Welcome to the Café of the Dark Guild’s Successor - Chapter 6

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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 cafe run by the Dark Guild’s heir.
Chapter 6
“Ah…”
Coming to my senses, I withdrew my hand and hurriedly sought out a topic the child would enjoy.
“You mentioned a fan club earlier, right? What is that?”
“The fan club is a group made by people who like Seniel.”
“Why does something like that even exist?”
“Because he’s so handsome!”
Does a nationwide organization spring up whenever someone’s handsome? And a little thing like this joins it?
The child, unable to understand me the way I couldn’t understand her, looked at me with the same bewildered expression before asking me something in return.
“But who are you? Are you Seniel’s girlfriend?”
“Just someone he knows.”
“So you’re not his girlfriend?”
I nodded while pointing to the heavy egg basket the child was holding in both hands.
“Would you want to sell me those from now on? Then you could come through the front entrance, and on lucky days you might even see Seniel. What do you say?”
“Yay! Really? That’s amazing! I’ll raise them every day and bring you the strongest ones I pick! My name is Eribel, pretty lady!”
Delighted by my proposal, Eribel bounced in place and introduced herself.
Then she rushed off, saying she needed to check on the chickens right away.
I watched Eribel disappear, my senses sharpening instantly.
‘Three behind me. One’s Orbis… who are the other two? Seniel isn’t here.’
They’d appeared mid-conversation with Eribel and watched our entire exchange in silence.
As I picked up the map I’d set down earlier, pretending not to notice, Orbis called my name from behind.
“Big sister! That was amazing. I’ve never seen Eribel look so excited before.”
I turned around, feigning surprise at Orbis’s voice.
“When did you arrive? And who is…?”
Of the two who’d made their presence known, one seemed like an ordinary person, but the other was far from ordinary.
He gave off a keen, razor-sharp aura that made me curious about his identity—though I’d never seen him before.
A man with refined features and eyes the color of blood red stared at me intently from beside Orbis.
His gaze was observant, assessing.
“I have a question. Orbis, who is she? Have I brought a woman into my house?”
“Of course not! She’s Seniel’s sister. Seniel brought her here because she needed somewhere to stay for a few days.”
So this man was the owner of the house.
I’d felt something strangely familiar about him, but the moment I heard his voice, I was certain.
He was the man I’d encountered while carrying out a mission long ago.
‘Why is he here…? He doesn’t recognize me, does he?’
Even as I told myself there was no way he could connect my current self to Rosia, my heart hammered against my ribs.
His true identity was troublesome, but what frightened me most was that he knew Seniel.
I was suddenly terrified he might reveal everything to Seniel.
“Your face seems familiar. Have we met somewhere before?”
The man sensed something in me as well and stepped closer.
He stared directly into my eyes, pressing me with his question.
“No. This is our first meeting.”
I maintained a composed expression and answered indifferently.
Fortunately, the man asked nothing further and, as though losing interest, headed toward the Mansion.
“Big sister, we’ll talk later.”
Whether the man outranked Orbis in status or not, Orbis fumbled after him obsequiously.
Left behind, I felt relief flood through me, but an encroaching dread clung to me like a shadow.
“Who is he, exactly? What’s his connection to Seniel? And more than that—isn’t he the man I encountered back then?”
My head was spinning.
Why was someone who’d come to steal a map of a great path standing beside Seniel?
As I was mulling over whether I should use someone to gather information, I remembered that Penderlic was out.
“Let me listen to what they’re saying.”
I decided to brew some tea for them, eavesdrop on their conversation, and figure out exactly what relationship this man and Seniel shared.
***
As Rosia moved away, Roy, Bidler’s secretary, glanced back at her and asked Bidler a question.
“What’s the matter, sir? I’ve never seen you take such interest in a woman before—or initiate conversation first.”
“It’s not interest. Her face just felt genuinely familiar. Those bold, defiant blue eyes of hers.”
“…? Her appearance is certainly striking, but I didn’t sense that impression. Rather, didn’t she seem pure and graceful?”
“Pure? Your eyes are off.”
Bidler made no effort to hide the disdain in his voice as he unfastened the buttons of his shirt that had been done up to the collar.
“Should I have someone look into her background, sir?”
“Forget it. She must resemble Seniel.”
The secretary glanced sidelong at Rosia once more, but detected nothing of the same quality Bidler had sensed in her.
“Anyway, Orbis—why did you bring Seniel’s sister here? This isn’t a playground for children.”
This place was a hidden Hideout belonging directly to Bidler’s personal guard.
The Study was filled with classified documents that absolutely could not be exposed.
Orbis flinched at Bidler’s reproachful gaze and made excuses.
“I only brought her because Seniel did…. I’ve observed her for the past few days, and she’s a genuinely innocent woman who knows nothing of the world! She’ll only be here for a few days before leaving, so there shouldn’t be any problem.”
And he added:
“Just for a few days, please. I’ve never seen Seniel look so pleased before.”
“……Sigh.”
Bidler exhaled irritably and pushed open the door to Seniel’s room.
Seniel, who’d been looking over documents, swept back his silver hair, which glinted in the sunlight, and greeted Bidler peacefully.
“You’ve come.”
“You knew and didn’t even come to greet me?”
Bidler, his brow heavily furrowed, looked down at Seniel, who was perched by the window, and spoke with barely concealed irritation.
Then he reached out his long fingers and grasped Seniel’s chin, tilting his head this way and that.
“Your face has improved, I see.”
“Aren’t I on vacation?”
“I never authorized it.”
Seniel smiled brightly up at Bidler and asked:
“There’s nothing urgent anyway. Please let me have this. It’s my first vacation.”
“Something urgent came up.”
“What?”
Watching Seniel’s expression turn serious in an instant, Bidler finally released the chin he’d been holding.
“The Queen of Raven is dead. There will be shifts in the Guild rankings. There’s potential for it to escalate into factional conflict.”
“Really? Suddenly? Is it murder?”
“That much we don’t know yet.”
“Then who will be the next Guild Master?”
“Rosia, presumably. Barring any surprises. But that’s not all—Sewendel’s movements are also suspicious. It looks like they’re after the Map.”
“…Why does everyone have to cause chaos right now, when I’m trying to take my first vacation?”
At Seniel’s plaintive outcry, Bidler simply shrugged his shoulders lightly.
“In any case, your vacation is off the table.”
Bidler pulled the vacation request he’d brought tucked into his pocket and tore it in front of Seniel’s eyes, declaring his decision.
Seniel didn’t flinch at Bidler’s action at all; instead, he reached toward the small table beside him.
“I prepared multiple copies. I have the right to rest too!”
“Seniel!”
Angry at Seniel’s defiance, Bidler seized him by the collar.
Though it appeared somewhat violent, for two who had fought and grappled their way through countless battlefields together, this was hardly a quarrel.
“My sister has come to stay. I cannot compromise on this occasion.”
“I saw her outside. Don’t you find it strange? Why did she suddenly appear?”
Seniel’s Adam’s apple bobbed visibly as he swallowed hard.
“She’s a sister separated from us for ten years. You can’t trust her. She’ll use you under the pretense of family.”
“Don’t slander my sister.”
The light in Seniel’s eyes turned glacial as he looked at Bidler, who spoke so poorly of Rosia.
Seeing such a look from Seniel directed at him, Bidler let out a bitter laugh.
“Slander? Then what was she doing all this time while you were abandoned in someone else’s home?”
In truth, there was a hidden story behind Seniel’s adoption.
Seniel had to keep participating in wars as a substitute for the family’s true heir.
Each time he came close to death, he barely survived, and only with Bidler at his side.
Rosia didn’t know this story.
Bidler gripped Seniel’s collar more forcefully and spoke:
“Don’t forget. You are mine. You swore to obey me.”
Bidler had no desire for material possessions, but toward those he considered his own, he displayed a possessiveness bordering on obsession.
The number of people Bidler referred to as “mine” could be counted on fewer than five fingers, and Seniel was the one he trusted most.
This was why he’d so casually called Seniel “mine” as he always did.
But the moment the words left his mouth, a loud clatter echoed from behind him.
Both Seniel and Bidler’s eyes turned simultaneously to the rear.
“What was that?”
Through the gap in the door that Bidler hadn’t fully closed when entering, Rosia’s face appeared.
The loud noise had come from a teaspoon falling from the tray Rosia was carrying.
Behind her frozen face came Orbis’s face, his eyes covered by two fingers spread in a V-shape.
“I brought tea to serve…”
Rosia’s eyes widened as she glanced back and forth between the prince and Seniel.
Seniel, perched by the window, and Bidler, whose face was pressed far too close to Seniel’s.
Seniel’s shirt, half undone and hanging loose, and Bidler’s posture, leaning in as he gripped Seniel’s collar.
Everything was enough to invite misunderstanding.

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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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