Welcome to the Café of the Dark Guild’s Successor - Chapter 126

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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 of the Dark Guild.
126
“At most two days. It’s not a cure that will solve everything at once.”
“What if he can’t suppress the Demonic Energy and ends up being consumed by it instead?”
“His lifespan would shorten further. Things could spiral out of control.”
……
I hardened my expression further and looked at Cayden with growing unease.
“I’ll set up Connecting Magic to monitor him so it doesn’t come to that. Don’t worry too much.”
“Thank you.”
If Grandfather continued to check on Cayden’s condition, I could rest easier.
“Isn’t it time to open the shop?”
“Oh, yes. I should go.”
I glanced at the wall clock, startled to find the time had already passed, and sprang up from the bed I’d been sitting on.
Just because I kept watching wouldn’t change Cayden’s condition, so I decided to focus on my own work now.
Cayden would want that anyway.
***
Time passed quickly, and the sun began to set beyond the window.
As I tidied up the shop after the last customer left, I remembered something that needed immediate attention.
“What about dinner?”
Ever since I started eating dinner with Cayden regularly, cooking had become entirely his responsibility.
I always thanked him and ate gratefully, but now, standing before the counter, the absence of his presence felt all the more acute.
“Would it be acceptable to serve food I’ve prepared to His Highness?”
Seniel and Orbis had warned me multiple times never to serve them anything I’d cooked myself, so I was torn with doubt.
Just then, Grandfather walked over and I asked for his opinion.
“Would it be better to eat tasteless food, or better to go hungry?”
“Of course you should eat it.”
“Even if eating it makes me sick?”
“There’s no reason you’d get sick from cooking with perfectly good ingredients.”
I remembered the days when I’d struggled with those very ingredients—perfectly fresh ones.
“…I’ll just make it and see what happens.”
I decided to let Biedler decide whether to eat it or not, then pulled out all the ingredients I had—tomatoes, mushrooms, and more—and began chopping.
“Stew, is it? That’s a menu that’s hard to mess up.”
Grandfather seemed to be trying to encourage me, but I’d already failed at stew before, so his words stung.
I dumped water and all the ingredients into the pot and poured in the seasonings.
Once it started boiling, I spooned up some broth and tasted it.
It was far too salty and sweet, so I grabbed the glass of water beside me and gulped it down.
“How could it possibly taste like this?”
When I tried to fix it by adding other seasonings, the flavor only grew stranger.
Living with Cayden had raised my palate so much that I could clearly tell my cooking was wrong.
“Grandfather, can’t cooking be solved with Magic?”
If cooking could be handled by Magic, I’d seriously consider learning it.
“Just as with Magic, cooking is a matter of talent. You can make something look convincing, but you can’t fake the taste.”
“That’s genuinely unfortunate.”
I was considering just throwing it all out when Grandfather spooned up some broth himself.
“If it’s something made by you, no matter how it tastes….”
After tasting it, Grandfather closed his mouth firmly, his expression at a loss for words.
“It’s so bad you can’t even manage to say something kind about it, is it?”
“…Indeed.”
As I came to accept my total failure and sank into despair, Biedler arrived back at the shop right at dinner time.
I was seriously considering whether I should hide the pot when Biedler went into his room.
“Oh! Cayden!”
I belatedly remembered Cayden lying in his room and looked up.
But it was already too late.
Biedler rushed back out with a surprised expression and stood before me.
“There’s… there’s a young priest in my room. Something feels wrong with him.”
“He fainted. I didn’t have anywhere else to put him, so I laid him down there for now. I’m sorry for going in without permission.”
“Since I’m just renting the room, that’s fine, but how did he end up fainting? Did you two fight?”
“If we fought, would I have held back from hitting him?”
……
He didn’t deny it.
I couldn’t help but wonder what he thought of me normally. I frowned and glared at Biedler with displeasure.
“I’ll move him to my room later.”
“What?!”
“My dear!”
Both Biedler and Grandfather shouted at the same time, and I covered my ears.
“Forget it. He’ll stay in my room.”
“You’ll sleep in the same bed?”
“I can sleep on the floor.”
With that, Biedler approached the pot. He sniffed it and tilted his head.
“What is this?”
“It’s stew for dinner.”
“That’s not what stew smells like.”
Since I’d already been considering throwing it out, I readily admitted it.
“I got the seasoning wrong.”
“I’ll do it.”
Biedler stepped forward smoothly, spooned up some stew, and tasted it.
It must have been just as dreadful for him, but he didn’t change his expression in the slightest.
Then, with practiced ease, he gathered this and that and began adjusting the seasoning.
I hadn’t expected much from a prince, but with each movement of his hands, the aroma transformed.
Shortly after, Biedler spooned up some broth with a fresh spoon and offered it to me.
“Try it.”
……!
I took it before I could think and tasted it. It had become an entirely different dish.
“It’s delicious?”
“After nearly a decade on the battlefield, one develops a feel for seasoning food like this.”
“You cooked for yourself too?”
“Survival demanded it.”
For someone who appeared to have spent his whole life giving orders to others, he was someone who’d done far more than anyone might guess.
“Let’s eat.”
“Yes.”
I transferred the pot of stew to the table. Using a ladle, I filled both Biedler’s and my bowls generously.
Grandfather saw that cooking was finished and retreated to the sofa. As always, he didn’t join us for the meal.
“How luxurious. Never did I think the day would come when I’d eat food prepared by His Highness.”
“What’s so surprising? You’ve seen me clean the shop and mop the floors often enough.”
Now that he mentioned it, I did remember, so I closed my mouth and focused on the food.
We were nearly finished when—
I felt footsteps rushing toward the shop and looked toward the entrance at the same time as Biedler.
The moment the door burst open, my eyes met those of Seniel, who was looking around for me.
“Sister!!”
Even after all this time, he ran toward me with that same brilliant smile, his face radiant as ever.
I awkwardly caught him in an embrace from my seated position, then quickly glanced toward where Grandfather had been.
He was now in cat form, watching us. I could sense bewilderment in the flick of his tail.
“You’ve grown bigger.”
“I’ve been working too much.”
Seniel released his hold and peered directly into my face.
“I was dying to see you.”
“Don’t exaggerate. Back then you only saw me once a year.”
“But it’s different now.”
How had I ever managed it before?
It had only been nearly two months since entering the Imperial Palace, yet I felt such joy at seeing him.
In the past, I must have endured it by suppressing all my personal feelings and living only for Raven.
“But why is His Highness here? At this hour… were you two close enough to share dinner together?”
“Didn’t I tell you I was staying here?”
In that instant, a chill passed between the eyes of the two facing each other.
“You didn’t. Since when?”
Seniel’s tone in particular had become noticeably rigid. He shifted his distance from Biedler, visibly wary.
“It was because of a map… but explaining now would be difficult.”
Biedler glanced at me. To explain, I’d have to mention that I was connected to Raven, and that wasn’t something to bring up now.
I decided to explain everything step by step eventually, but not now—so I simply seated Seniel at a chair.
“Have you eaten?”
“Not yet. I’m starving.”
“Let’s eat together.”
I quickly fetched a bowl and spoon, set them before him, and gave him a generous serving of stew.
Fortunately, Seniel focused on the food before him and began eating eagerly.
Only after he’d had his fill did he look around and ask with some confusion.
“The building has changed a lot? It’s much bigger now, and there are new passages. How did you manage that?”
The exterior had changed even more dramatically than the interior—he must have only just noticed it, having rushed here.
I was about to mention the fire that had occurred in the shop at Clione’s instigation when Grandfather, in cat form, leaped onto the chair beside Seniel.
“Oh, long time no see! There’s a cat that looks just like you in the Imperial Palace too.”
Seniel seemed delighted that the cat, which he normally avoided when visiting the shop, had come so close, and began stroking its fur.
“It’s not just that she looks similar. It’s the same cat.”
What?
Seniel, who’d been petting the cat with his left hand under the table, froze and looked at me.
“Seniel, have you ever heard of the Grand Mage Meyson?”
“Of course. Is there a single knight who doesn’t know of him? But why do you mention his name so suddenly?”
“He’s our grandfather.”
What?
Seniel’s eyes widened considerably, and his lips parted.
“Grandfather—meaning our mother’s father. Our grandmother must have hidden it, so Mother never knew either. Grandfather himself didn’t know until recently.”
“A grandfather appears out of nowhere, and his true identity is the Grand Mage? You’re asking me to believe that?”
“It’s the truth.”
Biedler added his own word to help convince him, then immediately added another.
“He’s sitting right beside you now.”
“That makes no sense at all….”
Seniel looked incredulously from side to side. There was only the cat beside him.
At that exact moment, Grandfather changed his form as if on cue.
Still a cat, but not the one he used around the shop—rather, the appearance he took when visiting Seniel at the Imperial Palace.
Huh?
Regardless of Seniel’s stunned reaction, the form changed again immediately—this time to his true self, that of a man.
Grandfather’s long, lustrous silver hair, cascading to his waist, drew everyone’s gaze.
Being right beside him made the comparison all the more striking. It was exactly the same shade as Seniel’s silver hair.

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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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