Welcome to the Café of the Dark Guild’s Successor - Chapter 173

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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 operated by the heir to the Dark Guild.
Chapter 173
***
At the same moment.
Wyatt paced near the buried fragment, felt a tremor, and looked up.
“The battle’s intensifying.”
The vibrations that had been constant since the general assault began were drawing closer—forces must have breached the interior.
“This place isn’t safe either.”
Commotion this severe would surely have roused Juliano, and if he felt threatened, this cave would be the first place he’d come.
And Wyatt’s prediction proved accurate.
Only minutes after Esther’s group entered, a fierce aura approached the cave rapidly.
Wyatt was a mage skilled enough that Meyson had entrusted him with the Master’s seat.
His barrier shouldn’t have crumbled easily, yet somehow a massive impact struck it, leaving it unstable.
“Already? Juliano. This small fry…!”
He tried to reinforce the barrier, but the transformed Middle Ground had warped all the surrounding terrain.
For now, protecting the fragment was more pressing, so he waited. The barrier didn’t hold long and shattered.
“Damn.”
He’d magically concealed the stairs to prevent anyone from using them, yet Juliano descended to the underground with ease.
“Heh. So the rat’s come inside.”
Juliano laughed heartily, having noticed that the underground cave had become a Middle Ground.
“You’ve been in collusion with the Demon Realm here, haven’t you? I don’t know what you’ve done, but—”
Even as Wyatt confronted him angrily, Juliano paid no mind.
“Thank you for finding your way here of your own accord. Desikan will be most pleased.”
Juliano immediately drew a potion bottle from his pocket and drank.
Wyatt’s brow furrowed as he sensed the malevolent power growing stronger.
“Is this power worth abandoning your humanity for?”
Especially seeing Juliano’s form, bent at the waist and transformed into something far more monstrous than what he’d witnessed at the Mage Tower, Wyatt clicked his tongue in disapproval.
“Heheheh. Feel it. Power is freedom.”
The same colossal high-tier demon he’d summoned at the Mage Tower appeared.
Not only that—a swarm of demons materialized and attacked Wyatt.
“Bit much to handle alone.”
As he dealt with the high-tier demons rushing from all sides, he was forced to retreat from the spot where the fragment lay buried.
“No.”
Realizing his mistake too late, he tried to advance toward the fragment again, but the high-tier demon’s mace blocked his path.
In that interval, Juliano found the exact location of the buried fragment and sat beside it.
“You made the worst choice with your own hands. There’s no undoing it now.”
Wyatt swept away the demons with magic, his brows twitching.
“That’s just your wish. You underestimate the Master of the Mage Tower. I’ll clear them all out shortly and capture you. You’ll regret coming here of your own volition.”
Wyatt began channeling even stronger magic, calculating the time remaining.
He unleashed destructive spells without hesitation—ones he’d been unable to use last time for fear of bringing down the Mage Tower itself.
***
Hours earlier, the Imperial Palace was restless and frantic.
The palace mages, having spotted the increasingly reddened sky and the dark speck drawing ever closer, gathered and murmured anxiously.
“Isn’t that… the very thing written in the Seal Codex?”
“Yes. The invasion from the Demon Realm began after it appeared.”
“We’re all going to die.”
“What’s the use in maintaining the palace’s barrier from here? It was breached mercilessly last time anyway.”
Despairing voices echoed among the mages. All trembled with fear of when the Demon Realm might invade.
Those who worked in the palace abandoned their duties and gathered separately, scheming how to flee.
Meanwhile, Empress Clione was locked alone in her chamber.
It was the result of suspicions about the Strophane Clan being raised and Juliano’s defection to Desikan being exposed.
“What on earth is happening out there? What has my brother done…?”
Clione bit her lip so hard it bled, her anxiety mounting.
Then came a soft thud from the window.
Clione’s expression brightened at the sight of the knight Robin, who’d climbed the wall to the third floor.
She hurried to open the window and let him inside, then bombarded him with questions.
“It’s all a frame-up, isn’t it? Who’s orchestrating this political scheme? That bastard Biedler? Have you seen Father?”
“That’s… not a frame-up. It appears to be true. A coalition is planning a general assault on Verdian Territory.”
“Impossible. They dare attack our clan? How can Father sit idle after such insult?”
“…The Patriarch’s whereabouts have been lost. We entered Verdian Territory, but… we were denied access to the mansion.”
“That can’t be.”
“Something may have befallen the Patriarch.”
Clione collapsed where she stood. Robin knelt and supported her shoulders to keep her from falling.
“It must all be my brother’s doing. I always knew he’d cause trouble one day. I should never have forgiven him… I should have killed him then and there.”
“Your Majesty.”
“Ever since childhood, he resented me for being superior. He even tried to poison me. Father always made excuses, said it was done in ignorance, but did he think I wouldn’t see through his bitter nature?”
“What good does it do to settle matters of blame now? What’s done is done. You must flee at once.”
At the word “flee,” Clione’s eyes widened and she cried out.
“Why would I flee? I am the Empress. I’m going nowhere.”
“You must think of Leonard. The Crown Prince is still so young.”
As Clione began to weep with rage, Robin embraced her.
“If you live, another chance will come. First, you must remove yourself to safety.”
“Go tell Arthur… that we leave in an hour.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Robin slipped back out the window and made for the Crown Prince’s Palace where Arthur waited.
Arthur was living in better circumstances, free and unconfined.
Arthur, who had been drowning himself in drink ever since Biedler left the palace, hiccupped at the sight of Robin entering his chamber.
“Huh? What brings you here?”
“I’ve come to relay the Empress’s words.”
“Speak.”
“She says you’re to leave the palace with her in one hour.”
“Leave? Ahahaha, where to?”
“There’s a hidden villa.”
“Mother’s grown so weak. A flight? I’ll pass. Tell her to go alone.”
“Your Highness, Crown Prince or not, you are still of the Strophane Clan. When Biedler returns, he will place all responsibility for this affair upon you.”
“That bastard…!!”
Provoked, Arthur let the wine glass slip from his hand; it fell to the floor and rolled away.
“Exactly one hour from now.”
With his message delivered, Robin left. Arthur scrambled to his feet and searched for a bag.
“What should I pack? Something of value…?”
Princess Melissa, lying on the bed, slowly rose. Her belly was heavily swollen.
“Your Highness, are you planning to go?”
“Y-yes, we need to survive first. Don’t worry. I have no intention of following Mother. We must abandon the Strophane name now. Let’s go to your kingdom.”
With no one else to rely on, Arthur rushed to the bed and gripped Melissa’s hand firmly.
His hand was cold and trembling with tension, slick with sweat. Melissa gazed at him with pity.
“In my current condition, I cannot travel far. Reaching the royal capital is impossible. And besides… international travel requires proper identification.”
“Then what do I do! If I stay here, I might be branded a traitor and executed! What am I supposed to do?!”
Melissa caught Arthur’s hand as he tore at his hair in anguish.
And slowly she placed it upon her swollen belly.
The child within Melissa, now nearly at full term, quickened at that very moment.
Feeling the movement, Arthur gasped and withdrew his hand.
“Protect us. It’s your child, Your Highness.”
Arthur’s eyes widened in shock. The more he wavered, the more firmly Melissa held his hand to her belly.
“You are the Crown Prince. Even if the Strophane Clan is branded traitors, you can find a way to survive. The Empress said she would flee, didn’t she? Tell the Emperor this.”
“B-but then Mother…?”
“Your Highness. Think only of us now. And of the child about to be born.”
Torn by conflict, Arthur ultimately resolved to inform the Emperor of the Empress’s escape and claim his own innocence.
Gripping Melissa’s hand tightly, Arthur hung his head and murmured.
“…I’m afraid. I’ve always done whatever Mother told me. Can I survive without her?”
“I’m here for you. I and my kingdom will stand with you.”
Arthur wept and embraced Melissa, and the princess soothed him.
Yet the face of Melissa, unseen by Arthur, was as cold and hard as stone, belying her tender words.
One hour later.
Clione appeared beside a great tree at the rear of the Empress’s Palace at the appointed time.
She’d fed sleeping draught to the palace knights beforehand, making her escape smooth.
Having exchanged clothes with a handmaiden and hidden her hair beneath a head covering, Clione glanced nervously around.
“Where’s Arthur? Why isn’t he here?”
“It seems he won’t be coming.”
“…I see. He’s the Crown Prince, so Arthur will be fine.”
“Where are we going?”
Clione climbed into the carriage’s cargo hold, cradling Leonard as he rubbed his eyes in Robin’s arms, stroking his hair.
“We’re taking a little journey.”
“Just us?”
“Yes.”
“We’re coming back, aren’t we?”
Bringing Leonard, who looked back anxiously, she boarded the carriage.
Thanks to Robin having bribed and disguised those in their path, the carriage slipped through the palace gates without scrutiny.
And though Clione never imagined it, the Emperor watched this sight from afar.

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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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