Welcome to the Café of the Dark Guild’s Successor - Chapter 98

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

It’s a café operated by the heir of the Dark Guild.
Chapter 98
“He slept at the Imperial Palace again last night.”
Before becoming crown prince, Arthur used to slip out of the palace grounds daily, but recently he seemed to have matured—he no longer snuck away and his bearing had become appropriately dignified.
She had already made up her mind to find him a suitable match.
‘If we can’t win him over, we might as well make him one of us.’
Though she had certainly provoked the Archmage, since the transgression had been committed in ignorance of his connection—his granddaughter, no less—she was confident she could make amends.
If Mason sided with Arthur, nothing could be more reassuring.
It would be as though the entire Tower of Magic stood behind him, granting him more power than any noble house could offer.
Learning that Mason harbored a secret granddaughter was not a crisis, but an opportunity.
Clione, unaware that Rosia was Biedler’s fiancée, crafted her scheme to pair Rosia with Arthur and smiled to herself with satisfaction.
“Bring Arthur to me as soon as dawn breaks.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
***
Since losing consciousness, Rosia had been dreaming a long dream.
Or perhaps it was more accurate to say she had been submerged in a deep darkness where dream and reality could not be distinguished.
While her body lay bound and immobile, a voice reaching her ears gradually grew clearer.
“Stop sleeping and wake up, child. Time has run out.”
And the moment she recognized the voice with certainty, her long-closed eyes opened.
“What…?”
My body was wrapped in undergrowth. As I stirred, the branches peeled away.
A space beyond the cliff I recalled visiting once before—I gazed at this inverted sky and felt confusion wash over me.
“A dream?”
My last memory was barely escaping the burning shop, yet I couldn’t understand why I was suddenly here.
“Don’t try to make sense of it. This is a space within your own mind.”
Following the voice, I walked slowly forward. Just as in my childhood, along the same path, until I reached the ice wall.
An unknowable existence frozen within the wall, exactly as my memory had preserved it.
“It’s been a long time.”
“You… what are you?”
The being within the ice smiled at me.
Though encased in ice, its expression did not shift, yet it was clearly smiling. At the realization, a chill ran down my spine.
“You’ve grown so much. Humans are truly fascinating creatures. Heh heh.”
Startled by the voice—neither distinctly male nor female—I approached slowly.
“This is inside my head, you’re saying?”
“It’s a matter of perspective. Let’s leave it at that for now.”
“Why are you inside my head?”
“A very good question indeed. And if you find the answer, will you come seeking me then?”
“……?”
“I can give you whatever you desire. The power to protect everything, the power to command all things. Don’t you want it?”
“You’d just give me that?”
“Yes. If you take my hand.”
I, who knew well that nothing in the world was free, let out a bitter laugh.
I’d already paid a steep price for just a handful of dumplings.
What price would I have to pay for the power to command everything in existence?
“I’m not interested.”
At my blunt refusal, the being within the ice widened its eyes.
The moment our gazes locked, my entire body felt as though it were freezing.
“We’ll meet again. When we do, I’ll be hoping for a different answer.”
And with that, my body was yanked backward into the void.
***
I drew a sharp breath and opened my eyes. The space beyond the cliff was gone, replaced by an unfamiliar ceiling.
‘Where am I?’
Tensing, I tried to sit up, but my hand caught on something.
Lowering my head slowly, I saw long hair pressed against my hand, a face tilted close against mine.
“……Cayden?”
At my voice, Cayden’s head shot up sharply.
“Rosia! You’re awake?”
Tears immediately welled in his eyes as he looked down at me.
“I thought we’d lost you. You had no visible injuries but wouldn’t wake up—I can’t tell you how worried I’ve been.”
“Where is this?”
“A guest room at the Temple. Do you remember what happened to you?”
“I remember.”
Though my head throbbed, the memories were vivid.
The knight throwing something toward the shop, the way everything suddenly erupted in flames, the building collapsing.
“What happened to the shop? What became of it?”
“…….”
“It burned down completely, didn’t it?”
“It did.”
A profound emptiness settled over me.
Beyond the new memories I’d built there, it was the memories of my childhood with my parents that truly grieved me—all of it reduced to nothing.
“How many days have I been asleep?”
“Today makes three days.”
“Quite a long sleep.”
Cayden swept my hair behind my ear and smiled gently.
“Rest more. It’ll take time anyway before we can reopen the shop.”
Was there any reason to reopen it?
I’d returned to this place because of my memories with my parents.
The realization that everything was gone in a single morning left me numb.
Then someone entered the room, and I started. It was Biedler.
“Your Highness, what are you doing here?”
“He’s been here ever since you collapsed.”
“What about his duties?”
“I’ve been directing them from here.”
With that, Biedler stepped toward me slowly. Cayden made way for him.
I met his gaze in silence, noting the complexity of his expression.
“Thank you for waking up. I’m truly grateful.”
He sat in the chair beside me and gripped my hand firmly, then bowed his head low.
For a long moment he remained that way in silence before finally speaking.
“……How are you feeling?”
“For someone who nearly burned to death, I’m doing well enough.”
It was meant as a joke, but the slight lifting of Biedler’s head only deepened his expression.
“I’m sorry.”
“Sorry for what?”
“I fear I drew you into danger far too hastily.”
“Was this incident connected to you, Your Highness?”
“Not directly, but knowing that you could be endangered because of me… these past few days have been almost unbearable.”
Biedler’s eyes glistened. His face, gaunt from worry, spoke to his torment.
“I swore I would protect you, and yet all I found when I came was you lying unconscious.”
“It’s not even your fault. Why are you blaming yourself so?”
Faced with this unexpected side of him, I tried to soothe him, but his self-reproach ran deeper than I had imagined.
“If I had lost you like this, I could never have forgiven myself for the rest of my life. Thank goodness, truly, that you’ve awakened.”
Biedler bowed his head again, and his shoulders trembled faintly.
Uncertain how to comfort him, I sent a pleading look to Cayden, when suddenly someone appeared from beyond the door.
“Would you all excuse us?”
The voice was unfamiliar, but Biedler quickly dabbed his nose and turned away to avoid my eyes.
“I’ll wait outside.”
“Tell me if you need anything.”
Biedler and Cayden hastily left the room, reading the newcomer’s intent.
I furrowed my brow and regarded this man with indifference.
A man with a cold bearing, long silver hair cascading down his back.
There was something familiar about him as he approached my bedside, then suddenly began to weep profusely.
“Why… why are you crying?”
So bewildered was I by this stranger’s sudden tears that I didn’t know what to say.
Yet as I tried to place where I knew him from, recognition dawned.
“The Archmage Mason?”
“You know me?”
“This can’t be right.”
I had asked in disbelief, but the affirmation that came back left my mouth agape.
“Why are you here?”
The Archmage Mason, long master of the Tower of Magic—his name circulated in endless rumors, though few claimed to have met him in person.
My only memory was from my childhood education: seeing a rough portrait in some reference material.
The Tower of Magic and the Dark Guild would never cross paths, and in particular, without being a practitioner of Black Magic, one would have no involvement in guild affairs.
The fact that I remembered his face at all was something of a miracle.
It was only because, like Seniel, he possessed silver hair and blue eyes, which had been striking enough to imprint the memory.
As recollections of those long-ago teachings surfaced, I found myself recalling the faces of prominent figures connected to Mason.
Then I realized the older mage who had visited my shop before—he overlapped with one of those figures.
“Could it have been you back then……?”
I had thought his bearing was unusual, but I never imagined he held such importance in the Tower.
Deciding I would need to reexamine what I knew of the Tower, I recalled the Portrait he had brought with him.
‘The painting looked nothing like him.’
His striking presence and silver hair were entirely absent from that portrait.
Bewildered at how anyone was supposed to find a master from such a likeness, I steadied my racing heart.
“But why do you keep crying?”
Still struggling to accept that I was in the presence of the Archmage, I asked carefully, with caution.
“Ahem… listen to what I’m about to tell you.”
“Yes.”
“I am your grandfather.”
“……?”
At this entirely unexpected revelation, I laughed weakly and shook my head.
“I don’t have a grandfather.”
“You do.”
A family secret suddenly unveiled—it was absurd that a grandfather should suddenly appear.
When I refused to believe him, Mason raised his voice in exasperation.
“It’s true! I’m your grandfather. This hair, these eyes! How can you not see it?”
I regarded Mason’s appearance carefully. Taken piece by piece, he did bear considerable resemblance to Seniel.
Though he appeared far too young, given the Archmage’s age, it was plausible he could be my grandfather.
“I’ve never heard such a thing from either of my parents. Which side are you from?”
“Your mother’s—from Lily. She wouldn’t know either. I only recently discovered it myself.”
The moment he spoke my mother’s name, I felt myself growing more serious.
“So you’re really…my mother’s father? My grandfather? And the Archmage?”
As I grappled with this shocking revelation, Mason gazed at me with a distant expression.
“I didn’t have the courage to appear before you until now… so I watched over you in the form of a cat.”
“What?”
The man who had just appeared and declared himself my grandfather suddenly transformed into a cat right before my eyes.
“Meow.”
“Stop that!”
The neighborhood cat I’d adored all this time…had been a person…and my grandfather, no less.
I gasped in horror and squeezed my eyes shut. I needed time to process this.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————