Welcome Party (1)

Chapter 21: Episode 11 - Welcome Party (1)

"Master Sucre is… missing!?" The three sweets spirits asked in unison, their eyes widening in shock.

The Sweets Princes and I were practically listening to them talk without saying anything.

It must've been the first time the Sweets princes were hearing about this but I already knew this much from Fraise. I still had questions I wanted to ask Fraise about why Sucre disappeared the day my mother died or how close Sucre was with my mother. Even if I asked those kinds of questions, I doubt she'd know because she wasn't with my mom herself.

"Didn't Master Sucre pair up with an esteemed patissiere? She never told us who she paired up with but clearly, they helped her become a well-known patissiere in the Sweets Kingdom as well," Cafe stated as we listened in.

"She didn't tell you who she partnered up with?" I jumped into their conversation and they looked at me in surprise.

"No… she never did. Once she became a royal patissiere, I heard she traveled around the world with her human partner," Chocolat responded. "Keiko, you already heard about this?"

"Uh, yeah… I learned about it when I first met Fraise," I admitted and they thought to themselves.

"But, it doesn't make sense… How could Master Sucre go missing?" Caramel pondered as well as the others.

"It's been 6 years since we'd last seen her," Cafe brought attention to this.

'That means they last saw Sucre and Fraise around the same time when my mother died…'

"Miss Fraise… What happened to her?" Chocolat asked Fraise who looked at the three of them sensitively. Her expression was uneasy and she faced her head down, her pink hair covering her face.

"8 years ago, when I was still under Master Sucre's instruction, I'd passed the exam that allowed me to go to the human world at an early age. Around that time, I had seen a very young 6-year-old girl who sparked my interest. This young girl was Keiko," Fraise explained and everybody's eyes widened.

"You scouted her at an early age?" Kashino asked and Fraise turned her head slightly.

"I wanted to partner up with her right away when I saw what she could do in the kitchen. She was innovative and her skills were already excellent at a young age, matching up to even the more advanced patissiers. Though Keiko is still creative even now and her skills have improved even more since then, she was also a lot more cheerful back then when I saw her. The thing was, she was too young for me to partner up with," Fraise explained to us.

"What's the youngest age a human has to be for a sweet spirit to pair with them?" Andou asked interestedly, putting down his food.

"The youngest age that the Queen allows is 13," Caramel answered him.

"How come? Why can't they pair up with us when we're younger?" Hanabusa questioned, furrowing his eyebrows.

"The St. Marie Academy and the Sweets Kingdom are tied together. The youngest age you have to be to get into this academy is 13. This explains why Kashino, Andou, and Hanabusa met us when they were in their 1st year at the school. The Queen forbade sweets spirits from scouting humans who were younger than 13 because younger children could easily change their dreams of becoming a patissiere," Cafe explained to us.

"But what happens if you tie yourself to a young child?" Hanabusa continued to ask and the Sweets spirits' faces turned grim at this question.

"It's… risky when a sweets spirit binds themself with a human at an age before they're 13 because humans constantly change their minds about certain things, especially young children. When a child changes their dream, the sweets spirit can't unbind themselves because the child is still young and so they become dormant along with the young child's dream. This is why the Queen forbids sweets spirits from partnering up with younger children.

But, there isn't much of a risk to sweets spirits who bind themselves to humans that are 13 or older. Even if you change your dream when you're 13 or older, spirits can untie themselves to you and find another human partner without any risk," Cafe explained and my eyes widened in disbelief.

The claim that Cafe stated, bothered me the wrong way.

'If Fraise said that she's been watching me since I was 6, then that means... She tied herself to me when I was still young even though my mother had told her not to when they talked. My dream of becoming a patissiere was still strong during this time but then when I was 8, my mother died. My dream of becoming a patissiere like my mother faded when she passed and so that means Fraise's spirit has remained dormant just until recently when I wanted to transfer to this school.'

I stopped chewing on my food as I thought about it.

"Though the youngest age was 13 for sweets spirits to partner up with humans, I still did it even when Keiko was young," Fraise looked at all the sweet spirits who gave her an astonished look.

"Did you know the risk you put yourself through?" Chocolat held Fraise's hands, staring at her troubled face.

"Yes, I already knew that it was risky to pair up with a young child at that time, but I still did it anyway."

"Michiko, you said that you just met your sweets spirit the first day you transferred here, right?" Kashino analyzed the situation that I'd just thought about.

"That's correct," I answered.

"That means… that sometime during your childhood when you were growing up, you'd given up on the idea of becoming a patissiere." His words stabbed me hard like a knife.

Everybody who was at the table looked at me. The sweets princes gazed dubiously at me, awaiting my answer, alongside their three sweets spirits.

'Well… he's not wrong. It was true that I had given up on my dream of becoming a patissiere.'

"That's also true," I admitted subtly. Everyone's eyes widened at my confession but Fraise still gave me a heartwarming smile as if saying that it wasn't my fault.

"As you'd already presumed, Kashino, my spirit remained dormant for a while until the dream of Keiko wanting to be a patissiere came back when she wanted to transfer to St. Marie Academy. I woke up from within her and watched her from afar to witness her motivation to want to enter this academy. This is why Keiko and I are both here now. We still want to continue on with our dreams," Fraise said inspiringly but everyone couldn't help but glance at me, the girl who just admitted to giving up her dream in the past.

"As they said before, children's minds change easily, but I'm here now, aren't I?" I stared them all down with my bright blue eyes as I took another bite of my food.

"So that's why Miss Fraise hadn't shown up at the Sweets Kingdom for 6 years," Caramel asked and Fraise nodded her head in acknowledgment.

"But that still doesn't explain why Master Sucre is missing," Chocolat said confusedly and Fraise looked at the three other sweet spirits seriously.

"When Keiko was 6, her dream of becoming a patissiere was strong during this time which is why I scouted her so early. But two years later when Keiko was 8, Master Sucre's partner died and that was the day when Master Sucre went missing," Fraise expressed with a dim look on her face.

"That means, you knew who Master Sucre's human partner was, right?" Cafe asked unbelievably and Fraise nodded her head, all of their eyes widening.

"Yes, because of Master Sucre, I came across Keiko," Fraise admitted and she looked at me who stared at her frantically. She gave me a reassuring smile as if she knew what was on my mind already.

"But, I won't tell you who Master Sucre's partner was until I'm ready to say it," Fraise rejected their anticipating gazes and looked back at me.

It was almost as if she took the words right out of my mouth. Fraise is aware that I haven't told anyone who my mother is and she knew that I wanted to keep it that way until I was ready to confess it.

I wanted to achieve my dreams of becoming an esteemed patissiere without the help of my mother's name. This is a dream that I want to work towards with my own talents, without any special treatment because I'm Ella Fournier's daughter.

I shot her a smile back.

'Thanks, Fraise.'

"You said Master Sucre's partner died? But that means she should've immediately headed over to the Sweets Kingdom. It still doesn't answer why she's missing," Chocolat stated and the other two sweet spirits looked at Fraise for an answer.

"...During the time Master Sucre went missing and her partner passed, I'd received a personal request by the Queen herself to find her," Fraise spoke and the Sweets spirits looked at her in awe.

"You met the Queen?" They all said in unison, their eyes sparkling brightly while Fraise gave a smile.

"Yes, I received a mission from the Queen to find Master Sucre since I was Master Sucre's pupil. Because I'd tied myself to Keiko when she was young, I couldn't start my mission to find Master Sucre because my spirit became dormant at that time when I received the task. Just a few days ago was when my spirit became active again. Though it's my mission to find Master Sucre, my other mission is to work with Keiko so that we can become patissiers!" Fraise made this claim and the Sweets spirits look at her admirably.

"Aren't all of our dreams to become patissiers?" I asked them and my gaze didn't falter.

"You're right. My family owns a Japanese confectionary shop, but I love cakes. My dream is to one day open a Japanese-European fusion store," Andou smiled, with his glasses riding high on his nose.

"I aim to be a coordinator for the necessities of life, with my mother from the flower arrangement department," Hanabusa revealed with a cool smile on his face.

"I will definitely become a top-class patissier and have a top-class store. That's why I aim to graduate from here at the top of the class as well," Kashino replied sternly, his indifferent face and tone remained the same as usual.

'Everybody has such big dreams but I'm no different. I'm here to fulfill my dreams, too. Not just for my mother up above, but for myself as well.'

"I dream to become the best patissiere in the world, just like someone who I looked up to," I claimed confidently, thinking of the deep impression my mother left on me.

Slowly, some of the students had gotten up from their seats and left one by one.

'Has dinner already come to an end?'

The number of students leaving tripled until we were the only ones left remaining in the cafeteria. I noticed how quickly time passed when I spent time with the Sweets Princes and their sweet spirits.

Now that everyone had left and only the sweets princes and the sweet spirits remained, a small smile formed on Hanabusa's face.

"Now then, although it's a bit late, shall we celebrate the welcoming of Keiko and Fraise?" Hanabusa introduced with a gentle smile as Cafe twirled his golden spoon around.

'A welcome party? For me?'