✤
After leaving the Gloriana Guesthouse, we all returned to the central terrace. Next would come the all-important tea party, but first there was a short break.
This time, the number of people gathered on the terrace was even larger than it had been in the morning. From the Sky Salon, Lady Saeko and Lady Sumire had joined, naturally accompanied by their Seraphs, Matsuri and Mihaya. The two young ladies from the Gloriana Guesthouse, whom we’d just seen in fabulous dresses, had changed into everyday wear and come here as well.
I knew that the Sky Salon members had one goal in mind, and that was sampling Mei’s dessert. Presumably, the Gloriana Guesthouse girls had the same motivation.
Needless to say, Lady Angelica was slightly taken aback when she saw the large crowd. “Is it my imagination, or have our numbers grown quite a bit? Anyway, that’s the end of the salon visits. How did you find them?”
“All three of them were a delight,” Lady Sakura replied. “I can honestly say that right now, it’s impossible for me to choose. It’s clear that you’ve all worked extremely hard to make your ideas a reality, and I saw no compromises whatsoever. I almost didn’t feel worthy of entering!”
Lady Sakura’s cheeks were flushed and she was talking at a rapid pace. It was clear that she was genuinely excited. None of this was lip service; she really did like all of the salons.
“I’m glad to hear it. Regardless of which one you join, it’s great that you’ve taken a fancy to all of them. Now, for the joint tea party, we’ll be having another change of scenery. Erisu?”
“Yes, I’ll lead the way,” Lady Erisu replied in her typically sweet and lovely manner.
In the end, the joint tea party was going to be held at her restaurant. With the sheer amount of confectionery that was about to be served, the only places on campus that would be large enough were the various restaurants. Among them, the one with the most suitable atmosphere was definitely hers.
No one had objected to this, and we’d also put the sweets we’d made into the industrial refrigerators there, so it was very convenient for us.
“Follow me, please!”
As we all trailed after Lady Erisu in a line, it felt like something out of a fairy tale. We headed to Erisu’s École Kitchen in an amicable mood despite being in the middle of a competition.
When we arrived, we were met by Yukina, Mizuki, and Hanaka, who had been getting everything ready. However, seeing larger numbers than planned sent them into a bit of a frenzy.
“A full house! I can’t believe it!”
“We never have this many guests!”
“Is there room for all of them?!”
It was up to us Seraphs to find out where everyone should be sitting and lead them there, so we skittered after the three Exousias in a slight panic of our own.
Getting everyone seated was a little touch and go, but it all worked out in the end. At a main table in the center sat Lady Sakura, Lady Kagura, Lady Asuka, and Lady Rosalie, with their Seraphs beside them. Almost all the other mistresses, including Himeko and Lady Angelica, were able to cram into the first floor as well, but there was no room for the Seraphs to sit there. Not only was this no big surprise, but we wouldn’t have a chance to sit down yet anyway; the Seraphs of the key salon leaders at the main table couldn’t get up and move around, so we had to handle the serving duties.
Still, this didn’t require all hands on deck, so anyone who wasn’t currently busy was asked to sit on the second floor. Lady Shion and Aoi had at some point gone up there too, picking the table that gave the best view of the first floor.
Lady Angelica announced, “At last, it’s time for the battle of the sweets! There are no complex rules. All you need to do is have a pleasant chat together and enjoy sampling each salon’s dish. The Sky Salon will go first. Misaki, over to you.”
“Thank you!” I said, standing up.
Suddenly, Lady Asuka gave a meaningful chuckle and declared her own victory. “We’ve already won.”
She looked very self-satisfied indeed. I let out a strained groan of frustration.
“What an interesting thing to say,” Lady Sakura mused, a smile forming on her lips. She looked terribly intrigued. “How come you’re so certain?”
“Allow me to explain!” Apparently happy to be the center of attention, Lady Asuka milked it for all it was worth. “It’s been known since time immemorial that whoever goes first in a cooking contest always loses. It’s the only way the event can have the necessary drama and tension. Basically, the Sky Salon doesn’t have a whisper of a chance.”
I let out a huff. None of this made much sense to me, but if she was that confident, how could I not believe her?
“The Paradise Palace is going second, isn’t it?” Lady Kagura interjected coolly. “Doesn’t that mean the Gloriana Guesthouse should win?”
Lady Asuka was ready with an answer, however. “Heh. Don’t be naive. From second onward, it doesn’t matter where you are in the running order. Besides, we’ll be serving something made by Mei. We can’t possibly lose.”
“I’m impressed with how much confidence you have in your Seraph,” Lady Sakura remarked.
“Trust me,” Lady Asuka said, pointing sharply at Lady Sakura, “you’ll know why when you taste it!”
Lady Sakura nodded cheerfully. “I almost feel like you’re setting the bar too high for yourself, but if you’re that sure, I’m certainly looking forward to it.”
Mei, the one who’d been placed under these high expectations, did not flinch even once. Clearly, she had just as much confidence. I could see why since I’d eaten one of her desserts as well.
All this made me a little nervous about serving my dish. I knew well and good that I wasn’t going to win based on flavor alone.
Lady Kagura gave me some words of encouragement. “Ignore them, Misaki. Go ahead and serve everyone. Your idea won me over and I approved it, so everything is fine.”
I steeled my nerves. “All right.”
Given the number of people, it took more than just me and Kirara to give out the sweets we’d made. We recruited Matsuri and Mihaya to help. All the while, I was anxious to know what Lady Sakura would think.
When people saw it, they reacted with various little exclamations.
“Gosh!”
“Huh.”
“Hmm.”
“Really?”
I heard all those and more. To be honest, this was about what I’d expected. After all, you couldn’t say our dish looked beautiful, or that it was anything especially rare, or that it was a traditional choice. That wasn’t to say we had abandoned presentation, but it was much plainer looking than anything that would normally be served in a competition.
The first one to share a more detailed impression was Lady Sakura herself. “A very interesting choice!” she said. Then she giggled, smiling very happily.
In my mind, I threw a victory pose. We’d made this just for her. It didn’t matter what anyone else thought; as long as she liked it, it was a success. Now we’d cleared the first hurdle.
The dessert we had served was a fruitcake. Relatively ordinary, but there was one thing that set it apart: the quantity and variety of fruit that we’d included.
There were pieces of apple, grape, orange, peach, strawberry, melon, kiwi, pineapple, blueberry, banana, mango, and raspberry. Finally, as the pièce de résistance, we’d used cherries. After all, it was the closest thing we could manage to Lady Sakura’s name.
It was a rich, luxurious cake filled with everything we could possibly put in it. We’d actually set aside the harmony of the different flavors and focused more on ensuring that anyone who ate it would instantly feel how exciting and varied it was.
The tea to accompany it was fruit tea as well. The blend used citrus fruits as the base, and for this we really had prioritized the taste.
“Please, dig in.”
This was the best thing we could possibly have served her. It conveyed everything to Lady Sakura that we wanted it to.
“Yes, let’s all have some!” Lady Angelica agreed.
Lady Sakura started eating. As I expected, all the Societal Arts students approached it in a refined manner, using a knife and fork flawlessly. Not to be outdone, Lady Sakura’s manners were every bit as perfect.