🔊 TTS Settings
Prologue 001
“Hm, Katrin! What do you think of this teacup?”
“It’s pretty, my lady.”
At present, Lynette was touring teahouses with her nanny Katrin, secretly conducting all kinds of investigations. Studying the teacup carefully, she quickly sketched its shape into her notebook and jotted down its features. Then she tasted the tea.
“How’s the taste?”
“Well, it’s all the same to me. To be honest, for someone like me, this tea tastes just like that one, and that one tastes like this one.”
Although Katrin had often seen tea, she had rarely drunk it herself, so she sipped it indifferently.
Lynette noted down Katrin’s reaction too—that it only tasted like grass.
“If they want to sell premium tea here, there has to be demand. But ordinary folks with light purses won’t be drinking expensive tea.”
Most teahouses in Indigo, the capital of Iraine, sold green tea, black tea, and floral blends. The problem was that each tea lacked distinct character. All the leaves seemed to come from the same workshop and tasted nearly identical.
“They’re clearly buying their tea leaves from the same supplier.”
“Hm, then if someone opens a regular teahouse, two out of three will fail, and one might barely get by.”
For the average person, distinguishing subtle tea flavors was difficult. Even with green tea, the season of harvest changes the taste, but very few could tell.
In the end, something unique, fragrant, and stimulating—unlike ordinary tea—was needed.
“But this layout looks nice.”
“Yes, the interior design is pleasant.”
Lynette carefully noted down every detail of the teahouses they visited, recording the good points and discarding the bad.
After surveying all the teahouses in Indigo, she summoned a builder to the building she had already purchased and began fervent discussions about remodeling.
“I want this window widened. Use glass, even if it’s expensive. Also, make it possible to hang curtains. And the counter should be long and narrow…”
As Lynette drew out her ideas, the builder took notes, nodding along.
She was a rare customer in those days. Especially during a slump, it was unusual not only to buy a shop but also to renovate its interior. So the builder promised enthusiastically to make it just as she wanted.
“Then, I’ll leave it to you. Ah! But where should I get the signboard and furniture made?”
“We’ll take care of everything. Just tell us the style you want.”
Seeing the owner clasp his hands earnestly, Lynette wrote down her desired style and even sketched it for him.
“Don’t worry. We’ll start work tomorrow.”
“Please finish as quickly as possible. Here’s the down payment.”
She pressed several gold coins into his hand, bringing a broad smile to his face.
“Thank you. I’ll make sure it’s sturdy and finished swiftly, just as you asked.”
“And if problems arise afterward?”
“Just let me know, and we’ll fix it immediately, hahaha.”
The owner bowed repeatedly as he saw Lynette off.
Soon, several workers arrived at her shop, and—just as she wished—the renovation began swiftly. She had paid a bit more than usual, which spurred things along.
Lynette watched the work from outside. Katrin, standing beside her, handed her a handkerchief to cover her nose from the dust. Smiling gently under the cloth, Lynette murmured,
“This is my first shop.”
Seeing her young mistress beam with dreams at her very first business, Katrin also smiled warmly.
“Let’s go pick out things for the interior. We’ll need to match the teacups.”
“Yes, but what about the other equipment?”
“Hm? Ah! I already spoke to the tea supplier. They said such things aren’t found in Iraine, so they have to be imported from the Sepia Empire.”
As the renovations continued, the list of items Lynette purchased grew as well, filling her home with boxes.
❅
A few weeks later—
“Master, it’s crooked on one side.”
“Like this?”
“A little more to the right!”
Two men on ladders were hanging the sign as Lynette directed them. The sign was the shop’s face—she couldn’t allow it to hang askew.
“Ah! Perfect. Fix it like that.”
Once Lynette approved the symmetry, they secured it firmly.
Attraction.
In elegant script, the sign bore a motif of coffee beans. The more she looked, the more it pleased her, and she couldn’t help but smile.
“‘Attraction’—what a beautiful name.”
It was a name she and Katrin had carefully thought up together.
“I hope people will be drawn in, just like the name.”
“Of course. Katrin came up with it, after all. I really love it.”
They had wracked their brains for hours, going through countless options, before settling on Katrin’s suggestion: Attraction.
What a wonderful word—gentle and inviting, not as blunt as ‘love’ or ‘fondness,’ but carrying warmth.
Once the sign was up, Lynette hugged Katrin and jumped for joy.
After paying off the remaining balance, she stepped inside.
Six tables had been set: two for four people and four for pairs. Seeing them in place filled her with pride.
When Katrin found her cleaning the interior herself, she quickly took the rag away and did it instead.
Looking around the sparkling shop, Lynette then stepped outside to view the whole from afar.
The feeling was overwhelming. She still couldn’t quite believe she owned such a place.
Seeing her lost in thought, Katrin said with a soft laugh,
“I hope my lady finds as much happiness ahead as she’s had loneliness and sadness until now.”
“Sorry for always showing you only that side of me. I’ll try to smile more from now on.”
Katrin, who had stayed by her side longer than her own mother, was precious beyond words. Lynette nestled into her arms, smiling, and Katrin kissed the crown of her head.
After watching the shop for a while, Katrin left to prepare dinner. Lynette, still full without eating, remained to caress every corner of the shop.
“Is this truly mine?”
This wasn’t one of those shops leased with loans and deposits, struggling to pay monthly rent.
It was hers. Purely her own. Any profit would be entirely hers.
She walked to the counter, placed beans in the new roaster, and slowly roasted them. The rich aroma began to fill the fresh, wood-scented shop.
Opening a typical teahouse would never stand out. That’s why she had chosen instead to create the first café in the Iraine Empire—selling coffee.
Coffee cherries didn’t grow in Iraine. Beans and machines alike had to be imported from Sepia. Thus, she priced coffee higher than tea. Not that people here knew what coffee should cost.
By contrast, teahouses had little leeway with pricing.
“You always have to match the neighbors’ prices, raising or lowering with them.”
Without collusion, you couldn’t keep prices aligned. Even a small difference made customers complain: “This place is pricier; that one’s cheaper.” She didn’t want to hear that.
Better to sell something new, coffee, where no one could argue over price. And if anyone did complain, she could explain that everything was imported.
“Yes, coffee is the way. Strong and stimulating—nothing beats it. Still, I wonder if it will succeed.”
From her research, coffee was commonplace in Sepia. Families roasted their own beans at home.
But here, it was still unfamiliar. Would people even come in to try it?
“No, I mustn’t doubt before I’ve even begun. Attraction will succeed. It’ll do so well I’ll need to hire staff!”
Resolute, Lynette ground the freshly roasted beans and brewed the first coffee in Attraction.
The cup she had specially ordered, modeled after the designs she’d studied in teahouses, now held a pitch-black liquid.
She cupped the warm vessel reverently in both hands, took a sip, and smiled brightly.
“Yes, this is it.”
First-timers might say it was bitter, even burnt. But Lynette tasted coffee’s richness, its slight acidity, and the lingering chocolatey finish.
The clean sensation down her throat made her exclaim. After countless trials, she had finally perfected the flavor. Of course, she would refine it further after opening.
“Even if not all of Iraine, I’ll at least get everyone in Indigo addicted to coffee!”
With that ambitious vow, Lynette sipped her first cup at leisure.
Though the café wasn’t open yet, the aroma wafted out the open door, drawing curious glances from passersby. Seeing their reaction, Lynette smiled in relief and finished the last of her coffee.
‘When was the last time I felt this kind of peace?’
She looked up at the blue sky.
Today it seemed especially high and clear, with no clouds at all—as if wishing success to Attraction. Among the countless people living under that sky, Lynette smiled faintly.
“Feels strange, relaxing while everyone else is busy working.”
It was like strolling through empty streets while the world was at work.
Relishing the rare leisure, she tilted her cup—only to find it empty. With a sigh, she set down the cooled vessel.
Breathing in the familiar aroma, Lynette folded her arms and thought back on the journey that had brought her here.
“I wasn’t originally from this world… Or maybe I can say I am?”
Speaking words no one else could understand, she narrowed her eyes at the fine cup.
“The people of this world will never know—that this café is run by the villainess who killed her sister and husband.”
She chuckled dryly, memories she had long sealed away resurfacing.
