Chapter 12
“A… a banquet?’’
His words caught her so off guard that she was at a loss for words.
Naturally, she had expected him to demand a hefty sum of money or something equivalent… but just to attend a banquet?
What in the world…? What kind of banquet is this…?
The guild master’s gaze was quite serious. It didn’t seem like he was joking.
I asked, unable to hide my surprise, “A… a banquet? You don’t want money?”
“Our guild doesn’t trade for money. You already know that, don’t you?”
I didn’t know. Such detailed information wasn’t in the original work.
But I pretended as if I did and shrugged.
“Yeah. But a banquet… What kind of banquet is it, exactly?”
“It’s a dubious and dangerous banquet.”
“What?”
“But don’t worry, it’s not… It’s just a simple commemorative banquet.”
My heart skipped a beat. I looked at the guild master, startled.
He chuckled as if teasing me. It was truly an annoying situation.
“Hell no. I’m definitely not going.”
I had no desire to meet such a mysterious man privately.
And I didn’t want to waste my time attending banquets when I could be pursuing the male leads.
I shook my head firmly.
“I refuse. Name another price.”
“Another price…”
The guild master murmured in a strange voice, as if my refusal was unexpected.
“Then provide information about the underground garden of the Veloa Duchy. That’s the only thing I want from you.”
“What? Are you kidding me?”
The underground garden of the Veloa Duchy, which utilized the earth’s abilities, could be considered the Veloa family’s secret.
It secretly cultivated over a thousand different types of plants, with hundreds of them being offensive plants.
Revealing them to the outside world would be equivalent to exposing the core of the Veloa family.
It was an absurd demand. I furrowed my brow involuntarily.
“That’s absolutely impossible. I’d rather ask for the position of the Veloa Duchess.”
Guild Master chuckled at my earnest words.
“Sorry, but I don’t need that kind of thing either. I’d rather give you the Belora Lady.”
“What…?”
“Yeongae, it’s not that difficult, is it? Just attend the banquet once. It would surely not be a bad proposal for you. Isn’t it?”
Even though I promptly rejected the request for the garden, he continued to joke around.
‘He must not have brought up the garden seriously.’
With that thought, the Guild Master seemed very annoying.
He probably thought that by mentioning the underground garden of Belora, I would easily agree to attend the banquet.
In other words, he deliberately made an excessive proposal to induce me to attend the banquet.
“Annoying… Honestly, it’s not a bad proposal, though…”
Yeah. Honestly, his proposal wasn’t bad.
In fact, I came to this guild today prepared to offer dozens of jewel boxes.
But it ends with just attending a banquet. It was certainly a profitable deal.
However, it made me feel even more reluctant. I couldn’t understand what that man’s intentions were.
“…About that banquet. Is it definitely safe?”
I asked the Guild Master with suspicious eyes.
I didn’t think he would dare to take the Lady of Belora to a strange place, but I still wanted to confirm.
“Of course. It’s just a simple commemorative banquet.”
The Guild Master replied leisurely as he looked at me.
“Even if something happens, Yeongae won’t even get a single hair hurt, so rest assured.”
“…”
His attitude was relaxed, but it seemed like there was a corner of trust.
“Hmm… In that case, I might as well go along once. After all, I have nothing to lose.”
Alright. If things get really bad, I can always escape using my abilities on the ground.
And even though I didn’t bring it today, I had a magic scroll in my room that allowed short-range teleportation.
“Well, there are many ways to escape.”
With that conclusion, I whispered to the Guild Master.
“If I get even slightly injured, you’ll have to pay a hefty price.”
“Haha. That’s a bit scary.”
The Guild Master muttered softly.
But contrary to his words of fear, he seemed quite pleased.
“Then I’ll do my best to protect you with all my might.”
“Alright. Deal’s done. Guild Master.”
Yeah. At best, it was just a celebration.
So, I decided to go along with the Guild Master’s offer just this once.
“Ugh, it’s heavy….”
The Guild Master looked extremely pleased to be taking me to some mysterious commemorative banquet.
After sealing the deal, he led me to Café Valentine’s counter and swept up all sorts of desserts for me.
“Bella, take this too.”
“…Again?”
“This too. And this. Oh, and this too.”
“Um, hold on….”
“Hey, do you have any strawberry mousse cake here?”
The Guild Master, busy gathering desserts, shouted at the waiter.
“Uh… th-that… strawberry mousse cake, uh, it’s already sold out this morning….”
“Then why aren’t you making more? Ah, Bella, take this too.”
The waiter’s face turned pale at the Guild Master’s abrupt words.
But the Guild Master didn’t pay any attention and nestled strawberry roll cake and macarons into my arms.
“…Does this guy have any friends?”
It felt like watching a child eager to give everything to a newfound friend.
“Of course, given his behavior, it’s natural if he doesn’t have any friends….”
I shook my head and tried to stop the Guild Master.
“Hey, I’m good now. This is enough.”
“…What?”
However, the Guild Master didn’t seem pleased with my words.
He furrowed his brow as he swept pudding into my shopping bag, sorted by color.
“Just that? You haven’t even filled half of the bag yet.”
“…No, how can I fill all of this? I’m done.”
It wasn’t an exaggeration. The shopping bag was almost as big as a person, and it was so wide that it could easily fit three children.
I hurriedly closed the bag, afraid the man would try to add more desserts.
Then, without looking back, I quickly fled to Veloa Manor.
“Phew… Finally got out. How many desserts did he buy, anyway?”
The bag, filled with desserts, felt more like carrying rocks than sweets.
“Hehe! Miss, why did you buy so many desserts?”
“Sophia, who received a shopping bag from me, exclaimed as if she were tired of it.
“Yeah… even to you, this seems a bit excessive, right?”
“Haha… somehow it ended up being this much. You guys should share these among yourselves. Oh, and give some to Julieta too.”
“Yes, of course! …Oops! But these are desserts from Café Valentine, aren’t they!”
“I’ve been trying to get these but they’re always sold out! Sophia muttered excitedly.
It seemed Sofia already knew about it, probably because it was a famous store.
I was about to respond, but I stopped myself.
‘…But how do I explain it?’
I couldn’t casually talk about the Guild Master of Lberica . Besides, I myself didn’t know his identity.
As I carefully chose my words, Sofia’s misunderstanding deepened.
“Miss! Are you standing in line all day at Café Valentine for us? To let us taste these delicious desserts?”
“…Huh?”
It seemed like she was misunderstanding something serious. I reached out to correct her, but hesitated.
‘…But what do I say?’
I couldn’t casually mention the Guild Master of Libérica. Moreover, I didn’t even know his true identity.
As I pondered over what to say, Sophia’s misunderstanding grew deeper.
“Miss! I’m really touched! Trying these cheesecakes was a lifelong wish of mine!”
“R-really?”
“But you don’t have to do this again! Café Valentine has a three-hour wait, right? I’m worried that you, a delicate lady, might collapse from overexertion!”
“Um…”
Objectively, Ariadne wasn’t a delicate person. Generally, Earth Elementals were quite sturdy.
But Sophia grabbed my hand, tears welling up in her eyes.
For some reason, her gaze felt incredibly burdensome to me.
“Miss, please promise me never to push yourself too hard… Okay…?”
“Uh, yeah…”
“It’s a promise. Please… from now on, when you buy things like this, make sure to order for me or Mary…”
“Uh, yeah…”
I felt a pang of guilt unexpectedly. I had unintentionally worried Sophia.
But it was too late to deny it now.
I awkwardly smiled and nodded to Sophia.
After taking a clean shower and changing clothes, it was already dinner time.
I had another delicious dinner in the dining room with Julieta.
“Today’s dessert is a sweet cherry pie brought by Miss Ariadne.”
The dessert was a cherry pie from Café Valentine. I had prepared it in advance because Julieta liked it.
As expected, Julieta loved the cherry pie from Café Valentine.
“This… This cherry pie is so delicious!”
Julieta exclaimed with her eyes wide open after taking a bite. Her lips were stained with cherry filling.
Somehow, her reaction was cute, and I couldn’t help but smile.
I promised Julieta that we would visit Café Valentine together someday and returned to my room.
“Haha… everything is perfect.”
I had completed everything I had planned for today perfectly.
Now, there was only one thing left.
