/
“Oh, would you like another dessert?”
“What desserts did you plan to sell today?”
‘I went to the ball last night, so I didn’t have much prepared today
’
“Well, we just opened for business, so we only have muffins, pies, and a cake. The pie is made of blueberry cream, and the cake is made of white chocolate.”
The cake was the same kind that she took to Serena’s ball.
She had leftover ingredients from the ball, so she was able to make more to sell in the shop.
“I’ll go back to the shop and get it for you, if you don’t mind?”
“No, no—”
The man threw up his hands in frustration.
“I don’t need dessert or anything. Not like that.”
He furrowed his brow in frustration.
“Then what are you talking about?”
“Are you intentionally pretending that you don’t know?”
The official smiled through his thin lips.
“So it seems that you haven’t been in business for less than ten years.”
‘What the hell is he talking about?’
Erin put down the syrup bottle and approached the table, her face was deliberately innocent.
“Well, when you come to a dessert cafe and ask if there’s anything else, I didn’t realize that you didn’t mean desserts.”
‘What does he want then? If he asks for anything else wouldn’t he mean desserts?’
“What a frustrating woman.”
The inspector huffed and drummed his fingers at the end of the table.
“If you want to stay in business, you must show some sincerity, and don’t bring me those stupid muffins.”
“They’re not muffins, they’re crepes.”
“Whatever thing that was— I’m not interested in desserts.”
Erin blinked wordlessly.
“What are you interested in besides desserts when you come to a dessert cafe?”
“Do you really not know what I’m talking about?”
The supervisor snorted, as if it was the first time he’d ever encountered an idiot.
“If you want me to write a proper report, then you must give me your sincerity. Otherwise, I’ll write whatever report I want about this shop, and I can assure you it won’t be a good one. In other words, if you don’t pay me, I’m going to write something bad and make you close this shop. I didn’t like it from the beginning anyways.”
‘Classic blackmail.’
Erin then said with bitter sarcasm,
“I heard there are thugs in the slums who extort money from poor street vendors. I didn’t realize there was such a thing in a normal town like this.”
“Are you saying that I’m a backstreet thug?”
‘Well, I certainly didn’t expect one to wear an inspector’s plaque.’
Erin sneered coldly and asked bluntly,
“So what do you want then? Gold coins, checks, jewelry?”
The inspector looked a little embarrassed, as if he hadn’t expected her to be so blatant.
“Nothing, of course money is fine, and jewelry if you don’t have cash right now
.”
Greed immediately sparked in the man’s small eyes.
“Oh, I see
”
Erin listened to what he had to say, and spat out contemptuously.
“But what am I to do, I can’t give you a dime.”
Now rather than being embarrassed, the inspector stammered in bewilderment.
“Oh. No. Then what about the report—-”
Erin smirked and snapped at him.
“Report whatever you want and get the hell out of here.”
“Wh—What?”
The Inspector repeated, as if he couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
Erin replied nonchalantly.
“Didn’t you hear me? I can’t give you any money, so write whatever you want.”
She smiled and said it lightly, as if she really meant it.
The inspector, who had arrogantly held the end of the table a moment ago, sat with his mouth open in embarrassment.
Erin put away the glass she’d brought him and moved the plate of crepes next to it to the side of the counter.
She’d worked hard since she’d gotten up in the morning to make them.
This kind of man doesn’t deserve to have any of this. No way.
“If you’re done with your inspection, why don’t you leave?”
Erin sat back in her chair, and the inspector was bewildered after he realized that she was actually serious.
“Don’t you realize what would happen if I reported this shop? It will definitely be closed down.”
“Well, maybe.”
If the inspector wrote down a report about poor hygiene and sloppy employees, the shop would most likely be shut down.
But Erin didn’t hesitate to answer.
Her casual, unreserved response prompted the inspector to stammer out an explanation.
“Y— You, if I don’t fill out a report properly, this shop will be shut down in a month. I can make it happen, I really can. D–Don’t you believe me?”
‘What does he mean?’
That’s a pretty lame threat to be honest.
The inspector was inextricably perplexed.
It was too strange of a reaction just because of her refusal to give him a bribe.
Erin watched him flounder and spoke in a questioning tone.
“What’s wrong with doing what you want? If I don’t pay you, you can do anything as you please. Just write the report the way it’s supposed to be written? You seem strangely flustered
”
Erin paused, shook her head, and added, “I don’t know why
 but there seems to be a reason behind why you feel like taking a bribe from me right?”
Erin didn’t miss the momentary hardening of the inspector’s gaunt face.
“That’s it.’
“Hah. I see.”
She’d always thought the sudden inspection was a bit odd.
There may be unannounced inspections, but she thought that it was strange that they would come in as soon as the ball was over.
She thought that it was a bit of an odd timing.
It’s like someone had arranged the entire thing.
‘Who could it be?’
‘What a stupid thing to do.’
Anyway, now that the situation was clear, there was no need to be polite anymore.
Erin threw up her hands and spoke with mockery in her voice.
“If I don’t pay you, you’re going to write a bad evaluation about my shop and shut it down, but if I give you the money, you’re going to accuse me of bribing you and shut me down. If I have to choose between the two, I might as well save the money.”
If the inspector writes a bad report, she’s likely to get a suspension.
But if she gave him money and get in trouble later, she could go to jail instead of just simply getting suspended.
In the end, it was a risky choice either way.
‘It’s a hundred times better to save the money.’
It’s much better to risk a sanitation report than to risk getting imprisoned.
“Uh, well
”
The inspector, who had been so angry and stern a moment before, was stunned into silence.
He had every right to be, now that his scheme had been uncovered.
Erin snorted as she watched the sweat break out on his forehead.
‘I don’t know about the people who live nearby, but there’s no way he doesn’t know my identity.’
After all, as the owner, I used my name to sign the paperworks at the government office, and It would be weird if he didn’t even bother to check my name, and identity.
“I don’t think a government official who claims to be an inspector is not even aware of the royal family’s name.”
The sanitation inspection officer who came before was polite to Erin in his own way.
Of course, politeness and official business are different things, so he still probed every nook and cranny of the oven, and even the insides of the cupboards on the shelves.
I thought he was a very sincere person, albeit quite cumbersome— but what about this person?
When he realized that he was busted, he immediately showed his true colors.
He then hurled a lot of insulting words towards her.
“So what? You’ve been divorced, and kicked out of the palace
”
“
 You must have thought that I would fall for a simple trick from a scum like you just because I was divorced and got kicked out of the palace right?”
“That doesn’t mean anything. If I report that sanitation here is a mess—”
“Well, it’s better than the shop being suspended, under the crime of bribery isn’t it?”
Even if he declares a business to be unhygienic, suspension due to hygiene issues will not happen immediately.
It will take days to be dealt with by slow bureaucrats.
There is another grace period after the suspension as well.
‘In the meantime, if I’m lucky, I might be able to find a way to flip it.’
It will be a little complicated, but in some ways it was still for the better.
“I don’t know who’s paying you, but get out of my shop.”
Erin’s firm eviction order finally got the inspector off her ass.
“You’re going to regret this!”
The inspector snarled, then turned and stormed out.
Erin clicked her tongue as she slammed the cupboard door shut.
To think that such a man worked for the government.
It was definitely going to mess with the country’s affairs.
“I wonder if there’s any way to report that.”
Erin made more crepes, put them on a small tray, and headed back to the shop.
In contrast to the commotion in the kitchen, the café was unusually peaceful.
Customers at the tables read with mugs of tea by their sides or sat across from each other eating dessert.
Fiona was nowhere to be seen, she’s probably gone to work already.
Erin put the crepes she’d brought back inside a storage container.
There were more pies to make, some macaroons to fill, and a lot of work to do.
Looking over at the counter, Melly looked at her, then asked worriedly.
“Hey, Erin, you looked like you were in a bad mood earlier. Did something happen?”