young adult series loosely based on welsh mythology

I read it about 10 years ago but don't know when it was published. It is about a girl who works in the kitchen of the castle. She is super ugly and lurks in the background. At some point she gets driven into the forest where she meets a man who is supposed to represent a character in Welsh mythology--I believe he was a fairy. She falls in love with the fairy and eventually discovers that she is not ugly. As I remember the ending was ambiguous and the author included an afterward in the paperback version I read to clarify that the girl ends up going to the fairy kingdom with her true love and someone who looks like her ends up becoming queen. I have tried and tried to find this series but can't find a reference to it anywhere.

Thanks

That reminds me of the Bitterbynde trilogy by Cecilia Dart-Thornton -- it starts with The Ill-Made Mute.

That's it! Thanks so much. It's been driving me crazy.

Happy to help! Enjoy rereading it.