15 years have passed since Tsubaki's father was murdered. Both Nao and Tsubaki, who were each other's first love, both became Japanese sweets artisans, and meet again at a Japanese sweets contest.

Nao is not welcomed by people at Kougetsuan. One day, Nao delivers sweets to a regular customer, but something causes her to lose their trust. However, they later order the sweets on the condition that Nao makes them herself, and Tsubaki teaches Nao how to make the Kougetsuan's special paste.

Kyoko investigates Nao's background in order to get rid of her. Based on her findings, Kyoko suspects that Nao is Sakura, the daughter of Yuriko, and asks Nao about her mother. Just when Tsubaki is about to find out who Nao really is, a woman who claims to be Nao's mother comes to visit the Kouge...

Nao makes a mistake in dealing with one of Kyoko's patrons, and is told to leave. To comfort Nao, Jojima invites her to a cafe. Meanwhile, Tsubaki is struggling to be accepted as the successor by his grandfather, Sojuro.

Tsubaki tries to persuade Nao's mother to attend the wedding. Although Nao wants to confess her secret to Tsubaki, she is unable to confide in him. When Nao visits Jojima's room, she finds a box while he is out of the room.

On the day of the tea party hosted by Sojuro, Nao can't find him anywhere. While looking for him, Nao sees Kyoko in Itsuki's room and asks her about a certain incident in the past. Meanwhile, a fire breaks out in the main house.

When Nao finds out that Tsubaki has hardly made any sweets since the fire, she decides to take over Kougetsuan. Nao meets Tsubaki again, and from the way he behaves, she suspects that he may be losing his sight.

Nao and Tsubaki are made to compete against each other by Sojuro, the winner to be named the successor of Kougetsuan. While Nao is preparing for the competition, she learns a new fact about the day of the fire.