Sarphi's POV

I was full of nerves the entire time we made the cake. I wanted it to be the best masterpiece I'd ever made, but it turns out that Prin had the same vision. Both of us had vastly different styles and strong opinions on what it should look like. And honestly it looked a little weird as we put both our heads together. We followed the instructions we were provided very well, in my opinion, but Prin disagreed with me. It left us both very unsure. I didn't know much about what people were actually after, and Prin didn't really know a whole bunch about what was mainstream. We both had to rely on our individual styles.

"And now we have half an hour to make ourselves presentable," Princ complained as she rushed around the room, trying and failing to put things in an orderly fashion whilst still being quick. "Oh, we have so little time, why did it take us this long?"

"Because we're-made the cake three times," I pointed out with a sigh. "Also, I'm always presentable. I could go out there looking like this with no issues." I crossed my arms over my chest before stepping forward and trying to help. "We should leave this until we get back."

Prin didn't look comfortable with the idea, her hands clenching and unclenching nervously in the air as she shook her head. "I dare you to go looking like that." I thought that she was going to say something about not wanting to leave the place looking like a wind spirit had gotten in, but she didn't. She must be really really stressed and not looking forward to this. I wasn't looking forward to it either, but I had expected her to be a little more enthusiastic about it.

"I'll take that as a yes then," I replied with a laugh as I grabbed her wrist and brought her to the washing station. "I need your help to make sure I get all the flour off."

"Darling, it's not just flour you have to get off," she pointed out before gesturing to my entire body. "Maybe it'll show them just how much effort we put into the cake."

"So will showing up with the cake." I laughed and began brushing my hair, starting from the top and working my way to the bottom. Prin did the same, even though we both still had sugar and flour all over us. We changed into our good clothes and were rushing out the door, with the cake wrapped in a neat cardboard box. Onyx rushed behind us, wagging his tail happily. He hadn't been enjoying the past few hours of stressful baking, but he did enjoy the treats we gave him to calm him down.

By the time we got to the main square, we were out of breath and our hair looked like it had suffered through a storm. The entire village was here practically, ranging from Niko and Cade, to the birthday girl. The two innkeepers didn't seem to be having the best of times as they stood in the corner, talking to each other quietly and constantly glancing in the direction of the door.

I noticed this because I felt eyes on us as soon as we entered. It didn't help my anxiety much, but I was reassured once I realised who it was. I'd dragged Prin over there, almost making her drop our days' worth of work. I recognised some of our other products lined up on the table as well, which made me feel a little giddy.

"You're late," Niko stated, his voice almost strained. It was as though he had some kind of grudge against us for not having to deal with an extra two minutes of the event. "Let's see it then."

I sighed and opened the box, chuckling a little as it blocked Prin's face, causing a frown to appear on her lips.

Niko peered in, and we had to lower the box a little bit for Cade.

"That's different," Cade commented, his voice full of surprise, with a hint of something I took as dislike. I might've been overreacting, but there was a certain twinge I couldn't put my finger on.

"Very different." Nike nodded in agreement, but his tone of voice was a little nicer than Cade's, but I knew that was usually the case anyway. "I think that she'll love it, to be perfectly honest."

"Not sure about her father, but she will." Cade nodded in agreement.

I let out a noise which was somewhere between a sigh of relief and a scream of panic. I didn't want the gardener to hate it, but I really did want the girl to have a really nice cake. "Is it that bad? We followed the instructions as best we could. We have loads of spare cake at our place now."

"Oh? Three different kinds of this cake?" Cade asked, pointing to it. "Can we have some? Or would that be nice in a trifle?" I could telly hat his mouth as already watering at the very thought of making a trifle with it.

"Actually, I wanted to try and make a trifle," I replied. "I just think that they look so pretty and interesting." I had momentarily forgotten about my anxiety as I thought about the few recipes I'd found. But then that thought immediately vanished as a voice came from behind.

"Ah, wonderful." The gardener tapped me and Prin on the shoulders, a bright smile on his face. "I'm so glad that you could make it and make it." He laughed, which told me that I should also laugh, "Let's see it then."

I opened my mouth, and I was about to open up the box once more but then we were interrupted. Said interruption caused my mind to spiral and go into a pit of darkness.

Queenie came through the crowd, looking like she owned the place, head held high and shoulders back. "I'll take it," she said with a smile as she took the box quickly.

"Are you sure?" Prin asked, eyes looking annoyed but voice sounding sweet. "I just wanted to make sure that it was approved of, so that we didn't have to go and get the spare one."

I panicked, because we haven't actually made any kind of back up. I knew that we hadn't had any backup, and I was afraid that it showed on my face that we didn't have anything else to offer. We were relying on Prin's acting skills here.

"Oh, nonsense," said the gardener, waving his hand dismissively. "I'm sure that it's wonderful, and just what I asked for. Besides, it's funner to leave it a surprise anyway." He then led Queenie away, taking the cake with them.

"I don't like this," I muttered to the four of them as Onyx gave a low growl, head facing Queenie's direction. "What do we think she'll do?"

"I don't want to think about it," Prin admitted with a sigh. "Let's just say happy birthday and enjoy some parts of the party, right? There's food and I'm sure not everything there is juice."

"It's not," Cade confirmed. "I can tell you now that at any event like this, the children have learned what to drink and what not to."

"Yes, it's really rather worrying," Niko added. "We should be worried about the general health of everyone here."

I stared at him for a few moments. "You two work at an inn and tavern kinda place." I narrowed my eyes. "You guys would lose quite a few customers if everyone here suddenly became sober."

The two looked surprised, as though they hadn't thought of that before.

"I suppose you're right," Niko said with a small nod. "But regardless, we would lose quite a few customers if they were to succumb to some kind of drunken illness."

I was about to reply when I glanced over at Prin, noticing that she was staring off in the direction of Queenie and the gardener. "Hey," I said quietly. "There's nothing we can do about it, yeah?"

She didn't look too convinced. "Sorry, I'm going to go look for a bathroom." She shook her head and stalked off.

I nudged Onyx. "Go after her buddy," I prompted him in a whisper. He had no complaints about following, his tail wagging happily. It was almost adorable to see, his adorable form chasing after the beauty which was Prin. I'd complimented her several times on her appearance before we got here, but she assumed that I was making fun of her. At least I hoped that she did, because she retorted with snarky teasings in return.

"What's she doing?" Cade asked with a slight sigh, his expression turning grumpy once more. "She's not going to win if she's going against Queenie, as you call her."

"Does everyone call her different things?" I wondered aloud, scratching my ear before shaking my head. "I don't think she's going after her. I think that she's trying to see what she's planning,"

"Yes, we do," Niko confirmed. "It's really weird how she acts all the time. But we all have very different names for her."

Cade snorted.

I felt someone tug on the bottom of my dress. "Hey, hey. Are you the new baker?" A small girl stood behind me, her two front teeth missing and a little tiara on her head. "It's my birthday, will you make pies with us?"

I stuttered a few times, not expecting this invitation whatsoever. "Pies?"

Niko gave a bright laugh. "Sarphi would love to make pies with you," he told the girl, hands on my shoulders and pushing me forward. "Have fun."

I glared back at him before nodding and giving the girl a small smile. "Sure, yeah, let's go."