Watching the two of them made sad. Marcy lit up around my brother in a way that she never did around anyone else even though she was always friendly. If I had to guess, this is what she looked like when she truly liked soone as opposed to her feigned affection in the novel. Looking back I wondered how I ever thought she genuinely loved Al because the difference was staggering.
It wasn't ant to be. There was no way the earl or countess would accept them, especially after my defection in the spring. Their infatuation was dood from the start. The poor things.
Al noticed my pensive expression and called out on it in a whisper. "You're worrying about them, aren't you?"
I nodded. "This girl has no luck in romance. First she had to pretend to like you and now the person she actually likes is unattainable. I may not be happy with how her alternate self acted in the novel but she deserves better than this. Edmund too."
"Nice to know you think of so highly," he said in a dramatically wounded tone.
"Shut up, that isn't what I ant and you know it."
"I know, I know. It would be nice if things could work out for them but I'm glad I t you first. You're far superior to Marcy Grandin even if her food is delicious."
I rolled my eyes at him but was secretly touched. Aside from the fact that she was a horrifyingly good actress with her own agenda, Marcy was the perfect girl. Pretty, friendly, quirky, and smart.
Back in my world I had never felt all that special but coming here I was a hot commodity. Part of it was the body I had found myself in but the other part was . Katie Pullman. My confidence had risen quite a bit since I had originally co here, in no small part because of my husband.
Even without him gushing about all the ti I had things worth being proud of. I put a better person on the throne for the common people even if it was largely accidental. And I had ford a new country. Not many people could say they did that!
We hung around the kitchen until the cupcakes were finished. They had to go into the walk-in ice box to cool down so the frosting wouldn't lt and we continued supervising Adele as Marcy and Edmund talked.
She didn't know about our plans to leave yet. No one did aside from Franz and our friends in the village who were coming with us.
When he said he wanted to give the Kanta lands back to them and the archduke opposed it, he didn't ntion our nas specifically. Nobody knew Al was the clan leader yet. We hadn't wanted to cause a riot while we were stuck here.
Franz and Mariela would have to put out those fires for us after we left. I felt slightly guilty about leaving them to deal with it alone but not guilty enough to change anything.
The king should have to be the one to deal with it because his father had been the one to ruin everything. Al and his people were the victims here and didn't need any more trouble. The primary reason I felt guilty was that Mariela would get caught up in it too.
She was a kindhearted soul and prone to loneliness. Once I was gone, she would be surrounded by wolves in sheep's clothing alone again. Well, not completely alone. At least this ti she would have the love of her husband and son.
I hoped that she found an attendant who could be her friend. Mariela was a lovely person and I would miss her almost as much as I would miss the food.
She was the first person I had trusted enough to tell my secret, even if it was only half of it. That trust was rewarded with her believing in and wanting to know more. I would always have a soft spot in my heart for her because of that.
I shook those depressing thoughts free and took my first bite of cupcake. Perfectly moist with the flavors of chocolate and strawberry entwining on my tongue, I was in heaven. I hadn't had a cupcake since before I ca here.
There was this bakery near my house that offered a variety of crazy flavors like carrot cheesecake, Almond Joy, Boston Cr Pie, and so on. The owner had won an episode of Cupcake Wars and everything I had tried there was absolutely delicious.
Although these had much simpler components, the quality was comparable. Marcy definitely would have been the reigning champion of the Food Network baking competitions back in my world.
Her talent was wasted in this fantasyland but one good thing had co out of being the head pastry chef here. She had been in the palace when everything with Franz's coronation went down and he said he needed people he could trust to be his advisors after that whole ss with the archduke.
There was no law explicitly forbidding won from serving as aides to royalty so Marcy beca his first self-appointed political aide. She loved politics and spent many hours holed up in Franz's office with him, much to the archduke's dismay. Seeing his power and prestige slowly be whittled away brought genuine pleasure.
But when she wasn't helping the new king work out complex political issues she was back in the kitchen, where she was most comfortable. Her job as an aide was on an "as needed" basis but the kitchen always needed pastries.
These strawberry chocolate cupcakes were the byproduct of needing to destress after a day in court where her idea was proposed but she wasn't even allowed to attend because she was a woman. I had no doubt she would help feminize this country eventually but for now she needed to get her frustration out through baking.
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