Chapter 14
At the regular customer’s remark, Lynette merely shrugged her shoulders.
“Seeing this makes me suddenly want to be chosen too.”
“Isn’t it that you weren’t chosen, but rather that you did the choosing—your first love, I mean?”
He was the regular customer who compared the taste of coffee every time to the love he had shared with his first love.
“But she probably doesn’t even know I chose her. I’ll never forget that day, but she won’t remember it at all.”
Though she had no relationship whatsoever with the regular, Lynette felt oddly pricked by guilt. She turned away with an awkward smile, just in time to meet Sharon’s bright gaze, begging her to teach her latte art.
“It’ll still be difficult for you…”
“Don’t worry about that. I’ll do my best at anything. So please, Lynette! I’m begging you.”
Seeing Sharon’s earnest expression, Lynette took advantage of a quiet moment to show her something simple. Sharon seemed to have some artistic talent—she followed along surprisingly well.
“Wow! I made a leaf design. I want to give this to Mason. I wonder what he’ll think when he sees it.”
“He might be late tomorrow.”
“Huh? What do you mean…? Oh my! Lynette, you really say the cheekiest things.”
Sharon blushed, taking Lynette’s words to mean Mason would oversleep after a passionate night.
“But Lynette, do you have anyone you’re seeing?”
“Me? Ah… I used to. I loved a man, and we were preparing to get married. The wedding was just around the corner.”
Clink—
The sound of the regular setting his teacup down rang out louder than usual. Lynette glanced at him. He sat there, hands gripping his cup tightly, staring quietly at his latte.
“Oh my! So you were in love. Then what happened to the wedding?”
Anyone could tell Lynette was not married now. If she were, her husband would be around often, but Lynette looked completely free.
“It all shattered, right before the wedding. So badly that it could never be pieced back together.”
“Good heavens! How did that happen…?”
“The man I loved with my whole being—even staked my future on—cheated on me with another woman.”
She couldn’t bring herself to say that woman was my sister. But even that one sentence chilled the already quiet shop further. Sharon, realizing she had touched a sore spot, hurriedly apologized.
“I’m so sorry, I didn’t know… I truly apologize.”
“You don’t need to. If anything, I’m glad I found out before the marriage. It saved me from worse.”
“Still, how dare anyone cheat on our Lynette? Someday you’ll meet someone far better than him. I guarantee it.”
Was Sharon trying to cast a protagonist’s blessing on her?
Clasping Lynette’s hands, Sharon prayed for her. Lynette closed her eyes and made a wish: even if she never married, may she at least meet someone far more wonderful than Fernando, and have her fill of romance.
“That man will surely regret it to death one day.”
“I hope so. I really do.”
Since that day, Lynette had heard no word of Fernando. Not even a letter, after what he’d done. She didn’t feel any longing—she hoped never to see him again. If she did, she wasn’t sure she could hold herself back.
But back then, because of Edgar, she hadn’t been able to do anything to Fernando. The thought now only fueled her frustration.
“Ugh, it’s so unfair. He cheated right before our wedding, and yet I couldn’t even lift a finger against him.”
The memory still boiled her blood. If he had loved Esther enough to have such a burning affair, he shouldn’t have accepted her proposal in the first place. If he had simply told her he liked Esther, she wouldn’t have ended up the villainess who had to die.
“So what happened to him? Don’t tell me he’s living happily after breaking your engagement.”
“Uh, well… I don’t really know what became of him after he left our house. He was carried away in a crate.”
“A… crate? Don’t tell me you killed him?”
“Of course not. If I had, I wouldn’t feel so cheated. Before I even acted, my brother half-killed him and stuffed him into a crate.”
She had only wanted to break the engagement. Before she could even get angry, Edgar had taken matters into his own hands and beaten Fernando nearly to death.
“I should have smashed that part of his while I had the chance. That’s my only regret.”
The regular instinctively pressed his knees together. Sitting primly with both hands holding his cup, his fingers trembled slightly—surely just from the cold.
“You really have a good brother. He beat the bastard up for your sake.”
“Good brother? Hardly. We can’t go a day without fighting.”
“No, he’s good. I, on the other hand, grew up just being beaten.”
Bastards were never treated as true nobles. Even household staff looked down on them. When war broke out, they were used as substitutes and sent off to die.
Sharon, as a bastard, was written in the original story to have been beaten whenever she caught the Duke of Michaela’s son’s eye.
“That brother of yours must be insane. I was always taught never to strike a woman or child, not even with a flower.”
“Yes… but there are a lot of men like him out there.”
“Then you should become so successful that you trample him underfoot one day. Crush him where it hurts.”
The conversation naturally shifted from Lynette’s broken engagement to Sharon’s brother. While they chatted, a new sound intruded.
Knock, knock, knock.
Someone made a knocking sound with their mouth and stepped inside. It was none other than the Crown Prince of the Sepia Empire. He had fallen for Sharon at first sight and was secretly following her in disguise.
His appearance was straight out of a shoujo manga. Lynette had to fight the urge to bow ninety degrees.
“You must be here for Sharon.”
“Yes! It’s almost closing time, so I came to go home with her.”
Mason folded his umbrella and entered. Sharon shot him a sidelong glare.
“I told you not to keep coming here.”
“But if I don’t see you, even for a moment, it feels like thorns are pricking my eyes.”
A shiver ran down Lynette’s spine. Maybe it was just the cold rain outside.
“Since you’re here, why don’t you take Sharon home? There aren’t any more customers anyway…”
“No! I still have so much to learn from Lynette. I can’t leave early.”
Sharon shook her head vehemently and made Mason sit down. Lynette brought him a cup of coffee.
“Sharon, since your sweetheart is here, why don’t you show him what you just learned?”
“Really? I can?”
“Of course. Go ahead.”
With Lynette’s permission, Sharon swallowed hard and finished her first attempt at latte art with trembling hands. She set it down in front of Mason.
“Hmm? This isn’t for drinking—it’s for the eyes, isn’t it?”
He looked with delight at the milk leaf floating on the latte, a smile tugging at his lips.
“Well? Isn’t it pretty? Lynette taught me. I’m still clumsy, but earlier she even made a three-dimensional cat.”
“It’s so beautiful I want to preserve it forever… such a pity I can’t.”
Instead of drinking it, Mason kept staring at the latte. Then he lifted his gaze to Lynette and smiled—the kind of smile that could steal women’s hearts. Lynette only nodded cautiously.
“This feels like a revolution in the coffee world. Truly, you’re an amazing master, Miss Owner.”
“Owner? Please, just call me Lynette.”
“Then please call me Mason. Or just May.”
When Lynette smiled, Mason smiled back.
“Like Sharon said, you’re so kind and easy to be around. Plus, you make wonderful coffee. Honestly, if I hadn’t met Sharon first, I might have fallen for you.”
“That could never happen, so don’t worry.”
How could she ever covet the male lead? Even if Mason returned to a time before meeting Sharon, Lynette would never dream of snatching him up first.
She had read enough romance fantasy novels to know that catching the eye of someone high-ranked only brought suffering at first, even if it paid off later. She had no desire to endure such hardship when she was already living decently.
And to steal gentle Sharon’s partner? That was unthinkable.
“You’re quite firm, Lynette.”
“I guess I was badly burned by a man.”
“Then he must’ve had no eye for women.”
“Oh, he had good eyes for women. That’s exactly why he met her.”
Esther had indeed been beautiful. She was also the eldest daughter of the Count of Pruina. With nothing lacking, it was only natural men preferred her over Lynette.
“The next gentleman you meet will see only you, Lynette. Don’t worry.”
“I hope so.”
With a faint smile, Lynette sent Mason and Sharon out once he finished his coffee. Then she picked up the stray cat that had wandered close to her. The scrawny thing nestled docilely in her arms.
“Now, what should I do with you?”
If she let it back out, it would likely starve. It didn’t even seem able to hunt.
“Did that cat choose you?”
“Yes. Somehow it feels like it. But I’ve never raised an animal before, so I don’t know if I’ll manage.”
The cat kneaded her shoulder with its soft pink paws. Lynette couldn’t help but chuckle. The regular’s lips curved faintly as he watched.
“What’s its name?”
“Name? I haven’t decided yet.”
If she was going to keep it, she needed to give it one. Meeting its eyes, she stroked its head, and it rubbed its face against her shoulder.
“Maybe I’ll just call it Cat…”
“That’s like calling me ‘Human,’ don’t you think?”
Lynette gave an embarrassed smile, lacking any naming sense.
“I’m bad at naming… would you give it a pretty one?”
If he named the cat, maybe he wouldn’t leave for another café. Hoping to secure him as a lifelong customer, Lynette watched as he touched his chin in thought.
“Since its fur is yellow, how about Cheese? It seems like it’ll stretch out like cheese.”
“Cheese?”
“Yes. It suits it.”
The name oddly matched the little yellow tabby.
“All right then. Cheese it is. From today, that’s your name. Got it, Cheese?”
Meow!
Cheese purred and nuzzled against her chest. Lynette stroked its fur, while the regular spoke again.
“Then… won’t you call me by name as well?”
“Your name? Ah…”
Until now she had only ever referred to him as the regular. But perhaps she should at least know his name. When she nodded, a smile softer than any latte foam curved his lips.
“My name is Cyan. Please call me Cyan.”
“All right. Then please call me by name as well. I’m…”
“I know. Lynette… May I call you Linette?”
