Chapter 6
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 6
Chapter Title: Come to Everglow Hotel (2)
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“♪♬♩~”
The young lady with the perfect roll bun hairstyle walked down the street, humming a cheerful tune with light, bouncy steps.
Sham-Lorre Lady, the youngest daughter of the Gastro Family, was practically skipping along as she imagined what she might eat at the café today.
Passersby glanced at her with curious looks, as if wondering what good news she’d gotten, but she paid them no mind and soon arrived at her destination.
However, what caught her eye wasn’t the front door flung wide open in welcoming fashion as always, but a sign that read “Closed Today.”
‘Closed due to store circumstances.’
“This can’t be happening!”
With a sharp squeal, she plopped down right there on the spot.
“I’ve been looking forward to today so much!”
A grown young lady sniffling on the roadside like the world had ended naturally drew the attention of passersby.
One man approached her.
“Are you all right, miss?”
“You’re…?”
“Hm, looks like you came alone today.”
It was the manager who always greeted her and the others.
Why was he out here when the shop was closed?
“Manager…”
“Come on, let’s get you up. There are a lot of eyes on us.”
She took his kindly offered hand and stood, sniffling as she asked,
“Today…the shop…”
“Ah, the boss rented out the whole place for the day. I only heard about it suddenly yesterday myself.”
“The boss, you mean from the Everglow Family…?”
“Yes, that’s right. He’s someone I rarely see except on payday. Here, take this.”
A ticket along with a handkerchief.
As she wiped away her tears and looked closer, it was a dessert ticket given as an apology for the sudden closure.
It promised one free dessert of her choice on her next visit.
“Is this for real?”
“It’s what the boss instructed personally. It was sudden, but we did inconvenience everyone who showed up, after all.”
He’d handwritten them himself and brought them over, saying, ‘Give these to anyone who comes. We’ve got to offer at least this much after-service, right?’
Listening to the manager’s calm explanation, the young lady’s tears vanished as quickly as they’d come, replaced by a smile. She tucked the ticket carefully into her bosom like a treasure.
“So, is the boss inside right now, by any chance?”
Now that she looked, the blinds were drawn tight, blocking the view inside.
“He even sent me out here while he’s in a meeting. Ah, I can’t tell you who he’s with, though.”
“Hehe… Saying it like that just makes me more curious.”
The windows were completely covered, but since they were café curtains, they were thin enough to show silhouettes.
A tall, upright figure seated there—it had to be the famous third son of the Everglow Family.
“Then the other one…”
The ‘someone’ facing him wasn’t clear.
“Aww, I can’t see.”
“That’s the point of the blinds.”
“Got it… Well, see you next time. No backing out on the ticket, okay?”
“…Please pick something easy to make.”
“Hehe, we’ll see about that when the time comes, Manager.”
With her own little victory in hand, Gastro Lady turned and left with light steps.
Watching the roll bun head recede into the distance, the manager let out a sigh.
“Boss, I’m definitely getting overtime for this…”
He lamented his fate, unable to rest properly even on a shop holiday while dealing with yet another customer asking why they were closed today.
Soon after, high society buzzed with rumors of ‘the third son of the Everglow Family renting out an entire popular café for his lady.’
“How are the desserts? To your liking?”
“Mm, it’s nice they have new menu items too.”
Arselia savored each treat from the plates of various desserts, enjoying them alongside tea.
It didn’t seem like empty flattery—her eyebrows lifted with genuine delight every time she took a bite.
Of course, it could all be an act…
But if we couldn’t trust each other that much, that’d be a shame.
We hadn’t interacted much even after signing our initial contract.
“I’m glad you like them. Honestly, everything here tastes great to me, so I was a bit worried.”
“They’re not too sweet, which is perfect. Anything overly sugary makes it hard to focus while working.”
With that, she popped another small cookie into her mouth with a ‘nom’ and deftly wiped the crumbs from her lips.
“That’s thanks to our talented staff.”
“Hehe, doesn’t the boss who spotted their talent and hired them deserve a lot of the credit?”
“I’m confident in my eye for people. That’s why I joined hands with you last time, sis.”
At my words, she flinched slightly, carefully lifting her teacup for a sip before straightening her posture.
The light tea-party atmosphere vanished, replaced by the sharp, promising executive of the Rosenheim Merchant Guild.
“So, in your eyes, Young Master, I made for a solid business partner.”
“What’s there to say now? We’re just one signature away from finalizing it.”
Arselia was undeniably talented.
Even a powerhouse like the Rosenheim Merchant Guild, which dominated most of the empire’s distribution, didn’t succeed in every venture.
I could afford to live freely now without money worries, but my first business—started with pocket money I’d scrimped together—was…
A total disaster, honestly.
I’d turned it around through sheer luck, and only because I wasn’t your average person. If I’d been born into this world from the start…
And as a count’s family, even if one small venture flopped, we wouldn’t starve. It was a beast-hearted gamble only possible under those conditions.
My ‘pocket money’ wasn’t something a commoner could save in a month or two, either.
In other words, having money doesn’t guarantee success.
So what about Arselia?
“Every business you’ve personally handled so far has been a success, hasn’t it? That’s what I’ve heard, at least.”
The beauty before me was a genius who turned even the most hopeless prospects into minimal-loss, black-ink profits before handing them off to the guild.
Part of me wanted to ask how she did it—was it the hand of god?—but since I’d reincarnated from 21st-century Korea, I figured she might have her own secrets.
If a guy like me could reincarnate as the son of my favorite couple, a business prodigy wasn’t out of the question.
“…You’ve looked into me quite a bit.”
“I take interest in capable beauties.”
As I replied, I shot a glance at Sion, who stood silently in the shadows like a shadow, minimizing her presence.
“I see. I heard that cat-eared lady over there is another talent you brought on board. It makes sense.”
“I’ve received a lot of help from her—and still do.”
I held out my hand to Sion, and she promptly handed over two thick envelopes of documents, as if she’d been waiting.
Sion cleared the dessert plates to a side table and fetched my pen.
“These are the contracts, just needing final signatures. Take a look.”
I slid them over, and she silently scanned the dense text.
While Arselia read, I sipped from my nearly empty cup.
“As you’ll see, everything we agreed on with ‘Executive Director Arselia’ is reflected. But the real key is the other contract.”
“This is…”
Recruiting talent wasn’t new to me, but this felt like the tensest yet.
Because she was my type?
Or because she helmed one of the empire’s top guilds, Rosenheim?
Probably all of the above.
‘It felt like this when I first brought on Sion, too.’
Glancing sideways at the thought, I saw Sion’s tail swishing—maybe she was thinking the same.
Turning back, Arselia tried to keep a straight face, but her eyes betrayed her inner earthquake.
“…”
She lifted her gaze from the second contract—the ‘Recruitment Proposal’—and met my eyes.
“Why…?”
“Sis, what you say here is ‘thank you.’ You know better than anyone that questioning the value of what you’re negotiating for puts you at a disadvantage.”
I beckoned Sion over, and she refilled our empty cups with steaming hot tea.
My throat was parched too.
From here on, I had to choose my words carefully.
Masking my tension, I crossed my legs confidently.
“Now that we’ve agreed to collaborate, we’re bound by shared fate. That’s why I’m saying this.”
Arselia lifted her cup as if to hear me out.
“My ventures have succeeded so far. It’d be a lie to say they all went perfectly, but I can confidently say most did.”
I leaned forward, closing the distance between us.
“To successfully launch a new venture like the hotel…”
I paused deliberately, locking eyes with her.
“I’ve concluded that handling the largest sums of money across all my businesses to date requires a new system.”
“So, you need me?”
“I plan to build an entirely new management structure. And Arselia, you’re the perfect fit.”
“But I’m an executive of the Rosenheim Merchant Guild.”
She forced a smile, but her lips trembled visibly.
My proposal had struck her deepest desires.
It had landed perfectly.
“Does that matter?”
“Of course it does. Even as your business partner, Young Master, there’s such a thing as business etiquette. This is…”
“Poaching talent, right?”
“…And you know that, yet here you are.”
“Ha, why the resistance, sis?”
“Young Master.”
“Arselia.”
She looked ready to refuse, but her eyes kept drifting down toward the contract.
She was just putting up a front to hide her true feelings.
This was the critical moment.
The point where overconfidence could ruin everything.
So, let her decide for herself.
“Didn’t you want to become guild master?”
Desire is like gravity.
Impossible to escape, impossible to fully conquer.
All I had to do was give it the slightest push.
She’d run the rest of the way on her own.
“Doesn’t your brother stand in the way? The one already pegged as the next guild master.”
“That’s…!”
“Running a business under your family’s shadow means you’ll never escape it. It won’t be the ‘Arselia Guild’—just another ‘Rosenheim Merchant Guild.’ You know that best.”
“…”
Arselia swallowed hard and dropped her gaze.
Her cup held red black tea, steaming hot.
As hot as her own desires.
Yes, Arselia!
Become my woman!