Team Ichigo continues to steadily improve their sales, while Koshiro's Beautiful Night Castle continues a steady and relentless pace. Hard work and excellent sweets pay off eventually, and by the last week Team Ichigo is matching Koshiro's sales... But that's not going to make up the nearly 15 million yen difference in total sales they built up! In the end, everything hinges on the sale of Christmas cakes on Christmas Eve... Who will win the bet and get Ichigo's heart?

It's the grand opening for Marie's Garden, and Miya is pulling out all the stops advertising her Beautiful Night Castle, even going so far as to buy television advertising! Faced with such overwhelming PR power, Ichigo's shop is immediately off to a terrible disadvantage! Everyone seems to love the new sweets they sell, but with so few people actually even going there in the first place. what's the point? Team Ichigo brainstorms ways to increase the customer flow into their shop, like holding tastings, but the true draw has got to be the "Sweets Princes" themselves!

The grand opening of Main Street is only a few days away, and Team Ichigo hurries back to make the final preparations for their shop, only to find that the Heiress has gotten permission to open her own grand shop on the same street! Furthermore, Johnny goes turncoat and is helping out Miya, since she's giving him all the funding he wants. Miya challenges Ichigo to see whose shop will be more popular, with Kashino's hand in marriage on the line! And even worse, Ichigo promises to date Johnny if she loses! However all hope isn't lost, as the Sweets Princes are gathered back together again...

With the successful coupon event, more and more customers are arriving at Mari's shop. But time is short and that'll only last for a while unless they make some fundamental changes. In order to think things through, Mari is forced to take a day off and actually see some of the sights of the town she lives in, New York! But on the way back, there's a terrible accident... A wedding cake is ruined! Can Mari save the day, and maybe save herself in the process?

Ichigo's group begins helping Tennouji-san come up with some way to raise her sales, but the shop's location in Midtown makes it difficult to attract regular customers, since most of the crowds are tourists. At the same time, Miya is scheming to get revenge on Tennouji and take over her shop! Ichigo gets inspired with an idea for an event that should get new customers, and Tennouji's imagination is reinvigorated after she encounters a young dancer who is entranced by her sweets... But will it be enough?

Ichigo and the gang head to New York to check up on Tennouji, who has been put in charge of Henri-sensei's New York branch shop. The sweets are impeccable, as always, but all doesn't seem well at Tennouji's shop. For example: Where are all the customers? Meanwhile, the Heiress has alternative plans for Kashino, and Ichigo is too busy being distracted by the tasty desserts in Times Square to notice anything amiss! It's a lot of happy, and maybe not so happy, reunions in the first chapter of "Dance and Rhapsody."

The final journey on the tour is the Egg Home, where all the eggs for the entire kingdom are produced. But it turns out that the place is not just needed for a tasty omelet, and everyone learns an important life lesson. The next day is the advancement exam, and the judging is extremely harsh. Kasshi and the gang make it to the final tasting, but the judges notice something that seems out of place in the dessert... What does the Sweets Kingdom really mean to them?

It's the second day on the tour of the Sweets Kingdom, and Kasshi plans to swing by all 5 remaining places in one go! First up, the Powder Desert, followed by the Milky Lake and the Oily Jungle... But after heading to the Baum Forest, Kasshi and the other Jerks are mistaken for someone that's been trashing up the place and put in jail by the master of the forest! And this master happens to be a stubborn old cotter who won't listen no matter what! How are Ichigo and the rest going to convince him that the Jerks are innocent, so he'll let them go to take the exam in time?

One day, the Spirits get a letter from the Sweets Kingdom from Andy, asking them to come help them pass their advancement exam. But after the magic spell to head to the Sweets Kingdom goes haywire, Ichigo and the rest all come along, too. With the theme of the exam being the "Sweets Kingdom" itself, Kasshi decides that the best way to prepare is to visit all the most famous places in the Sweets Kingdom and collect ingredients along the way. And so begins the epic tour of the Sweets Kingdom!

Andoh's shop is out of customers, and running out of time! With his back to the wall, he works overtime to come up with a new creation to bring in the customers, but now matter how hard he pushes himself, he can't come up with anything good enough. Exhausted, he collapses one night, and Ichigo and the others look after him, offering to help. Andoh refuses, saying that he has to do something about his shop himself. That's when Andoh's grandfather scolds him, telling him that he knows nothing and should just close down the shop!

The first street of Marie's Garden, the World Sweets Avenue, is now open for business! Andoh's branch of Yumezuki is flooded with customers, and Kana and the rest can barely keep up with demand. Meanwhile, Ichigo and the others each take a day trying out their shop concepts, but selling sweets turns out to be a lot harder than they all thought it would be. Trying to figure out what they're doing wrong, they head over to Andoh's shop for advice, but find that the once bustling shop is now almost empty! What could have gone wrong?!

Ichigo, Kashino, Lemon, and new partner Johnny meet together to go over ideas for sweets shops, but before they can get started Johnny gets lectured to by his Sweets Spirit, Maize. Maize is very particular about etiquette, and if you make her mad she'll fry you like one of her specialty sweets! Meanwhile, Henri-sensei announced that the first street of shops will be opened in only a week, and it features none other than a branch Yumezuki run by Andoh. However, at the same time, Henri announces that all the shops will be ranked, and the one in last place each month will be closed down! Running a shop in Marie's Garden just got a whole lot more competitive!

Ichigo's two years studying abroad in Paris is over and she returns to Japan to reunite with the rest of Team Ichigo, who had come back one week earlier. But when she gets to school, no one seems to be around. It turns out that Lemon has skipped a grade, and is now in Ichigo's class, while Hanabusa and Andoh are taking leaves of absence from school to pursue their own dreams! But where is Kashino? And who is this Johnny person that's in A Group? And why is Henri-sensei calling everyone in the A Group to a meeting somewhere? Will this be the end for Team Ichigo, or the start of something new?

With the rematch individual battle not looking good for Ichigo, the princes manage to pull in enough wins to bring it to another tie. But the next rematch will be one-on-one between a single representative from each team. Team François's choice for representative is clear, and if François makes her incredible Dijonaise au Chocolat what does Team Ichigo have that could even compete? Can Ichigo really create a strawberry tart that will surpass her grandmother's?

Finally, the day has come. The finals of the World Cake Grand Prix. Team Ichigo and Team François clash in a three hour team battle, and each team does their very best to come up with amazing sweets. With their families watching either in the stands or on TV broadcast live to Japan, Ichigo and the Sweets Princes fight to show that not only are they the best, but that understand what it really means to be a pâtissier!

Team Tennouji lost in the semi-finals?! With that shocking revelation, Team Ichigo is left scratching their heads wondering what to make of it. And watching the DVD of the match leaves them even more perplexed after seeing Tennouji give a completely sloppy performance. Worried and confused, Amano runs off to speak with her. Meanwhile the rest of Team Ichigo start to research their new rivals, Team François, by asking Lemon about them. What Lemon tells them about François's skills, and what Tennouji tells Ichigo about what happened, completely shocks everyone...