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chapter 35
Linette, who was preparing to greet a customer very politely, saw a completely insane man instead.
“Li-Linette, I’m here. How have you been?”
“Do you think I’ve been fine? I’m so shocked I can’t even speak.”
Somehow, this person—who she didn’t know where he had heard the rumor from—suddenly appeared right in front of Linette.
“The owner here has the same name as you, so I came. Really, I didn’t mean anything by it.”
“Anything I want to do, I could do it if I wanted to die. Right?”
“It’s not like I came here to pick a fight. I just came to have some tea. So could you treat me as a guest?”
It was Fernando. He hadn’t been seen for two years, which had been both refreshing and a little bitter. Back then, it should have been him I crushed, not Edgar. Missing that chance had made me grind my teeth for a while.
I was slowly starting to forget, but here he was, boldly flaunting his presence.
Fernando, dressed in quite flashy clothing befitting a noble, made Linette sneer. From the looks of it, it seemed like new clothes he had tailored. Wearing those clothes, he was now examining the menu, ruffling her patience.
“Tea? Fine. What kind of tea do you want, you crazy man? Say whatever you like.”
Linette laughed in disbelief, and Fernando gave an awkward smile, pointing with his finger.
“Well, I’ll have a latte. I heard from the rumors that it’s really good.”
When he handed over a golron for the order, Linette furrowed her brow.
“You’re not leaving any change, so just drink it and leave. And don’t ever come here again. Consider this a warning.”
She wanted to say harsher words but softened them slightly since another customer was just arriving.
“You don’t need the change…”
“I don’t want the money you gave me. Just drink it and leave.”
She whispered into Fernando’s ear so no one else could hear. Then she immediately turned around and prepared the latte he had asked for. She wanted to spit on it but couldn’t bring herself to do that to the coffee she made.
Linette placed the latte on the tray and fiddled with its edge. If there had been no customers, she would have hit him over the head with it. With a look of frustration, she quickly attended to other guests.
Hoping he would leave soon, she glared at him relentlessly. Yet, Fernando calmly sipped his coffee and even pulled out a book to read. That was clearly someone thoroughly insane.
An hour passed. Fernando finally stood up. Linette hoped he would just leave, but he smiled, seemingly delighted.
“Linette, it was really delicious. I’ll come again tomorrow.”
When he insisted on leaving the golron on the counter despite her warning, Linette’s face twisted in frustration. As he left, she hurried to pick up the coin and followed him outside.
“What do you think you’re doing here? If you had any shame, you wouldn’t have come. Ah! But I guess you have no shame, so that explains what happened with Esther.”
“I’m sorry for that, no need for you to say it. I tried to apologize, but when I left home, I couldn’t even tell where I lived…”
“If you were truly sorry, you shouldn’t have come. You should be grateful it’s not just the two of us here. Otherwise, I would have finished the part I left alive last time.”
Linette growled at Fernando openly. Seeing this, he gave a faint smile.
“I really am sorry. I don’t even know what I was thinking back then. It just… happened in a moment.”
“Who wants to hear about your love life? Shut up and get out of my sight. Or I’ll show you something nasty.”
She had been itching to scratch him publicly to near-death in front of other people. Then he suddenly bowed his head.
“Then at least know this—I never wanted Esther from the start. She openly seduced me.”
“Whether she seduced you openly or secretly, you couldn’t resist. Are you trying to argue about right and wrong now?”
“I’m sorry.”
“Your apology won’t change how I feel, so just disappear. I have work to do. And take this. I don’t want a single thing you give me.”
She didn’t hand the golron to Fernando directly but tossed it to the floor. Watching it roll to his feet and stop, Linette turned away.
She opened the door roughly but closed it politely when the customers inside noticed.
“Oh! A sudden gust of wind blew the door wide open, hohoho.”
With a forced smile, Linette returned to her place. Even during a slow period, more customers kept coming. She thought it was better to be so busy she couldn’t think about anything than to be idle.
“Oh my! There are so many customers today.”
“Yes, but there’s still room for the two of you, so please stay comfortably.”
Cordelia came again with her husband Benjamin to have coffee. Once seated, Benjamin skillfully ordered the coffee and paid.
“Today, the two didn’t come, huh?”
After making their coffee and setting it in front of them, Linette asked gently.
“Oh! Today they must be really busy. It’s not exactly a festive day, but their bloodline has returned.”
“Really? That’s a relief. Were they one of the soldiers called to the border?”
“Yes, probably. I should go check on them at my parents’ place. I wasn’t planning to go, but since our Linette’s potential husband is here, I should check.”
“Excuse me? Cordelia, that’s… you’re saying my husband-to-be? That’s impossible.”
Linette laughed and shook her head. She remembered Cordelia asking her to become a sister-in-law in place of her brother, apologizing that she already had a husband, even before they’d met.
“Oh! Is my brother insufficient as Linette’s husband?”
“What? No, I’ve never seen Cordelia’s brother, so how could I say such a thing?”
“That’s fine, I think you’d recognize him once you see him… Ah! I see now, he doesn’t look like me at all. You probably wouldn’t recognize him.”
Cordelia praised her brother’s health, looks, and physique. Linette awkwardly smiled and nodded. It felt like setting up a blind date without the person even present.
“Linette might fall in love at first sight with our brother-in-law too. He’s impressive, even to other men—enough to make you jealous.”
Even Benjamin joined in the praise. If he looked good to another man, he must be extremely handsome. Yet he had no girlfriend, which suggested there might be some flaw—maybe in other areas, even at night.
“Linette, can we have one more drink? We might not be able to come here for a while.”
“What? What do you mean… Are you going on a trip?”
Linette, making a latte, perked up. No owner would be happy if regular customers said they couldn’t come.
“Not a trip, but we’ll need to stay home for a while.”
“Oh, you must be busy.”
“Yes, even if not, I’ll suddenly need to be busy.”
“I see. Then please come by whenever you have a little free time. This one’s on the house.”
Seeing Cordelia say something vague, Linette created a latte art with extra care. She was showing affection to a regular customer who said they couldn’t come for a while. After subtly sending the message to visit when possible, she let out a small sigh.
“Oh my! How sad… to not be able to drink this pretty and delicious coffee for a while.”
“Ria, don’t be too sad. I’ll learn to make the coffee for you.”
Benjamin took Cordelia’s hand, comforting her after she brightened at the latte art but then frowned. Cordelia was direct:
“No matter how much Ben makes coffee, it won’t be as good as Linette’s.”
“That’s true, but I’ll try. If it really doesn’t work, we can just order and have it delivered.”
Benjamin suggested they could get Linette’s coffee even if they couldn’t come themselves. Cordelia nodded. Some customers did actually do that.
“That’s a good idea. If you say it’s from Cordelia when sending someone, we’ll give extra, so don’t worry.”
Even though they’d be far away, the coffee would connect them, and Linette breathed a sigh of relief.
❅
The next day, with Angela’s help, Linette did a thorough morning cleaning. Since Fernando had come by yesterday, she felt unlucky. After cleaning early, she greeted customers with a fresh spirit.
“Miss, I brought sandwiches.”
“Thank you, Katrin.”
Katrin had wrapped the sandwiches herself and delivered them because she couldn’t come early enough.
As soon as the sandwiches were displayed, they began selling quickly. So many people came at once that Leikum was bustling.
After the rush subsided, Linette and Angela were exhausted. While tidying up for the next customers, Angela smiled.
“If business went this well every day, we’d get rich quickly.”
“If business went this well daily, we could quickly grant Katrin’s wish.”
To spread salt on the streets without worry!
As they worked hard, Linette saw a face she didn’t want to see.
“I told you not to come here.”
Despite yesterday’s warning, Fernando had come again, and Linette muttered under her breath.
“I just came because the coffee is good. Same latte as yesterday. And here’s the money…”
This time, seeing the correct amount, Linette clenched her lips. With Angela watching, she couldn’t tell him to leave, so she reluctantly took the order. At that moment, a regular customer arrived.
“We couldn’t come yesterday because we were busy.”
“Welcome. We were wondering when you’d come. I heard your son came and you couldn’t make it.”
Unlike with Fernando, Linette greeted them brightly and immediately made their coffee. She wasn’t happy about Fernando lingering and tensed her jaw, wishing he would leave.
“Ah! Linette, we’re out of cookies.”
“Then go buy some from the bakery. You can take your time.”
After sending Angela out, Linette glared at Fernando. With a look that said “just leave,” he quickly drank his coffee and said he’d come again.
“Enough, don’t come anymore.”
Linette forced him out. Finally relieved, she smiled awkwardly at the couple whose eyes had met hers.
“Linette, sorry to ask, but is that person you know?”
“Yes, I know him very well. Until two years ago, I even knew how many pieces of underwear he had.”
“Cough!”
Cloud coughed, apparently choked, and Rosemary gave him a napkin to cover his mouth.
“Your fiancé?”
“Yes, he was my fiancé. We broke up two years ago over an unfortunate incident, and he’s been coming since yesterday.”
Hearing this, Cloud and Rosemary shouted in unison:
“That’s dangerous!”
