Mr. Mintz opened the door when she knocked, taken aback at the sight of a girl decked out in shades of yellow and sparkles standing on his doorstep. 

“Who are you?” he asked.

“Hi! I’m Aisling Castor, a Wisher assigned to Darius Mintz.” Aisling beamed at the man.

“That’s…my son.” He paused. “A Wisher, you say?”

Aisling nodded. “I’m here to grant Darius’ greatest wish!”

“Darius is down working at the bakery today, you can find him in central Northgrove.” 

“Alright, thank you so much!”

The wind chime sang as Aisling pushed the bakery door open. Another boy was at the counter, restocking display shelves with pastries. He straightened at the sight of the girl, casting glances at her attire. “Hi, what can I get you?” 

“I’m looking for Darius? I was told he was working here today.”

“Yeah, he’s in the back.” the boy turned to the kitchen. “Darius! Someone’s here for you!”

Wearing an apron dusted with flour and frayed edges smudged with icing, Darius appeared. “Who is it?”

He stopped in his tracks when he saw the bright yellows of her dress. A dandelion standing out in a field of greens.

“Hi! I’m Aisling Castor, a Wisher assigned to grant your greatest wish!” Aisling smiled.

Darius just blinked at her—not the most enthusiastic reaction she’d ever received.

The other boy—Emmett, his name tag read—whistled. “You got yourself a Wisher? What are the odds!”

Aisling grinned at Emmett’s words. At least someone here appreciated her existence. “So? What do you wish for?”

“Emmett, give us some space to talk?” Darius turned to the boy beside him, who nodded and disappeared into the kitchen area. After he was gone, Darius turned back to face Aisling. “Sorry to disappoint you, but I don’t have a ‘greatest wish.’”

“That’s okay! Lots of people I’ve been assigned to before didn’t know what their wish would be either.” Aisling didn’t let the smile slip from her face. “Although the last three people have all wished for a princess’ hand in marriage. Where’s the princess in this Kingdom?”

Darius gave her a weird look. “Seriously, I have no idea what I want as a wish.”

“Well, it’s part of my job to help you figure it out!” Aisling waved his worries away. “Unfortunately you’ll just be stuck with me until you do.”

The boy sighed. “If you’re gonna stick around, you should change into something less noticeable first.”

As a Wisher, Aisling loved making wishes come true with the help of her wand. Although as wonderful as her magic was, she needed to work hard to keep granting wishes, since they were the only source of her powers. 

“Most people wish for money, except that’s not something I can just magically make come true. I might have magic as a Wisher, but they’re only meant to assist us in granting the wishes. I still have to do all the work myself,” Aisling explained.

“So you’re not a genie, got it.” Darius nodded.

“Yep! Now the next few common things are fame or love. Or even power.”

Darius scrunched his nose. “I’m not really the type to want fame or power. Same with love. I’d rather it naturally come to me than actively search for it, you know?”

“Are you sure you don’t want to be set up with the princess?”

“...I’m sure.”

“Hmm.” Aisling racked her brain for other ideas. “What about future aspirations? Dream jobs?”

Darius simply shrugged. “I’ll be working at my parents’ potion shop.”

The room fell silent. Looks like Darius would be a much harder assignment than she had previously thought.

A month later, Aisling was slowly running out of time. She was nowhere closer to granting Darius’ wish than she was before. He seemed truly happy with his life, hanging out with friends, brewing potions at home, working at the bakery in his spare time. 

Each day she visited the bakery, Darius would let her try a new type of dessert. Cakes as fluffy as clouds, topped with ruffles of frosting and polished cherries. Croissants with more layers than lasagna. Pies whose fillings formed the colors of a rainbow. He often incorporated his magic into the desserts, creating levitating decorations and cream puffs that changed colors when bitten into. Aisling was starting to think that Darius was more invested in his baked goods than trying to help her keep her job. And her powers.

“I saw the posters of the princess coming in just under a month,” Aisling said as she enjoyed a cream puff. “I’m serious about helping to set you up.”

Darius looked up from where he was working to fill up the rest of the cream puffs. “I think I’ve told you multiple times I’m not particularly interested in Princess Daphne.”

“Northgrove is literally hosting a celebration in her name during her visit though. Your parents’ shop will even be hosting a booth! Why don’t you want to get to know her? So many people would love the chance to be together with the princess!” Aisling kept going, “Isn’t there even a baking contest? It’d be the perfect chance for you to show off your skills to her!”

Darius tensed. “I’ll be helping out at my parents’ potions booth.”

“Come on, you could totally make something as simple as these cream puffs and you’d win!”

Darius didn’t respond; the crinkling of the frosting bag in his hands became the only sound in the kitchen.

Other than the bakery, Aisling also spent time in the Mintzs’ potion shop. Mr. and Mrs. Mintz mostly paid her no mind as she watched Darius mix together herbs and cast spells at his cauldron. It was quite similar to how he baked, measuring out the ingredients and mixing it all together at just the right ratios. In the process, she learned about potions for luck, love, and health. It was amazing how similar Darius’ job was to her own. They both helped others’ wishes come true, whether by actively working on a wish or selling potions that assisted. Perhaps that’s why it was so hard to find a wish for Darius when he was basically a Wisher himself.

The first step was to enter him into the baking contest—it was the perfect place for him to show off his baking skills. And Princess Daphne would be a judge at the competition, the best opportunity for Darius to talk to her. By the time Darius received the letter notifying him of his registration of the contest, Aisling had gone ahead and made sure everything was entered into the system. 

“I’m not doing this,” Darius said firmly.

“Please? Your parents don't even have to know, you just have to bake something beforehand and be there for the judging!”

“No.”

“But I already registered you.”

“Without my consent.”

“There was a deposit fee I paid!”

Darius glared at her “Did I ever tell you to pay it?”

Aisling pouted. “If you don’t do it, I’ll just steal some pastries from the bakery and enter those to the competition.”

“You wouldn’t.”

“Oh yes I would.”

Darius was apparently even more against this suggestion than entering the contest himself, because he groaned and agreed to bake a cake beforehand for the competition. Aisling immediately brightened, getting to work helping him plan out his cake.

“Are you really not going to become a baker in the future?” Aisling asked one day as she taste tested yet another recipe. “It feels like wasted talent.”

Darius shrugged, “My parents want me to take over their shop. Potion making is similar enough to baking anyways.”

“What do you want to do though?”

“Does it matter?”

Darius disappeared into the kitchen before Aisling could make another comment.

“...You already did, didn't you.”

“I just want you to win,” Aisling said instead.

“Aisling.”

The seriousness of his tone stopped Aisling in her tracks, turning around to talk to the boy. He’d been about to place the edible pearls that formed dragon's eyes when his hand stopped midair as he stared at her. 

“You deserve to win!” Aisling insisted.

“I don’t deserve anything if you make it all magically in my favour with your powers!” Darius yelled.

No one had caught Aisling when she snuck into the judges’ room earlier that morning. It was easy to charm them when they weren’t even aware of her existence. With a wave of her wand and muttered spells, Aisling was confident that Princess Daphne would fall head over heels for Darius, and crown him the winner of the competition.

Before the argument could further escalate, a staff member came by to remind them that there was only half an hour left before their dessert had to be completed. Darius swallowed his complaints and focused on fixing the frosting on the cake instead. But Aisling could tell he was upset at her. She didn’t understand why, it was supposed to be the perfect opportunity for him. His hard work would be on display and he'd be able to talk to the princess! They spent the rest of the time in silence, until the cake was completed and Darius had to return to his parents. 

“I’ll be back when the cakes are judged,” Darius finally spoke to Aisling. “But please never do something like that again.”

“But I only wanted to help–”

“Do you know why it was so hard for you to grant my wish?” Darius cut her off. “I knew what I wanted all along. My own bakery, so I wouldn’t have to work at my parents’ shop instead.”

“You…never told me.”

“Yeah because you think everything can be solved just from your magic,” Darius explained. “Sure you can give me my own bakery, but how is that of any meaning to me when I didn’t even work for it myself?”

Aisling was at a loss for words. Darius was right, she’d always thought no one could possibly turn down the opportunity to have their greatest wish granted by a Wisher. Yet she’d never considered how it was taking away from the client’s own hard work. As Aisling digested his words, Darius huffed and turned to leave.

Aisling’s brain was turning at record speed, desperately thinking of a new solution. It was too late to revert the effects of the charm spell, so how else could she help the situation without making it all worse with her magic? An idea popped into her brain, she could only hope she’d be able to pull it off in time.

The next time Aisling saw Darius, he was standing on stage waiting for the judges to make the decisions on the competition. While listening to the judge’s comments, Aisling searched the crowd, hoping what she did worked.

“...Although the design is very impressive, the taste is lacking, won’t you agree?” Aisling focused again just in time to hear Princess Daphne give her thoughts on Darius’ cake, “In my opinion it’s not quite suited for first place.”

Aisling was surprised at her words, looking at her wand in shock, inspecting if it had been completely drained of magic. Darius himself didn’t look too disappointed at her words though, smiling politely and thanking the princess instead.

As the crowd around her buzzed with excitement, Aisling only felt puzzled. Her magic never went haywire, what was happening?

The judging finished, and it was time for the winners to be crowned. Aisling scanned the crowd a final time, hopes dimming until she spotted the two people she had been looking for. Darius’ parents were there, watching their son be awarded second place in the competition. The moment he stepped off the stage, the two rushed forward to wrap a shocked Darius in a hug. Aisling watched from a few meters away, hopeful that she finally did something right for once and it would make Darius happy.

Darius found Aisling again later that night, a smile on his face and still wearing his silver medal. “Thank you.”

Aisling was a bit confused, but still smiled nonetheless. “For what?”

“For bringing my parents to the competition.” Darius beamed. “It’s the first time they’ve actually recognized my interest in baking.”

“Really?” Aisling squealed, her smile stretching into a grin as she clapped her hands. “Are they considering letting you pursue being a baker?”

“I don’t know yet but at least the idea is finally planted into their minds,” Darius replied. “And that’s enough for me.”

“Thank you again.” Darius hugged her back.

“One last question, do you know how my charm spell on the princess didn’t work?” Aisling was still confused over it.

“I mixed a truth potion into the frosting.” Darius grinned. “Probably why the taste was a bit ruined.”

“No way, you didn’t.” Aisling laughed.

“Don't forget, you’re not the only one with magic around here!” Darius winked.

Aisling could only smile at his words. Of course, she wasn’t the only one with magic. And sometimes? Magic did more harm than good.