Welcome to the Café of the Dark Guild’s Successor - Chapter 187

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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.
Chapter 187 (Complete)
“I can’t pinpoint exactly when it started. Maybe from the moment I first saw you. You kept catching my attention. I grew suspicious of something strange about you, and before I knew it, I was worried about you.”
A breeze swept through the surroundings.
The bird song that had been loud moments before faded away, and I felt as though Biedler and I were alone in the world.
I felt the desire to avoid his gaze piercing into me, and at the same time, the desire not to avoid it.
“My eyes followed you of their own accord. When you nearly died, I wanted to protect you even at the cost of my own life. Saving you became a higher priority than every goal I’d ever held in my lifetime. That’s how I knew.”
Biedler paused for a moment, then continued.
“I love you. How do you feel?”
When Desikan had me captured, I remembered how Biedler threw himself into danger without hesitation to save me.
I remember the intense emotion I felt when our eyes met, when he refused to ever let me go.
“I….”
I was beginning to dimly sense that what I felt for him was completely different from what I felt for Cayden or Seniel.
Every time I drew closer to Biedler, my heart raced faster, and the throbbing grew stronger.
More than anything, I too found my eyes unconsciously following him whenever he appeared.
During my time at Raven, the feeling of liking someone was a luxury I couldn’t afford. There was no time to look away.
But now. Now it felt like it might be alright, and the locks on my heart came undone.
“So it’s not that you dislike me,” he murmured.
When I hesitated instead of answering readily, Biedler smiled softly.
“I was afraid you’d say you hated me. If you don’t hate me, that’s enough. I can wait.”
Biedler pulled a small jewel case from his pocket and opened it. Inside lay a bracelet set with a gemstone the color of my eyes.
“Your old one broke.”
He gestured for my hand.
I extended my arm, and Biedler came closer, carefully fastening the bracelet around my wrist.
“Don’t you dare reject me for reasons like status or anything like that.”
“Ah.”
I belatedly remembered that Biedler was the Imperial Prince, and soon to become Crown Prince.
Was it because we met often and I’d grown accustomed to him? Or was it because I now had the backing of a Grand Mage?
I still felt as though our lives were meant never to intertwine, but somewhere along the way, Biedler had become simply Biedler to me.
If Biedler becomes Emperor in the future, that might be a problem. But I’ll think about it when the time comes.
“Guess not,” he said.
Seeing my composure, Biedler let out a quiet laugh.
“That’s why I love you. Let’s do what our hearts desire. Don’t we deserve that?”
“I don’t hate you.”
“Hm?”
I don’t think love requires a reason or a right.
Following Biedler’s words, I decided it was time to be honest with my own heart—that now I could act according to what I felt.
“I think I like you too. Quite a lot, actually.”
The moment the words left my mouth, the emotion swelled even larger.
My cheeks burned, flushing red in an instant.
Biedler froze for a moment in surprise, but then his face broke into a radiant smile of purest joy.
He drew closer to me as I stood there embarrassed, cupping my face and slowly caressing it with his fingertips.
His eyes held mine intensely, as if to say I could pull away if I wished. He tilted his head and slowly lowered it toward me.
I didn’t pull away. Biedler’s lips met mine softly.
***
Several months later.
The café was drawing customers like it used to.
Actually, perhaps even more than before.
It started when rumors spread that Desikan had been sealed somewhere on Alein Mountain.
Thanks to this, the nearby village flourished greatly, and when they even turned it into a travel package, our café—the only one in the mountains—gained considerable renown.
As a result, I found myself living through exhaustingly busy days.
“Rosia, at this rate you won’t recover—you’ll catch something worse. And you’re overworking yourself,” Cayden said, concern evident in his voice.
Even Cayden, who rarely complained, couldn’t hold back his opinion this time.
“This won’t do. We need to establish a rest day.”
I’d only wanted to run the café peacefully; I’d never hoped for it to do this well.
Finding it truly unbearable, I created one day off per month for the café.
Today was that blessed rest day, so I locked up the café, prepared tea, and sat by the window.
“How long has it been since I’ve had this kind of peace?”
“Once I return to the Temple, will you be able to manage the café alone?”
“I’ll have to hire another assistant. Wait—you’re leaving? You’re fully recovered now?”
“I think I’ll feel sad if I go.”
“Of course you will. Where would I find an assistant like you? You’re the best assistant I’ve ever had.”
Watching Cayden, who single-handedly managed the work of at least three people, I could only conclude he was genuinely talented.
“I’m glad I’m at least useful as an assistant, so you’ll keep needing me,” Cayden said.
“Don’t give me that—you’re turning away priests who come by every week asking for you. And you’ve stopped liking me anyway. Stop making that face,” I said.
I gave Cayden’s arm a light tap as he rested his chin in his hand with a wistful expression.
“It’s because there’s no room for me between His Highness the Crown Prince and Rosia. I had no choice but to let go,” he said.
After deciding to meet with Biedler, I’d told Cayden honestly right away.
Since then, Cayden had deliberately brought up the fact that he used to like me, making it all seem playful, and in that way, he’d made me feel at ease.
Bang, bang, bang—.
Suddenly, someone knocked loudly on the door.
I tilted my head in confusion, went to the locked door, and opened it to find a man drenched in sweat, collapsing as he reached toward me.
“Water… please….”
I immediately recognized the man as Orbis and sighed.
“You lot again? Today was my one day off,” I muttered.
“Don’t say that—just give me some water, please. I ran all the way here, see?” Orbis wheezed.
I reluctantly let Orbis inside and poured him a cool drink.
He gulped the water down greedily and then sprawled out in a corner seat.
“What is it this time?”
“Special Training. The others should be arriving soon,” Orbis said.
Before Orbis had even finished speaking, the elite of the Black Eagle Knight Order came streaming in one after another.
“Water, please!!”
“Me first!!”
“Move! I was here first!”
As the smell of sweat began filling the café, Cayden pulled out a bottle of perfume he kept in a drawer and began spritzing it around.
In the meantime, I filled a large basin with water and set it out for the knights to drink from freely.
This had happened enough times that neither Cayden nor I batted an eye anymore.
“Why do you keep conducting training in this area? It’s annoying,” I grumbled.
“You don’t really wonder why? Should I explain it to you?” Cayden teased.
I made a small coughing sound and avoided his gaze by glancing toward the door.
The last person to enter the café was Biedler, who had become Crown Prince.
Though the knights frowned at the sight of him holding a wildflower, this had become such a familiar scene.
“I picked this on the way. When I saw this small, cute yellow flower, I thought of you,” he said.
“It’s lovely,” I replied.
Though I had no idea what being small and cute had to do with me, I accepted it gladly and pulled out a vase.
The bracelet Biedler had given me jingled softly as I arranged the flower in the vase.
“Where’s Seniel?”
“He was caught by one of your colleagues out front,” Biedler said.
Puzzled by the word “colleague,” I went outside to look and found Seniel in the back yard, conversing with Sophia.
Raiely, leaning against the wall and watching over the two, waved at me cheerfully.
“What’s going on?”
“You told Sophia today was your rest day, didn’t you? I happened to have the day off too, so I came to see her,” Raiely explained.
“His Highness and the knight order are inside,” I said.
“I know. I ran into them out front,” she replied.
“They didn’t come in, but what are Sophia and Seniel doing?” I asked.
“Your younger brother is so popular that requests related to him come in fairly often. They’re probably negotiating over some of those,” Raiely suggested.
I nodded and came back inside with Raiely.
“The café’s been crazy busy lately, hasn’t it? I told you, you should’ve used this place as a money collection point instead of a liaison branch. Sounds like you’re earning as much as the main headquarters,” Raiely said.
“Lately, it might be true,” I admitted.
“While we’re at it, should the Dark Guild switch its business focus and expand the café throughout the empire?” Raiely joked.
As we traded jokes and entered the café, the knights recognized Raiely and called out her name gladly despite their exhausted state.
Since working together several times after the Desikan incident, they’d grown quite familiar with one another, and Raiely naturally blended into their group.
Seniel and Sophia arrived a moment later. The moment Seniel walked in, he spotted the egg laid by Armstrong.
“Why don’t eggs from other creatures taste like this?” he wondered aloud.
During his time here, whether because the water was so good or some other influence, Armstrong’s eggs had a particularly delicious flavor.
However, just as Seniel was about to take a bite of the egg he’d cracked open, Sophia snatched it from his hands and popped the whole thing into her mouth in one go.
“Sister!!” Seniel cried out in despair.
“Oh, sorry—I thought you’d cracked it for me to eat. Rosia, do you have any more?” Sophia asked innocently.
“That was the last one,” I said.
Seniel looked utterly devastated, so Sophia comforted him while suggesting they go fetch Armstrong to see if there were more.
“This is even louder than usual,” I muttered, pressing my hand to my forehead.
Biedler, who had quietly come up beside me, wrapped his arms around my waist.
“But it’s nice, isn’t it?”
True enough.
The sky is simply blue, the sunlight glimmers brightly, and the day is full of people I love.
Though it’s a bit loud, it somehow feels more like a lived life because of it.
I know well how precious and memorable such ordinary, chaotic days can be.
Biedler linked his fingers through mine and turned me toward him.
“Why are you staring like that?” I asked.
“I just realized—you smile a lot these days. It looks good on you,” he said.
“Me?” I replied.
I touched the corners of my mouth and found them indeed curved upward. Come to think of it, I’d been wearing this expression constantly of late.
I let out a soft laugh and squeezed Biedler’s hand.
“I can barely remember the last time I said the word ‘happy,'” I said quietly.
Not once since my parents passed away.
“But right now… I think I’m a little happy. No—I’m happy,” I continued.
“I’m always happy when I’m with you,” Biedler said.
He stroked my head as if proud of me, then kissed my cheek gently.
Everyone had clearly been watching us secretly, for a chorus of teasing whoops broke out.
Biedler notably blanched when he spotted an old man standing by the window—his sharp eyes were unmistakable—and he swallowed hard.
“Let’s go,” he whispered.
“Should we?” I asked.
We ran out of the café deliberately holding hands, as if to prove a point.
I tried to suppress the laughter that kept bubbling up, but eventually gave in, laughing repeatedly as we ran.
“We should be hidden here,” I said, as we ducked behind the large tree in front of the café.
We faced each other in our hiding spot.
“You’re adorable,” Biedler whispered.
“What?” I asked.
He pulled me close by the waist and murmured softly in my ear.
“Your breath, still quick from running. Your eyes, sparkling. Even your flushed cheeks. It’s all unbearably lovely.”
My heart fluttered as Biedler moved to kiss me.
I was startled, but I soon closed my eyes and pulled him close.
When we drew apart a moment later, we glanced back toward the café.
Several people were crowded against the windows, while others had come outside the front door and were calling out to us loudly.
I met Biedler’s eyes and burst out laughing. It was a moment so full of joy my chest felt as though it might burst.
A café run by the heir to the Dark Guild. Complete

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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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