Marron's smile faded. "In a bowl. Just... a plain bowl. The soup, the bread, the cheese on top. I didn't even think about which bowl to use. I just grabbed the first one I saw."
"Because you were focused on the soup itself."
"Yeah." Marron closed the notebook. "But the judges couldn't see all those hours of work just by looking at it. They couldn't see the patience or the care. It just looked like... brown liquid with cheese on top."
Marron continued thinking aloud with Millie listening patiently. "I've always been used to serving people who didn't care much about presentation--just that it was clean. I've served a full-course meal for two royals, and they didn't even comment on the plates or bowls."
The rabbit cocked her head to one side. "Which did you use?"
"Theirs."
