Welcome to the Café of the Dark Guild’s Successor - Chapter 129

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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.
129
A moment later, the door swung open.
Despite the sign reading “Closed,” the Crown Prince strode in without hesitation.
“How have you been?”
The moment I saw that familiar arrogant expression, my lips tightened.
This was the kind of customer who could turn a perfectly good mood sour in an instant.
“…Your Highness. Welcome.”
I offered a proper greeting first, then asked, “What brings you here on your day off?”

“I thought you might be expecting my visit, so I came myself.”
“Your Highness must be terribly busy with affairs of state—I’d hardly presume to wait for you.”
I smiled thinly, my words dripping with sarcasm.
“You always know your place so well. I like that about you.”
But he missed the barb entirely, took it as a compliment instead, and tried to push past into the café.
I stepped into his path, my expression apologetic.
“Your Highness, I’m terribly sorry, but today we’re closed. The café isn’t open.”
“Perfect. The two of us can share a quiet meal.”
He simply walked past me and sat down at a table.
‘Ugh.’
Swallowing the wave of anger, I watched him settle into his chair and cross his legs, making himself comfortable.
I wanted to throw him out, but he was the Crown Prince—I’d pay too steep a price for such a presumption.
Thinking I might need to call on grandfather if this went any further, I stood before him for now.
“I always eat with my grandfather. He’s uncomfortable dining with strangers—I’m not sure he’d approve.”
“Uncomfortable? With me? Soon I’ll be Emperor of this entire realm.”
Even if the Emperor himself were to come, let alone his grandfather, grandfather would be displeased.
When had he ever cared about such things? He was probably watching right now with a deeply disapproving expression.
When I merely shrugged without responding, the Crown Prince seemed flustered and gave an awkward cough.
“Well, then. I suppose I should wait and greet him before I leave.”
“As you wish.”
I decided I’d serve him a simple drink and send him on his way, so I headed toward the counter.
While I was preparing a basic beverage, the Crown Prince, who’d been looking around restlessly, asked me a question.
“Did you like the gift I sent last time?”
“Yes. They were beautiful. Thank you for your thoughtfulness.”
Of course, they’d been utterly useless to me, so I’d distributed them among the café’s other visitors.
“I thought as much. Women all adore flowers. This time I’ve brought something different.”
The Crown Prince gestured, and his guards standing by the door brought forward several jewel boxes, setting them before me.
When he opened them, glittering necklaces, bracelets, and earrings lay revealed. The stones sparkled so brilliantly it was obvious at a glance they were expensive.
“I chose these with you in mind.”
“I have no reason to accept such expensive gifts.”
I stepped back, making my refusal crystal clear.
“Still pushing me away? Everyone else is desperate to receive jewels. Why do you insist on refusing?”
He made no attempt to hide his displeasure, and it showed plainly on his face.
“My patience has limits. Even if you are the granddaughter of the Grand Mage, your station remains humble and unremarkable. Don’t be so difficult.”
At this point, I was genuinely worried. Grandfather must have heard all of it by now—that he hadn’t already come out showed admirable restraint.
“As Your Highness so astutely noted, I do understand my place. I apologize.”
Taking a firmer stance, I refused again, and the Crown Prince rose from his seat.
He then approached me where I was just finishing the drink, and began hovering close.
“Your eyes are truly lovely.”
He suddenly thrust his face close to mine. If I hadn’t noticed and pulled back, our faces would have touched.
Looking at him with a cold stare, he smiled slickly and offered an excuse.
“I only meant to look closely. Up near, your skin is so soft, and you have such refined features.”
And with that, he pressed even closer.
“The only pity is… you seem not to yet understand what truly suits you. You’re wearing all the wrong things.”
The Crown Prince deliberately took hold of the hair that had slipped past my shoulder, tucked it behind my ear, and brushed my cheek with his fingers.
‘How much more of this do I have to endure?’
Suppressing the violent urge to break his hand, I dredged up my last reserves of patience.
“Become my woman. I’ll find for you things that truly suit you. This rough mountain, this café work—it’s all beneath you.”
My hands were still wet from washing after preparing the drink.
The Crown Prince picked up a towel from the nearby counter and dried my hands, his voice taking on a dreamy quality as he murmured.
“I’ll ensure that not a single drop of water ever touches your hands again. You’ll live your entire life in comfort.”
At that moment,
the air in the dining hall suddenly rippled. Grandfather’s concealment magic was about to shatter.
I stretched out my hand to calm grandfather, signaling that it was alright, while pulling my hand away from the Crown Prince.
“Is that some kind of novel torture?”
I could only marvel at how he thought such a thing was an attractive proposal.
“What?”
“Never touching a drop of water, living like a puppet for your entire life. Just imagining it suffocates me.”
My words displeased him—the Crown Prince crossed his arms and furrowed his brow.
“Every woman I’ve ever met has longed to live that way.”
I couldn’t deny that his poor character owed something to the women he’d surrounded himself with all these years.
“Then shouldn’t you spend your time with them instead? Wouldn’t that suit you both far better?”
“Are you mocking me?!”
“How could I? Your Highness, I’m grateful for your regard, but I’m content with my life as it is.”
I thought that should be enough explanation for any reasonable person, so I offered him the beverage.
“Please, have this before you go.”
“You’re stubborn—unyielding, really. Enough to break. Though I must admit, it’s rather charming. There’s a certain pleasure in bending thorns.”
…He wasn’t reasonable at all.
No matter what I said, he simply interpreted it as he pleased, took the cup, and drank it down greedily.
“I’m curious what expression you’d wear beneath me.”
He whispered it intimately, leaning close once more.
I’d reached my limit. I was about to signal grandfather to come out when suddenly there was a loud crash from behind me.
I spun around to see that one of the maidservants the Crown Prince had brought had dropped a dish.
“Camilla!”
She was bleeding from where the shards had cut her hand, and the Crown Prince rushed to her side in alarm.
“Your Highness… I’m so clumsy, I’m terribly sorry…”
“Here, hold this. The bleeding will stop soon.”
The relationship between the two didn’t look like a simple master and servant. Looking more closely, the maidservant’s appearance was striking too.
Especially the way her eyes were full of jealousy as she watched the Crown Prince fuss over her, all while glaring at me.
The Crown Prince, having rushed to the maidservant’s side, seemed to suddenly realize his behavior had gone too far. He flustered back toward me.
“This is Camilla, my friend. She wanted to see the mountain, so she came along—ahem.”
It was actually rather impressive in its own way: coming to seduce me while bringing another woman.
At this point, I figured I was justified in throwing him out. I signaled grandfather.
He appeared in the dining hall at once. Startled by his sudden appearance, the Crown Prince’s jaw dropped and he staggered backward.
“Grandfather!”
I called out to him with genuine delight and quickly scurried behind him for refuge.
For someone like the Crown Prince who valued rank and status so highly, matching pressure with equal authority worked best.
“You’ve come?”
“Child, who might this be?”
Grandfather asked as though he hadn’t already seen everything, affecting ignorance.
Though his expression had gone cold and clearly radiated displeasure, somehow only I seemed to notice it.
“The Crown Prince, Your Highness. He said he wanted to see you.”
“Oh! Meyson? I’m honored to finally meet you.”
The Crown Prince broke into a bright smile and extended his hand to grandfather.
“I’m Crown Prince Arthur. It’s an honor to meet you in person like this.”
“I’m Meyson.”
Grandfather, the former master of the Mage Tower, held a higher position than the Crown Prince—unless the Emperor himself had come.
The dramatic shift in the Crown Prince’s demeanor toward someone of higher status was immediately apparent.
“I heard you visited before.”
“Yes. I came to see your granddaughter. And that remains my purpose today.”
“Why is that?”
“Will you permit me to court your granddaughter? She has captured my heart.”
I was astonished at his audacity in making this request without ever asking for my own wishes.
“Child, what do you think?”
Grandfather turned instead to ask me, and I shook my head firmly.
That was all that was needed.
Grandfather positioned himself squarely in front of me, blocking my view, and stepped closer to the Crown Prince.
“I was planning a quiet meal with my granddaughter. Perhaps you should take your leave?”
“Meyson, maintaining good relations with me will serve your interests well going forward. Surely you’ll need to return to the Mage Tower?”
Taken aback by grandfather’s cold reception, the Crown Prince now dropped the pretense and began to bluster.
Then grandfather flicked his wrist. The door burst open, and all of the Crown Prince’s entourage except him was expelled outside.
“You have a long journey ahead. Shouldn’t you depart promptly? They’re waiting for you, after all.”
“You’ll regret treating me this way. When I become Emperor, I’ll make certain you pay for this disrespect.”
The Crown Prince bristled, glaring at grandfather and me in turn, then abruptly spun on his heel and stormed out.
And immediately, the woman called Camilla clung to his side, linking her arm through his.
“What kind of fool is he?”
“He’s always been insufferable. My fists were itching to teach him a lesson—I was barely holding back. How dare he lay hands on anyone like that.”
Shortly after, Biedler and Seniel emerged from where they’d been standing all along, exactly where they’d vanished to before.
“Good heavens. How did such a hooligan ever come into being? Tsk, tsk.”
Grandfather, still watching the Crown Prince’s retreating figure, sent a flash of light through the open door.
Alarmed that he’d used magic on the Crown Prince, I asked urgently.
“What did you just do?”

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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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