Welcome to the Café of the Dark Guild’s Successor - Chapter 183

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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 183
“What are you talking about?”
“I think I can tell by looking at your face.”
……?
As I stood there bewildered, Seniel unfolded her arms and stepped closer.
“It’s okay to be honest with yourself now. I’m finally letting go of your shoulder too.”
She brushed at the empty space above my shoulder as if sweeping something away, then fixed me with a serious gaze.
“No matter who it is, you might not be satisfied. But I’ll cheer you on either way. Besides, there’s nothing wrong with liking them both.”
“What did you just say?”
Seniel laughed and dashed back to work.
“Who do you like more? Well, both of them….”
I couldn’t bring myself to say “neither.”
Was there a part of my heart I didn’t know about? I was flustered when Biedler returned.
“Did you get heat exhaustion?”
He placed his hand on my forehead, noting that my face was flushed, and took my temperature.
Then he wiped away the sweat on my brow with his sleeve. Where his hand touched burned.
After hearing those strange words from Seniel, I became acutely aware of him, and my heart lurched.
“I’m fine.”
When I swatted his hand away, Biedler pouted and made a shade over my face with his hand.
Why was he being so tender today, more than usual?
I couldn’t keep looking at him, so I focused back on carrying bricks.
Time passed, and finally the cleanup was nearly complete.
Seniel, her sleeves rolled up fully, winced at the squeaking noise around us and muttered under her breath.
“Grandfather’s magic would make short work of this.”
“One shouldn’t rely on mages.”
“I know. Just saying. It’s too hot.”
Though we briefly helped each other toward the same goal, the Mage Tower and the Empire were only cooperating.
The mages stationed at the Imperial Palace were bound by contract to do only what was necessary; they never helped with trivial tasks like this.
“It is unusually hot.”
Everyone sweated profusely as they gazed up at the scorching sun beating down on them.
“Fickle, isn’t it? I used to wish for the sun to rise all day long, and now I’m wishing for it to set quickly because it’s too hot.”
How much time had passed since I dealt with Desikan? My heart had already changed, and now I resented the harsh sunlight.
“Forgetting is a blessing from the gods. That’s how we live—by forgetting. Because we’re human.”
“Right. The past is the past, and now it’s just hot. What can we do?”
Listening to Biedler and Seniel, I suddenly realized that I might finally be able to let go of my parents and Seniel and live for myself.
***
Many things happened over the following days.
Arthur, taking responsibility as a member of the clan, stepped down from the Crown Prince position.
Empress Clione was captured by none other than Arthur and returned to the Imperial Palace.
Publicly, it was announced that Juliano and Clione had orchestrated the incident together, and a trial was held immediately.
The verdict was death for both.
Given the magnitude of the calamity brought upon the Empire, the imperial court pushed everything forward quickly to make an example.
Today was the day of Empress Clione’s execution.
The front gates of the Imperial Palace were opened for all to see, and a guillotine was erected in front of them.
It was the same guillotine on which Biedler’s mother had been executed long ago.
I mixed with the crowd and watched Clione’s execution.
“Bah! To think we revered such a person as Empress. Die already!”
“Puppet of the Demon Realm!”
“Kill her! Kill her!”
Amid the murmuring of the crowd, curses rained down on Clione, Arthur, and the Strophane Clan.
I found no joy in seeing a once-mighty clan crumble into gossip.
Clione, who had struggled to the end insisting she was innocent, now appeared listless after taking medicine.
I turned my gaze to Biedler, who was watching Clione quietly.
I had sensed it from our first meeting at the villa, but Biedler possessed a commanding charisma that overwhelmed those around him.
He suited this image—revered by all—far better than when he had been scorned.
He was incomparable to Arthur, who had been Crown Prince. At last he seemed to have found his place, and I nodded to myself.
“This woman was recently Empress, yet she endangered the entire continent and even sold her soul to the Demon Realm. Her crimes are heinous and utterly unforgivable…….”
An imperial clerk recited Clione’s charges before all present.
Strictly speaking, it was Juliano’s doing, but the attempted poisoning of the Emperor was added to the list.
“I shall now carry out the sentence of death.”
As I heard the guillotine activate, I turned away quietly.
Back in my room, the space was far too vast to occupy alone. I glanced around it briefly.
As I began packing my things, there came a tap-tap sound from the window.
Curious, I turned my head to see a thick, fluffy bundle standing on the windowsill with its paws.
“Meow.”
A very familiar cat with blue eyes appeared.
I smiled brightly and opened the window.
The cat entered gracefully with a soft step, flicking its long tail.
“Grandfather!”
As soon as it entered the room, it transformed into an old man.
It had been two weeks since I last saw him at the Mage Tower.
“What brings you here?”
“I was wrapping up my work and came this way.”
Grandfather, with dark circles under his eyes, sat on the sofa and leaned back.
“You must have worked hard.”
“Were you packing?”
“Yes. I’m leaving.”
“Seniel told me you were offered admission to the Tower. Didn’t appeal to you?”
“I’m not sure.”
“If your sword technique isn’t strong enough, I could teach you magic.”
Grandfather’s eyes gleamed hopefully.
“That does sound nice, but…”
My resolve had already been set during my time at the Imperial Palace, so I smiled.
“Grandfather, are you free now?”
“I am.”
“Would you fix up my café?”
Grandfather’s expression suggested he knew this was coming, and he extended his hand.
“When do we leave?”
“Right now.”
“No need to say goodbye to anyone?”
I took out a letter I had written the night before from a drawer.
Then I called for Shel from the open window and carefully tied it to her leg.
“We’ll see each other again soon anyway. I’ll be at the café all the time. If you miss me, come visit.”
“Then let’s go. To the café.”
I asked Shel to deliver the letter to Seniel properly, then took grandfather’s hand.
Using a Teleportation Magic Stone, a bright light opened a portal.
***
Arthur stepped down from the Crown Prince position as promised to Biedler.
He and Clione had traded lives, and in the end he lived to leave the Empire with the Princess.
Shortly after Clione’s execution, Arthur and Biedler met for a final farewell before leaving the Empire.
“Thank you for… letting us go.”
“Keep your promise. You must never set foot on this land again.”
“Of course. I swear I’ll live as if dead in the Kingdom.”
Arthur’s eyes, as he gazed back at the Imperial Palace, were filled with resignation and regret.
“My brother… No, your brother Leonard—what will you do with him?”
“We share no blood.”
“So you knew.”
Arthur hesitated as if to say more, then lowered his head and turned away.
“Brother.”
Biedler spoke to Arthur’s retreating figure in a low voice.
“Don’t forget. You lived for the Princess and your child.”
“I know. I’ll spend my whole life… grateful.”
The Princess bowed deeply to Biedler from inside the carriage.
And so Arthur and the Princess departed the Empire quietly and humbly, with no one to see them off.
“Why did you spare them? It’s not too late. We should send men to kill them.”
“They will certainly become a future problem.”
The commander and the advisor who had followed Biedler asked anxiously.
Biedler knew as well as anyone that killing Arthur and his child was the easiest path.
But he chose the harder road—binding Arthur with oath and covenant, letting him live.
“The Princess will keep her faith. With the goodwill established with the Kingdom this time, we’ll gain great advantage moving forward.”
In exchange for sparing them, he and the Princess had agreed to monopolize the import of minerals and spices produced in the Kingdom.
Though his men were displeased, they chose to trust Biedler’s judgment.
“The Empress, and now the Crown Prince too. Everything has been swept clean from the Imperial Palace.”
It was the moment when it became clear that the true power of the Empire now rested in Biedler’s hands.
“Congratulations.”
“Wasn’t this a long journey of revenge?”
“Now the entire Empire lies in your grasp.”
The knights who had stood by Biedler all this time raised their cups without hiding their joy.
But as he achieved both his revenge and mastery of the Empire, Biedler felt a strange hollowness instead.
“So this is what it feels like.”
“Sir?”
“Never mind.”
Even as Biedler clinked cups with his knights and received their congratulations, his mind kept returning to Rosia.
The one person who might understand these feelings best.
And the one he most wanted to celebrate with. Or rather, the one he wanted to see.
“I need to go.”
Biedler set down his cup and pulled Seniel away from where she was merrily celebrating with the other knights.
“Where is Rosia right now?”
“You mean…?”
Seniel’s lips curled up triumphantly as she continued.
“She’s left.”
“What?”
“She left a letter. Only for me.”
She pulled out the letter she had just received from Shel and waved it.
“When? Where? No, I need to see for myself.”
Unable to believe that Rosia had left without even saying goodbye to him, Biedler rushed straight to her room.
But just as Seniel had said, the room was already empty.

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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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