I Bought the Villains With Money - Chapter 13

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 13
We moved Robert to the sofa instead of the bed, since Jennis had insisted she’d just changed the bedding that afternoon.
Laid out on the sprawling, ornate sofa, Robert looked smaller than ever.
His gaunt arm hung limply over the edge. I lifted it back onto the cushions and ordered Jennis to bring a basin of warm water.
Jennis prepared the basin and towels, then fetched a quilt for him to lie under and fresh clothes to change into.
In the meantime, I heard from Cho about the circumstances of bringing Robert here.
It hadn’t been treacherous work, but it wasn’t simple either—I’d half expected Cho to demand a bonus.
Yet once Cho had finished his account, he simply watched Jennis move about the room in silence.
Jennis worked with practiced efficiency, her hands gentle even as her mouth ran without mercy.
“He’s absolutely filthy. Did you fish him out of a rubbish heap? Oh my—this blood isn’t even his. Spattered everywhere…… Was he caught up in a murder?”
Each bloodstain and smudge she discovered on Robert’s body sent Jennis’s imagination spinning further.
“Is she always this loud?”
“She’s overstimulated at the moment. Normally she’s…… much more restrained.”
I’m sorry, Jennis. I wavered just now.
The truth is, so much has been happening around us lately that you’d have reason to work yourself up. It’s been ages since I’ve seen you calm, hasn’t it?
“But she handles the work capably.”
“That’s Jennis’s strength. When she’s worked up, her efficiency skyrockets—three times over, perhaps?”
I recalled a paper I’d read once suggesting that excitement improved blood circulation, which sharpened mental clarity and accelerated task completion.
“She could use the occasional stimulation.”
I nodded at Cho’s comment. While we bantered, Robert had become presentable.
Thin though he was, Robert was taller than Jennis—I marveled at how she’d managed to change his clothes at all.
“The sedative should be wearing off soon.”
The moment Cho spoke, Robert’s fingers twitched. I moved closer and shook his shoulder.
“Robert? Are you coming to? Open your eyes if you’re awake.”
“Ah……”
A thin moan escaped him—unmistakably pained.
“Robert!”
His face was ashen, his eyelashes trembling, and his breathing shallow with suffering.
“Where does it hurt……”
“…… I’m hungry.”
Robert’s eyes snapped wide. They locked with mine as I’d leaned in to examine him more closely.
“Something delicious. A good smell.”
His gaze ignited with something feral. The moment our eyes met—those wild, hungry eyes—he pulled me toward him. His red lips parted wide.
His canines seemed as large as my fist. I braced myself for the pain I knew was coming.
***
“Ahhhhhhhhhhh!”
Jennis screamed.
Dallas, the House Irenberg physician, frowned and gripped Jennis’s wrist firmly to keep her from pulling away.
“Don’t be theatrical.”
At Dallas’s stern rebuke, Jennis jumped as if scalded.
“Theatrical? Can’t you see this? Clear bite marks!”
Jennis waved her bandaged hand about dramatically.
“I can see them perfectly well. But it hardly warrants that much noise. You’re not even bleeding. It’s an animal bite, and by those standards it’s quite minor. Tell me—does the mansion have an animal that bites people?”
Dallas delivered his diagnosis with clinical precision.
“From the wound pattern, it must be a fairly large creature. Whatever it is, you should have it caught and put down immediately. Once an animal has bitten a person, it will do so again.”
Robert, sitting quietly in the corner, flinched at this. The animal Dallas spoke of was none other than Robert himself.
Here’s what happened.
When Robert came to from the sedative, he was famished. My room happened to contain the evening meal Jennis had brought.
He caught the scent of food and mistook its source for something within reach. By pure instinct, he lunged at whatever was nearest.
That was me.
Seeing Robert pull me close and open his mouth wide, Jennis thrust her own arm directly between his jaws just as his teeth were about to close on me. Robert bit her arm instead.
He’d gnawed so thoroughly that the bite marks were mangled beyond Dallas’s ability to distinguish human teeth from animal fangs.
“I’ll handle it discreetly, Dallas. But is there anything I should be careful about?”
I asked quickly, before Dallas could grow any more suspicious.
“Keep it dry. Though that will be difficult for a maid to manage, I’m afraid. She’ll have her hands full.”
Dallas finished wrapping the bandage and gathered his medical bag. I’d meant to ask him if he’d found any information about Cassion’s illness, but thought better of it—now that Robert was here, there was no reason to burden Dallas further.
“The wound mustn’t become infected.”
He gave Jennis detailed instructions on care and tucked his bag under his arm. Dallas bowed respectfully to me and left the room.
The door closed. Robert eased himself upright, watching Jennis carefully. She reflexively positioned herself in front of me.
“Don’t…… bite. But where is this place?”
Robert looked embarrassed that he’d mistaken someone’s arm for food. He glanced about, trying to piece together where he was, looking rather like a meerkat standing guard.
You must have given him quite a fright.
“This is Irenberg Mansion.”
I spoke as gently as I could manage. Robert mumbled softly to himself, “Irenberg, Irenberg…”
“House Irenberg. You don’t know it?”
“I… I do.”
It was fortunate he knew something about my family. Otherwise I’d have to spend time introducing our House.
“But why am I here? I was definitely involved in the black market—”
Robert stopped mid-sentence, startled. His expression turned fearful and he stepped backward. What he was thinking was obvious enough—he’d been caught trading on the black market.
“Relax. I have no intention of turning you over to the Peacekeeping Authority. For now, sit down and eat something.”
I pushed the plate of food toward Robert. He remained standing, rooted in place, his wariness undiminished.
“Sit, and I’ll explain why you’re here. Eat while we talk.”
Robert finally moved his legs.
He perched on the very edge of the sofa. I slid the plate closer to make it easier for him to eat, and positioned the fork within easy reach.
“But Miss!”
Jennis shot Robert a look of protest, her face twisted in displeasure.
“He looks hungrier than I am. And did you write your name on the food?”
I was about to scold Jennis when Robert spoke.
“I won’t touch a child’s food.”
Robert turned his eyes away from the plate of food.
But from the way his throat bobbed, he clearly wanted it badly enough to swallow hard.
Remarkable restraint. What made it remarkable was the reason behind it.
Robert was only three years older than me. Moreover, from years of going without, his growth had been poor, while I’d been well-fed and delicately raised—so the difference between us wasn’t as large as one might think.
Of course Robert was taller than me. But as for build… should I really be bothered by this?
‘Yet because I appear younger than him, he won’t eat my food?’
Was he trying to protect me?
With an ordinary person, the feeling of being protected would be pleasant enough, but Robert and I were far from ordinary. We could never be ordinary.
‘Robert is someone I’ll use. At the very least, someone I’ll do business with.’
“Do you think I’m weaker than you?”
“Because you’re smaller and younger than me…”
Robert murmured. He caught the chill in my voice and his confidence wavered.
Why would he be frightened of a girl small and young enough to need protecting?
His concern was touching, but I couldn’t allow him to treat me that way.
I wanted Robert to fear me. Better yet, I wanted him to believe I could be useful to him.
“This is House Irenberg. And I am the person who will become its Head of House. Do you understand what that means?”
Confusion flickered across Robert’s eyes as various thoughts competed for space.
“Ask if you’re curious about anything.”
“Can… can you become Head of House?”
Robert raised his hand to point at me. Then, remembering belatedly that one shouldn’t point a finger at a noble, his finger hung awkwardly in the air before falling.
“Yes, I can.”
There had never been a single instance in the kingdom’s history of someone my age becoming Head of House, no matter how thoroughly one searched the records. But I intended to be that exception.
“You don’t need to understand the details. Just know this: I have more money than you and more power. So you don’t need to protect me. I’ll be the one protecting you.”
“Protecting… me?”
Robert’s pupils dilated noticeably.
“That’s right. You can eat whatever you want here and do whatever you wish. Is there something you want to do?”
I knew what Robert wanted to do. He wanted to create affordable, effective medicines. And he wanted to become a proper physician, one who performed real surgery.
‘Because treatment reliant on Magic or Divine Power isn’t available to just anyone.’
Robert looked at me with a questioning gaze, his eyes thick with suspicion.
I would have been suspicious in his position too. His kidnapper was telling him to do whatever he wished.
“Well. There’s no need to discuss complicated matters right now, nor to understand them. Finish your meal first.”
Would he cry tears of gratitude? That would be problematic.
I was about to have Jennis prepare a handkerchief just in case. But his answer was entirely unexpected.
“I won’t accept kindness without compensation.”
His voice carried a grim determination.
I had failed to persuade Robert. My sigh came out unbidden at the rejection.
‘Nothing about him is straightforward.’
But I didn’t give up. From the moment I kidnapped him, there was never an option to send him back to where he came from.
‘He was working under a black market trader—how could I send him back knowing that? It would be abandonment and abuse.’
“Then give me compensation in return.”
If he disliked kindness without compensation, then he should provide it. It was a simple enough problem to solve. And Robert had something he could give me.
Robert had never entertained the notion of charity work in the first place.
Perhaps because I’d agreed so readily, his brow furrowed with doubt.
“I have nothing to offer…….”
I Bought the Villains with Money (Serial)
Author │ Yi In-hye
Publisher │ Kim Ju-hyung
Published by │ J Plus Media Co., Ltd. – Tiramisu
Marketing │ Han Jae-hyuk
Address │ 1101, 11F Ace Techno Tower 8th Building, 33 Digital-ro, Guro-gu, Seoul
Email │ [email protected]
Website │ http://blog.naver.com/jayplemedia1
© Yi In-hye 2021
※ This work is published by J Plus Media Co., Ltd. under contract with the copyright holder,
and its contents may not be used in any form or by any means without permission from the publisher and author.
Violation of this provision may result in criminal and civil liability.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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