With the Duchess Valerie

Indeed, the girl's heart was troubled. Ever since her lover had uncovered a case of tax fraud involving the king's son, he hadn't shown up. From where she was, Nivea could only hope that Matias was doing well.

"What do you plan to do next, miss?"

"Hmm? What plans, Seri?"

"After His Majesty announced that the marriage plan was canceled?"

"Ah, that... I... will just continue living.", she replied as she rolled out her bread dough on the table.

"I know that too, Miss. But, do... you and Mr. Matias have a relationship?"

"Shh... Keep your voice down! They can hear it, Seri.", as she glanced at Clara and David who were sitting with their backs to them on the other side.

"Ah, yes ma'am."

"You know what? Actually, that night in the Edelweiss garden I proposed to Matias.", she said flatly.

"What???"

"Hsshh! Seri!"

"You're not joking, miss?"

"No! And... he has also accepted my proposal.", Nivea smiled happily turning to Seri's face.

"Well... I'm happy to hear that, miss."

"Hmm... Can... you keep it a secret for a while?"

"Of course, miss! You can always trust me."

An hour later, Nivea's bread had risen to perfection. Nivea continued to help David with the task of spreading various jams on the top surface of his bread. Meanwhile, Seri and Clara were already busy, serving the orders of the customers who lined up in front of the ordering counter.

As lunchtime approached, the number of customers began to dwindle. Seri and Clara exchanged positions with the lady.

"Hi, Miss Nivea!", with a slight graceful bow, Martha greeted Nivea.

"Hi! You are so bright, Miss Martha! I'm guessing that you're in a very good mood today."

"Ah, of course, Miss! Please pack for me... six pieces of bread with peanut butter, berry jam and strawberry jam. Two pieces each, miss."

"Alright! Hmm... Miss Martha!", Nivea leaned forward to whisper.

"Hmm? What's wrong?", asked Martha who followed her whispering tone.

"Did you buy this bread for your family? Why didn't you buy the chocolate jam bread?"

"Ah, I bought them to take to Daniel's house, miss!", he replied excitedly.

"I see. Okay! So... are you going straight to Daniel's house now?", Nivea asked as she prepared all the bread Martha had ordered.

"Of course, ma'am! You know, Duchess Valerie invited me there. Daniel told me that his mother wants to cook with me."

"Well... She seems to approve of your relationship."

"Hmm... Thank you ma'am!", Martha nodded and accepted the paper bag with the bread.

"Well, please give my regards to... Matias. Hahaha. No... no... I'm kidding."

"Hahaha... Alright Miss Nivea, excuse me."

On her way to Daniel's family home, it seemed that Martha couldn't wait to get there. She was curious, wondering what duchess Valerie would invite her to cook.

Martha had also looked at the paper bag in her lap several times. She hoped that Duchess Valerie would be happy and like the bread she had chosen.

Within minutes, Martha had arrived just as Daniel was getting off the carriage.

"Martha, have you arrived, dear?"

"Hmm... I bought some bread for you and your mother.", she smiled and took Daniel's hand guiding him down from the carriage.

"Ah, thank you Martha! I'm sorry I didn't pick you up. You see, I'm quite sweaty."

"Hmm... no problem, Daniel!", the two began to walk together into the house.

Duchess Valerie, in her simple dress, stepped gracefully towards them. She greeted Martha with a cheerful smile.

"Good afternoon, Duchess Valerie.", Martha bowed to her.

"Good afternoon, Martha! Come here son! We're going to cook together today."

"Yes, ma'am! I brought some sweet buns. I hope you like it, ma'am."

"Really? Thank you Martha! Of course I'll eat it later.", he smiled and accepted the paper bag from Martha's hand.

"You guys talk, I have to clean up first.", Daniel told them.

"Ah, alright Daniel", said his mother.

"Come on Martha, let's go to the kitchen...", he continued as he put his arm around Martha's body and directed their steps to the side of the house.

There was a spacious but simple kitchen. Several types of cooking utensils were neatly arranged in their respective places. The family also had a refrigerator, which stood firmly in the corner of the room. Martha was even more enthusiastic to start her activities.

"Have you ever cooked in your house, Martha?" she asked, as she placed the ingredients they were going to use on the table.

"Of course, ma'am! Mom has asked me to watch Aunt Puff while she cooks several times. And the other day Aunt Puff taught me how to cook."

"Ah, that's very good Martha! We're going to cook haggis this afternoon. Do you like haggis?"

Martha nodded, "Of course ma'am! I love it."

"Have you ever made it yourself?"

"No ma'am.", she smiled shyly.

"Well, you can help me cut the ingredients... and... Hmm... You can watch how I cook it."

"Yes ma'am!"

"Now... I'll chop the offal. And you... can you slice all these onions, Martha?", he smiled and tapped two large onions in front of her.

"Ah, of course, ma'am!", the girl moved to reach for her knife on the table.

"You must know that cooking haggis doesn't take long, Martha."

"Of course, ma'am! We can only enjoy it after three hours."

"Exactly Martha! And while we're boiling it for three hours, we can wait by doing something else."

"Very well, ma'am!"

A few minutes later, Duchess Valerie and Martha were seated on chairs overlooking the backyard. There was also Daniel, who seemed to be feeding the wild birds that stopped by.

"Have you finished cooking?"

"Not yet. We're waiting for the haggis to boil.", replied the mother.

"Ah, so you're cooking the haggis. Hmm... I can't wait to taste it."

"Of course Daniel! You'll love it and eat it with gusto."

"Yes, it seems so, Martha."

"This peanut butter bread is very soft, Martha. And there's quite a lot of it.", Duchess Valerie commented after eating a slice.

"Of course, ma'am! I bought it at Miss Nivea's bakery. The daughter of the duke Eduardo. Miss Nivea made the bread herself."

"Really? They're even better than the sweet buns I ordered for the banquet the other day. That girl is very talented, Martha!"

"That's right ma'am! Even she always gives the best service in her shop. She's always friendly to all her customers. She doesn't care where her customers come from, everyone gets the same treatment."

"Really?"

"Of course, ma'am! She wants everyone to be able to enjoy her bread."

"Hmm... She really is a humble girl."

"You're right mom! Next time, I'll take you to visit her shop.", Daniel said.