At District 7—the busiest street in the already glamorous capital.

The tea cafe Newport House, located on the outskirts of District 7, was a famous spot in the capital known for its delicious desserts and tea.

The famed window table on the third floor, in particular, offered a panoramic view of the capital, and nobles were willing to pay extra to sit there.

On a spring day at Newport House where even the stretching sunlight was generous.

Two customers who had easily obtained the window table thanks to the goddess of luck were attracting attention in various ways.

Their attire looked ordinary at first glance, but their clothes had a lustrous sheen. They were clearly made from good fabric.

Moreover.

“Why are they ordering so much?”

They were ordering all of Newport House’s desserts without even looking at the menu prices.

At that sight, the noble ladies sitting on the 3rd floor glanced over in surprise, but the two customers whispered without noticing this at all.

“Good, no one can recognize us.”

“Of course. We look like commoners to anyone now.”

“That’s right, isn’t it?”

The two customers who had fallen into a big misconception were Arthe and Mel.

They were greeting the desserts coming in one after another with pleased expressions.

“Miss, I don’t know how long it’s been since we had such leisure.”

Mel exclaimed in a joyful voice.

As Mel said, it was really the first leisure they had enjoyed in a long time since the debutante.

It was when Arthe was also savoring the rare leisure and turning her gaze to her teacup.

“Please just look once! I really beg you.”

“Well, you can’t do this here!”

Some man was making a commotion noisily on the lower floor of Newport House.

However, Arthe, focused on the teacup before her, didn’t notice the commotion outside the window and caressed the rim of her teacup with her fingertips.

Her teacup contained Newport House’s signature tea.

When refreshing lemongrass brushed past the tip of her tongue, it was followed by rich bergamot and hibiscus scents.

Even the reddish color like a girl’s shy cheeks.

The delicately blended tea of Newport House was certainly of excellent quality befitting its reputation.

After staring at the tea for a moment, Arthe shifted her gaze to the desserts beside it.

Grapefruit tart topped with Earl Grey cream, macarons with various colorful hues and rich-flavored chocolate cake, lemon pound with excellent sour taste.

Especially the cheesecake, which was really perfect for her taste.

The rich, creamy, and sweet taste of cheese.

When that heavy taste thickly dominated the tip of her tongue, she craved a drink that would perfectly match it.

‘……And that very drink.’

Arthe looked back and forth between the tea and desserts before her with strange eyes.

It was around the end of this year that House Person brought a new beverage to the Sable Empire, where drinking tea with luxurious desserts was considered a privilege of nobles.

The empire’s tradition of enjoying tea since ancient times was turned 180 degrees with the appearance of that new beverage.

A beverage with a bitter taste and unique aroma, unlike a tea’s sweet scent.

That beverage’s distinctive taste emerged as the best combination with rich-flavored desserts and instantly led the capital’s trends.

Thanks to this, House Person, which had already shown prominence in commerce, had their business become a huge hit and their influence became even more powerful.

That beverage was coffee.

It was so sensationally popular.

Arthe still vividly remembered the empire’s heated reaction at the time.

“Surely House Person imported coffee……”

“……What? Coffee?”

Even at Mel’s question, not understanding, Arthe blankly recalled her previous life and sighed deeply.

She had investigated in various ways to import coffee first, but there were no traces of it entering the country yet.

House Person was also busy promoting tea, their main business, and showed no signs of attempting other businesses.

She had to somehow import it first.

“Really……”

Despite running around here and there since morning, she couldn’t find any clues.

Eventually, Arthe came to Newport House with the feeling of grasping at the last straw.

Newport House.

Before her regression, this was the place that quickly preempted coffee after the marquis family imported it and contributed to its popularization.

She had come here recalling that memory, but Newport House also only featured tea as their main product and showed no attempts to sell other beverages.

Arthe sighed and turned her gaze outside the window.

Arthe’s disappointed gaze lingered on people passing by outside the window.

If she could obtain even a small connection to coffee imported from the distant Kingdom of Rania, everything after that would proceed smoothly.

‘……Wait, Rania?’

Arthe frowned with a serious expression.

“Miss? Is there something uncomfortable?”

Though Newport House was a famous place, there were many other tea houses in the capital too.

There must be a reason why this place preempted coffee before other tea houses.

And that was surely.

‘They got information first.’

Leaving Mel’s words behind, Arthe’s gaze looking at the scenery before her lingered on a small general store in front of Newport House.

[World General Store – Direct Import Sales from All Continents]

‘……Could it be?’

At the sudden premonition, Arthe stood up abruptly from her seat, still holding the fork with a macaron on it.

“Mel, wait a moment.”

“Miss! Where are you suddenly going!”

Mel urgently called out to stop Arthe, but Arthe was already running down Newport House’s stairs.

After coffee’s popularity, cultures from various continents like the Kingdom of Rania and the Trüjan Empire spread like trends throughout the empire.

World general stores selling various world confections, ingredients, goods and other miscellaneous items even opened branches in each region.

But now was before that trend.

A general store that only a few people like foreigners would visit happened to be in front of Newport House, which had been the center of coffee?

This was hard to see as mere coincidence.

Arthe, who had rushed down the stairs, stood in front of the general store, took a deep breath, then opened the door.

It was when Arthe’s rapidly moving gaze headed toward the display case with food items.

“Welcome. Is there something you’re looking for?”

The shop owner grandfather who had been sitting in the back came out to greet the customer, then tilted his head when he saw Arthe.

“My, did the ceiling collapse while you were eating?”

Only then realizing she was holding a fork with a macaron on it, Arthe quietly put the fork away.

“I apologize. Do you happen to import goods from the Kingdom of Rania?”

“Rania is so far away that we hardly bring anything from there……”

At the grandfather’s words, Arthe’s face was colored with disappointment.

“I see. If anything does come in from Rania, could you contact me?”

“Ah! Come to think of it.”

The grandfather, who had been stroking his white beard, clapped as if remembering something.

“I think the old woman said that black stuff she put in the food storage came from Rania……”

Black stuff. Color returned to Arthe’s face.

“Could you show it to me?”

The grandfather, who slowly went into the room, came out after a long while carrying something in a cup.

“Yes. This is it. The old woman really liked it because it completely eliminates odors.”

Powder with a mysterious hue that seemed brown yet black.

A rich and addictive fragrance unlike anything from any plant she had ever smelled.

“Where did you get this?”

At Arthe’s urging, the shop owner grandfather eventually called the shop owner grandmother too.

“Oh my, that young man who recently prepared for trade with Rania. What was his name……”

The grandmother said while bringing a bag containing coffee.

“Ah, that straw-haired young man? The one without substance who’s flighty?”

“Right. That person is nice but really can’t do business. That gentleman came and left this.”

“You don’t know his name, shop, or destination?”

Both the grandmother and grandfather shook their heads simultaneously.

“He earnestly begged us to contact him if we wanted to stock it, but we lost his contact information.”

“……I see.”

Just when she thought she had finally grasped a clue.

At the clue that disappeared before her eyes again, Arthe sighed deeply.

“But it’s only bitter and has no particular taste, so we said we wouldn’t stock it. But when we put it in storage, it completely eliminated food odors, so we just left it there. But why? Is it something good?”

“I need it.”

Arthe wrote her name and placed it on the table.

“If that person comes again, please tell him. That there’s someone who wants to buy it.”

“Sure. We felt bad just receiving it for free anyway.”

Regrettable, but it couldn’t be helped.

Arthe, who was taking steps with a bitter heart, turned around as if remembering something.

“Oh, don’t just drink that as is, but add plenty of milk and sugar. Then it will suit your taste perfectly.”

***

“Oh my! Miss. Why did you suddenly rush out like that?”

Arthe apologized to Mel who was waiting outside and pointed to the general store.

“Put a person here.”

“A person?”

“Right. I might forget too. No, should I go leave a few more contact numbers.”

After giving instructions and coming out, Arthe, who had become anxious for some reason, was turning back to enter the general store again when….

“Well, I said no.”

At the familiar voice of a man who seemed to be a manager in front of Newport House, Arthe turned her gaze toward Newport House.

A man was noisily clinging to Newport House’s manager.

“Oh my, that man is still doing that?”