Welcome to the Café of the Dark Guild’s Successor - Chapter 118

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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A café run by the heir to the Dark Guild.
Chapter 118
“I’ve walked alongside your grandmother like this before, eyes meeting.”
I looked at Meyson.
His deepened gaze seemed forlorn.
“Do you miss her?”
“I do. Since coming here, I think of her every day. If only I could pass along an apology….”
Meyson turned to look back at the footprints we’d left behind.
“I couldn’t do it myself, but I hope you and Seniel find someone good to spend your whole lives with.”
“Seniel will be able to.”
“Not just Seniel. Child, you too can live an ordinary, happy life.”
…….
When I didn’t answer, Meyson muttered with a hint of reproach.
“That priest boy is so frail, I worry he’ll hurt you.”
“You knew Cayden was in pain?”
We entered the café, hung our coats on a rack, and sat together before the fireplace.
As we warmed our cold hands, I added more branches to make the flames burn brighter.
“When we first met, I saw a murky aura settled within his body. Each time I saw him, it had grown stronger.”
“What is it?”
“I suspect it’s Demonic Energy, but it’s condensed far more densely than ordinary miasma would be.”
I recalled the dark, unsettling presence I’d felt when I descended beneath the Temple.
“Can you heal Cayden, Meyson?”
I asked, watching him intently, and his expression grew tense.
“If it could be healed, wouldn’t the Temple have given up on it already? It’s very different from when I treated your Demonic Energy before….”
I stared at Meyson with wide eyes.
“You healed me?”
“Nothing much really… I made a medicine and gave it to you. Ahem.”
Embarrassed at being caught, Meyson turned his head away sharply.
“That morning when I woke up completely recovered—I thought something was odd about it.”
That morning still lingers vividly: my body overflowing with energy, an almost excessive clarity.
For a long while afterward, my condition had been remarkably good. It was all thanks to Meyson’s medicine.
“Can’t you make that medicine again—the one you made for me?”
“The ingredients are what they are. I spared no expense, so there’s nothing quite the same anymore.”
“I’m begging you. You can do it. I don’t want to lose someone close to me again.”
At my plea, Meyson exhaled softly and looked at me.
“It won’t be easy. The priest could suffer more pain during treatment.”
…….
“But I don’t want to see you sad. Let me at least try.”
At his encouraging words, I smiled brightly and took his hand.
“Thank you. I’m so glad you’re here, Meyson.”
Surprised, Meyson covered my hand with his own and held both hands together, moved.
“Ah, without meaning to. I’m sorry.”
When I tried to pull away, he held firm and patted my hand.
“I told you I’d listen to any request of yours. I can’t promise a full cure, but I can give him longer to live.”
His response was different from Cayden’s, who seemed to have abandoned all hope—it eased some of the anxiety that had weighed on me.
“In exchange, may I ask something of you?”
“Please.”
“I’d like to hear you call me grandfather.”
Looking at Meyson’s tender gaze, I saw my mother’s face overlaid upon his.
Actually, I’d wanted to say it for a long time. Until now, there’d been no occasion, and changing my form of address so suddenly felt awkward.
“Ha….”
Speaking the word for the first time, it felt rough in my mouth, unfamiliar and embarrassing, but I gathered my courage.
“Grandfather.”
“Yes, child.”
Meyson’s eyes welled with tears as he smiled broadly, the corners of his eyes crinkling with joy.
I wondered why a simple change of address could make him so happy, and my own heart tightened strangely.
“I’ll keep calling you grandfather from now on.”
“Thank you for accepting me. Truly… truly grateful.”
“You’re family bound by blood—there’s nothing to be grateful for.”
Facing each other, my nose began to sting, so I touched it and turned away to gaze at the fireplace.
“By the way, the atmosphere in the Temple felt ominous today. Did anything happen inside?”
“Actually….”
I told Grandfather everything—the conversation I’d had with Cayden, and how I’d crossed the wall when I was young.
As he listened intently to me, he let out a small groan when he heard about the presence beyond the wall.
“You crossed that wall? The one where I failed?”
“You know about the wall?”
“Since coming to the mountain, I noticed the Temple’s aura was strange, so I investigated and found it. This place must be sealed, from after the old war. The being you met is probably….”
He didn’t finish, but Grandfather and I both already suspected what that presence was.
“Why could I cross the wall? Why did it speak to me? Why do I keep hearing the song…? I want to understand.”
“I think it’s best we go to Helitria, as the priest suggested. I’ll take you.”
Helitria, which required crossing a long desert to reach, wasn’t a place I could easily visit alone.
With Grandfather accompanying me, I felt both assured and comforted.
“Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me. Your troubles are my troubles. Sleep well and we’ll depart tomorrow.”
“All right.”
We exchanged farewells and retreated to our separate rooms.
***
Upon arriving in the Capital, Biedler immediately attended a regular council meeting.
This session was to finalize plans for an upcoming ball and festival to mark the approaching New Year.
Arthur was present today as well, and Biedler gazed quietly at him seated in the place of honor.
The Empress, as always, occupied the seat beside the Emperor and radiated her presence.
The meeting proceeded smoothly without significant disagreement, and several matters were settled.
When the subject of the New Year Ceremony Address arose, the Empress—who had been listening quietly—voiced an opinion.
“Since this is the First Prince’s first year as Crown Prince, wouldn’t it be fitting for His Majesty and the Crown Prince to deliver the New Year Address together?”
The New Year Address celebrating the coming year was the Emperor’s sole prerogative.
For the Crown Prince to share it was more than merely lending support—it was tantamount to publicly announcing that abdication was not far off.
“Isn’t that rather premature?”
The Emperor showed discomfort and offered a brief objection,
“If the two of you demonstrate how close you are, the people of the realm will be delighted.”
“I also agree.”
The ministers already in the Empress’s camp all nodded in unison, offering only affirmative opinions.
“Everyone seems comfortable with it, doesn’t it? Is Your Majesty opposed? It would be good for our Arthur to gain strength.”
Clione smiled sweetly and linked her arm through the Emperor’s.
The Emperor, well aware that public sentiment had already shifted and that Clione’s will would prevail, nodded with lifeless eyes.
“…So be it.”
Biedler regarded the Emperor—powerless and insignificant, moving like a puppet—with contempt.
‘I need to move soon.’
Once Arthur stood alongside the Emperor at the New Year Address and solidified his authority as Crown Prince, it would become increasingly difficult to bring him down.
He resolved to expose the princess’s pregnancy and Stropfen’s scandal at the New Year Ceremony.
Thus all matters were decided according to Clione’s wishes, and the meeting ended.
The ministers lined up to bow to the Emperor and Empress before filing out of the chamber.
Biedler, his expression unmoved, offered a simple farewell and made to leave as he always did.
But then the Emperor stopped him for the first time.
“I’d like to have a word with you.”
Biedler’s eyes widened momentarily in disbelief.
“Did you mean me?”
“Yes. Empress, would you mind stepping out for a moment? There’s something I need to discuss with him alone.”
“Your Majesty!”
Clione’s eyes widened in shock as she stared at the Emperor in disbelief.
The Emperor gazed back at her with an imploring expression.
“A favor, please. Just a moment, truly just a moment. Didn’t I let everything in the meeting go your way?”
Sensing something unusual in the Emperor’s manner, Clione found it unsettling, but assuming it was merely conversation, she took a step back.
The meeting had indeed proceeded very much in her favor.
She recalled how he’d raised no objection even to placing Arthur before the New Year Address, and nodded with a small click of her tongue.
“…Very well. I trust you won’t engage in anything unnecessarily suspicious.”
“Of course not.”
With that, everyone left the chamber, leaving only Biedler and the Emperor alone.
This was the first time they’d met in private conversation since Biedler’s mother died.
The sudden situation was disorienting, but Biedler responded with composure.
“What is this about?”
The Emperor, looking at him, smiled faintly as he observed Biedler’s perfectly controlled emotions.
“You’ve grown so much. Truly, so very much.”
…….
When Biedler had returned alive after the long war and stood before the Emperor, his only response had been a cold congratulation.
For such words to come from the Emperor now left Biedler confused.
“Please state your business. I find this awkward—the two of us alone like this.”
“Come closer.”
The Emperor gestured for him to approach the dais. Biedler hesitated, then climbed the steps to stand nearer.
Now they could see each other clearly. It had been so long since they’d faced each other alone, this close.
“There was one thing I found suspicious after hearing what you said last time.”
The Emperor then drew a bottle from his robes and held it in his hand.
“It’s a drink the Empress has been preparing for me for quite some time. Whenever a headache came on, I’d drink it and my mind would clear, so I took it regularly.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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