The snacks were almost all eaten, but the murder case inside the shop remained unsolved.
Inspector Megure and his men wandered around the cake shop for ages, even rummaging through the crumbs, before finally returning to the classic three-choice question – the familiar recipe, the familiar taste.
There were only three people in the store when the store manager died.
Tsuyoshi Maeda, the cake maker who never fails.
Known as the "Cake Prince"—Yasuo Fujino.
Tomomi Morimoto, known as the Candy Magician.
According to clues from the police investigation, all three individuals had past conflicts with the deceased and were suspected of murdering him.
However, the murderer will certainly not admit that he is the murderer.
Without conclusive evidence, all three were protesting their innocence. Inspector Megure watched them argue, momentarily speechless, wiping the sweat from his brow.
He couldn't help but miss his old friend Mori.
Although Mori manages to create some kind of case every time he appears, he's still capable of solving it.
Outside the store.
With a straw in his mouth, Yuzuru looked through the transparent glass at the chaotic scene inside the room. After thinking for a moment, he turned his head and whispered a few words to Ran and Sonoko.
"Is it really him?" Xiaolan asked in surprise after hearing the news.
Sonoko couldn't wait any longer and pulled her into the store.
After the two left, only Hanyu Nanasu and Kosaka Natsumi remained at the outdoor seating area. The old butler who had been following Natsumi had disappeared after coming out of the shop.
Yuzuru rested his chin on his hand, his gaze falling on the slender and sweet woman in front of him.
Natsumi Kosaka rested the back of her hand on her delicate cheek, looking back quietly. A sea-blue gemstone earring dangled from her earlobe, swaying gently. Her long, soft brown hair cascaded over her shoulders, adding to her adorable and youthful charm.
Like an innocent princess enjoying her homemade afternoon tea on a leisurely afternoon.
Well, strictly speaking, she really is a princess.
She was also a princess of a fallen kingdom.
Although the kingdom was destroyed, the princess still had a considerable fortune. Her castle in Yokosuka was filled with the wealth inherited from her ancestors, making her a true heiress.
“Miss Xia Mei…” Yu Sheng Nan spoke first, breaking the silence.
"Just call me Xia Mei~" She smiled sweetly, her eyes curving into crescents.
"Okay." Yu Sheng Nan naturally agreed, and returned the courtesy by saying, "Xia Mei, you can call me Yu Sheng or Nan, adding 'Mr.' makes our relationship seem too distant."
"So...Kusun-kun." Natsumi Kosaka hesitated for a moment, then chose a more intimate form of address before mustering her courage to ask, "What do you think our relationship is?"
She regretted asking the question as soon as she did.
Was I too impulsive? Did I scare him...?
Yuzuru stared at Kosaka Natsumi, whose gaze was wandering, for a while, then suddenly chuckled and asked, "So, Natsumi, what do you think our relationship is?"
"Of course..." Faced with the question thrown her way, Natsumi Kosaka stammered for a long time before she could answer. She didn't even know what she was thinking.
Was it out of gratitude for his help? Perhaps.
Was it to repay him for helping her find her great-grandmother's belongings? Perhaps.
This question had actually puzzled her for a long time.
Originally, she returned to China only to sort out her great-grandmother's belongings, and then planned to return to Paris to continue her beloved pastry chef work. But for some reason, she stayed behind.
He even resigned from his teaching position at Le Cordon Bleu.
The naive princess, who has never had any romantic experience, is unaware that her situation is what love is.
All she knew was that Yuzuru's embrace was exceptionally warm and soft, so she stayed, remaining in this place where he was.
Looking at Natsumi Kosaka, whose brows were furrowed and whose face was full of struggle, Nanami Hanyu suddenly leaned forward and smiled: "Natsumi, do you like me?"
"well?!"
This straightforward question left Natsumi Kosaka speechless.
A moment later, she smiled sweetly: "I think I do like it a little bit~"
"How much is 'a little bit'?"
"I don't know, I'm calculating it now."
"Do you want me to help you calculate it?"
"Then I'll have to trouble you again, Nan-jun."
The two looked at each other for a moment, then suddenly smiled at the same time.
Yuzuru picked up a macaron from the table, put it in his mouth, chewed it a few times, and then chuckled, "The pastries here are still not as good as the ones you made on the ship last time, Natsumi. The texture is a bit off."
"If you like it, Nan-kun, you can come to my shop as a taste tester sometime," Natsumi Kosaka said with a smile in her gray eyes, adding, "Eat as much as you want, it's free~"
"Then it's a deal." Yu Shengnan nodded in agreement.
The conversation just now seemed to have been gently brushed aside by the wind, and neither of them mentioned it again, but something seemed to have quietly changed—the distance between them had unknowingly grown a little closer.
Princess Xia Mei was still unable to sort out the turbulent emotions in her heart.
Yuzuru Hanyu was slowly helping her to sort things out.
A gentle breeze added a touch of coolness to the summer afternoon.
…….......
"Young Master Yuzuru, Ran says you already know who the murderer is?" Outside the store, Inspector Megure led three suspects out, his round face full of anticipation, while the three suspects behind him had different expressions.
Maeda Tsuyoshi crossed his arms and looked impatient, Fujino Yasuo had a gloomy face and kept wiping away sweat, while Morimoto Tomomi nervously bit her lower lip.
Natsumi Kosaka's long brown hair fluttered in the wind. She turned her head to look at Nanami Hanyu, a hint of curiosity flashing in her eyes: "Nan-kun, do you already know who the murderer is?"
"Hmm." Yuzuru nodded, his gaze sweeping over the three suspects—Tsuyoshi Maeda, Yasuo Fujino, and Tomomi Morimoto—before finally settling on one of them.
“The murderer is you—” He slowly raised his hand and pointed at one of them, “Fujino Yasuo.”
"What?!" The crowd erupted in an uproar.
Fujino Yasuo's face turned deathly pale instantly, but he forced a calm laugh: "Sir, are you joking? I have no grudge against the shop manager, why would I kill him?"
"No grudges or enmities?" Yu Shengnan chuckled. "As far as I know, the shop manager promised you three years ago that if you won the cake grand prize, he would let you start your own business, but he went back on his word—is that right?"
Fujino Yasuo's pupils contracted sharply, and he blurted out instinctively, "How did you know?"
Inspector Megure looked at Kusunoki Hanyu with confusion—shouldn't the usual way of solving a case be to first lay out clues, then deduce, and only after the culprit struggles should they cry and confess?
How did this jump directly to the final chapter on "identifying motives"?
Yuzuru didn't explain to them that he had read the script. He simply took a sip of his coffee and said casually, "Actually, I didn't want to get involved in this. After all, the manager deserved to die, and I'm not a detective, but..."
He looked at Fujino Yasuo meaningfully, his gaze carrying a hint of amusement.
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