"She's waking up..." The woman murmured faintly to herself as she looked at the dish in front of her with a small, troubled frown.

The dish in front of her wasn't something that should be given by an old evil witch, she even used some precious herbs that helped with replenishing energy and healing wounds.

Yet it wasn't something she could control, she just got carried away and couldn't control herself when she thought that another person was going to eat what she was making.

That idea made her a bit excited and she unconsciously wanted to do her best, it was good that she still managed to stop herself from going overboard and only made one dish though.

Feeling that Marianna was going to wake up soon, the woman's heart started beating fast and a sense of anticipation grew up inside her, she wanted to see how the young woman was going to react to her food and if she was going to like it.

Taking deep breaths, the woman lifted the bowl and headed to the door leading to the room, she had cast an illusion on the room, making it appear door and windowless, it also muted sounds made by the caster and hid them from sight at their will, so she wasn't afraid that Marianna would notice her entering.

Opening the door, she saw that the young woman was still in a state of confusion from waking up, she wanted to move fast and put the bowl next to her before she was really up, but it was then that she noticed that there was no place for her to put the bowl on.

Panicking a bit, she looked around her in a fluster before remembering that she had seen a small nightstand in the bedroom, she waved her right hand lightly and a few seconds later that same nightstand came flying towards her, waving her hand again after the nightstand was on the ground, a light wind appeared around it, removing the dust covering it after who knows how long of neglect.

After all that was done, she put the bowl on top of it and waved her hand again, getting the nightstand to lift up and enter the room on its own.

As she was looking at the nightstand that landed next to the bed, she heard soft footsteps running her way, and as expected, what she saw when she looked over to their source was a small white fox, its two spirited eyes looking at her.

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"Hi, little one, you came just in time, she's going to start eating it soon..." The woman said as she half kneeled to lift the small white fox in her arms.

The two remained at the door, looking at Marianna as she gradually woke up and looked around her in confusion before her eyes fell on the nightstand and the bowl on top of it, the woman's heart skipped a beat and she watched Marianna intensely with her anticipation shooting through the roof.

She was experiencing a feeling she hadn't felt in a long time, her heart clenching in anticipation, the weird mix of excitement and happiness filling her chest as she held her breath and watched...

Yet, all that didn't last long, she watched as the young woman showed a troubled expression, as even though it was clear that she was hungry, her fear and suspicion made her stop and think twice before moving to take a bait.

The woman's excitement disappeared slowly as a bitter feeling filled her, she understood where the young woman was coming from, she understood her train of thought and how it was, for someone like her, the right thing to do, yet, even after understanding it, she still couldn't stop that bitter feeling from gushing out of her heart and turning to annoyance and a bit of anger that grew bigger the more time passed, as all her expectations and anticipation was thrown to the wall and she felt as if she was an idiot for expecting anything but this to happen at all.

In a swift motion, she put the little white fox down and reached for a brown robe, a pair of long gloves and a mask which were thrown on a small closet next to the door.

Just as she was putting on the long gloves, she heard a light rhythmic sound, turning around she saw the small white fox entering the room and heading to Marianna, she lifted her hand, wanting to call it but saw that the young woman had already noticed it and was looking at it in a mixture of fear and curiosity.

The small white fox went up the bed frame and ran on it till it was standing on the young girl's lap looking at her with big, smart curious eyes and a tilted head.

The woman watched in silence as Marianna extended her hand timidly and patted the fox's small head while looking at it with a bit of fear, expecting something to happen, when the small fox just lowered its head and moved it closer to her, making her pat it some more, she did just that before starting to caress it slowly.

The woman watched and her annoyance loosened a bit, and for the first time since she met her, she saw a smile on the young woman's face as she caressed the small white fox.

Seeing that, she sighed and shook her head, she couldn't believe how she let something like that get to her.

The small fox, after being pat and caressed by Marianna for a bit, finally moved himself away from her and jumped to the nightstand and used his head to nudge the bowl gently towards her.

This time, Marianna didn't hesitate much, she gave the fox one last pat before lifting the bowl with one hand, and using the other one to take the spoon and took a sip.

The woman's breathing stopped for a second as Marianna's expression froze, but soon she felt overwhelming happiness as she watched her look at the bowl in shock and swallow uncontrollably, she then watched her spoon move fast as she ate what remained of the soup in a record time.

The more she watched, the happier the woman was and the bigger her smile grew, just watching someone else eat the food she made with such relish made her the happiest she had ever been in a long time...