Margret blinked in surprise, caught off guard by Loraine’s shift of tone. The always terrified and weary girl was nowhere to be seen, in her place was a woman who didn’t seem even the slightest bit intimidated by her, or rather, the monumental task at hand.

"Listen here you-!" Margret barked, gritting her teeth as she stepped infront of the girl, the busy noise of the cooks in the background fading behind her ears. Sarah however, wouldn’t let Margret get close, flaying her arms at her sides to prevent the head maid from advancing further.

"I’m not letting you get any closer, shouldn’t we be worried about what Loraine said?" Sarah spoke up, her voice carrying a hint of determination as she carried forward. "She’s never cooked a day in her life, what if the guests are displeased?"

"Exactly Margret, what if the guests are not impressed by our cooking. Sure the chefs could handle their dishes just fine but...what about me?" Loraine asked, her hand drifting above her chest. "I’ve never received the privilege to learn and cook for my own needs, let alone for somebody else."

"So...with this in mind, are you sure you wouldn’t want anyone else to take the job?" She asked, though internally she knew that Margret wasn’t going to change her plans, especially for her.

Whenever something had to do with her, Margret would make sure to see it through, and she was about to prove her right in this exact moment, as Margret quickly spoke once more, a sharp edge to her tone.

"We don’t have time to be thinking here, you will do what I said you will do!" She commanded, pointing a finger at Loraine with a threatening tone in her voice, her anger reaching it’s boiling point as she visibly started to fume.

’This girl...what the hell happened to her!?’ Margret thought internally, Loraine was usually so docile and submissive, never had she felt this irritated by this girl’s antics before.

Sarah was about to speak up and berate Margret for passing on such a demanding task to Loraine, especially when she knew that they were just going to use Loraine as a scape goat if anything were to ever go wrong and make her take all the blame for it.

"That’s not-!"

A loving carress found itself on Sarah’s shoulders as she turned her head back to look at Loraine, who gently shook her head. "It’s alright Sarah, I’ll be fine. I just needed her permission first." She said with a soft smile, trying to reassure her best friend.

"But...." Sarah whispered, feeling guilty that she couldn’t do anything to help her out any further. She didn’t like what Margret was doing, but she was in no position to oppose it if Loraine was on-board with it, so she opted to stand aside for now.

"Alright, fine. Just...try your best okay?" Sarah said to Loraine, a worried look in her eyes. Loraine could see the turmoil in her best friends gaze, the gesture warming her heart as she was grateful to have someone care for her so much in a house that was usually against everything she did.

Her resolve strengthened in response to this, determined to change this abusive hierarchy and repay Sarah for all she has done for her up until now.

’I just need to be patient....’ Loraine thought, clenching her fist as her expression turned serious for a moment, before returning her gaze to Margret.

"Now then, get in there and do your job!" Margret ordered, pointing at the chefs who were focused on their culinary craft. "You better cook like your life depends on it, because if I ever hear a single complaint from the Vincent family, then I’ll personally bury you in the garden!" She threatened one last time, before making her way out of the kitchen.

’Jeez...her threats can really escalate sometimes.’ Loraine thought, a small shudder running down her spine, but she pushed it off, knowing that Marget wasn’t really gonna be able to do anything to her anymore.

As she stood right now, no maid in this house could rival her anymore, at least not in raw power that was.

"I’ll get going now too, I still have some stuff I need to take care of." Sarah said, turning around to look at Loraine. "I can’t help but be worried for your safety, but I’m sure you’ll do well if you try hard enough." She said, flashing Loraine a beaming smile that eased the tension off her shoulders a bit.

"If you’re struggling, just ask the chefs to help you out, I think they’d be happy to help of it meant keeping their heads on their shoulders." That last part made the air in the room a bit worrying, the chefs in the background feeling a bit intimidated as they hoped it wouldn’t come to that.

"I’m sure I’ll be fine, thanks for the encouragement though!" Loraine said with a cheerful expression, clenching her fists as she started to feel pumped. "I’ll put everything I’ve got into these dishes."

"That’s the spirit!"

The two shared a laugh before parting ways, Sarah bidding Loraine good luck as she waved her off, heading to do her tasks. Loraine felt a warm fuzzy feeling in her chest, a strong sense of happiness washing over her as she wanted to do her best, feeling far more motivated than she ever had thus far.

’I’m no Gordon Ramsay, but I know a few dishes I think could impress some of these nobles.’ Loraine thought, walking into the kitchen as she pulled open a cabinet, grabbing onto a [Silver Knife] as she twirled the blade around in her fingers for a moment, surprised she didn’t accidentally drop the darn blade onto her foot or something.

She reached again and grabbed another in her free hand.

’Alright then,’ Loraine thought, raising the two blades in the air as she began to sharpen them against each other, bringing her arms down in a cross shape as her eyes burned with determination, an excited grin plastered onto her face.

"Let’s get cooking!"