I Bought the Villains With Money - Chapter 52

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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 52.
“I don’t remember clearly. But I can see mana. For instance, the items at the stall yesterday all had mana emanating from them, so I could gauge roughly how much they cost.”
Cashion added that this was why he’d prevented me from buying the necklace, and mentioned that the items at the next stall were far superior.
‘Which is why I cleaned that one out, Your Highness.’
I chose not to voice that fact aloud.
“Diana, are all your questions answered? Then it’s my turn. Who is this Bella?”
I’d expected Cashion to interrogate me about how I knew of Guardian, but instead his question caught me off guard.
“She’s Count Colcos’s daughter.”
“But you dislike Count Colcos. So why keep her around?”
Count Colcos was a greedy man, but he loved his family dearly.
It wasn’t hard to deduce that one of his reasons for coveting our house was for his family’s sake.
Watching Bella envy me, he must have grown resentful that he wasn’t the heir to Irenber.
I tolerated Bella precisely so I could exact greater revenge on Count Colcos.
‘The higher she climbs toward the heavens, the harder the fall to the depths will be.’
Enduring her small provocations was a small price to pay for inflicting deeper pain.
“She pairs well with Prince Dayson.”
Cashion would grasp my plans from just this much explanation.
“She does pair well with him. But why send me a gift?”
Cashion left and returned with a small box, which he set on the table. A pink box with a red ribbon.
Quintessentially Bella’s taste.
“From Bella?”
“Yes. I thought she was interested in Dayson, but apparently not.”
“It makes sense. But then she must have taken an interest in Your Highness instead.”
Since I’d scarcely glanced at Dayson and spent all my time clinging to Cashion, Bella had instinctively sensed there was something between us.
“Haven’t you opened it?”
The red ribbon showed no signs of having been untied.
“I had an idea what might be inside.”
I appreciated Cashion’s caution at moments like this.
“May I open it?”
“Go ahead.”
I untied the ribbon. When I lifted the lid, a small music box emerged—an ornate little castle-shaped box.
“A music box. Let me wind it up.”
After winding the mechanism and setting it down, a delicate melody drifted through the air. Simultaneously, a lunar shape materialized in the void.
A magical music box displaying a nocturnal landscape.
“It’s quite lovely. She must have spent considerable money on it.”
Knowing Bella’s financial situation intimately, I could well imagine the strain she’d endured.
‘With her meager allowance, she’s gone so far as to curry favor with Cashion too?’
Bold little Bella.
“Do you like it?”
I tapped the innocent music box as I asked.
“It’s fine.”
“Fine what?”
“Receiving gifts feels unfamiliar.”
“Unfamiliar?”
I’d bought him clothes, fed him, even given him spending money!
‘Ah, perhaps that doesn’t count as a gift.’
“So you’re saying you like it?”
“There’s no reason to dislike a gift.”
When I’d mentioned receiving a gift from Dayson, he’d sulked—yet now Cashion examined Bella’s music box with interest, tapping it gently.
Irritation flared in my chest unbidden.
A mere music box! I’d prepared something real!
“I have a gift prepared for you too.”
I thrust the documents I’d brought toward Cashion. He removed his hand from the music box and took the papers.
“What documents are these?”
“You’ll know once you open them. I’m confident my gift will please you far more.”
Cashion let out a small laugh and unfolded the documents.
They were the deed transfer papers for the Twilight Mansion. Now it belonged to Cashion.
His eyes shifted in rapid succession—bewilderment, astonishment, and then emotion.
“You… bought the Mansion?”
“Yes. Under Your Highness’s name.”
“You said it was difficult.”
“I said difficult, not impossible. It’s far better than a music box, isn’t it?”
“Now that’s what I call an argument!”
Cashion sprang to his feet and wrapped his arms around me. Because he was slightly shorter than I was, he ended up embracing me instead.
“Thank you, Diana. Thank you so much. For preserving my memories with Mother. Thank you, Diana.”
Cashion kept his arms around me, rubbing his head against my chest, his gratitude pouring out without end.
My shirt grew damp. My heart grew heavy. To keep tears from spilling over—foolish as I am—I looked up at the ceiling and muttered to myself.
“A gift ought to be of some consequence. So don’t you dare be pleased with trifling presents, Your Highness.”
“Of course, Diana.”
Cashion’s voice had grown obedient.
If only he’d stay this docile, we could marry quickly.
Since I was here anyway, I needed to see Karman.
***
That morning, Cal knocked urgently on Karman’s chamber door.
It was rare for Cal to chase after him all the way to his bedchamber, especially knowing he’d only just fallen asleep after working until dawn. Rather than scold him, Karman took up the letter lying neatly on the silver tray.
The moment he finished reading it, sleep fled entirely.
Guardian—the greatest mage of this age, or rather the finest across generations—was coming to see Karman today.
And with considerable formality, no less.
Knowing well that Guardian had long since severed ties with the Royal Family, Karman felt deeply unsettled.
Yet cultivating connections wherever possible held its advantages, and he accepted the sudden request without hesitation.
Besides, he and Guardian had history.
Violeta and Guardian’s families had been connected, and so the two had studied under the same master until Guardian’s magical talents came into full bloom.
Then Guardian departed for the Tower of Magic, and Violeta married Karman.
Guardian appearing at Karman and Violeta’s wedding was one of the more celebrated anecdotes of the time.
Karman spent the morning bustling about to make time for the meeting with Guardian.
Lost in his work, he hadn’t noticed the appointed hour arrive.
A courteous knock sounded, followed by word that Guardian had come. When Karman rang the bell twice to grant permission, the door opened.
He wore a green robe embroidered in gold thread with ornate patterns denoting an 8th Circle Mage.
Karman felt an overwhelming pressure radiating from Guardian, despite being smaller and more slight in frame.
Guardian had done nothing—yet the mere fact of having opened the 8th Circle, that unknowable realm, made a king seem diminished.
Karman rose from his seat, newly aware of the grandeur possessed by mages.
“Guardian, Your Majesty. It has been some time. You’ve aged considerably.”
Karman inclined his head slightly to acknowledge Guardian’s greeting and seated himself on the reception hall sofa.
“Time passes everyone by except you, it seems. Mages truly are fortunate creatures. Come, sit.”
Guardian settled into the seat across from Karman. After taking a sip of the tea prepared in advance, Karman studied him and spoke.
“What brings you to seek me out?”
There was no point wasting time on pleasantries and probing. Both Karman and Guardian were seasoned enough that such an exchange would be nothing but futility.
“Your Majesty, I would like to stay in the Royal Palace. Would that be acceptable?”
Without preamble or explanation, Guardian dropped the bombshell. Karman couldn’t conceal his conflicted feelings.
“You jest. It’s common knowledge you don’t settle in one place for extended periods. Or perhaps you’re planning travels? In that case, outside the palace would suit you better—easier to move about, after all.”
Karman found Guardian unsettling. He was a brilliant mage, and it would be ideal if he became an ally, but Karman knew he was not that kind of man.
From his current demeanor, it was certain Guardian had not come for Karman’s sake.
‘Did Julia summon him?’
Karman immediately discarded the hypothesis.
Guardian, who had connections with Violeta, would have no reason to regard Julia favorably.
‘Could it be, then…’
“Have you come because of my third son?”
He had heard that Violeta once reached out to Guardian on account of Cashion’s illness.
It was difficult to believe that the free-spirited Guardian would take Violeta’s letter to heart and return, yet he could think of no other reason for Guardian to stay in the Royal Palace.
“Keener than I expected. That is correct. I intend to instruct Cashion.”
“You mean to teach Cashion magic? It’s not as though you’d be teaching him music or politics or history.”
“You state the obvious so readily, I begin to wonder if you’re truly the Karman I know.”
Karman took no offense at Guardian’s sarcasm.
There was no malice in it, and Karman himself recognized that his question had been foolish.
Bewilderment flickered across Karman’s eyes. The continent’s finest mage had suddenly appeared to tutor Cashion.
“Cashion is a mage?”
Karman found himself speaking without thought. Guardian’s lips curved in the faintest smile.
Karman found it difficult to believe.
Though baseless rumors circulated that the founding king of Petrola had been a mage, the Royal Family had never produced a mage in living memory.
“At times, the unexpected does occur. Probabilities that seemed impossible can suddenly come to pass.”
Guardian caught the doubt in Karman’s expression and answered.
Karman’s mind raced as he calculated what it would mean for the Royal Family if Cashion became a Mage.
“I’ll arrange suitable lodgings for him within the Royal Palace.”
Karman concluded that Cashion becoming a Mage would benefit the Royal Family far more than it would harm them.
And Guardian’s mere presence in Petrola would prove invaluable.
“Still, I’m curious. Why Cashion, of all people? Surely there were children lined up to study under you. He’s frail, utterly unremarkable—no special talent to speak of…….”
“Unremarkable, you say?”
Guardian could only laugh at Karman’s assessment of Cashion.
“Indeed. His health is poor besides.”
A thin thread of concern wove through Karman’s tone.
Yet Guardian detected in those very words a telling absence—that Karman had shown little enthusiasm for curing Cashion’s ailment.
The boy, the father, and the girl beside them as well. A peculiar household.
‘This family carries more baggage than I bargained for. I may have made an error.’
They said that not a single royal lineage with two or more children was without its troubles, but Petrola might conceal depths beyond what was commonly known.
‘I’ve taken on a needless burden.’
Guardian wet his throat with tea before speaking.
“His Majesty would be astonished by the exceptional nature of his gifts. And he has already been placed beside a most capable partner to awaken that brilliance. Gifted talent coupled with influential connections—surely that qualifies as remarkable. If there is a problem, it is merely his poor health, and that affliction I can readily cure, can I not?”
Karman’s hand, resting on the armrest, trembled faintly. Guardian saw it and deliberately turned his gaze away.
Was he trembling from the hope that his abandoned son might recover, or from the anticipation that he might finally have a trustworthy heir to the throne?
Even an 8th Circle Mage steeped in magic could not fathom such things.
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 | 1101, 11F, Ace Techno Tower 8th, 33 Digital-ro, Guro-gu, Seoul
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 its contents may not be used in any form or by any means without the permission of the publisher and author.
Violation of this will incur civil and criminal 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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