I Bought the Villains With Money - Chapter 19

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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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Episode 19.
Julia, thinking that Diana ought to understand by now, withdrew her hand from the girl’s shoulder.
Yet Diana showed no sign of backing down.
“Please don’t worry. I’m quite accomplished when it comes to vision.”
The Queen decided there was no point in pressing the matter further; it would only fray her nerves. But Diana had no intention of leaving.
The girl remained in the room, ignoring the implicit order, and proceeded as though Julia did not exist—approaching Casion directly with a question.
“Your Highness, have you heard the news?”
“What news?”
Casion tilted his head, puzzled by Diana’s sudden address.
“About the Phoenix Bank!”
“What’s that?”
The topic struck him as equally abrupt, and Casion’s brow furrowed. Diana raised her voice as if to ensure he was listening.
“There’s been chaos at the Phoenix Bank!”
“Why are you telling me this?”
‘Ah, just listen quietly.’
Diana spoke to Casion, but her words were meant for Julia.
The Phoenix Bank was a matter Julia could not ignore.
The Phoenix Bank had certain connections to Julia.
“What do you mean by that?”
As expected, Julia approached with a guarded expression and questioned Diana.
Diana affected a look of chagrin and murmured.
“Oh, I wasn’t supposed to say anything.”
“Diana. I am the Queen of this nation. There is nothing you cannot tell me. Speak.”
Julia glared at her. She assumed that, being of the Irenber family, even a child like Diana would be well-informed.
“Then only Your Majesty must know. I’m telling you in secret, after all.”
The way she spoke, winking conspiratorially, was thoroughly childlike. Julia thought to herself that her impression of Diana had shifted considerably today.
“The Phoenix Bank is about to collapse. People are lining up to withdraw their deposits.”
Julia’s smile faltered, her lips trembling. She gripped her skirt tightly.
“You know quite a lot for one so young. Where on earth did you hear such things? Dear me, look at the time—it’s grown so late. I think it best we continue this conversation another time. I should be going.”
Feigning surprise at the hour, Julia straightened her posture and turned away.
Though she affected composure, Diana’s keen hearing caught the sound of her running the moment the door closed.
***
“Goodness, you really are something!”
The moment Julia left, Casion stumbled. He steadied himself against the desk, releasing a long breath.
He’d managed to see Julia out without a major confrontation. I reached out to support him, but a thin arm came up and pushed me away.
‘He’s in grumpy cat mode.’
I understood—Julia had startled and flustered him. Her penetrating gaze could make even adults’ knees buckle. The fact that Casion, frail as he was, hadn’t collapsed before her was admirable in itself.
“Sit down. Or lie down, Your Highness.”
Casion drew a deep breath and obeyed. When I tried to support him again, he pushed me away once more.
He refused me twice!
I have pride too!
……But there’s no call to stand on pride with someone who’s ill.
And those drooping shoulders looked like a rain-soaked cat. Meanwhile, that round back of his head was nothing short of adorable, and I was losing it.
In just a few days, I’d grown fond enough of him that even his prickly demeanor struck me as endearing.
I assisted him despite his refusal, and when I extended my hand a third time, he didn’t push it away.
Casion accepted my help without fuss and lay down on the bed, closing his eyes.
“Were you very frightened, Your Highness?”
“Of course I was frightened. Wouldn’t you be?”
I myself had startled when I heard Julia’s voice in the corridor; how much more must Casion have felt it, hearing that sharp edge of a curse at close range.
I was just grateful she’d withdrawn quietly.
I’d expected her to press me relentlessly about why I’d come to the Third Prince’s Palace and what I knew about the Phoenix Bank.
‘It was good that I pushed the Phoenix Bank angle first.’
Julia’s agitation upon hearing of trouble at the Phoenix Bank came to mind.
I regretted not being able to land a heavier blow, but this was the best I could manage for now.
‘If the Phoenix Bank collapses, Julia will take a hit too.’
Let me focus on that.
The Phoenix Bank was the place managing Julia’s slush funds. And that same bank held the Twilight Mansion as collateral.
Julia, the Twilight Mansion, the Phoenix Bank.
Something stinks here, and badly.
“What are you thinking about?”
When I fell silent, Casion asked bluntly.
“Well, I thought of placing someone in the Queen’s Palace. If she knows beforehand, Your Highness could at least evacuate. I’d like to repay what she’s putting you through, but I don’t have the power yet.”
“What are you talking about?”
Casion’s brow narrowed, displeased by the suggestion of retreat.
“Think of it as a fly, Your Highness. It doesn’t bite me, but it’s unsightly, so I’d rather avoid it.”
Actually, the analogy was wrong. Julia, unlike a fly, does bite. She’s worse than a venomous insect. I considered correcting myself but let it go.
“Julia doesn’t concern me.”
“You’re not upset because of the Queen?”
Casion clicked his tongue in irritation. His eyes raked over me from head to foot.
His gaze was truly infuriating.
I was about to say something but held back and asked instead.
“If it’s not because of the Queen, then why are you upset, our Your Highness?”
“You…….”
He’d been speaking plainly just moments before, but now Casion’s words trailed off. His voice grew so quiet I could hardly hear him.
“I’m sorry? What did you say?”
“You! Be careful around Julia!”
Casion’s voice cracked. Immediately, a fit of coughing spilled from his lips.
He covered his mouth with his hand and coughed for a long moment before burrowing completely under the blankets.
I waved away the dust cloud he’d kicked up and stared at the mound of quilts rising before me.
“Be careful around Julia? It’s not you who should be careful—it’s me you’re warning…….”
Heat crept across my face as I turned his words over in my mind.
So you’re saying right now that you,
“You were worried about me, weren’t you? You were worried about me, right? Weren’t you? Admit it.”
A smile bloomed across my face and wouldn’t fade.
“Don’t smile, Diana.”
“How can I not smile? Your Highness was worried about me!”
Casion’s eyes flew wide open. I tried my best not to smile, but my lips twitched of their own accord.
Then Casion spoke in a genuinely displeased tone.
“Is it so funny that I worry about you? Am I ridiculous for worrying about someone sickly like me when you look like you could wrestle an ox?”
……
The laughter died instantly. The room fell silent like ice water had been poured over everything.
Casion breathed heavily, and I could only blink.
Casion had misunderstood what my laughter meant. But the misunderstanding ran so deep I couldn’t bring myself to speak carelessly.
‘I knew he’d been sick for a long time and twisted up by nothing but rejection from others.’
Yet I’d thought we’d grown close enough lately that he’d be fine. But he still couldn’t trust people.
‘Casion is still a child, after all.’
I chose to understand him graciously and began to speak.
“Listen to me, Your Highness.”
“What?”
When I softened my expression and spoke gently, he sat up and pushed his hips back against the headboard.
His face and tone suggested he didn’t want to hear what I had to say, but his actions told a different story.
The contradiction was so endearing that my hand moved of its own accord. My fingers brushed lightly against his bangs before I could stop myself.
It happened too quickly for him to defend himself. Belatedly, whether embarrassed or displeased, his face flushed, but he didn’t grow angry.
‘I really need to break this habit of mine.’
My hands never could resist moving when I found something cute.
I clenched my fists and continued.
“Your Highness. I was smiling because I was happy—happy that you were worried about me.”
Casion’s face showed he had no idea what I was saying.
‘It’s strange. We speak the same language, yet it feels like talking to a foreigner.’
I mustered my patience and explained carefully.
“Casion, do you remember when you first met me? You wouldn’t even look at me, would you?”
“No, you were rude and overflowing with confidence—arrogant, in fact.”
So that’s how you saw me.
I suppressed the anger rising in my eyes and spoke.
“True. You could think that. And when I first asked for your help, what did you say? You said you didn’t care whether I lived or died. You truly didn’t care—that’s why you wouldn’t even marry, and…….”
As I drew out my words, Casion straightened his spine.
“I didn’t say anything about dying.”
“It’s a reasonable expectation. That’s what the Succession Dispute means in our family.”
I paused to collect myself. Casion waited for me to continue.
“Our family isn’t an ordinary one, after all.”
It’s awkward to say this myself.
When I smiled, Casion bowed his head. Perhaps the weight of my death was only now truly sinking in—even though he speaks so easily of his own.
“Say it more plainly.”
“Your Highness, my role in the Succession Dispute means fighting for the throne itself. It’s like a Prince’s Rebellion—the kind you read about in history books. When people want to be king, what do they do? They kill each other, don’t they? Did you really think we’d sit around drinking tea and debate who gets to try first?”
“No. That’s impossible.”
Anyone who has studied even a little history knows how such desperate battles for power end.
“Do you know what the easiest way for Count Colcos to seize the Irenber house would be?”
It was a question, but I didn’t need to hear Casion’s answer. He had already pressed his lips shut.
“To kill me.”
There were other words—eliminate, remove, and so on—but I spoke directly. It lands harder that way.
“He could let you live. If you stepped aside.”
How naive.
“If there were any chance of that, would I have come looking for Your Highness?”
Count Colcos sold me to Deison to seize the family, and in the end, he had me framed and killed.
Casion’s face grew darker by the moment. At last, he was truly grasping the weight of my proposal.
His eyes, gripping the blanket so tightly, darted back and forth with sharp, jerky movements.
Only now was he beginning to understand just how grave my situation truly was.
‘Should I have appealed to his pity from the start? “I’ll die if you don’t marry me”?’
I shook my head where Casion couldn’t see.
Because we’d built a cordial relationship, these words carried weight. If I’d blurted out my circumstances the moment we met, I’d have heard nothing but “I’ll be dead first anyway, so it doesn’t matter to me.”
“So?”
Casion asked.
What were we talking about again? Oh! My laugh. I’d smiled because he was so kind to worry about me, and he’d misunderstood.
“Your Highness, as you know, I have no parents.”
…Damn it. I’m about to cry.
No matter how grown up you are, it’s hard to speak of parents who have passed.
“So there’s no one who truly worries about me.”
Aunt Cho and Jennis flickered through my mind, but they couldn’t fully share my sorrow and pain.
Their circumstances and situations are far too different from mine.
And they are adults. If I show them my distress, they’ll try to solve it, not truly understand it.
But Casion is different.
He has endured torment from those in power his whole life. He knows what it feels like when a powerful adult turns their blade on you, how terror grips you before them.
And he is still a child like me.
“But Your Highness showed me that worry. Genuine worry.”
And how precious that was to me.
I Bought Off the Villains with Money (Serialized)
Author │ Lee In-hye
Publisher │ Kim Joo-hyung
Published by │ J Plus Media Co., Ltd. – Tiramisu
Marketing │ Han Jae-hyuk
Address │ 11-1101, 33 Digital-ro, Guro-gu, Seoul (Guro-dong, Ace Techno Tower 8, 11th Floor)
Email │ [email protected]
Website │ http://blog.naver.com/jayplemedia1
ⓒ Lee In-hye 2021
※This work is published by J Plus Media Co., Ltd. in accordance with a contract with the copyright holder,
and its contents may not be used in any form or manner without permission from the company and author.
Violations are subject to 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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