Brilliant Aste Diamond.
She was the young lady of the Brilliant family, which had seized control of countless markets through endless capital and cutting-edge technology.
Her ability to handle mana was top-class, and her outstanding appearance meant she had reached a level where she could accept public activities without hesitation.
No one doubted that she would become the next family head, and with the current head acknowledging it, Diamond’s succession was almost certain.
The next family head who would decide the fate of the Brilliant family was now—
"Young Lady, how about this dish? It is garnished with refreshing mint and chocolate…"
"Disgusting! Next!"
She was lining up chefs from around the world and shouting at them.
"Is this all you can make? What a waste of my money, truly!"
She evaluated the food on the plates with rage that came from the heart.
It was not unreasonable. Among those Diamond had invited, there were no chefs who specialized in desserts.
Rather, if they competed in their specialties, they reached a level that could overwhelm Jade.
Of course, their talent as pâtissiers fell infinitely short.
‘Cake, ice cream, muffins, pudding, cookies, tarts…’
The various desserts she had experienced at Eclipse were so extraordinary they could truly be called a new world.
They paired incredibly well with coffee or black tea—a harmony of flavors where each complemented the other’s shortcomings.
But the chefs before her could not even brew a proper cup of coffee, let alone a delicious dessert.
"There’s too much sugar! Are you trying to give me diabetes?!"
She was not pleased with food that was simply sweet. Rather, things with less sugar were easier to eat in large quantities.
If there was a moderate sweetness and a beverage to enhance it, that was enough, yet they seemed unable to grasp even such a basic fact.
"Sigh, I’m done. I’m going to sleep!"
It was a waste of stomach space. To think she had to fill her belly with such low-class food.
Her exclusive maid let out a sigh at the sight of her master returning to the bedroom with blatant disappointment.
Why was the next head of the Brilliant family displaying such tyranny?
It was none other than the unprecedented popularity of Cafe Eclipse.
‘I found it first…’
Diamond felt a ridiculous sense of loss, as if someone had snatched a gem she had discovered one step ahead right before her eyes.
Regardless of the process, Eclipse had gained such fame largely thanks to her.
‘In the end, that barista got so busy I can’t even properly see his face anymore.’
The shop was fully booked for weeks ahead. At this rate, tasting those desserts again would become a distant future.
She had at least tried to summon world-class chefs to the mansion to appease her palate with various desserts, but—
"Bweeeeh!!"
"The Young Lady is vomiting!"
…unable to endure the revulsion of the bizarre dishes, she had soiled the floor with vomit.
If it had come to this, there was only one thing to do: summon the culprit who had ravaged Diamond’s tongue.
"Young Lady, excuse me for a moment."
Ruri, the exclusive maid who was the only one permitted to enter her master’s bedroom, followed her, but—
"Bweeeeeeh!!"
"......."
Ruri, who had served Diamond for a long time, knew.
Once she started that ugly crying, she wouldn’t stop until the blanket was soaked like a wet rag.
‘Just how delicious was that dessert…’
It was already well known that Brilliant Aste Diamond was a world-class gourmet and a great glutton.
She maintained her figure despite an appetite close to binge eating, to the point that some joked her nutrients must be going to her chest.
Bored with all the food she had eaten until now, she had been longing for an encounter with new gourmet cuisine, and what appeared just in time was Cafe Eclipse.
"I found it first!! But it got stolen by other people!! Bweeeeh!!"
Diamond desperately vented her frustration enough to shake the mansion to its foundations.
Before her master’s disgrace could spread further, Ruri quickly held out a bundle of papers to her.
"Young Lady, I have investigated the identity of the barista you mentioned."
"Well done! As expected, I cannot be satisfied without that person!"
She stopped crying in one second and took the bundle of papers.
Negotiations had taken time in various ways, but movements were already underway behind the scenes to welcome him as the Brilliant family’s official chef.
"His name is Jade, estimated age twenty-five. He appears to be affiliated with the Gaia Foundation."
"The Gaia Foundation…? I have never heard of such a place."
They had no way of knowing that it was a dummy corporation created as camouflage for an organization called the Silver Den.
"He does not seem to have any family… his address is here. It is one stop away from Jewelry Academia."
"All alone in a shabby mansion like this, without family… surely he lost his parents at a young age?"
In Diamond’s mind, a profile of Jade began to form arbitrarily.
A young man who lost his parents early, fighting desperately at Jewelry Academia through painstakingly honed talent as a pâtissier—a figure somehow impossible to hate.
Though their conversation had been brief, Jade’s favorability was arbitrarily rising within her.
"However, there is one suspicious point. The personal information above was registered one year ago. I investigated further back, but nothing came up at all…"
"One year ago? You mean there is nothing known before that?"
"Yes. It is possible he may be an illegal foreign laborer who stowed away from overseas."
Naturally, it was impossible to know Jade’s background or career history, having suddenly fallen from another world. At least, not unless he spoke of it himself.
But Diamond smiled brightly, as though such facts posed no obstacle whatsoever.
"At this point, none of that matters! Ruri, quickly invite him and bring him before me!"
"Understood."
Ruri nodded, interpreting the polite word ‘invite’ in an entirely different direction.
***
After Brilliant-whatever Diamond (I got lazy, so I decided to just call her Dia) achieved the feat of conquering the entire dessert menu.
Cafe Eclipse was showing signs of an unprecedented trend and was already receiving worldwide attention.
"Who would have thought that a bandit-like idea of doubling the price wouldn’t work."
"No, if you put it that way, it makes me sound like the bandit for suggesting it…"
Amber, exhausted from counting money and sprawled on the sofa, offered a complaint.
"I don’t really know why it’s doing so well either, but in the end, it must be thanks to Dia-chan promoting it in many ways?"
"That’s definitely the biggest factor."
Because that busty girl filmed a mukbang with a happy expression, the internet had completely gone wild.
‘She was already famous as the next head of Brilliant…’
Trends are incredibly sensitive; once a fire is lit, even outsiders to that field easily cross over to become consumers.
Cafes were already a massive hit product spread across the entire world. Once a trigger appeared, it was inevitable that they would become a hot topic.
And in that situation, Dia’s mukbang served as the fuse that lit the fire.
"You could say that I, who came from another world, pioneered a new trend."
"There you go again…"
As a result, interest in coffee, black tea, and desserts had increased dramatically, so it was not an exaggeration.
‘Historically, weren’t nobles said to be sensitive to trends?’
It was already a well-known fact that countless medieval nobles bought incomprehensible works of art or collected bizarre antiques to flaunt their wealth.
Of course, applying that fact directly to modern times was hasty, but it was a common understanding that many sought to display their wealth.
Spending capital in the market rather than hoarding it was desirable behavior. Though I did wonder how I felt about them pouring that money into me, someone with no connection to them.
"In the end, I even appeared on broadcast, so now I’m enlightened."
Appearing on large-scale broadcasts that everyone would recognize, or setting up franchises around the world to pass on knowledge of desserts…
It had reached the point where the attention was unavoidable, so I simply had to enjoy it.
For the record, Lapis handled most of the contracts. She had probably pulled strings to ensure that facts about my identity or the Silver Den were not made public.
"So you’ve finally accepted it? You look better now that you’ve resigned yourself. You’re not making strange complaints like before."
"There was far too much money to refuse."
I roughly shoved the money into the safe and began preparing to head home.
Back to the same old shabby mansion that no one would think capable of housing someone who had earned a billion in an instant.
"I’ll get going now. You shouldn’t stay too late either."
"Yeah, yeah, you don’t have to tell me."
Despite saying that, she went home late every night; as her senior, I couldn’t help but worry.
She had a pretty face too, so I always found myself wondering if weird guys were hitting on her.
‘Well, her mana is considerable, so she should be fine for the most part, but…’
You never know. There are apparently skilled individuals capable of neutralizing the mana of those nearby.
If she were kidnapped, it would likely become a major incident for the Silver Den.
As I was leaving the Silver Den headquarters and trudging home.
Thud—!
In an instant, my mouth and body were restrained, and I was forced into a black van like something out of a movie.
"Please do not move. It will be useless even if you try to escape using mana. We have already set up interference waves."
"......."
No matter what, I never thought I would get kidnapped.