Eve
The open-air markets bustled with vendors as I walked through stall after stall, haggling prices of vegetables and seafood.
The banquet was in less than twelve hours. The maids helped chop vegetables, scale and clean the fish, while I began making the sauce for the baked salmon, slicing lamb racks before seasoning them.
There was a lot of work to do. I was overseeing the arrangement of food, centerpiece flowers, and making sure each guest had a table.
Old Victoria hadn’t bothered to make an appearance in the kitchen—not a single moment spent pretending to supervise or help. I hadn’t expected anything different from her. She had no real authority left. It was better this way, as she was utterly useless, and her presence would have been more of an inconvenience than anything else.
A presence filled the room before his voice even cut through the noise. Axel walked into the kitchen, and some of the maids straightened and bowed respectfully. I focused on the stew in front of me, stirr
