It turns out that the more you want to dream of someone, the less likely they will appear in your dreams. The more you try not to think about someone, the more they appear in your dreams every night.
Sidney woke up early and, in the kitchen, melted the marshmallows and butter bought by the butler in a double boiler, turning them into a mixture. She then mixed in powdered sugar and kneaded it into a dough-like mass, which she divided into many small portions, each colored with the food dye she had bought yesterday. The recipe book in the study showed how to make fondant the traditional way, but since she wasn't a professional and didn't have much time, she opted for the quick method her old club teacher had taught them. This method was very simple. The teacher had taught them to make a large number of cartoon figures for a charity fair, which was why she had learned a bit of basic sculpting, though she only knew how to make a rose at best.
Sidney sculpted yellow and pink roses with the food coloring, then took out the sponge cake she had refrigerated the day before, spread it with the quick buttercream, and decorated it with the roses. After looking at it for a while, she thought it seemed too plain, so she made a few more roses to cover the entire top of the cake. She then took the leftover frosting from yesterday, tidied it up, and decorated the edges of the cake. By the time she finished, it was almost ten o'clock. The butler had already passed by and gone into the kitchen to prepare lunch, but Sidney was so focused that she hadn't noticed. It wasn't until she came to her senses that she saw a cup of coffee and toast placed beside her.
She tidied up the things, then placed the decorated cake at the center of the dining table. After admiring it for a moment, she clasped her hands together and silently whispered "Happy Birthday" in her mind, before smiling and calling the butler over.
"Let's eat the cake together?" she said with a smile.
The butler looked at the six-inch cake on the table with a neutral expression and asked, "Is today your birthday?"
"I just made it because I was bored. I can't finish it alone, so let's eat it together?"
"Should I have Jayson come back and join you for dinner?" Though Sidney didn't reply, the butler couldn't shake the feeling that today might be her birthday.
"No! I'm not really celebrating. Birthdays are just a reminder of getting older! I just made some fondant for fun. Want to join me?"
"Thank you, ma'am." The butler, perhaps feeling sympathy for her since today seemed like a special day and Jayson wasn't around, took two plates and served a slice of cake on each.
Sidney quickly asked her how it tasted after she took a bite.
"Not bad."
"Being praised by someone with such great culinary skills as you, I really feel embarrassed!" Sidney said with a smile.
"Actually, I'm not very good at making cakes or bread." The butler swallowed a mouthful of cake and replied.
"Really? Then who bought all the baking supplies in the storage room and kitchen?"
"...Those were left by the previous occupants."
"Who?" Sidney was puzzled by the butler's choice of words.
"I'm finished. Madam, please take your time," the butler said with thanks and then went into the kitchen, giving Sidney no chance to ask further questions.
Sidney noticed there was still a small corner of the cake left and brought it into the kitchen, telling the butler, "Please prepare the car for me later. I need to go out. You can keep the cake. I won't be back to eat it."
"Where're you going?"
"...To the First Cemetery."
Sidney arrived at the First Cemetery by car. She asked her bodyguard to wait at the entrance while she went in alone. Perhaps out of respect, although the bodyguard was somewhat reluctant, he agreed not to follow her inside.
Sidney quickly found the gravestone, located in the far corner of the cemetery, where wild grass had overgrown, making it look as though it had not been tended to for a long time. Sidney cleared the tall grass with her hands, wiped the gravestone with a cloth she had brought, then placed the fruits she bought by the roadside in front of it. She squatted down and stared at the woman in the photo.
The woman in the photo still looked the same as twelve years ago. Sidney remembered how her mother loved to be beautiful. Now her appearance hadn't aged at all. She wondered if her mother, in the afterlife, was happy.
"Mom..."
