chapter 01
Jingle.
The bell hanging over the entrance rang brightly as the door swung open.
I looked up from the cutting board where I was slicing strawberries with a paring knife for a customer’s drink.
“Welcome.”
“Oh my, there’s actually a café all the way out here? I happened to find it while taking a walk. The outside looked so lovely that I just had to come in.”
Keeping a perfectly straight face, I glanced around my dim little shop. The furniture was so old it looked ready to collapse at any moment, and the only light came through the window by the front.
“I’m sorry, but we’re full.”
And I wasn’t exaggerating.
There were only five tables to begin with, but every single one was occupied—even though this place was normally so empty it echoed.
Each seat had been claimed by a finely dressed young noblewoman, all elegantly sipping their drinks as though they were attending a grand banquet.
“Oh no… Would it be possible to share a table?”
The young lady who had just entered looked as though she might burst into tears, but not a single person inside even glanced her way.
“I’m afraid the other customers don’t seem interested.”
“But I came all the way here…”
“I thought you said you stumbled across this place by chance?”
“My, you have quite the memory. Hoho. Actually, I’m the second daughter of Count Edria’s family, and—”
She had been leaning close to whisper confidentially, but the moment she noticed the other noblewomen casually displaying their family insignias, she hurriedly changed the subject.
“Ahem. Then… where does Lord Seniel usually sit? And what’s his favorite drink?”
Apparently, she had never intended to hide her true purpose.
Her eyes sparkled as question after question poured from her lips.
I ignored her completely and returned my attention to the strawberries.
“Seniel doesn’t come here.”
“I know that’s not true. I paid a fortune for that information.”
I was trying to figure out how to get rid of her when she clearly had no intention of leaving.
Jingle.
The bell rang again.
And this time, the person walking through the door was none other than the very reason my café had become a pilgrimage site.
The noblewomen filling the shop erupted into screams.
“Kyaa!”
“I can’t believe I’m seeing Lord Seniel this close… I could die happy now!”
His skin was so pale it was almost translucent, blue veins faintly visible beneath it.
His refined, striking features looked as though they had been sculpted by hand. Silky silver hair fell to his neck, making his porcelain complexion appear even fairer, while his deep blue eyes stood out in sharp contrast.
Objectively speaking…
He absolutely deserved this kind of reaction.
Why did you have to show up now of all times?!
Every single customer in the café was one of Seniel’s fanatics.
“Sis! I’m here!”
Seniel beamed as he rushed toward me.
I caught him before he reached the counter and dragged him behind it.
“What are you doing here? I told you not to come during the day.”
“I had something to do nearby, so I was just passing by. But…”
He suddenly stopped speaking and glared across the room.
At the corner, Kaiden was quietly preparing drinks.
“Why is that guy here again? Shouldn’t a priest be praying at the temple? Actually… is he even a real priest?”
I grabbed both of Seniel’s cheeks in my hands and turned his face back toward me.
“Seniel. Because you keep coming here, my business is booming. Do you know that the customers who leave because there aren’t any seats left are all your fans?”
“So?”
“So if you keep showing up, more rumors will spread.”
“…And?”
“Then even more customers will come!”
“Isn’t that a good thing?”
He tilted his head in genuine confusion.
I barely managed to swallow the words that nearly escaped.
The problem is that this isn’t a normal café!
How was an underground guild branch supposed to function when it was packed with customers every day?
“Hmm… If there are too many people and you don’t like it…”
A dark aura slowly began radiating from Seniel.
“…Should I chase them all away?”
Apparently, he was upset that I’d scolded him.
The problem was, even that wouldn’t work.
Everyone here was obsessed enough to travel all this way just to catch a glimpse of him.
They’d probably think his murderous aura was charming too.
Just as I was about to stop him before things got worse—
Jingle.
The door opened yet again.
“We’re fu—”
I frowned, ready to tell the newcomer there were no seats.
Then I saw who it was.
“…”
I simply collapsed into the nearest chair.
“Rosia. The usual.”
Ignoring whether there were seats available or not, he marched straight to the counter, casually exchanging nods with Seniel as if this were the most natural thing in the world.
I stared at him in disbelief.
“Since when have you had a ‘usual’?”
“Aren’t I a regular here?”
The crown prince blinked innocently.
I immediately lost all desire to argue.
“Sis, want me to mash the strawberries for you?”
“Excuse me? Would you kindly leave the kitchen? This is my territory.”
“Territory? You’re talking about territory while standing next to my sister? Want to settle this?”
Somehow Kaiden had become my assistant, and admittedly…
None of the three men were lacking in looks.
Watching them glare at one another while standing shoulder to shoulder…
…made for an annoyingly picturesque scene.
A very picturesque one.
Perhaps that was why.
The noblewomen in the café had gone beyond screaming.
Some declared they could now die without regrets.
Others became so overwhelmed they literally slid out of their chairs.
Watching the complete chaos unfold, I leaned back in my seat and muttered blankly,
“…Maybe I should just shut the place down.”
*
When I was little, my family ran a shop.
It wasn’t the kind that specialized in one thing.
If someone wanted food, we served food.
If they wanted a drink, we made one.
What was the shop called?
It didn’t have a name.
My parents never even bothered putting up a sign.
To make matters worse, it sat deep in a rugged mountain with clean air and fresh water, so the only customers we ever saw were travelers who had gotten lost or herbalists searching for medicinal plants.
The shop was almost always empty.
But I loved it that way.
It became my little brother’s playground and mine.
And because there were hardly any customers, we got to spend almost all our time with our parents.
Naturally…
I grew up believing we were incredibly rich.
After all, wasn’t running an unnamed shop in the middle of nowhere with no customers something only wealthy people could afford to do as a hobby?
Then, when I was eight years old…
My parents died in an accident.
And the truth came crashing down.
“Sis…”
Seniel sobbed uncontrollably.
“…Does that mean… we’ll never see Mom and Dad again?”
“…No.”
I squeezed his trembling hand tightly as we stood before our parents’ graves.
“This is our last goodbye.”
I was desperately holding back my own tears when a woman dressed entirely in black approached us.
“You’re Rosia, aren’t you?”
“…Who are you?”
“I’m the person who lent your father money.”
She held out a sheet of paper.
“Read this.”
Money?
The moment she said those words, my tears stopped.
For just an instant…
Even the grief of losing my parents seemed to disappear.
I carefully examined the document.
It was a contract.
The handwriting.
The signature.
They were unmistakably Father’s.
He had taught me to read and write himself.
“There it is,” the woman said calmly.
“When your father died, he left behind a debt of one billion Jeri… and it has now been inherited by you.”
One…
Billion?
My mouth fell open.
It was such an enormous amount that an ordinary person might never earn it in an entire lifetime.
Father had borrowed that much?
What in the world had he spent it on?
Questions flooded my mind.
But only briefly.
The first thing I thought was—
I can’t inherit this debt.
“I’ve never heard my father mention any debt,” I protested.
“And besides… he’s already dead. How can a debt be inherited?”
The woman pointed to a clause in the contract.
“See this?”
She tapped it with one finger.
“If the borrower dies, the debt passes to the children.”
“That’s the law.”
“…Then how do I refuse the inheritance?”
“There is exactly one way.”
Her smile slowly spread across her face.
“If both of you die right here.”
The smile was terrifying.
“Other than that…”
She reached for us.
“…there’s no escape. Come.”
The place she took us to was filled with children around my age.
There, Seniel and I were forced through endless physical training while learning strange combat techniques.
Every day we fought.
And fought.
And fought again.
It was a system of absolute competition.
Only those ranked high enough earned food.
If someone starved to death…
Their body was simply thrown away.
For Seniel and me—children who had never even fought another person before—
It was hell.
As the days passed without making the rankings, we were denied meals again and again.
Seniel grew thinner with every passing week.
This can’t go on.
Debt or not…
There was no way we could survive like this.
I tried escaping several times with Seniel.
Every attempt failed.
The place was practically a fortress.
There were watchers everywhere.
Those we could see.
And those we couldn’t.
The first time we were caught, I begged the woman after she locked us in a cell.
“Please…”
“I’ll work harder than anyone.”
“I don’t know what you’re trying to raise in this training camp…”
“But I’ll become it.”
“So please…”
“At least let my little brother go.”
I clenched my teeth as I pleaded.
The woman answered indifferently.
“Don’t misunderstand.”
“The weak have no right to choose.”
If there was no escape…
Then questions could wait.
First, we had to survive.
Maybe I could have accepted dying.
But I would never allow Seniel to die in that place.
So…
I trained like I had gone insane.
Technique.
Strength.
Endurance.
I threw myself into all of it.
One month later…
I defeated a hulking boy who had remained in the top rankings for over a year without ever falling.
The adults called me a prodigy.
They said no child had climbed the rankings that quickly before.
Step by step…
I fought my way upward.
Until finally…
I became number one.
On the very day I reached first place, I went to see the woman again.
“…Do I have the right to choose now?”
