LIGHTNOVELSTORY Chapter 131
“I refuse.”
Navier asked Madrenne, who answered sharply as if she didn’t have any worry.
“Why?”
“My cafe is purely for luxury, and I have no intention of letting anyone use it.”
Navier crossed his arms in slow motion, leaned against the railing, tilted his head, and gazed at Madrenne.
“Why?”
“…”
For some reason, the drooping corners of his eyes made viewers feel sad, which seemed useless to Madrenne.
As expected, she’s a normal type. I can’t help it.
“5%.”
“…”
Madrenne’s mouth, reciting the reason for rejection like flowing water, was tightly closed as if she had attached it with glue.
“I will give you 5% of our guild’s income. Wouldn’t that be enough to enjoy luxuries to the point of disgust?”
The corners of Madrenne’s mouth moved gently. Is he really going to hand over her the share that even Countess Proud couldn’t get?
What kind of windfall is this?
How much does Violet earn? How much would 5% be about? Madrenne’s brain began to spin.
“To give you a little help with your choice, 5% would be about 2,000 gold per month.”
Madrenne’s mouth dropped open.
“Madrenne?”
It was only after Navier waved his hand in front of Madrenne, who was staring at him with her mouth open as if she had lost her mind, that she managed to come to her senses.
“
Cough
! Well, I guess that’s enough for the usage fee.”
“Then is the contract established?”
“Instead, no one should know. That my cafe is Violet’s base.”
It would be a blow if even a rumor spread that the precious cafe she had put her name on was connected to a guild that handled all kinds of illegal activities.
If that happens, I’ll get stuck in the middle of the road.
“Of course, externally, your cafe has nothing to do with us. We just need to let our informants work here.”
“Especially, Countess Proud shouldn’t know.” Madrenne repeatedly requested.
What’s the aftermath when Countess Proud finds out she has something she can’t have?
Ugh. I don’t even want to imagine it.
If she got caught by Arianne, she would be nagged for the rest of her life.
“That’s what I want to say.” Navier also had the same thoughts about that.
The information he gathered from bars, back alleys, and gambling dens had limitations. The people who kept the most important secret out of secret were the servants of nobles, among them the maids who served the nobles right by their side. In the empire, women weren’t yet allowed to enter bars or gambling houses, so in order to obtain information, one had to go to the places where they were.
Just in time, Madrenne created a cafe that anyone could enjoy regardless of their status, and it was booming. Based here, he was thinking of planting people everywhere, including the cafe, dressing room, and grocery store that maids used.
Honestly, he could set up a similar store and use it as a base, but Navier chose to join hands with Madrenne. Navier recalled what happened at County Bornes many years ago. That day, when the other employees saw Madrenne appear with her hair in a tangled mess, there was an uproar, asking what was going on.
“Madrenne, what’s wrong with your hair?”
Madrenne combed her hair a few times with her hands and replied sourly.
“It’s not a big deal. I just came to take care of some unlucky things.”
“Did you fight with them again?”
“Yes.”
The servants of the Bornes family often bumped into the servants of the townhouse next door whenever they faced each other.
“Are you okay?”
If Madrenne ended up in this state, what happened to them? With that feeling in mind, one of the maids asked.
“I can’t give up. Because those dogs keep talking nonsense, I pulled out a handful of her hair and put her under my armpit.”
The servants were surprised by Madrenne’s drastic response.
“And what if the viscount finds out and demands for damages?”
The servants were practically the property of the nobles during the contract period. Count Bornes had no choice but to pay compensation if the viscount stumbled upon them. It might not be common for a noble to demand compensation from Count Bornes, but if they weren’t careful, they could have been stamped by their master and kicked out.
“But! Do you know what they said about our lady? They said our lady is not actually beautiful, and she’s too pale, so they accused her of not going outside often because her beauty was only because of makeup!”
“What?”
“What did they say? Our lady may have a poor personality, but her look is the best in the empire!”
“Are they crazy? Did they think we didn’t know they said that our lady stuffs cotton into her hair as her hair looks so thick?”
The servants, who had thought Madrenne was excessive a little while ago, actually became more enraged and began to run amok.
At that time, Madrenne shouted.
“I! Although I don’t like our lady! I can’t stand it when someone criticizes our lady!”
“Good job! After all, you’re Madrenne! If they talk nonsense again, tell us! We’re going to rip out all the hair on their head and stick it up to their ass.”
Navier, who was watching this from afar, remembered Madrenne’s usual behavior and laughed.
What is this?
Even if I’m the one who said it, they’re going to kick me too.
Right?
Anyway, Madrenne was loyal in a way. And she was the only person who stayed by the grumpy and eccentric Arianne. Navier himself was her family, not a stranger. That alone made Madrenne an important person to Navier.
“2,000 gold per month…” Madrenne murmured, her cheeks flushed with delight.
Will Sir Dale like me even if I ask him to marry me?
Probably not.
Navier smiled brightly and then naturally rolled his eyes at the intense gaze he felt somewhere to find his opponent. “Hmm.”
Navier smiled mischievously as he looked back and forth between Madrenne, who still blushed, and someone shooting a burning, intense gaze. Then he approached Madrenne, leaned over, and whispered in her ear. “This is a service.”
“Service? What? What is it?”
Madrenne scanned Navier’s hands and body in search of service. He flicked her forehead with his finger and turned back to the office. Rubbing her forehead, she followed him and asked. “What’s the service?”
“It’s okay not to say thank you.”
Navier left the words behind and disappeared. And Madrenne left behind, shouted into the closed door.
“If you want to be thanked, first provide a service!”
At that moment, Dale, standing blankly on the street overlooking Madrenne’s cafe, suddenly came to his senses and stepped forward when he heard the voice of his colleague standing next to him calling him.
That man…
* * *
“Sir Dale, do you have any concerns?”
“Ah, no.”
Dale swept his face in embarrassment.
What’s wrong with me?
In fact, he already knew what was wrong with himself.
Is it already the second week?
Madrenne, who had been coming into his house three days a week and serving food made by her, stopped coming there. She suddenly stopped it out of nowhere.
She was such a burden, and he couldn’t accept her feelings, so she was just a person he felt sorry for… but why did he feel sad that she stopped coming? He was worried that something had happened to her, but all he heard was that her cafe was doing well and that she was doing very well.
Sometimes she came to his mind, but he couldn’t even go to see her. If he went to see her, what is he going to say? It’s not like he’s going to accept her anyway. No, her feelings for him might have gone from now.
The moment Dale was endlessly thinking like that,
“Charter, is the afternoon okay? Madrenne asked me to rate the new menu she created.”
Madrenne?
Dale’s head turned around.
“I’m afraid I can’t because I have a prior engagement with Duke Hood this afternoon.”
“Hmm. Then I guess I’ll have to go alone.”
“I’m free today.” Dale suddenly intervened without even realizing it.
“Huh?”
Arianne’s eyes widened at the voice that came out of nowhere.
“Sir Dale? Are you going to accompany me to the cafe?”
“That’s… Duke has work to do, and I’m free, so I will escort you.”
Arianne’s eyes narrowed. Dale dropped his gaze on his tiptoe.
“Sir Dale being an escort? You’re not going to secretly follow me from behind but escort me?”
Dale, who had secretly followed Arianne, corrected the fact. “It was because of the Duke’s order.”
Dale proudly sold his boss, and Charter, guilty of committing, was quiet.
“Well, then, please take care of me.”
Arianne readily accepted Dale’s joining, and Dale breathed an invisible sigh of relief.
* * *
“Countess, you’re here.”
Madrenne, who was glad to see Arianne, saw the man walking behind her, and her eyes grew big.
“Oh my, Sir Dale, what are you doing here? Will the sun rise in the west tomorrow?”
Madrenne laughed casually and teased Dale, and Dale felt his heart sink to such a figure.
She then led Arianne and Dale to the best seat on the third-floor balcony and sat face to face.
“Countess, isn’t it hard to see you these days? Even if I quit my job, we have a relationship that lasts ten years.”
“Those words mean you want me to come often and promote your cafe, right?”
“Exactly.”
While Arianne and Madrenne were having a wonderful conversation, Dale was soothing his burning inside with a cup of bitter coffee. The second coffee he drank in his life was surprisingly good. Maybe it was better because it made him not know if his mouth was bitter or inside.
The moment he savors the taste of coffee,
“So, are you seriously considering meeting the Baron’s second son?”
“Well, I’m at that age, and my parents are so eager to marry me off. They said they’d personally intervene if I wasn’t married soon.”
“It’s understandable. If it’s your parents, it would be okay.”
At that moment.
“
Cough! Cough! Cough!
”
Dale spewed coffee through his nose and blushed red. Madrenne casually handed him a napkin and said, “I know it. I will tell them to put some syrup in it.”