I Bought the Villains With Money - Chapter 3

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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 3.
“Diana, what are you saying? You mean you won’t appoint a Guardian at all?”
“That’s my concern, so you needn’t worry about it.”
I was about to tell him my business here was finished and dismiss him, when Count Colkos raised his hand. He blocked my next words and asked again.
“Diana, is it perhaps that you’re sorry toward your parents? Do you feel as though a Guardian would take your parents’ place?”
…….
“No, Diana. A Guardian isn’t like that. As you know, a Guardian is…….”
“Someone who exercises the family’s rights on my behalf. Surely they’re not someone to be mentioned in the same breath as my parents?”
Count Colkos and my mother and father in the same sentence. The very thought of placing them side by side made my blood boil backward. I cut him off sharply and coldly.
“Yes, Diana. You understand well. So let’s hurry and appoint a Guardian…….”
“Enough. Whatever you say, my mind won’t change.”
At that, Count Colkos shook his head and spoke.
“Diana, you’re still young. It’s a difficult thing for a child to look after the family alone. I’m not sure you understand, but without a Guardian, you cannot properly use the family’s funds.”
The voice of Count Colkos, which had been cajoling, gradually grew stronger. Whether angered by this unexpected turn, his neck flushed a deep red.
“Why are you so concerned with this matter, Uncle?”
“Diana, I’m your only blood relative, aren’t I?”
His serpent-like eyes, feigning kindness and concern, shifted restlessly as they scrutinized me.
There was a time I believed that because we shared blood, he would love me as my parents did. The result was devastation and betrayal.
‘Cassion and Jenys, who don’t share a drop of my blood, would have been far better.’
“Diana, think of the servants of House Irenber. Without a Guardian, you won’t even be able to pay their wages properly.”
Only one year remains after the Family Head’s death during which the family’s funds can be used provisionally. Even then, only for the steady outflows that were already being paid.
If that Grace Period ends and no Guardian is appointed, then as Count Colkos says, I won’t be able to even pay the servants’ wages.
‘House Irenber’s Grace Period was unusually long. Though only a few months remain now.’
Most families must appoint a Guardian within a year, but House Irenber was specially granted an additional six months by the Royal Palace.
Considering how great a house Irenber was and how significant the sudden deaths of the Family Head and his wife had been, it was a reasonable decision.
‘I have six months left now.’
I must do something within that time.
As I fell silent in thought, Count Colkos extended his hand. He tried to grasp my hand resting on the table.
The thought of my skin touching that hypocrite’s made my flesh crawl. Before his hand could reach me, I quickly withdrew mine and thought to myself.
‘He hasn’t even considered the possibility of appointing someone other than himself as Guardian, has he? How tiresome.’
“Diana, think of House Irenber. Delaying the appointment of a Guardian will not be good for the family.”
Though Count Colkos was tiresome and foolish, there was one thing he understood about me perfectly.
That I loved House Irenber desperately.
He wielded this knowledge with great convenience.
“It’s for the sake of the family.”
Every time I questioned what Count Colkos did, he’d repeat this like a magical incantation. The memory returned, and I felt nauseated.
This time, I won’t be deceived. What is for me is for the family.
I shook my head and spoke firmly.
“Don’t bother trying to convince me. My decision will not change.”
Count Colkos clamped his mouth shut. Tension crept into the hand gripping the armrest of the sofa.
“You must have struggled greatly, Diana. I’ll come again next time.”
Having played even his final card without much gain, Count Colkos could not hide his bewilderment. His lips tightened rigidly as he managed to promise a future visit.
“Even if you come ten times, my mind won’t change, Uncle. So please don’t come next time either.”
But as I boldly began to crush even that promise, Count Colkos’s expression hardened. Unable to contain his anger, he rose abruptly from his seat.
“You…… How far do you mean to mock this uncle of yours?”
As he straightened his posture, a massive shadow fell across me. He looked down at me as though scolding a small child.
“Mock you? I simply wish to deliberate carefully.”
Count Colkos’s eyes changed. His gaze turned sharp and fierce as he spoke.
“Diana, grief over losing your parents may be great, but how long do you think you can leave the family unattended? I’ve held back the other family members until now, but I can delay no longer. You must face reality. Though what would a thirteen-year-old know?”
In his words of reproach that dismissed me, Count Colkos’s true nature finally revealed itself—his greed laid bare.
‘To think his nature is this shallow.’
Watching him tremble at the slightest provocation, I felt shame at having been deceived by him in the past.
I was about to strike back further but restrained myself. Even a single word to him was wasted.
But the patience I had so painfully mustered was short-lived.
Count Colkos had crossed a line he should never have crossed.
“Your brother and his wife would gladly accept me as your Guardian.”
I had endured it when he invoked the family’s name, and when he said a Guardian wouldn’t take my parents’ place. But not this time.
This, I could not abide.
‘My mother and father would be glad if Count Colkos became my Guardian?’
That was as good as saying my parents wanted me to be miserable.
That’s absurd!
I clenched both fists and spoke.
“Uncle, have you heard of such a story?”
“What story?”
“About a family that chose the wrong Guardian and fell to ruin.”
“What? What did you say?”
Shock registered across Colkos’s oily face.
“I’ve heard this tale making the rounds lately—someone let a guard dog into their house, and the dog bit its master and seized the estate. It seems quite famous. Surely you’ve heard of it?”
“Diana, you’re speaking to me as if—”
“Whatever you’re imagining is exactly right, Uncle.”
I lifted my head and glared at him with all the force I could muster.
Colkos was in no position to refuse my choice, regardless of how angry he became. No matter how furious, he couldn’t afford any rash action. So a provocation of this caliber was permissible.
Sure enough, Colkos’s brow furrowed tightly, then relaxed. He drew slow, deliberate breaths, struggling to master his temper.
“Diana. Where did you hear such things?”
Rather than quarrel with me, Colkos chose retreat, and his voice had shed its edge. He affected tenderness as he asked.
Heard it? I lived it.
“Don’t listen to what others say. Believe only what you’ve seen and experienced yourself.”
Colkos carried on as though dispensing profound wisdom.
I almost laughed aloud.
‘That’s precisely why I don’t trust you. Because I’ve seen, heard, and experienced firsthand that you’re a scoundrel.’
Breathing the same air as Colkos had become unbearable. It was time to bring this to a close.
“I have just one request, Uncle.”
“Diana. Tell me anything.”
“Leave now and never come looking for me again. Like when Father was alive—you remain in your Provincial Territory, and I stay here. Beyond that, don’t trouble yourself wondering how I fare. Simply assume I have relatives somewhere and go about your life. Doesn’t that seem simple enough?”
Had he truly expected me to ask for a doll or expensive Chocolate? Colkos, his face registering shock, barely composed himself and forced out his words.
“How could I possibly leave a child alone and retire to my estate?”
Stupidity at this level amounts to a gift. He can’t understand even the simplest explanation.
There’s no point arguing with a fool; I’d only exhaust myself. I had no obligation to make him comprehend.
So rather than answer, I crossed the receiving room and opened the door wide.
“Farewell, Uncle.”
I hoped this would be our last parting. I meant it sincerely.
***
“Miss, I hear you told Colkos to his face that you wouldn’t accept him as your Guardian.”
How did Jenys learn of that?
There must be a gossiping rat in this household, someone who listens at doors and carries tales.
“It’s true. But where did you hear about it?”
“A rat told me. But what will you do now? The staff is in an uproar.”
“An uproar?”
“Yes, Miss! The maids and servants are all talking. If you don’t appoint a Guardian, their wages will be held up too. I can manage a month or two without pay easily enough. But the others—”
Our household employed an unusually high proportion of young servants and maids. Father’s softhearted nature had led him to repeatedly hire children from the Slums who couldn’t find decent work elsewhere.
They lived hand-to-mouth, spending each month’s wages to feed themselves and their families, so wages were something they could never afford to lose.
‘Driving Colkos away was satisfying, but now I’m drowning in problems. I need to soothe the staff, meet with Cassion, appoint a Guardian. Can’t I solve everything at once?’
Handling things methodically takes far too long. I was also concerned about having pricked Colkos’s pride, and the window for appointing a Guardian was narrowing.
‘How much time is left? Six months, perhaps?’
Counting the months in my mind, the anxiety deepened. I needed to find a way. I wished some brilliant solution would appear.
“That’s it! That will work.”
Suddenly, a remarkable idea struck me.
I suddenly spoke aloud with genuine delight, and Jenys looked puzzled.
“I’m sorry? What will work, Miss?”
“Marriage.”
“Marriage? To whom?”
“Me. To Cassion.”
“What? You’re marrying whom?”
“Cassion. The Third Prince of the Kingdom of Petro.”
Jenys’s mouth fell open.
[Marriages of minors require the consent of their parents or legal Guardian. However, marriage to a member of the Royal Family is an exception. —Petro Civil Law Article 189]
A passage I’d read long ago flashed through my mind like a ray of light.
Marriage to royalty meant no Guardian was needed; I would be immediately regarded as an adult and recognized as a proper Family Head. Then I could use the family’s funds as I saw fit and handle all family matters.
Appointing some unknown person as Guardian could lead to the same tragedy repeating itself. Trustworthy adults are rarer than most assume. There is Aunt Chorne, but she is meant to become the leader of Chorne.
‘And Aunt wants to live free as the wind.’
If I become his guardian, my face will inevitably become known. And then Chorne’s dream—her wish to live like the wind—will all come to nothing.
So I’ll skip the guardian designation and become the Family Head myself.
‘A perfect solution. I can repay his kindness and exact my revenge all at once.’
My purpose, the path I needed to walk—it all crystallized before me like a detailed map, every step precise and clear.
The marriage candidate is Cassion.
I decided to marry him—to repay the kindness he’d shown me, and to carry out my revenge.
‘But can I actually marry him?’
The king’s opposition and Dayson’s interference were problems, yes, but there was a far greater one.
Unfortunately, Cassion had been terribly frail since childhood.
‘When I saw him at the execution ground, he was healthy enough, but now he’d only be eleven years old…….’
His body was so delicate it seemed to cry out ‘I’m dying’, practically written across his skin.
‘Can he even walk into a chapel? Shouldn’t I be preparing his funeral instead? He was just like a young rabbit on its last breath…….’
Cassion’s condition worried me.
“Jenys, I have to go to the Royal Palace!”
Now that my goal was clear, urgency flooded through me. I needed to see Cassion at once. I had to confirm he was all right.
“The Royal Palace? Miss, perhaps you should wipe your nose first. And besides, the Royal Palace isn’t a place where one simply goes whenever they wish.”
I took the handkerchief Jenys offered and blew my nose hard.
It was the aftermath of the tears I’d shed in overwhelming joy at finding a way to protect the house without designating a guardian.
“Hm, well, spaces for nobility are always open, aren’t they?”
“But those spaces are for adult nobility—not for children like yourself, Miss.”
She only ever speaks the truth, that one.
By the rules, for a thirteen-year-old without a guardian like me to enter the palace, I’d have to declare my intention to the court and wait for permission.
Only the lord and lady of the kingdom’s most influential houses could enter and leave the Royal Palace as they pleased, as if it were their own home.
If I were the Family Head of House Irenber, I could walk those halls whenever I wished, but unfortunately I was only an heir-designate without even a guardian to my name.
“I think it would be better not to go, Miss.”
Jenys tried to dissuade me, as though she feared I’d be thrown out. In truth, if I showed up unprepared, expulsion would be a certainty.
‘But I have my ways.’
I Bought the Villains With Money (Serialized)
Author | Lee In-hye
Publisher | Kim Ju-hyung
Published by | J Plus Media Co., Ltd. – Tiramisu
Marketing | Han Jae-hyuk
Address | 11-1101, Digital-ro 33-gil, Guro-gu, Seoul. (Guro-dong, Ace Techno Tower 8th Building, 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. under contract with the copyright holder,
and may not be used in any form or by any means without permission from the publisher and author.
Violation may result in criminal and civil legal 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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