After that incident, the atmosphere in the palace remained tense. I still felt the aftermath, even though no one treated me rudely anymore; instead, they avoided me. As if I were a problem or the bearer of bad luck.

Well, they pretended I didn't exist, which might be better.

Besides, I didn't have to deal with many wolves in the back of the kitchen, just Rowena, the head maid. Her attitude had softened a bit, though I wasn't sure for how long. Maybe until the whole barn incident finally faded into the background.

"All done," I sighed, throwing the last potato into the basin.

I stood up, cleaned the knife,...