She was able to do so because of her impressive skills as a Silver Sugar Master.
The Kingdom of Highland had many candy artisans, but Silver Sugar Masters, who were recognized by the crown as the best of the best, were rare.
Emma had become a Silver Sugar Master at the age of twenty.
Sweets made by ordinary candymakers couldn’t compare with those made by Silver Sugar Masters, which fetched a much higher price. But in the villages and towns out in the countryside, expensive candies didn’t sell very well.
In Lewiston, there was a much greater demand. However, famous Silver Sugar Masters flocked to the royal capital, so it was difficult to compete with them and come out on top.
Thus, Emma had chosen to travel throughout the kingdom, seeking out customers who needed her sugar candy.
Strong-willed with boundless cheerfulness, Emma had always loved traveling.
Traveling was hard and dangerous, but she’d earned her own living and forged her own path. It was fun.
It would be so great if I became a Silver Sugar Master just like Mama.
Anne had always vaguely felt that way. So when Emma died and Anne had to decide how she would live the rest of her life, the deep love and respect she had for her mother had sprouted in Anne’s heart as determination.
I will become a Silver Sugar Master.
But becoming a Silver Sugar Master was no ordinary feat. Anne knew that very well.
Every year in Lewiston, the royal family sponsors the Royal Candy Fair. In order to become a Silver Sugar Master, Anne would need to enter the fair and win the royal medal awarded to whoever earned first place.
Emma had entered the Royal Candy Fair when she was twenty and been awarded a royal medal. After that, she had been allowed to call herself a Silver Sugar Master.
Sugar candy is made using silver sugar refined from sugar apples. Such candy cannot be made from any other type of sugar. This is because no other sugar produces such beautiful results.
Silver sugar candies are used in all sorts of ceremonies, from weddings and funerals to coronations and coming-of-age celebrations.
It is even said that without the candy, no ceremony can begin.
Silver sugar invites joy and repels sorrow. Some say it holds the promise of sweet happiness, and it is considered a sacred food.
It is believed that in the age when Highland was still ruled by fairies, the fairies extended their life spans by consuming silver sugar candy.
Beautiful candy made with silver sugar contains a mysterious energy known as “essence.”
Of course, humans cannot extend their life spans, not even by consuming silver sugar or sugar candies.
But they are able to take in some of that mysterious energy.
In fact, when humans consume beautiful sugar candy, unexpected good fortune often works its way into their lives, and they become luckier.
This is something humans came to understand after several hundred years.
It is also why monarchs stipulated strict qualifications for Silver Sugar Masters.
The royalty and nobility want the most sacred and alluring sugar candy to bestow upon themselves numerous blessings and great happiness. Even at the great autumn festival held to pray for the tranquility of the kingdom, the way the candy turns out may determine the fortunes of the country.
As always, the annual Royal Candy Fair would be held in Lewiston at the end of autumn.
Anne intended to participate and compete for the title of Silver Sugar Master, which was granted to only one person each year.
She had heard, now that Emma had passed away, there were twenty-three Silver Sugar Masters in the kingdom.
It was not a title that could be easily won.
But Anne was confident. After all, she hadn’t spent fifteen years as an assistant to a Silver Sugar Master for nothing.
Anne’s wagon rolled down the road, with fields of wheat stretching out to the left and right.
By the time the sun was high in the sky, she had arrived in Redington, the provincial capital and the largest town in the vicinity of Knoxberry.
Redington was a castle town, with streets radiating outward from a round central plaza. Up on a hill stood the castle from which the province of Redington was governed.
As Anne advanced slowly through the town on her wagon, she saw a crowd had formed in front of her and was blocking the street.
Anne shrugged and alighted from her wagon. She tapped lightly on the shoulder of a farmer who had his back to her.
“Hey, excuse me? What’s everyone doing? The street is blocked, and I can’t get my wagon through.”
“Well…you can pass if you want, but are you brave enough to cut across that scene, young lady?”
“What scene?”
Anne peeked under the farmer’s arm to see what everyone was staring at.
She spied a brawny man standing in a patch of mud, with a bow slung over his back and a sword hanging from his belt. He wore leather boots and a vest made of animal hides. He looked like a hunter.
“You little bastard!” the hunter shouted as he stomped again and again on a little lump on the ground. Mud splashed into the air. Each time the hunter’s foot fell, the lump made a pitiful noise.
Looking carefully, Anne could see that the mound in the mud had the shape of a person, though palm-sized. On the back of the tiny individual lying facedown in the mud was a single dainty, translucent wing that was somehow unsoiled by the muck.
“Is that a fairy?! How cruel!” Anne cried quietly, and the farmer nodded.
Fairies are humanoid creatures who dwell in forests and meadows. They vary greatly in shape and size, but a distinctive characteristic shared by all are the two translucent wings on their backs.
Fairies have special abilities, and they can do all sorts of jobs well.
Anne had heard that royalty, nobles, and knights employed many fairies for different purposes.
Even common, middle-class households might have one or two to help with the housework.
In Jonas’s house, there was a fairy named Cathy who was about the size of a palm as well. She looked after Jonas’s daily needs and helped with the preparation of sugar candy.
“It’s one of the fairy hunter’s worker fairies. Looks like it tried to take its wing back and escape.” The farmer lowered his voice and pointed stealthily toward the hunter.
In the fairy hunter’s hand was a single thin wing. It matched the one on the back of the fairy in the mud.
In order to control fairies, slavers tear off one wing and keep it.
A fairy’s wings are the source of their life force. A fairy can live with one wing separated from their body, but if that wing is damaged, the fairy weakens and dies. To compare it to human physiology, the wings are like the fairy’s heart. Any human would tremble in fear if someone else held their heart captive. No one can disobey the person gripping their heart.