Welcome to the Café of the Dark Guild’s Successor - Chapter 33

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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 successor.
33
“She wasn’t in her room? Rosia took her to bed yesterday.”
I remembered settling into the chair, but she wasn’t there when I checked just now.
“Must’ve gone out the window.”
“You said you’d never keep one, yet you look disappointed.”
I shook my head firmly.
“That’s not it. I was just thinking of feeding her.”
“Isn’t feeding her the same as keeping her?”
I started to consider the point, then my eyes narrowed as I realized Cayden had been feeding me lately.
“That’s not the same as you keeping me.”
Cayden answered with a meaningful smile, then left for the Temple, saying he had evening prayers to attend.
After Cayden left, I washed up refreshed and began an ordinary day like any other.
I collected eggs from Armstrong’s pen and went to the Graveyard to clear weeds, where I discovered a bouquet placed before a tombstone.
“Who left this?”
I hadn’t sensed a stranger’s presence since yesterday.
Doubtful, I looked around, and the only trace I found was a cat’s paw prints.
***
For several days, Bidler interrogated the two spies Rosia had handed over at the Knights Order’s training grounds.
Both men were reluctant to speak, but using the Truth Serum Pill and Mental Magic, Bidler extracted crucial information.
They were remnants of Sailing.
After Seundel’s fall, the organization had been disbanded, but a year ago it quietly reformed and resumed operations under the same name.
Their minds were sealed with Brainwashing so thoroughly that the identities of the guild’s high-ranking officials and their true purpose could never be learned.
However, by deciphering the code in the spies’ notebook from scattered information, Bidler managed to uncover that they were preparing for war.
Moreover, many Commission Records revealed evidence that these two men were connected to the family of Clione, the current Empress.
“I’m quite curious to see what expression Her Majesty makes when she learns of this.”
“They’ll slip through easily enough. They’re only the tail, after all.”
At Secretary Roy’s concern, Bidler sneered.
“I know. Not a scratch will touch the Empress or her family. But we can’t seize the dragon’s head from the start. This is where we begin.”
The next day, Bidler went straight to the Imperial Palace to report on the spies and requested an audience with the Emperor.
The Emperor had always been cold to Bidler, who was like a child born outside his house.
Thus, without special reason, he could not have a private audience with the Emperor.
“Permission has been granted. You may enter.”
Bidler, who had been waiting in the reception room, felt his lips curl into a smile upon hearing the audience was approved.
The current Emperor, who had ascended to the throne thanks to Clione’s family, still bowed his head and watched her every mood.
The real power of the empire rested with the Empress; the weak Emperor, forever acting under her shadow, had been unable to protect Bidler from childhood.
When young Bidler was sent to the battlefield and faced death, the Emperor merely observed from a distance.
“He awaits you.”
The door to the audience chamber opened. The Emperor sat upon the dais, and beside him stood the Empress, steadfast and unmovable.
Bidler entered, fixing them both with a cold gaze, then knelt on one knee and bowed with courtesy.
“Your Majesties, it has been some time, sire.”
“Come closer.”
He walked the long carpet until his face drew near enough to read theirs.
The Emperor regarded Bidler with an expressionless face that revealed nothing.
“So, you’ve apprehended spies?”
“Yes, sire. We discovered them in the Alein Mountain Range.”
Just as Bidler opened his mouth to report the details of the spies, the Emperor waved his hand dismissively.
“Hand them over to the Knights Commander. The Palace will conduct its own investigation.”
“Are you not interested in my assessment?”
“You’ve done well. Continue to serve the empire’s peace henceforth.”
The Emperor offered Bidler no opening whatsoever.
Hearing that cold tone, Bidler straightened the knee he had bent.
He had harbored no expectations from the start, so disappointment was impossible. Repeating this to himself, he stood for a moment longer, regarding the Emperor.
Yet the Emperor turned his head away from his own son without so much as asking after his health or circumstances, facing instead toward the Empress.
Bidler turned his gaze away from that Emperor and fixed his eyes directly upon the Empress.
“However, there was something unusual I noticed in the spies’ notebook.”
“What would that be?”
“Among their list of clients was someone from the Verdian Domain. It appears they traveled between Verdian quite frequently.”
Verdian is the domain where the Empress’s family had established their seat. At the mention of that name, the smile vanished from the Empress’s lips.
“That’s absurd, Your Majesty. There must be some misunderstanding.”
“I thought so as well. I simply felt Your Majesties should be aware of these details.”
“Ahem, you may leave now.”
“Yes.”
The moment Verdian was mentioned, the Emperor’s mood seemed to darken.
He watched the Empress’s reaction and promptly dismissed Bidler.
As Bidler walked out of the audience chamber at a leisurely pace, the Empress, who had followed after him, called out from behind.
“Stop right there.”
Bidler turned with an easy smile and offered her a respectful bow.
“What is it?”
“What are you doing? Mentioning the Verdian Domain with unverified claims—are you challenging my family?”
Contempt burned in the Empress’s eyes as she regarded him.
Bidler met that coldness head-on, speaking each word with deliberate clarity.
“I merely stated the facts, yet you’ve come rushing out after me like this. Is there something guilty weighing on your mind? You seem unusually anxious—unlike yourself.”
“I came out to warn you. We won’t have you poking around in Verdian affairs.”
The Empress’s expression hardened, her rebuke cutting.
“Should any strange rumors circulate, I’ll assume they came from you.”
“I’m not so crude as to engage in such underhanded work. So long as it brings no harm to me, what Your Majesty does is of no concern.”
The look in Bidler’s eyes turned defiant. At such boldness, the Empress’s brow furrowed.
“However, if more such evidence continues to surface, I have no intention of concealing it. So take this as my warning: if you are engaged in needless folly, see that it does not cross my path.”
The client from within Verdian Domain confirmed through the spies—follow that thread upward and Clione’s family emerges with certainty.
“You dare present such flimsy scraps as evidence. How laughable.”
Yet the evidence was too weak to establish the connection. Both Bidler and Clione knew this.
Still, Bidler had raised the matter deliberately—both to gauge Clione’s reaction and to offer her a genuine warning.
“Yes, perhaps it is laughable. But you will come to regret dearly that this matter has come to my attention.”
“If you don’t wish to be banished to some remote frontier again, live quietly. You know well that I have the power to do it.”
The Empress twisted her lips into a smile and drew close, her words a whisper.
Though her smile remained soft, her eyes regarding Bidler were full of disdain.
Afterward, the Empress returned directly to the Emperor’s side.
Bidler, left standing alone, bore no visible marks of injury.
If anything, he looked almost pleased.
“To react that strongly—there’s certainly something there. I’ll need to investigate further.”
Having left the Imperial Palace, Bidler smiled with satisfaction.
“I should offer my thanks.”
Thanks to Rosia, he had now secured one card with which to bind the Empress.
And from this beginning, he would acquire many more.
Bidler, who met Secretary Roy waiting outside, cleared his throat and asked.
“What do women like?”
“Pardon?”
It was the most unexpected question Roy had ever heard from Bidler, so he stopped short.
“Don’t make me repeat myself.”
“You’ve found a woman? When did this happen without my knowing? Which noble house? This is wonderful news indeed. You’re well past the proper marriage age already. We should arrange the wedding at once and have children so that later we might have grandchildren…….”
Roy was already waxing eloquent about grandchild plans when Bidler quickly clamped the man’s mouth shut and drew the line.
“I’m trying to thank Seniel’s sister. She’s helped me uncover something significant—I can hardly skip expressing my gratitude.”
“Ah, I see! Still, that Your Highness would give a gift to a woman—how inspiring. Today I have regained hope.”
“That’s enough. It was my mistake to ask you.”
“Surely an accessory would be an apt gift, no?”
Bidler pictured Rosia and imagined an accessory. Yet he could not recall ever seeing her wear one.
“It doesn’t seem like it would suit her.”
“Why not? Miss Rosia is beautiful—anything would look lovely on her. Besides, there’s not a woman alive who dislikes something shiny and expensive.”
Though uncertain himself, Bidler judged that Roy’s thinking was more sound than his own, so he rested his chin in his hand, lost in thought.
“Summon a jeweler.”
“At once.”
Roy sought out a jeweler with great care, proceeding on the assumption that Bidler meant to convey his feelings through a gift to a woman.
And within moments, word spread through society that Bidler had purchased an accessory for a woman.
Given his reputation for avoiding women and his isolation since returning from war, the initial rumor sent shockwaves through the social circles.

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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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