Welcome to the Café of the Dark Guild’s Successor - Chapter 135

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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.
135
“I should be going now.”
“I’ll reach out by Communication Orb. Travel safely.”
As I was turning to say goodbye, Biedler took my hand lightly and pressed his lips to the back of it.
I knew it was merely a greeting, but my eyes went wide.
Our gazes locked. Realizing my face had flushed, I hurried toward the carriage—when the door suddenly swung open on its own.
“……?”
I looked up in alarm to find my grandfather sitting inside.
Under the intensity of his gaze, Biedler flinched and stumbled over his words.
“H-How long have you been there?”
“Since before this fellow got any strange ideas about farewells. Rosia, let’s go.”
Embarrassed, I exchanged a nod with Biedler before climbing into the carriage.
The carriage carried us away from the house it had brought me from, exiting the Imperial Palace.
In the quiet interior, my grandfather stared at the back of my hand where Biedler’s lips had touched.
I covered it quickly with my other hand and coughed awkwardly.
“Were you watching the whole party?”
“I was. He prepared thoroughly. The Empress was helpless.”
“It probably mattered more because your name came up. When did you help him?”
“I didn’t help him. He used my name unilaterally.”
Though he said it with displeasure, the fact that he didn’t correct it meant he was willing to support Biedler.
Just then, my grandfather gazed out the window with a wistful expression.
It was merely the sight of people passing by, enjoying the New Year Celebration without anything particularly special—so I asked curiously.
“What’s the matter?”
“I’ve never given the New Year any meaning. I never understood celebrating a date that returns each year.”
I followed my grandfather’s gaze out the window.
“But now I begin to understand. I find myself wishing to see this sight again next year—with you and Seniel by my side.”
During my time at Raven, I’d felt the same way. I resonated with my grandfather’s sentiment.
“When we all ate together this time, I felt something similar. Next year, let’s bring Seniel too.”
“…Thank you. I’m already looking forward to it.”
It had been so long since I’d promised a future that it felt strange, and yet a small hope bloomed in my heart.
Soon the carriage came to a halt.
We sent the carriage back to the Imperial Palace and my grandfather and I entered the house.
“I’ll change my clothes and come back out.”
“Don’t you think you should show the High Priest how you look right now?”
I tilted my head, wondering why Cayden was suddenly mentioned.
It was especially unexpected that my grandfather would think of him.
“Why?”
“You look beautiful.”
I was flustered, my lips parting slightly. The mirror in the corner of the living room caught my reflection.
“I was thinking of sleeping here tonight and heading to Raven tomorrow…”
“You meant to stop by Raven in the morning? Then do that.”
With that, my grandfather extended his hand.
“Isn’t this excessive use of the Teleportation Magic Stone?”
“What does it matter? We’re mining them now. Come.”
The moment I took his hand, my grandfather activated a Magic Stone and opened a portal.
In an instant, we arrived at Alein Mountain, and the familiar building of the café came into view.
“There’s no place like home for rest, is there?”
“That’s true.”
As I tried to enter the café with my grandfather, I suddenly sensed movement in the distance.
Cayden was walking toward the café when he spotted me and froze completely.
“Rosia! You’re back already—”
He didn’t finish speaking, standing rigid as stone. I approached, thinking something was wrong.
“Cayden? What’s the matter?”
The closer I came, the wider his pupils grew. He was definitely looking at me, but something was off.
As I stepped closer and raised my hand in front of his face, Cayden suddenly gasped and moved away.
“Rosia. Please don’t do this.”
“Do what?”
“I’m a High Priest. This sort of temptation puts me in a difficult position. Please maintain your distance.”
He really did step back.
His eyes squeezed shut, leaving me dumbfounded. My grandfather came forward and pried Cayden’s eyes open.
“Meyson!”
With his eyes forced open, Cayden wore a pained expression, unable to look away from me.
As I stared at him, his face grew redder and redder until even his ears turned crimson, and he didn’t know what to do with himself.
“Heh heh. I knew he’d react like this. This is what I wanted to see.”
My grandfather was delighted by Cayden’s response and laughed for quite a while.
“I’ll go inside first.”
At this point, I had a reasonable suspicion that my grandfather had brought me here to show off my appearance.
Shaking my head wryly, I approached Cayden.
“Are you alright? Your face is red.”
“How could I be alright when Rosia is standing there dressed like that?”
He began fanning his face to cool the heat rising in his cheeks.
Even though he was facing me directly, he kept glancing sideways, unable to meet my eyes properly. His embarrassment somehow made me blush as well.
“Why were you coming to the café at this hour?”
“I performed Purification. I thought I wouldn’t be able to sleep at the Temple.”
“I see. Let’s go in. You can sleep at the café.”
As we walked toward the café, Cayden kept stealing glances at me, flustered every time our eyes met.
“You wore that outfit to the party?”
“I did.”
“…I’m a little upset.”
“Why?”
“Because other people got to see you looking so beautiful.”
“A High Priest shouldn’t think such things, should he?”
“Please forget you heard that.”
I laughed softly and opened the café door. The moment it swung open, Seniel burst out and positioned himself between Cayden and me.
“Big sister!”
From his animated expression, it looked like my grandfather had been holding him back from coming out.
***
At that same moment.
The Empress, who had fled the party like a fugitive, pulled herself together and sought out the Emperor at the Emperor’s Palace.
Though she normally entered countless times, Biedler’s knights blocked her at the entrance.
“You cannot enter.”
“Get out of my way at once! I will see His Majesty.”
“He has ordered that no one be admitted.”
“I am no one—I am the Empress of this empire!”
When her angry shouts proved useless, she pointed an accusing finger at the knights.
“How dare you block me! I will remember every one of your faces!”
“We merely follow orders.”
With no way to reach the Emperor, the Empress felt panic creeping in and turned away.
“I was the one who put a man with nothing in the Emperor’s seat… and he repays me with betrayal?”
As the Empress walked toward the Empress’s Palace, her personal knight approached.
“You must erase all traces of the drug. You said it came from the Swamp?”
“Yes. We brought it in through the Swamp and through the family.”
“Go to my father. Tell him… the situation, and ask him to use the family’s influence to suppress it.”
“Will you be alright without me?”
“He can’t do anything to me right now. There won’t be any other evidence. That’s why he’s left me.”
“Understood.”
Even as she sent the knight away, the Empress gnawed at her lips in anxiety.
“If things go wrong, Father will blame me for everything.”
The Empress had always been more capable than Juliano, but she knew she could never assume the position of head of house, outmatched by her brother.
In the end, she had chosen another path and climbed to the highest position she could reach, but she lived in fear of being cast aside the moment she became useless.
That was why she obsessed over making her son emperor, and now everything was on the verge of collapse.
“Where is the Crown Prince?”
“He awaits you at the Empress’s Palace.”
The Empress steadied her troubled mind and entered the reception room of the Empress’s Palace to see Arthur.
“Mother! What happened?”
Arthur rushed over and tugged at her sleeve, and the Empress snapped at him.
“Just what do you think you’re doing?!”
“I’m wronged. I only spent a little time… close with the Princess.”
“Wronged? Do you think I haven’t heard the rumors circulating? I warned you to be careful, but you won’t break your habits.”
The Empress’s gaze turned toward the Princess, sitting in a corner with her back held rigidly straight.
“Is what you said at the party the truth?”
“Mother, he might not be my child. We barely even… the Crown Prince’s words—how can you believe them?”
“The Crown Prince will step out for a moment.”
The Empress silenced the Crown Prince sharply and turned again to the Princess.
“Princess, I asked whether the child in your womb is truly the Crown Prince’s.”
“It’s the truth. The child is definitely His Highness the Crown Prince’s. Not a single lie. I can prove it.”
Though her shoulders trembled, the Princess met the Empress’s gaze without flinching.
“You deceived me completely—pretending to side with Biedler all this time. How cunning.”
“I wanted to save the child. I’m sorry.”
“If Arthur fails to ascend the throne because of you—I will never forgive you, your father, or your kingdom!”
The Empress spewed abuse as she strode to a drawer in the corner and began rummaging through medicine bottles.
When she couldn’t find the drug she wanted, she grabbed whatever came to hand and hurled bottles about, hissing as she spoke.
“If you want to live, erase the child yourself. I’ll give you the drug.”
“Your Majesty, I have already revealed my pregnancy before everyone. I will never voluntarily remove my child. If I die or miscarry… I will make it known that it was your doing.”
The Princess wept as she answered, her voice dripping with venom.
Though she knew she was unwelcome, she clenched her teeth against the rising sorrow.
Seeing this, the Empress accepted that the Princess could no longer be manipulated and exhaled deeply.
Then, a sudden idea flickered across her mind. Her eyes brightened and her manner shifted.
“Crown Prince, take the Princess as your Crown Princess.”

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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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