Chapter 45
The moment his identity—just as I’d imagined—was revealed, I shouted inwardly, Of course it is!
‘His looks suit his name perfectly.’
Tall and slender. A neat face with a faintly seductive edge. A suit tailored so impeccably it didn’t allow so much as a wrinkle.
He looked exactly like an NPC named “Dante Veratis”—as if he’d stepped straight out of the game.
Except he wasn’t an NPC. He was very real.
“Has the sun risen in the west? His Highness isn’t the type to accompany just anyone. You must be quite capable, Apothecary.”
Dante’s voice flowed smoothly, almost like he was singing. I let out an awkward little laugh.
“Ha ha… Um, about that title—‘His Highness’…?”
“Ah.”
He let out a short sound, glanced at Lycian, then added calmly,
“It’s just a pet name we use among ourselves.”
“Ah…?”
As if.
‘Who in the world uses “Your Highness” as a pet name?’
Even as my thoughts tangled, I had a rough idea what it meant. Still, I pretended not to notice.
“So, I doubt my old adversary came all this way just to see me… It seems the one with business is you, Apothecary. What brings you here?”
“Well…”
I delayed my answer and stole a glance at Lycian’s complexion. He sighed, then stepped closer—so close our shoulders brushed.
He even laced his fingers through mine, as if that alone would steady him.
At the sight, Dante’s expression twisted faintly, like he’d just witnessed something deeply unnatural.
“Well, I never thought I’d live to see the day…”
“Pardon?”
“No, it’s nothing. So—what is it you need? I have a suspicion, but… Ah, let’s not keep you standing. Please, come inside.”
Dante led us down a western corridor.
I’d thought it from the outside, too—but the building was enormous. It looked expensive. Very expensive.
‘Did they lease it? Or buy it? Either way, that can’t have been cheap. I guess Ranker Guilds really are rolling in money.’
As I followed Dante, I couldn’t help craning my neck, taking in every detail of the interior.
Allen looked like he wanted to speak to me, but perhaps Lycian intimidated him—he never quite worked up the nerve.
“This way.”
Dante stopped before a door and glanced back at us.
He opened it himself, without calling for assistance, then gestured for us to enter first.
I offered him a small smile and stepped inside.
Immediately, a cozy reception room with an antique charm filled my view.
“The interior decor is beautiful.”
The admiration in my voice was genuine. A pleased smile curved Dante’s lips.
“It may sound like I’m boasting, but I do have excellent taste. Would you care for some coffee?”
“Coffee?”
They had coffee? My eyes widened as I echoed the word, and Dante chuckled.
“I imported a small batch of beans from Cornello. Their production isn’t high, so they’re rather difficult to obtain.”
Cornello was an island nation in the southern sea. Geographically close to the Castel Kingdom, politically neutral.
Conflicts frequently broke out between the nations of this land—Altera—and the Philome Empire across the sea, yet Cornello survived each time by maintaining its neutrality.
“Coffee beans are grown in Cornello? I had no idea.”
As Dante prepared the coffee with a hand drip, a nutty, bittersweet aroma slowly unfurled into the air.
Lycian and I sat side by side on the sofa, watching him work.
Allen settled across from us. The other guild member was nowhere to be seen.
It wasn’t hard to guess he’d fled to avoid being caught in this uncomfortable atmosphere.
“Cornello only began exporting coffee in earnest recently. They didn’t even have farms of this scale before.”
I perked up at the mention of another country, listening intently.
“The expansion and systemization of their coffee plantations began after the current Consul took office. Ah—you’re aware that Cornello’s leader is elected, correct?”
That much was common knowledge. I nodded like a diligent student.
Dante let out a soft chuckle at the sight of me. …There was something oddly familiar about that smile.
“The current Consul sought to use coffee as a tourism resource. So the amount exported remains minimal—you really have to travel to Cornello to drink it to your heart’s content. Every city there is packed with coffee houses.”
“Oh…”
As my eyes sparkled with interest, Dante set a cup in front of me.
Steam rose gently from the freshly brewed coffee.
“Go ahead. I’m quite confident in my skill.”
“Thank you. I’ll enjoy it.”
Carefully, I lifted the cup and took a sip.
It wasn’t too hot—just right. The distinct bitterness and bright acidity spread across my tongue.
“…!”
My eyes flew wide.
‘This taste…!’
Before I was diagnosed as terminally ill, I used to drink drip coffee from my favorite café every single day, like it was life itself.
By my standards, drip coffee was expensive. At that café, a single cup cost a staggering 9,000 won.
Yet the owner, gracious as he was, had taken a liking to me and always knocked off 4,000.
‘I’ve missed this… so much….’
I was so overwhelmed I nearly teared up.
There’s so much you have to give up during treatment. Spicy food. Greasy food. Sweet desserts. Coffee was, of course, out of the question.
And now—here I was, tasting it again.
My favorability toward Dante skyrocketed.
“You seem like a really good person, Guild Master…”
“Hm? Hahaha!”
The words slipped out before I could stop them. Dante burst into laughter.
After laughing for quite a while, he said,
“That’s the first time I’ve heard that in my entire life. I doubt even my guild members consider me a ‘good person.’”
“At least you’re self-aware.”
The cold voice that cut in belonged to Lycian. He took a refined sip of his coffee.
The look he shot Dante was far from friendly.
Before the atmosphere could sour, I hurriedly changed the subject.
“Um, on the way here, I thought I saw someone I know visiting the Veratis Guild.”
“Someone you know? Whom do you mean?”
“Princess Sienna Castel.”
The moment her name left my lips, something flickered in Dante’s eyes.
Maybe I was imagining it, but it felt as though he’d been waiting for me to bring her up.
One corner of his mouth lifted slightly. His expression was unreadable.
But the interest in his eyes was unmistakable.
When he spoke again, his voice was level, carefully controlled.
“That’s right. The princess of the Castel Kingdom paid us a personal visit. Regarding the matter of Duke Winterberg.”
“…!”
My eyes widened slightly.
I’d suspected as much… So she really had come because of Raul.
Dante continued, studying my reaction closely.
“Have you seen the dungeon that appeared this time? It’s in the form of a palace—and quite large.”
“Ah, no. Not yet.”
I’d heard it appeared along the nearby coast. After a moment’s thought, I added,
“A palace-type dungeon… That’s unusual.”
“Indeed. Quite rare. Most take the form of towers. Perhaps that’s why the adventurers conducting preliminary investigations seem to be struggling.”
I had a feeling I knew where this was heading—and why Sienna had visited the Veratis Guild.
There was no need to wait for him to get to the point. I decided to be direct.
“Princess Sienna came to request military support from the Veratis Guild, didn’t she?”
Dante’s amethyst eyes gleamed.
As far as I knew, there were very few exploration records regarding palace-type dungeons.
There was a high chance conventional strategies wouldn’t apply. Raul must have been having a difficult time with the subjugation.
It was the lord’s duty to clear any dungeon that appeared within his territory. If he failed and a dungeon break occurred, monsters would flood the surface and devastate the land.
Moreover, being the first to conquer a dungeon was a matter of pride for a lord.
‘If adventurers unaffiliated with the lord’s subjugation force cleared it first, the lord would lose face.’
And this wasn’t just any lord.
This was Raul Winterberg.
I didn’t even have to see it to know how obsessively that prideful man would be throwing himself into this subjugation.
With a faint smile, Dante answered,
“That’s correct. You’re sharper than you look, Apothecary.”
“Haha…”
Than I look?
That’s… a compliment, right?
“It’s not unusual for the lord of this Vinsheim region to request support from our Ranker Guild. What struck me as odd was…”
He narrowed his eyes, something curious flickering across his face.
“Matters like this typically fall under the jurisdiction of the duke himself—or his wife. Why, then, would an outsider like Princess Sienna step forward? In truth, her actions border on overstepping, wouldn’t you say?”
“……”
I wasn’t particularly slow when it came to things like this.
So I understood immediately.
This man already knew who I was.