"Curd porridge?" Min asks in confusion.

"Yes, I'm not surprised you don't know it." Maria says, taking the honey in her hand. "It's nothing hard, and the master will be satisfied with it, after all, it has been a while since his appetite was satisfied even at night." She adds in a slightly playful tone.

"What do we need?" The redhead asks, flicking her ears inquisitively.

"Just honey, water, butter, semolina and curd cheese." Maria replies, and from the expression Min is currently wearing, she correctly deduces that she hasn't been understood.

"Curd cheese? Butter? Heeeeh...?" She lets out a confused squeak.

"This is going to be a long one..." Maria mumbles under her nose before continuing with a deep breath. "Butter and curd cheese are milk products-"

But the redhead doesn't let her finish and interrupts, "milk? Like from a cow?" She frowns.

"Well... Yes?" Maria replies, confused.

Min stares at her in disbelief, her mouth agape. "You... Ugh!" She shudders in disgust. "Straight from the T-titty." Her expression says it all, she's fully disgusted. But when she thinks about it like that, she's not surprised that Min, who probably doesn't have milk on her daily menu might find it almost disgusting depending on what it's based on.

"T-Titty...?" She pauses at the word and blinks in surprise. "Have you ever had milk?" She asks after a small pause.

"Min doesn't eat such abominations." She replies dismissively, "hmh!" She never thought anyone would take it that way.

Maria takes a deep breath and continues with a sigh, "Min may not eat it, but the master is more than happy to." She has no plans to argue with her about this. Min grunts in disapproval, but soon enough realizes she lost. So she walks defeatedly into the next room.

If Min wasn’t a broke shifter it might have even unnerved Maria. Thanks to magic, all shifters are stuck between human and animal form. Only those who have undergone a long, arduous training and mastered their magic are able to change completely. But there are very few of them. After all, it carries innumerable risks, many who have tried it themselves have either died or cannot change back. Unfortunately, those are the better options, Maria has met many unfortunates in her many years who had a human torso while their legs or arms were animal. The most bizarre case was a man who had mouse limbs, they were very small, so much that he couldn't even move from his seat, one day he turned around badly and crushed his limbs. He had to have them amputated.

Min just comes back and sees the milk that Maria is holding and can't help but grin at the white substance inside the glass.

"We'll save our differences of opinion about the milk for later," Maria says, motioning for Min to put all the ingredients on the table. "Get a pot of water ready and put it on the stove." Maria instructs and Min obeys without a word.

"Is this really a normal thing to eat?" Min asks rather incredulously.

"Yes, we make many kinds of dishes and other meals or desserts out of it. It's like our culture wouldn't exist without milk." She replies, crumbling the curd into semolina.

"And what else do you get your milk from?" She asks further, this time rather intrigued.

"Well," Maria muses, and after a slight pause, continues, "from goats, sheep, cows, donkeys, but also mares." She answers the question, Min says nothing in response, so she turns to her. Her reaction is very interesting, as if she can't decide between being horrified or disgusted.

"F-from mares and donkeys?!" She exclaims in disbelief.

Maria sighs. "The food is ready, so you can take it to the master. Feel free to say you made it yourself." She hands Min a plate of food.

But the redhead's reaction is not what Maria expected. Instead of thanking her, Min frowns and looks angry. "Why would Min do that? Maria helped Min!" She snaps angrily.

"Yes, Maria helped Min, but Min is the one who wants to thank the master." She explains, Min looks like she plans to argue so Maria just slips her out of the room and locks her after her.

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"Okay, now just clean up..." She looks around the room and realizes that she doesn't really feel like doing it. "One child will grow up and another will appear." With a loud sigh, she dips the rag into the bucket of water.

After a moment of silence, a few knocks on the door are heard. Maria initially ignores them, but eventually opens the door to find no one else but Min. "If you don't hurry up, it'll get cold," Maria remarks.

"B-But Min can't go alone," Min squeaks with a sad voice.

"Why can't Min go alone?" Maria asks, confused. "What you tell the master is up to you-" Before she can finish, Min interrupts her.

"M-Min scared alone! What if Alf not happy, what Min say then?" Her ears, which were up the whole time, now droop, and her tail sweeps the floor in a slow rhythm.

"I'll go with you, but then you'll clean up here by yourself, okay?" Maria replies with a defeated tone and heads with the redhead towards the master.

****************************************

Min and Maria stand in front of the table where Alfonse is sitting. The redhead reluctantly sways her tail from side to side, her eyes darting between the food and Alfonse's face. Maria elbows her in the side to calm her down; after all, she mostly prepared the food, so it's clear that the master will enjoy it. Min calms down a bit and loudly swallows, likely nervous about the presence of milk in the food.

Alfonse scoops up some porridge with a spoon and blows on it since the food is already cold, indicating a force of habit. Min leans slightly towards Alfonse, and he smiles at her. Maria, with a sigh, pulls Min back.

Alfonse finally puts the spoon in his mouth, and when he swallows, he nods at Min with a smile. She immediately lights up with joy and turns to Maria; her tail now happily sways from side to side, and her ears are upright.

"Now you can go clean up the mess," Maria nods with a smile, and Min jumps with joy, running out of the room with a smile. As soon as the door slams behind the redhead, both Maria and Alfonse lose their smiles.

"You cooked this, didn't you?" Alfonse asks, even though he already knows the answer.

"The cooks messed her up, and if I hadn't made the food instead of her, you'd either be dead or without a meal."

"Hmm, can she at least follow a recipe?" Alfonse asks without dwelling on what the cooks did to her.

"I would say yes; what she created before looked quite like the picture in the book. Not that it's any great achievement."

Alfonse rubs his hands. "In that case, a little trip to the town would suffice," he orders with a smile. Maria sighs, and Alfonse quickly adds, "No, I don't take that as an answer."

Maria pierces him with a look. "Who am I to go against my master's wishes, but wouldn't a short walk benefit your highness more? After all, the sun would be very beneficial to your health." She tries to argue.

Alfonse deepens his smile and squints his eyes. "As you surely know, I am very busy, and since I belong to the heirs, someone might try to kidnap or kill me." He supports his chin with his hands.

Maria tilts her head slightly. "Your servant can also fill out documents, and if my information is correct, you should have a brooch that prevents such events." Maria continues.

"But I don't want to go anywhere," he pouts and leans back in his chair. Maria sighs; obviously, her arguments have run out.

Honestly, she doesn't understand why he's so adamant about refusing to at least try the brooch. Yes, the master is a bit skeptical, but Maria strongly doubts that his father would try to kill him or harm him in any way. After all, the other brothers carry it whenever they go out. They are magical artifacts that protect their wearers. They are also the strongest in all of Aashiile, created by Ririana herself - the sorceress because of which there is a barrier placed over the entire island, dampening magic and preventing anyone from leaving. If someone were to tear down this barrier... She would awaken, and history would only repeat itself. She would likely seek revenge, and since everyone who collaborated in her imprisonment is long gone by now... Surely, no one would stop her.

Maria sighs; she has no intention of arguing with him further. "Right after lunch, I'll take her to the nearest bookstore."

"Oh!" Alfonse exclaims so suddenly that it startles Maria. "There's a meeting tomorrow after lunch!"

It doesn't surprise Maria at all. "And when were you planning to tell me about it? Do you have anything prepared at all?"

"Well, I wanted to tell you as soon as I found out, but I kinda forgot," he chuckles with a smile.

"So should I go with her the day after tomorrow, or rather in the morning after breakfast?"

"Probably right after breakfast; I'll grab lunch in the kitchen in case you're not done by then," Alfonse replies, digging through some papers. "You can also order her a new uniform while you're at it."

"Is there something wrong with the one she has?" Maria asks.

"Wrong? It's absolutely terrible!" he exclaims and pauses for a moment before continuing. "Don't spare any expense; just have a new one made for her, probably two or three different ones so she doesn't wear the same thing every day."

"As you wish." Maria bows slightly and leaves.

*************************

When she arrives in the kitchen, Min has already cleaned up, and there is no sign of her.

"If you're looking for the shapeshifter, she packed up a while ago and went to her room," a dwarf's voice comes from the other side of the room.

"Thank you," Maria nods as a gesture of thanks in case she didn't hear it. Maria hasn't assigned a specific room to Min; she completely forgot about it. She'll probably find her among the other cooks.