As it turned out, I majorly underestimated the size of the megaron - it was nothing short of massive. At some point in the past these walls had seen all kinds of large gatherings, weddings, balls and dinners. In retrospect, it was almost as large as I imagined the Hogwarts dining hall to be.

However right now the hall was empty. Or almost so.

There was a single, large table on the dais at the farther end of the room. Sitting there, was the princess of Jarenbourg - Frederica Maria de Jarenbourg.

Without stopping, I followed the group of maids who were carrying everything from utensils, to aperitif, to the main course. While they buzzed around the princess I found a spot at the side, waiting to present my dish when the time comes.

Taking a moment to look around, I noticed that before I entered with the entourage of seven maids, there were only two other people with the princess in the whole room. One of them was an older, kind looking woman, I remembered her being one of the attendants who swooped the princess away once she arrived. She was standing next to the her right now, casually chatting. An unsuspecting (and surprisingly dense) observer might even confuse the pair to be mother and daughter. They had that kind of air around them - the lady was likely taking care of the princess since her birth.

The other person in the room was Albert. He was standing at the back wall and keeping out of sight. Just like a good guard should.

But then something peculiar happened. In hindsight, the clues were there all along and it shouldn't have surprised anyone. But it still did. If up until that moment I was still keeping hope for this to be some sort misunderstanding, those hopes were shattered then and there.

The princess's pursuit after the culinary greatness was as real as anything else about her and she made it abundantly clear with a single sentence.

"I will be skipping the appetizer today," she announced to the great shock of the maids. "As well as the soup. We will be starting with the main course."

The maids froze in complete silence, some shocked, others dumbfounded. Most of them, at least.

"But princess," one of the maids began. My self-proclaimed archnemesis, the one named after a Greek Goddess. "It's your favorite pumpkin soup. I've prepared it myself..."

"Not tonight," was all she said.

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"But..." Athena raised her eyes to look at me, the source of her concern clear as day.

The princess raised her hand for the maid to stay quiet, while the bowl with the main course was put in front of her. That was my cue and I stepped forward.

I raised the lid off the bowl and presented the dish to the princess. I had to put the lid down, it made it too easy to see how hard my hands were shaking.

"Well that is disappointing," the princess said to the chicken. "I thought I made it clear I was expecting some more of those potatoes."

Tsk, I heard a tongue click and turned to Clem just in time to see a 'told you so' expression on her face.

"I thought you would, Your Highness," I said innocently, bowing slightly. "But Athena insisted we should make chicken instead."

"She did?"

"I did?!" Athena jumped up.

Pffft, Clem snickered. At the edge of my vision I could see her slamming her mouth shut with the palm of her hand, just to keep herself from giggling.

"In which case I shall keep her accountable if the chicken is not to my liking," the princess said casually.

"You will?!" something in between terror and deep confusion was on Athena's face.

Clem could only slam her mouth with another hand not to burst out laughing, her face dyed bright red.

"I jest, of course," the princess said, with a slight smile on her face.

"Of course, my princess," was all she could muster with tears streaming down her face.

While I put a piece of chicken onto a plate and instructed the princess on the proper way of eating it, she raised her eyes to Athena.

"But I must say I am surprised. You are not usually so quick to trust people," she began. "You have quite a lot of faith in my new cuisiner, do you not?"

"No, that is definitely not the case," a quick response, with terror returning to her face.

"Sir Cuisiner," the moment princess addressed me, Athena's eyes jumped to me, her silky black moving from the motion of her head. "Say, are you married?"

"No I'm not, Your Highness," not really fazed by the question.

The princess sent Athena a knowing look, smiling slightly, her intention clear to all but one. The only way she could've been more obvious if she tried to "wink wink" to her maid. The maid in question, however, was still confused at the sudden change in topic.

The question that failed to rattle me, be that as it may, had pretty much an opposite effect on Athena, who seemingly couldn't find a single "safe" spot to look at in the whole room. She tried looking at her maids for help, but all she got in exchange was a bunch of blushing girls, some for a different reason than others - not all of them had to sink their teeth in the forearm just to keep from laughing. Just one, in fact.

Even the old attendant seemed somewhat intrigued, in a giggly school-girl kind of way.

"I have to say, Sir Cuisiner, this chicken sure looks odd," the princess said, concentrating her attention on the dish in front of her. "Once again, I can say with confidence this is not like anything I have ever seen. I am most certainly captivated. The sheer thought of tasting something as good once again..."

But before she could finish her thought or Athena could say anything, the princess took a crispy and tender chicken thigh with her hand, putting the whole room to crushing silence.

I held my breath as her teeth sank into the meat.