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With those motions, it was only a matter of time before her face was also floured.

Emi debated telling her, but she did not want to be too strict. Baking could be hard at the beginning, and it was not important to demand perfection. It was better to get Misaki used to the kitchen being fun so she would not give up.

“I was thinking it is a shame we did not decide to make cookies,” Emi said.

“You know how to make chocolate chip cookies?” Misaki was immediately fired up. Unfortunately, in her excitement, she accidentally caused another spoonful of her ingredients to end up on the table.

“Of course. I used to go crazy for them. It was the first thing my mother taught me how to bake. I used to buy them and eat them in school. When she found out, she started making them for me.” Emi remembered the whole thing like it was yesterday.

“For the longest time, I thought she was a secret genius baker who hid her skills. I came to know she learned to bake so I could stop eating store-bought cookies. She thought they were unhealthy, and I was eating them too much.”

.....

Misaki became a little downcast and her vigorous mixing of the ingredients slowed down. “It must be nice having a mother to teach you how to bake.”

Emi realised she had stepped on a landmine. She did not know anything about Misaki’s biological mother. Even her file in school did not provide information about the woman. And Emi was not curious enough to check her birth certificate.

If she did look deeper, she was almost sure she still would not find out. Yagi was probably too careful to let someone find information about it if he did not want exposure.

Of course, Emi heard a lot of rumours about this mysterious mother. Most people believed she was dead, possibly alongside the father, Yagi’s brother. This theory was common because she was not in the picture, and no one would abandon their child just like that.

If there was a mother, the uncle would not be the legal guardian.

There were other theories, naturally. For instance, some people thought Misaki was Yagi’s biological daughter, but he kept it a secret to protect her from bad rumours and discrimination in the school. This rumour was popular and branched off into different tales.

The most common of these theories involved Yagi killing or paying off the mother to avoid future contact. The more nefarious one was the one where Yagi slept with his brother’s wife and killed his brother after a confrontation. Finally, he killed the mother after the birth of Misaki.

Emi thought most stories were ridiculous, but she also did not know the truth.

And it was none of her business.

Well, until now...

She did not know what to say to Misaki because she did not have enough information.

“What do you remember about her?” Emi asked.

Misaki lowered her head a little more. “I don’t remember anything. I do not think I have ever met her. Of course, I met her as a baby, but you know what I mean.”

Emi felt sorrow for the child. She could not imagine how it felt to not have a memory or even an impression of her mother. Perhaps, the worst part of it was not knowing anything, good or bad. It probably caused her wild thoughts.

“Have you talked with your uncle about it?” Emi asked.

Then, she indicated to Misaki to switch to the wet ingredients for their cake. She had already explained the basic vanilla cake recipe, so the only thing they needed to do was move through the simple process.

“I tried one time, but my uncle refused to tell me about her. He looked both mad and sad, and he stayed in the office the entire night after that.” Misaki lowered her voice more. “No one talks about her in the house. I heard uncle fired some maids who mentioned her.”

Emi felt even sadder about the child.

“Perhaps, your uncle is trying to protect you.” She said.

“I know,” Misaki said replied with a broken voice. “I just wonder about it, that’s all. I mean, she must have been a really bad person for my uncle to go to such lengths to protect me. And if she was bad, what am I?”

With those words, the young girl lost her composure and started crying. It was not a gentle sob. She started bawling loudly like a baby. At the same time, she did not stop stirring the ingredients in the bowl.

Emi stepped up to her and caught the small hands in her own, stopping her. The little girl looked at her for a second before throwing herself into her arms. She continued sobbing without words as if she had finally found solace.

Emi could do nothing but hold her with gentle soothing pats on her back. She could almost feel the pain and confusion in the girl’s heart. The loud cries became soft sobs before Misaki stopped crying and eventually, let go of Emi.

“What happened?” A cold voice caused them to look to the door.

Yagi was standing looking at them with cool eyes. It was more accurate to say he was looking at Emi with cold eyes because his face showed concern when he turned to Misaki. Emi did not know how long he had been there, but she could imagine the situation looked strange.

As far as Yagi knew, they were supposed to be baking happily. Yet, he found his beloved niece crying like someone had broken her favourite toy.

The question caused Misaki to look at Emi with worry and embarrassment. She could not believe she had just cried like a stupid baby to her teacher. She could not even remember the last time she cried in her entire life.

Emi smiled comfortingly. “You should go wash your face. I will talk with your uncle.”

Misaki was glad to receive a chance to leave the awkward situation, but she still looked back as she left. Her uncle also nodded in approval to let her know everything was fine. However, as soon as she left, the frown on Yagi’s face became deep and forbidding.

“What happened here, Ms Shio?” he asked.