The Divorcée’s Dessert Cafe
Chapter 8

“Here’s your order,” said a porter, bringing a large crate into the cafe. The crate, containing the coffee beans Erin ordered, was marked with a large coat of arms belonging to House Arndt.

All the coffee beans imported through the western coast are under a monopoly by House Arndt... Coffee beans were a desirable product, and competition was always fierce. That meant higher prices as well. This one box is three hundred gold... That was about twice as expensive as chocolate. It represented her greatest spending, with the exception of the money she’d spent buying the cafe and the house. She didn’t regret it, however, since these beans would last her a long while.

And if I miss my opportunity now, there’s no knowing when I’ll have another chance to buy them.

Buying such a large amount of beans in one purchase required an advance application to the Arndt Merchant Guild. This was because the coffee beans came in only at certain intervals and not every single day. Since there was always a delay between deliveries, she would have been forced to close up shop until then. Good thing we were able to receive these without hassle. An entire box should last us for a while.

While Erin stood there, relieved, the porter put the crate down in the center of the cafe. He then opened it as the two women watched expectantly.

“Wait a second...”

Their excitement quickly turned to disappointment. The crate was filled with dark brown beans, precisely the amount Erin had ordered. However, the beans were in very poor condition. They were so old that they were almost black. They were also irregular in shape and squashed randomly. Some of them almost looked like they’d been eaten away at by insects. They even had none of the lovely fragrance one would expect from them. Instead, there was a sour smell like that of fermenting fruit. Old beans could still be salvaged if they weren’t rotten, but some actually did seem spoiled as those in the corners were moldy.

“Excuse me… These beans are in terrible condition. W-we ordered high-quality beans…” Melly stammered, trying to protest, but the porter who worked for the merchant guild cut her off.

“This is your order. You can place another if you don’t like it. The next shipments will be coming in after two months.”

“What?” Melly said, flabbergasted. The man seemed to be shameless.

“In any case, I’ve only brought what you ordered. Nothing more.”

Coffee beans were produced in a faraway land situated across the sea from the southern end of the continent. The empire ruled the central area and the west of the continent, and therefore had no land that touched the southern sea. As a result, the people of the empire were forced to take ships along the coast in a circuitous route to reach the coffee-producing country. This was how the empire imported the curiosities from that nation. Coffee beans were also transported through this route along the western coast.

Even the fastest ships take a long time to finish a trip. No wonder they can’t import the beans more often. There were plenty of people who wished to import coffee beans themselves to roast and sell them. The previous emperor, however, had commanded that House Arndt hold the sole rights to all coffee beans imported through the western coast.

This monopoly was valid for fifty years, and within that time, no one but House Arndt could import or sell coffee beans on the coast. House Arndt always brought in raw coffee beans in bulk and roasted them all at once before selling them. Given how expensive the beans were, there was no doubt they were careful when handling them. Even so, some of the beans would be crushed or grow moldy in the production process. Some would also go bad before arriving at the destination because of the long transportation times. It seemed all the substandard beans had been gathered in this crate.

Erin tutted, staring into the crate. How did they manage to put together a box full of nothing but bad beans? That must have been a gigantic undertaking in itself.

“Lady Erin, wh-what do we do? Should we ask for a refund?” Melly asked, taken aback. The man who’d brought the crate spoke coldly before Erin could respond.

“We don’t offer refunds.”

“But that makes no sense!” Melly said angrily, but the man only gruffly repeated his answer.

“That is our policy.”

The beans were unusable, and no refund was being offered either. It was quite baffling.

“L-Lady Erin... What do we do?” Melly said, looking ready to cry.

Hmm. What should we do? Erin cocked her head. What else is there?

“Look here. Where is Viscount Arndt right now?” she asked.

The servant offhandedly replied, “Probably at Glae Manor, in town.”

Glae Manor was a gambling house frequented by nobles. The sun was only just about to set, but the viscount was already in a gambling house. Viscount Arndt had always had a reputation for being frivolous with his money. So, she wouldn’t have been surprised to hear that he spent all day there. She stopped the porter and his companions, who were about to leave.

“Excuse me. Can you move these boxes over to another location? I’ll compensate you for your trouble.”

* * *

Erin wore a dark gray coat over her dress and walked toward her destination. The setting sun colored the capital red before vanishing. It was now dark, and mana-powered street lamps shone their hazy light onto the streets. She walked for some time and finally reached Glae Manor, which was located in the eastern part of the capital.

It was a gambling house within a large mansion. While it looked like a place for social gatherings on the outside, it had rooms inside that allowed people to gamble. It was, in a few words, an entertainment facility for nobles and the rich. Even though the hour was late, the dozens of windows of the mansion were all brightly lit. She moved past the front gate and saw a young man guarding the entrance. He looked her up and down.

Just as I expected. That’s why I wore this. She was wearing a dress made of dark navy silk, one of the best dresses she’d brought from the imperial palace. It was still much less assuming than what other ladies wore, but the sleeves were in keeping with the recent trends. They had a graceful shape that fitted her arms perfectly from shoulder to elbow, then flared out to her wrists with small ribbons as decoration. The soft, buoyant lace added to the stately look of the dress. It was obvious she was a noblewoman, one that had presumably come to squander her riches at the gambling house.

The man moved out of the way after glancing at her dress.

“If you’ll excuse my inspection. This way.”

She was able to gain easy entry thanks to her outfit.