Alaina cackled at Agnes and Maya’s shocked expressions. The maids gasped, and whispers floated around. Still laughing, she set down the empty salt holder next to the pot on the counter and closed the lid loudly.

"Let’s see you serve him that!" She sneered at Maya.

"Alaina!" Agnes yelled. "What are you doing? How dare you ruin the Alpha’s dinner?" She asked with a horrified look, glancing from Alaina to the pot.

"It is better than letting her feed him. I am sure the Alpha will thank me."

She laughed in Agnes’s face and turned around to leave. Bess followed after her, glancing back with a smug look on her face.

"You’d better not serve dinner late!" Alaina yelled as she stepped out of the kitchen.

As soon as the door shut, the entire kitchen burst into laughter. The maids grabbed the table as they laughed hard.

"Did she think that was the chicken soup?" One asked mid-laughter and louder laughter ran out.

"I can’t believe Bess told her. She doesn’t even work in the kitchen. How did she know?"

"Quiet! It’s not funny. She just ruined a perfectly good pot of chicken soup." Agnes scolded, even though it was obvious she was struggling to hold back her laughter.

Palmer rushed closer to the pot on the counter and opened it. She took a spoon, scooped some into her mouth, and nearly threw up.

"Why would you do that, Palmer?" One of the maids asked while laughing hard.

"We will have to throw it out," Palmer gasped while fighting to keep the salty food down.

"Of course. Only you would be crazy enough to taste it."

Maya looked from Agnes to the maids. They all seemed to be taking Alaina’s actions in stride and found it funny instead.

"Your soup, Maya," Agnes called to her. "Don’t forget to stir it."

"Right," she whispered and turned away.

She was glad Alaina had ruined the wrong chicken soup. If that had been the correct pot, Alaina wouldn’t have hesitated to ruin it and that would have made things difficult for Agnes.

It was also comforting to know the maids were laughing at Alaina. They clearly didn’t share the view that she wasn’t fit to cook. At least, not Agnes. Despite the issues that lingered, she wasn’t being completely closed off.

She slowly stirred the soup one last time and, using the rags, took it off the hearth and onto the wooden counter that had scorched marks and signs of use.

"Palmer, get rid of this pot. We don’t want to mix them up."

"Perhaps, we serve the salty one instead?" Palmer asked as she lifted the pot. The maids laughed some more.

"Or?" Palmer added, and her eyes glimmered. "We serve the salty one to only Alaina."

"Yes," the maids agreed in unison and giggled.

"I would rather none of that happen, and since the rest of you have free hands, best start serving up dinner."

"Yes, Agnes." The maids said and came closer.

Agnes opened the pot and scooped some of the chicken soup into a tiny bowl, which she then sipped.

"Hmm," she whispered and nodded her head in approval. "You may leave."

Maya smiled brightly, although Agnes didn’t outrightly thank her. "Okay," she whispered and handed the apron to Agnes before she walked to the exit.

"Is it really that good?" One of the maids asked. "Let’s have a taste."

"Shush and take this to the dining room."

Maya walked up the stairs that led to the first floor. She had thought about going to her room first but decided against it. She pushed open the doors, praying that Alaina wouldn’t be the first to arrive, and took her seat.

The maids arrived with the dinner, along with Palmer, not long after she sat down. They all glanced in her direction but didn’t try to make conversation.

As they prepared the table, Winnie walked in first. She sat down, wiggled her nose at Maya, then leaned in with a frown.

"Did you go near a fire?"

Maya jumped at her question; she hadn’t noticed her lean in, so it felt like the question came out of nowhere.

"I was in the kitchen," she blurted unintentionally. She immediately tried to sniff the air around her. She didn’t want to smell like smoke.

Winnie frowned. "I see." She looked like she was about to say something more but stopped herself and just pulled away.

Maya nodded. She didn’t know what else to say in this situation, and things between them tended to get a little awkward.

"Did you cook?" Winnie suddenly asked.

"Yes," she replied.

Winnie frowned, then stared at Maya a little suspiciously, and then turned her head to the side as if she had gotten the answer she wanted.

Maya wasn’t sure if she should speak more. She wasn’t against making friends, but at the same time, it was hard to tell if this was a genuine interaction or something else. So she turned away and paid attention to how the maids arranged the table.

"Do I smell like smoke?" Maya found herself asking.

"Not badly," Winnie explained politely. "I just picked it up because I thought it was coming from me—"

She stopped speaking as the doors opened. Theo and Alaina walked in. As soon as Alaina saw Maya, she started laughing.

"What’s so funny?" Winnie asked as she sat down.

"Well, a certain person thought they could wiggle themselves into somewhere they didn’t belong, and I just snapped that," Alaina said, staring right at Maya.

"What are you talking about?" Winnie asked.

"I don’t expect you to understand, little sister. But don’t worry—I already took care of that."

"I see. Hello Theo."

Theo turned to look at Winnie. "How are you, Winnie? Did you finish on time today?"

"No, I had to stop midway because of the rain, and Alaina didn’t show up today. With the Alpha leaving Verlassen, I don’t think we will—"

"It was raining. You don’t expect me to go to the workshop in the rain."

"I didn’t say you should. I was explaining why I couldn’t finish."

"Really? Then you didn’t need to add the part where I didn’t show up. It was raining."

Winnie sighed. "You’re right. It was raining."

Alaina scoffed and leaned into Theo, a smile hanging on her face as Winnie uncomfortably adjusted.

"I-I will try to complete it tomorrow if the weather is better."

Maya listened intently to the conversation. She could recall Winnie saying something about ceramics earlier today. She wanted to ask questions, but she couldn’t. She might as well be a piece of furniture.

Regardless of Winnie’s occasional reach when they were alone, this was the reality of her situation. The sound of the doors opening pulled her out of her debilitating thoughts.