Malee returned to the dining room where the family and the guests were arriving one by one and taking their respective seats. The arrays of dishes soon followed them from the kitchen, comprising local favorites and dishes that Malee had never seen before, along with the various drinks. Georgia handed over several of the dishes to the guests and the master, but George looked as if he was about to fall asleep anytime while eating.

“Here is one of Pa’s favorite fried potatoes. Try it.” offered Georgia to her friend.

“Yes, I used to have it with my friends after school every day.” added the master while taking a piece out of the plate. The princesses nodded and took a piece each to their plates as well and slowly tried out a small cut of it. Malee wondered how long it would take for them to finish the whole of half potato or the breakfast if they would eat that way. Perhaps that was the reason for their body where she could see bones protruding under their dresses. She thought Georgia was thin, but they looked like some children from the slums that Malee had seen many times.

“It is very good” said Georgia’s sister.

“It tastes nothing.” said the master.

Georgia took a piece from the plate with a fork and gave it to Malee. “What do you think?”

Malee took a bite out of the potato and chewed for a while and agreed with the master. It was a piece of potato and was fried to prefect colour, but there was no taste at all.  She felt as if she was chewing a raw potato instead.

“I will go to the kitchen and check.” said Malee before leaving the dining room and quickly made her way into the kitchen.

“Can I ask how were the potatoes fried?” asked Malee to one of the staff sitting down after bringing the dishes for the breakfast. He looked up from his phone and pointed to a machine nearby.

“They are air-fried, latest machine from Italy. Fresh and Healthy.” replied the staff. Malee would agree that the potatoes were fresh and healthy but had no taste to speak of. They tasted just like raw potatoes. Malee nodded and picked up a few potatoes in the nearby basket that they had prepared for and went over to the cooking area. She took out the oil bottle from the cupboard and a pan before starting the fire. It was a short while before she fried several pieces as she used to and brought them back into the dining room.

She replaced the plate with air-fried potato with her plate and moved back to stand behind Georgia.

“Hmmm… yes. That wonderful smell.” said the master before taking one piece onto his plate.

“Very good. That is how they should be. Try them.” said the master after sampling a small chunk from the potato. The princesses nodded and took a piece, but they paused after seeing how much oil were seeping after cutting it into a smaller chunk. After looking at each other, they cut it into even smaller chunk before drowning it with a generous amount of wine before giving a slight node from approval to others. The master cleared the rest of the potatoes that Malee had prepared to the apparent relief of everyone around the table and soon everyone was talking about the activities to be held before the party.

“Georgia, I think the princesses will be too tired for shopping. Just rest at the villa till evening.” said the mistress to the approval nod of the master.

“Yes, ma.” said Georgia with a disappointed voice. She would love nothing more than to shop, but there was no argument there.

The breakfast was soon over without further incidents and the guests along with the family went back to the room, followed by their respective servants.

“Take a shower. Meet at the lobby in 20 minutes.”  said Georgia to Malee as she walked up the stairs. Malee nodded and turned around back to the basement door, only to see Mary whispering to George and walking towards her.

“Let’s go.” said Mary. as two of them headed down the stairs to their temporary rooms at the basement.

“Later, don’t wait for me. I will go fetch George from his room. Follow Georgia.” said Mary before disappearing into her room. Malee could only nod as she too went into her room to prepare for the beach outing with the princesses.