Strongest Maid In Another World

"Relax," Christine said with a nudge to Loraine’s arm, seeing the distress on the maiden’s face as she tried to calm her down. "Besides, I’ve got your back. You practically saved my life yesterday." She said with a smile, her kind gaze having calmed Loraine down as she exhaled slowly, feeling some of the tension leave her body.

’She’s right, calm down.’ Loraine thought to herself, steadying herself as she mentally prepared herself for awaited her beyond these doors.

"You’re right, thanks," Loraine responded, a proud smile blooming on Christine’s face as she entered the dining hall, with Christine following shortly behind her.

The moment she entered the room, Loraine’s eyes were greeted with the sight of multiple of the mansion’s cooks and chefs standing together to the side, the Ashbourne family, Kain, the mistress, Lady Cecilia, young master Valmont, and young Lilith, all sat down and patiently waiting for them.

Loraine’s eyes flickered to their plates, they were empty, suggesting that the family had already completed their breakfast, but when her eyes met their gaze, she could immediately feel the disappointment radiating off of them.

They were not pleased with today’s breakfast in the slightest.

"There you are, what took you so long!" Margret’s voice caught her off guard, seeing the head maid standing at her side, causing Loraine to jump as she hadn’t even noticed her presence before, her focus and attention being on the Ashbourne’s to notice her at all.

"Oh..." Loraine replied in a surprised tone, "I was busy with my daily chores, that’s why I was late, Margret." Loraine said, placing her hands on her hips as she watched Margret’s expression shift, turning to that of insult as her eyes widened in anger.

’Did she just address me casually? The insolence of this girl!’ Margret thought, her rage fuming as she was about to lash out at Loraine, but the voice of Kain immediately interrupted the tension, directing their focus onto him immediately.

"Loraine Velmer," Kain spoke up, his voice booming through the room as he addressed her by her full name, a nervous sweat breaking down her face. "Is it true that you were involved in yesterday’s culinary preparation?" He asked, his gaze flickering to Margret as he thought back to yesterday night’s events.

Shortly after Loraine left...

The two noble families were enjoying their dinner, the atmosphere completely shifted from one of tension and conflict, to one of joy and lightheartedness. The meal was nothing short of heavenly, a bountiful explosion of flavors that made everyone’s taste buds scream in ecstasy.

’I didn’t think I’d enjoy myself so well, this is even better than the foods my own chefs make me.’ Marion thought to herself, setting down her fork and knife as she had finished her meal, a satisfied hum leaving her throat as she sank back in her chair.

She was never one to over-indulge in meals, always preferring to keep her figure well-maintained, but tonight was different. The food was just so good that she couldn’t help but eat a lot more than usual, it would be an utter waste if she did.

"Margret," Kain called out to her, a small smile on the reserved nobleman’s face. "Do you mind calling back all who were involved in the preparation of such a fine meal? I want to thank them personally for what they had done for us tonight." He said.

"Maybe I can take some of them with me if they can cook something so good!" Leon added, a boisterous laugh tearing from his throat.

"My my~, don’t flatter yourself. These chefs are ours. We wouldn’t want to give away such fine talents for free~" Lady Cecilia spoke, the mistress of the Ashbourne family, and Lilith’s mother, waving a fan to her face.

"Name your price then!" Leon spoke, willing to pay top dollar for the Ashbourne mansion’s chefs.

Margret ignored the bickering at the dining table, and bowed at Kain’s words, "Of course sir, I’ll be right back." Margret excused herself, walking out of the dining hall.

She made her way to the kitchen first, assembling all the cooks and chefs one more time, rounding them up as she explained to them how the family wanted to thank them for a job well done.

"Wait, where’s Christine?" Margret asked, with most of the chefs shrugging as they didn’t have a clue as to where Chrstine could have gone. One cook raises his hand, giving some insight on where Christine might be.

"I last saw her chase after Loraine, so she could be with her." The cook responded, a look of annoyance blooming over Margret’s face as she began to look for Christine, figuring that the girl could be at Loraine’s room.

’Why could she be chasing after Loraine?’ Margret thought, a bit confused as to why a promising cook such as Chrstine could be going after someone as pathetic as Loraine was.

She arrived at the location where Loraine’s room was, seeing the brown haired maiden standing in front of a door that had just closed, a joyous grin on her features as she smiled happily.

"You!" Margret yelled at Christine, the young maiden jumping in surprise as she hadn’t expected her name to have been called. "What are you doing here? You’re supposed to be in the kitchen!" Margret said, glaring at the girl.

"Oh! I uhm...." Christine mumbled to herself, trying to think of a reasonable excuse. "I was just walking Loraine back to her room is all!" Chrstine said, an awkward silence settling between the two of them as they proceeded to just stare at each other for a few seconds.

’.....’

’.....’

Margret was suspicious of the way Christine had said it, it was the tone of someone trying too hard to hide their intentions, but she decided on letting it pass for now. She had bigger problems to worry about anyway, and the two families were waiting for them anyway.

"Whatever, come with me, the Ashbournes wish to thank you personally."

"Eh!?" Christine said in a confused tone, surprised. She glanced back at Loraine’s door, a nervous sweat breaking down her face as she knew that the one to be thanked for all of this is really Loraine.

"But what about-!" Christine was about to tell Margret to bring Loraine along, but was abruptly cut off by the cruel head maid.

"We will not be brining her along! She is of no use to this matter!" She said firmly, grabbing Christine’s hand as she forcefully dragged the young maiden after her. Christine glanced back behind her one more time, a doomed expression settling on her face as she sighed in defeat.

’Crap....This is not good...’

’What am I going to do?’

Christine and the rest of the chefs, accompanied by Margret made their return to the dining hall, as all of them were presented to the eyes of both families, bowing gracefully as they stood before them.

"Here they are," Margret said, glancing back at the chefs and cooks as they stood behind her. "These were the hands that made the meals you ate tonight," She said, presenting them to both families as Kain eyed them approvingly.

The chefs and some of the cooks felt some discomfort, as all of them were well aware that they were carried by Loraine, as she did most of the work and guided them all on what to do, even though they were supposed to be the cooks, she was far above them in skill and execution.

It felt really unfair not to have Loraine among them, as they personally wished to be able to tell the families before them just how amazing she was.

’That’s not true...’ Christine thought, glancing over at Margret as the two families began to praise and talk over the chefs.

’Loraine did most of the work, heck! None of this would’ve been possible without her help! It would’ve just been another...mundance meal for nobles to ignore and proceed with their usual....procedures.’

She sighed, facepalming in disappointment as she tried her best to remain calm.

"Magnificent work, all of you," Kain started, interrupting Christine’s line of thought as she looked at the powerful man speak. "Tonight’s meal was nothing short of extraordinary, I’m a bit surprised you cooks had it within you to even prepare such a thing, but I am nothing short of grateful in the end for a job well done." Kain said.

"Truly! You’ve all really surprised me tonight, could you tell me who amongst you lot was in charge of this culinary operation?" Leon asked, his eyes gazing at the cooks like a businessman snagging away an unforgettable deal.

Christine’s eyes widened, her heart stopping for a moment as her nerves ran cold. The chefs remained silent, none of them daring to utter a word as to not expose themselves to the truth of the matter.

Margret’s piercing gaze landed on Christine, a fierce glare that was a command in of itself.

’Tsk...Damn it...’