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, and put it back in its place. Then I carried the basin into the kitchen, where Rowena immediately approached me. "Are you done?" she asked. Rowena had been asking me that for the la

