Not a freaking chance!

I refuse. I held my head up high. “I find your concern to be insulting. Do I strike you as someone so weak that I cannot manage without your pity?”

“I just thought ye might freeze to **** in something so teeny.”

I looked at Martha and at my own skin. “Well, I suppose we kept warm in our own way. But enough of that! I want to prove to you, just how much I can do!”

“Ye?” Martha asked.

“I dunno, your mom seemed pretty upset at-”

I clapped my hands twice. She understood well enough to stop talking. I smiled as a result. “Martha, you normally handle the kitchen alone, right?”

“When ye younger then ya.”

“We help her nowadays,” the two maids said.

A smile crept on my face. “Then, yes. I like this idea. Martha, you have the day off, go lay down and rest. You two, you shall switch every hour or so, with one of you being in my bed to rest, and the other shall say that I sought to be alone today due to my need for rest. You shall all leave the kitchen to me, is that clear?”

All three nodded. They seemed worry but that only lit a bit more fire under me. Like, perhaps they thought that it was far too much for a noble, it wasn’t an incorrect way to think about the situation. Especially with such a poor showing for breakfast. But, I was the headmaid! And that was something that meant something to me. And I wanted to prove it right now.

For myself. Huh, interesting. Well, not just for myself. For my Master too! Once they went to their new stations for the day, or rather mostly for their rest. I grabbed some bayleaves and a bowl of water. I wasn’t normally one to pray. But, it was something Rosemary valued deeply. And I had to admit, unlike like at the castle, I was alone, out of practice and somewhat unfocused. I was not so arrogant to assume my instant success.

I heard once that Rosemary preferred the god of stars in this situation, but I did not know that dieties name, or their ritual. But for nobles or at least in my area, we prayed to the goddess of ambition. Three bayleaves that lay in a patterns where the tip of all three leaves touch.

“Goddess of Ambition, I offer you three leaves. In reflection of your wisdom be the first leaf. In honor of your power, I offer the second leaf. I seek the greatest prize of all, validation so that I may show the world your power! And to this I offer the last leaf.”

The three leaves were crumbling into a powder and I felt a sense of invergation. Oh that was some decent stuff. Nothing compared to Rosemary but after all, I had never learned to use magic, so that much was expected. Even just a small boost from my focus was more than enough to get me excited.

I was going to show everyone! Mother, and my sisters! I wasn’t some child that was broken and couldn’t handle the world. Perhaps I should renounce my noble status, maybe the Celeste they miss really did die. And maybe they would be better off if I left. But for now, I perhaps more than anything, wanted to prove to myself that I wasn’t just talking. I could handle it!

Dinner already had an order. That made sense. Marrtha covered a lot of this by her own hand, and for her to have enough time she would have had to start before she does the breakfast rush. It explained why Martha had been up so early. The dinner plan was a rather simple stew.

Simply jumping to it I realized wa a flawed idea. Rather, I wanted to clean my work area. Not to fault Martha, she was getting older in age. And things nearby was certainly an understandable convenience, but the spots that clearly had been neglected once again set me on edge. Seeing it offended my sense of what a headmaid was.

Sorting the food, clearing any dust or grime off of every surface was rather fulfilling. Seeing this area reflect a bit of the home in my heart was easing the pain. I was Celeste, the head maid. I was a horny sexual **** for my Master. And right now, I was going to make this little corner of the Ashford estate feel like a nice place to exist. I would accept no less on this matter!

I couldn’t finish the cleaning before I had to stop to do the breakfast. This put me rather behind schedule when you counted the fact that Martha would have already been soaking potatoes, but that didn’t matter. The other maids strapped the orders for food onto this little belt thing that swung around to me.

Bring it on Mother. I would make you recognize who I was now. I knew their basic tastebuds. I knew how I should be able to take the meals they wanted and give them something much greater than they were expecting. Until every person in the Ashfold family had to acknowledge me.