Part 38: Every Recipe Counts

Princess Candiere, Peppie, and Wata were waiting at the bottom of the steps while talking about something that sounded inaudible to me. The moment I came down in my white dress, everyone stopped and smiled.

“Did you sleep well?” asked Princess Candiere.

I nodded yes.

“Wonderful! We only have five minutes now before The Traveller comes back. Remember not to talk about death, keep your watch off until it hits 6 PM, and do not enter any locked doors unless I give you the keys to do so. Do you have any other questions before we start?”

Recollecting my thoughts about the victims of Dream Academy High, I really needed to get what I planned into this conversation before the clock struck six in the morning.

“Yes. Can you have all of the staff of this cafe stay after 6 PM? Wata and I have a plan that can free all of the employees and return them back home.”

A stiff silence was felt throughout the cafe. Princess Candiere nodded her head in approval before turning away as the clock striking six activated every feature of the cafe pertaining to electronic equipment. The upbeat music started to play as Peppie swirled around with excitement.

Before long, customers started to enter the cafe. It seemed most of them were Bibbly Bubbles, which were technically who you were serving. It was a bit more surprising to know that here in this world, a customer could become your pet in a matter of days because you feed them everyday. It was a really good payoff as you could decorate them with accessories in any way you liked.

I had owned one specific Bibbly Bubble named Taylor. Her skin was a sky blue color and often than not I gave her one of those little white scarfs with cyan polka dots decorated on it. If Taylor existed here, I wondered if she would recognize me. I didn’t see her yesterday, but I’m willing to bet I might find her today.

She’s just too adorable to be left alone.

My mind switched back to reality as I began to notice that Peppie was looking at me funny. My face blushed with embarrassment. To take my brain off of that, I looked around to find tables walking by themselves. It was a bit freaky to witness in person to be honest.

In the middle of that thought, I shook my head to shake some sense into myself. What was I doing? Yes, this world was really weird. It may have been more than I was used to, but I had to stop getting distracted.

“Okay. Peppie can you—“

At that exact moment, Peppie interrupted what I was about to say.

“Tsk, tsk, tsk. Now is that how you talk to your supervisor? Call me Miss Peppieellogofusciouhipoppopsiclitudinitatibunnington The Third.”

“I’m not saying that.”

“Fine… I guess I’ll tell Candier—“

“Wait, wait! Uhm… Uhmmm… Uhmmmm…”

You can probably guess how that went.

I stuttered way too many times trying to even pronounce this overtly complicated name. I did not understand how she was even able to say it with ease.

“Come on now. We don’t have all day. If I said it in less than three seconds, so can you.”

“Okay, fine... I’m sorry…”

“Seriously? Sorry doesn’t cut it. You’re going to have to do better than that. Being more careful is what it’s all about in this cafe. I know you think you know a lot, but this is the beating heart of Tartropolatté we’re talking about.”

“Okay…”

“Now, let’s get you started. There’s a lot more to this place than button mashing and twiddling your thumbs. Skip on it cupcake! We have a big cafe to explore!”

Wow. So much for the melodramatic enthusiasm.

I walked past the kitchen doors which were all the way to the left on the bottom floor. Entering inside, I was amazed at how large, brightly lit, and organized everything looked. Upon passing by electric stoves, I saw many people of different ages baking a variety of different goods and treats. Unfortunately, I still couldn’t smell anything. I wished I could, especially when I saw one of my favorite baked items.

A chocolate hazelnut cheesecake.

The design was mostly appealing to me because of its dark creamy-like texture on the inside which had a hint of a soft wiggle to it. It is a bit different from normal cheesecake but the style often varies like with most recipes. The crunch of the hazelnut hits that perfect spot when I ate one before.

Of course, like with all foods that I’ve tried, I felt empty. All of that taste that I could have experienced went to waste. Why was I born this way? I kept asking that question and wondering what would happen if Peppie assigned me as a chef. I was really curious about sparking that inner love that I hadn’t been able to tap into for awhile.

Unfortunately, it seemed as if she had other plans when we entered what looked to be the candy wrapping department. I didn’t mind it exactly until we even passed by that. I was extremely confused.

“Where are we going?” I started to ask by the time we went through the aisles which were filled with huge tanks of different sugars, salts, and spices.

“You’ll see,” she replied while pointing me towards one of the fanciest stairways I had ever seen.