Welcome to the Café of the Dark Guild’s Successor - Chapter 188

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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 Dark Guild’s heir.
Side Story 1
Raiely — The Road Home
The mountain path hadn’t changed.
Raiely thought this as she climbed Alein Mountain.
Whether it was the first time she’d walked this path or the dozens of times after, the mountain always looked the same.
The smell of earth, light filtering through the trees, birdsong drifting from somewhere unseen.
The only thing that had changed was Raiely’s heart as she climbed it.
“Master, you’re too fast.”
Sophia grumbled from behind. Raiely slowed her pace a little.
“Who said we should leave at dawn?”
“You did want to leave, but I never said anything about scrambling up the mountain like this.”
“I wasn’t scrambling.”
“By master’s standards, maybe.”
Sophia kept close beside her, catching her breath, then let out a playful laugh.
“Though I understand why you’re in such a hurry.”
Raiely didn’t answer.
Soon the café came into view. Smoke was rising from the chimney.
Armstrong was leading chicks around the yard, and signs of watering remained in the garden.
The fact that this ordinary scene belonged to Rosia still struck Raiely as strange sometimes.
Before opening the café door, Raiely paused for a moment. There was no particular reason.
“Why are you stopping?”
Sophia gave her a push from behind. Raiely stumbled forward and opened the door.
“Welcome.”
Rosia peeked her head up from behind the counter. She was wearing an apron and in the middle of chopping something.
“It’s been a while since you came together?”
“Sophia followed me.”
“I didn’t follow — I said we should come first.”
Sophia jabbed Raiely in the ribs with her elbow.
Raiely brushed it off lightly and took a seat.
The second table from the window — her usual spot.
The seat she’d sat in by chance on her first visit had somehow become her permanent place.
Cayden brought cool water. Sophia looked up at him and winked.
“How is Rosia doing these days? Eating and sleeping well, I hope?”
“Yes. Though she fell asleep late last night after talking with her grandfather.”
“And the Crown Prince?”
At the sudden change of topic, Cayden’s expression flickered for just a moment before settling back.
“He visited the day before yesterday.”
“Does he visit often?”
“More than often.”
Satisfied with the answer, Sophia glanced at Raiely and raised her eyebrows.
Raiely poured water into her glass and quietly avoided the gaze.
Rosia came out from behind the counter and sat across from the two of them.
“What brings you today?”
“You wanted to see the master.”
Sophia pointed at Raiely. Raiely pulled a document envelope from her pocket and slid it across.
“New commissions. They overlap with Aide’s territory, so you need to review them.”
Rosia opened the envelope and scanned it. Her eyes moved quickly across the documents.
The café owner’s face shifted briefly into the Prince’s face, then naturally returned to being the café owner.
Watching that transition, Raiely almost smiled without meaning to.
“I’ll need to ask His Highness about this first.”
“Then I’ll leave it with you. You said he visits often, after all.”
“Understood.”
Rosia readily accepted Raiely’s words.
“It’s still before mealtime, isn’t it? I’m glad we made plenty.”
The four of them sat around one table and ate the meal Cayden had prepared.
Sophia launched into an absurd story about a new guild member’s mistake, and Rosia laughed out loud.
It was nothing special.
And yet Rosia laughed audibly at that nothing special story.
Raiely paused with her spoon in hand, watching her.
In ten years at Raven, how many times had she seen Rosia laugh like this? She could count them on one hand.
And most of those had been something closer to relief after a mission ended — not this kind of laughter for no reason at all.
“Raiely, why aren’t you eating?”
“I am.”
Raiely moved her spoon again. The food was still warm.
After they finished eating and Sophia went into the kitchen to talk with Cayden, only Raiely and Rosia remained.
Rosia asked as she cleared the empty bowls.
“Did you really come just for work?”
“That too…”
Raiely answered immediately. She’d considered lying for a moment, but lies had never worked on Rosia.
“I wanted to see how you were doing.”
“Sophia comes by often. She could tell you.”
“Hearing it from Sophia and seeing it myself are different things.”
A brief silence fell between them.
From outside the window came the sound of Armstrong clucking.
Rosia broke the silence and asked.
“Raiely, do you ever think of Queen?”
It was an abrupt question, yet not entirely abrupt.
Sitting across from Rosia in this café, conversations like this sometimes emerged naturally — things that had never been spoken of at Raven.
“Sometimes, when I have to make an important decision, I wonder what Queen would have done. What about you?”
“Similar. I think of her in moments like these.”
“Like now?”
“Yes. If it weren’t for Queen, I wouldn’t be here now. You wouldn’t have met me either… I’m grateful for her.”
Raiely paused at those words. It was rare for Rosia to say things like this directly.
So words that Raiely normally wouldn’t have dared speak spilled out of her unbidden.
“I’m grateful too. That I met you… I’m glad.”
Rosia smiled softly and looked at Raiely.
There was no more conversation. Without words, they felt each other’s hearts sufficiently.
“I should get going now. I have much to do. Oh, don’t forget the Mana Stone delivery date.”
Raiely left the café, bringing along Sophia who was still talking.
Rosia stood in the doorway and waved at the two of them. She still wore her apron.
“Come again soon.”
The two nodded and waved back, then turned to leave.
Walking down the mountain path, Sophia spoke.
“Rosia was really laughing today while we ate. She just kept laughing at the smallest things.”
“I saw.”
“Beautiful, isn’t it?”
“…Yes.”
“What’s gotten into you?”
Raiely agreed without resistance, and Sophia looked surprised, shrugging her shoulders.
The mountain path was quiet as they descended. Somewhere above, the sound of Armstrong’s cry seemed to echo.
As she walked, Raiely remembered the first time she’d come to Alein Mountain.
Even then, Rosia wore an apron. Not the guild uniform she wore at Raven, not the black clothes of her work as Prince — just an ordinary apron.
Seeing her like that had made her throat tighten strangely.
At Raven, Rosia was always someone completing missions, delivering results, preparing for the next task.
She seemed like someone who didn’t know how to rest.
When told to rest, she maintained her sword. When that was done, she read the next mission briefing.
And yet this same person wore an apron and explained the menu to customers she was seeing for the first time.
That day, Raiely sat in a corner seat, sipping a drink, and thought slowly.
This is where she belongs.
Not at Raven. Not at my side. Here.
After that, coming to the café became frightening.
The desire to confirm that Rosia was doing well, coupled with the fear of that very confirmation.
The better she was doing, the more it meant she didn’t need Raven. And if she didn’t need Raven, it meant she didn’t need Raiely either.
But watching Rosia in the café, Raiely eventually had to accept it. Rosia seemed happiest and most at peace here.
And Raiely realized she needed to finally sort through her own feelings toward Rosia, feelings she’d long left unresolved.
It wasn’t easy to sort through. Knowing it would only become harder the more often she saw her, Raiely found herself drawn to visit anyway, like today.
There were many reasons. Branch reports, commission reviews, Mana Stone supply management. Half of it was genuine, half fabricated excuses.
Sophia had caught on early and pretended not to notice for a while. Then one day, she asked bluntly.
“Master, aren’t you going to tell Rosia?”
“Tell her what?”
“You know what.”
Looking at Sophia’s expression, which said she knew everything, Raiely couldn’t bring herself to lie. So she acknowledged the feeling and spoke.
“You know why Rosia left Raven. She was bound to something her whole life. To Queen, to Raven, to Seniel. For the first time, she’s living her own life. I don’t know if it’s right for me to add one more thing to that.”
“Master always thinks only from Rosia’s perspective.”
Raiely had no words for that.
“I want you to be happy too. Master. Or rather, Raiely. I do.”
At those words, Raiely closed her eyes for a moment.
Happiness. A word that had never existed in Raiely’s dictionary. A life filled with words like protecting Raven, not losing guild members, completing commissions — in such a life, happiness had always belonged to someone else.
“Thank you.”
That was all she could say. Sophia didn’t ask further.
She learned that Biedler had confessed to Rosia through Seniel afterward.
It wasn’t told directly, but the way Seniel mentioned Rosia changed. Phrases like “His Highness and older sister” came naturally.
Strangely, there was no shock. Because Raiely already knew how Biedler looked at Rosia.
At alliance negotiation tables, in guild competitions, she’d seen that man’s gaze follow Rosia countless times.
She couldn’t fail to recognize what kind of feeling that was. After all, she looked at Rosia with similar eyes.
And so Raiely decided to set aside those old feelings she’d never even dared voice.
That night, after returning from the café, Raiely went alone to the rooftop of Raven Headquarters.
Beyond the pitch-black sky, she looked toward the direction where Alein Mountain stood, where Rosia’s café was.
Too far away to see anything.
“I loved her.”
For the first time, she spoke it aloud. In the night air, Raiely’s whisper scattered softly.
“No — I love her. Still. But… I’m glad.”
That Rosia has found happiness. That she’s met someone who cherishes and loves her more than anyone.
Biedler was someone certain in how he protected his own.
He accepted the weight that came with being Crown Prince and chose Rosia. He could give her more than Raiely could.
That was enough. It really was enough.
“Now I think I can be well too.”
If Rosia grows a little happier each day in that café, then somewhere, Raiely could do the same.

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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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