, or Aré would have taken out all her anger on me,” Serena
explained.
“You got off lucky,” Caenia stated
flatly. “Then again, from what I saw, Aré was acting a little off. Maybe you
really did get under her skin,” The ex-maid noted. “Regardless, you should
start coordinating with your peers to keep track of Aré’s movements and mood.
You never know when she might go on a mad tear.”
“I haven’t really connected with any
other Dianes except Orion,” Serena realized.
“Well, then start. You can at least
get friendly with some of them,” Caenia advised. “They’ll never have your back
when it matters, but they can be helpful for the day-to-day crap. Getting along
with them can only be good for you right now. They might even teach you
something useful.”
“Yeah,” Serena nodded, “I think I’ll
do just that.” Perhaps it was time to really get to know “her people.”
Next Time:
Chapter XVI: Diane’s Aren’t Forever
