"Excuse me miss? I don't think I've seen you down here before," a voice called out behind Lia. She jumped up, slightly startled after being caught snooping and watching the kitchen staff from a slightly ajar door.

"Oh I'm sorry to startle you," the voice said again. Lia finally turned around and was surprised to see a child standing in front of her. Possibly someone her own age or even older. The girl wore a simple black and white dress, clearly a small maid outfit. She held a spray bottle in her left hand and a piece of cloth in her right.

"It's okay, it's my fault for snooping around. I'm Princess Emilia and I was wondering if I could use the kitchen...well I have something I want to bake myself," Lia said nervously. The small girl's eye's widened as soon as she heard the word princess.

"My apologies your majesty, it's not every day we get royalty visit us down here," the young girl lowered her head and bowed.

"Oh please, no need to be so formal. We are both the same age here,"

"I'm sorry to correct you, your majesty, however, I'm a year older," the girl replied making Lia blush with embarrassment.

"I'm sorry to assume your age, it was not my intention to offend you."

"I'm not offended your grace! Anyway, you mentioned that you wanted to cook? Well, I have a secret spot in mind, there is usually no one there so you can have some privacy, my lady," the little girl said, looking down with a blush on her face.

"That sounds great! And I told you to stop being so formal, you can call me Lia instead,"

"That is such a big honor, I cannot accept,"

"I order you," Lia used her serious and authoritative voice that reminded the maid of her brother.

"But I-"

"Let's get going and please do tell me your name," Lia said, smirking slightly as she knew she had won this little battle.

"My name is Cora," she said shyly as she led the way to this secret kitchen.

* * *
"I need eggs, flour, sugar, powder, butter, milk, salt, white cream, berries, some black powder, purple powder, and some vanilla beans," Cora announced to a whole room of kitchen staff. Lia stood behind her new friend, both hands middling with the corners of the paper that she held. She was slightly nervous about how everyone's attention all a sudden fell on her and Cora.

"Princess Emilia's order everyone," Cora made a swift motion bowing to the princess. At first, no one dared to move but after a couple of seconds, the room turned upside down and chaotic. The kitchen staff was absolutely thrilled to finally get the chance to meet the princess. Or even royalty. Like Cora had pointed out before, it wasn't every day that had royalty visit the kitchen, it was very rare. In fact it had happened only once when the Empress personally went down to the kitchen to thank the staff for putting out an amazing buffet that announced to the empire the pregnancy of the Empress. Little did Lia know, people were thrilled about the pregnancy, and once upon a time she was loved even though she had yet to arrive into this world.

Everyone was shaking Lia's hand, complimenting her, and fulfilling her request for food ingredients. She had reminded them of the Empress, the kindhearted woman who loved her children and showed compassion and kindness towards her people. Lia had resembled her dearly in both looks and personality.

Lia thought she'd get at least three to five muffin ingredients, but instead, she got more than a dozen. And that is pretty much how the rest of the ingredient request went by. Lia, Cora, as well as another kitchen maid helped carry all of the ingredients to the secret kitchen which turned out to just be abandoned. The small kitchen was rather beautiful, it already had many kitchen utensils many of which were just hanging around and haven't been used for a while.

"Why does no one use this kitchen? It's so nice and comfy," Lia commented once they have arrived.

"Well, that is because it's small. The kitchen chefs needed much more space than this so they moved into a bigger room while this kitchen became abandoned," Cora explained. The three of them placed the ingredients down on the counter.

"It's rather dusty," Lia commented to herself.

"Don't worry, I'll quickly clean it, my lady!" Cora said with a determined smile.

"Can I have one too? I will help you," Lia said while tucking her hair behind her ear.

"No, it's okay your highness. Focus on making those muffins you were talking about and I'll clean the area for you," Cora said. It was rather peculiar when Lia heard that 'muffins' in this world didn't exist.

"Muffins are like a mini version of a cake, do they have cakes here," she didn't think much when she asked Cora that, she was a child after all so she shouldn't get suspicious.

"I've seen cakes before but I never tried them, milady."

"Then let's make a deal, if you help me make my muffins then I will let you have some," Lia smiled when she saw Cora's eyes widen with excitement.

"I-I will do my best, your grace!" She said excitedly, while she wiped the counters at a much faster pace than before. Lia rolled her eyes, she didn't know when she'll finally get used to all these fancy pet names. She grabbed a rag to clean up another counter.

"Milady, you really shouldn't..." Cora was fast to take notice of the princess's actions.

"I am the one who came here to make the muffins, this area is the one I choose to use, therefore I should be responsible for cleaning it too. In fact, you should just start washing the utensils on that side, that way we won't waste time."

Cora finally gave in which made Lia bloom with satisfaction. However, Cora was slightly taller than Lia, which allowed her to clean the counters and reach the other side. Lia cursed her small body as she walked towards a bucket, she dragged it towards the counters, flipped it upside down, and stepped on it.

As she wiped the counters, she caught a glimpse of Cora, watching her.

"What?" The princess asked, turning around to face her.

"Nothing, I was just thinking how you are different than other royals, milady."

"Is that a bad thing?"

"No, not at all, milady," Cora shook her head with a smile before turning around and resuming washing the pots. When she watched the princess struggle to reach the counter, and resolving the problem so quickly, it made her realize that although the princess never met her mother, she turned out just like the Empress.

* * *
"This mixture, after I'm done mixing it, is pored into those metal circles. Usually you'd use a tray with deep holes in them, but since you guys don't have that, I suppose this will do," Lia said, mumbling to herself while Cora stood next to her and listened.

"All done! Now, would you like to pour it and I'll hold the metal circles?" Lia asked. The metal circles were just thick metal hoops that she hoped would replace the need for a specific muffin tray. She still had a metal tray underneath. Lia just prayed that it all won't spill over from underneath.

"B-But your highness, that's such an important task!"

"Come on Cora, you got this! And could you at least call me Lia when we are alone? I need a friend my age you know?" Cora paused and thought it over for a while, before nodding with a smile.

"Fine, only when we are alone!" She said. The two girls quickly switched places, and finished poring the muffin mix.

"Now, all we do is put this in the fire and bake it!" Lia said excitedly.

"Are you sure it will cook? I mean the fire is so weak, L-Lia!" Cora said, her cheeks turning a light shade of pink when she called the princess by her first name.

"It has to be like that for it to come out fluffy, instead of burned and hard!" She explained, all those years of cooking paid off. Both girls took this time to clean up the kitchen, and get to know each other more. Cora happened to have a sister, Emma, who worked as a maid here. Since Cora was still too young to do the tasks required by maids, she took on cleaning the kitchen duty.

"Compared to my sister, this job is nothing," Cora signed. Her dream was to become a good maid, serve royalty, and make a lot of money for her family.

"Well if you think about it, if you worked as a maid now, then I wouldn't have met you," Lia said.

"Yes you are right!" She said, cheering up.

* * *
"Well now, I really hope you enjoy those muffins, I'm sorry I couldn't give you more!" Lia said apologizing. Some of the metal sphere leaked through the bottom so she was only able to make ten. Both of them ate one to test it. She gave Cora three, since she was planning on giving one to Rose and the rest to Jenette.

"No worries your highness! This is more than enough! To be able to taste something so delicious, is truly a blessing!" Cora said, tearing up.

"Don't worry Cora, next time, how about we make a cake!" Lia said, Cora's eyes immediately lit up in excitement.

"I'll be looking forward to that day!"

"Thank you for the basket, I'll return it when I can!" Lia thanked the other maid that gave it to her.

"No worries your highness, you can keep it!"

"And thank you for letting me use your kitchen and your ingredients!" Lia thanked the rest of the kitchen maids. She thought of making something big next time, to give to others who were so generous to lend her ingredients.

"You are always welcome here, princess! Please visit us more!" Lia smiled and waved them a farewell as she walked up the stairs. She walked through the hallway, the basket in one hand with a handkerchief covering it. Jennett was coming back the next day, early in the morning. Lia told Rose to let Jennett know to come to see her but to not tell her the surprise. She was excited to give her the muffins! After all, it's been a while since she shared her food with others.

"Wow that smells delicious!"

"I know right!" Lia replied excitedly without even knowing who spoke the words. When she came to her senses, she immediately jumped away from the figure who was glancing into her basket on her right.

"Who are you?" Lia asked, her eyes narrowing in defense. The boy in front of her couldn't have been more than a few years older. Not only was he tall, but he looked different than anyone she saw. His hair was pitch black and his skin was pale white. One could have mistaken him for a vampire if only his eyes were red, not the color of the sky. His cheeks had a light flush of pink.

"Can I have one?" The boy asked.

"First answer my question," Lia said. The boy's blue eyes met her's and soon smiled.

"My name is Prince Noah James Kai Greyson, imperial prince of the Luminian Empire, at your service my lady," he said bowing. He smiled mischievously before looking up at Lia's wide eyes.

"What are you doing here?" She asked out loud.

"For a maid to speak so impolitel-,"

"I am not a maid. My name is Emilia Alexandra Diana Louis Hamilton, Imperial Princess of Avrigastan Empire. You are welcome to call me Princess Lia," she said but didn't bow. She couldn't tell if it was necessary, or was he just making fun of her. Lia also made a mental note to thank Jennett for helping her remember her full name and title.

"Ahh, so you are the rumored sleeping princess..." Lia raised her eyebrow and continued walking.

"Hey! You said you'd give me one!"

"When did I say that?"

"You told me to first answer your question, for the princess of Avrigastan to be so dishonest," he shook his head. Lia turned around and removed the handkerchief to reveal the berry muffins.

"I've never seen food like this, is it a popular dish in Avrigastan?" He asked curiously.

"No, I made them, they are like a mini version of a cake," The boy took one out, and examined it.

"And what did you name them?"

"Ehh...muffins?"

"Muffins, huh?" Prince Noah started laughing, causing Lia to frown

"What a peculiar name! Muffins!" He continued to laugh but Lia didn't find it funny at all. He wouldn't be mocking them, if he knew how they tasted.

"Fine then, give it back!" Lia said and reached out for the muffin. The boy immediately extended his hand upwards for the girl to not be able to reach.

"Maybe if you were a slight bit taller," he said. Behind that innocent smile was an insult.

"Actually, since you are in Avrigastan, I order you to give it back!" Now it was Lia's turn to smirk. The boy's smile fell.

"But males are known to hold more authority,"

"Not if my Empire ranks above yours,"

"You know your history well despite being so young,"

"Stop changing the topic," Lia reached out for the muffin once more. Prince Noah quickly licked the muffin and extended it to the girl.

"You are such a sly fox," Lia said and continued walking. She didn't have time to play around with children. In fact, she had an interesting romance novel to read.

"Are you calling me an animal?"

"If I wanted to call you an animal, then I'd use more vulgar terms, that your five year old brain would not be able to comprehend," she said. She stopped on the corner and looked back at the shocked boy.

"I'd say it was a pleasure to meet you Prince Noah but I don't want to become a 'dishonest' princess," Lia said smirking. She took a bow, as if mocking him back before walking out of his sight and leaving the boy shocked.