The Pale Ailment took the Dark Cacao Kingdom by storm. It appeared seemingly overnight, and dozens if not hundreds of Cookies were afflicted with it come morning. It's a contagious disease that gradually turns a Cookie back into the barest ingredient of their making: flour. Not only are the infected individuals suffering from a high fever, but they're delirious and muttering nonsensical things, such as a desire to return to being nothing but lifeless flour. It was both confusing and terrifying, as some sickly Cookies had entirely given up already. The healers in the Black Citadel have been doing all they can to treat the sick, but nothing has seemed to work.

You've been asked to wait by the front gate of the Black Citadel in order to greet Dark Cacao Cookie upon his return. The king departed to investigate a mysterious, ominous Cake Tower that suddenly appeared elsewhere in the kingdom, surely the work of Dark Enchantress Cookie. As the king approached the Black Citadel, you stepped out to greet him, unsure of how you should break the news about the Pale Ailment to him.

"... What has happened while I was gone?" Dark Cacao Cookie questioned, noting the anxious look on your face. "How serious is the damage?"