I Bought the Villains With Money - Chapter 54

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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 54.
“Wow.”
Casion and I sat on a sofa in front of the Third Prince’s Palace courtyard, watching it being renovated and refurbished.
As I watched the furniture and fixtures filing into the Third Prince’s Palace, admiration spilled from my lips unbidden.
“His Majesty certainly is spending lavishly.”
“I wonder what’s brought this on.”
Casion murmured, watching the people bustling back and forth between the palace and the supply wagons.
I could see why Karman had suddenly taken such conspicuous interest in Casion’s welfare.
He didn’t want to give Guardian any ammunition.
‘Guardian will be visiting the Third Prince’s Palace frequently from now on, after all.’
Perhaps Karman feared that if Guardian saw Casion neglected, he might abandon his position as tutor and leave. Or perhaps he was concerned that Guardian would spread word of the Petrola Kingdom’s cruelty—and Karman’s coldness—throughout the realm.
Whatever the reason, the fact that Karman was taking notice of Casion and even offering direct support was significant.
‘Julia will be clutching her head in despair.’
The thought made me smile. I started to grin but caught myself when I noticed Casion watching me.
“Are you displeased?”
Karman’s sudden change of heart might not sit well with Casion.
“Not displeased. Just strange.”
At least he wasn’t unhappy about it.
“Strange perhaps, but you’ll grow accustomed to it soon. And you’ll need to receive far more than this going forward.”
What Casion considered magnificent seemed woefully insufficient to me, even if it were ten times its value.
‘After all the pain Casion has already endured!’
I was firmly in Casion’s corner—always.
I would see that he received ten times what he’d been denied, and I would repay tenfold every slight and insult he’d suffered.
‘And that is precisely how I’ll make Julia and Dayson suffer.’
“Diana, your face just turned positively wicked.”
My thoughts of Julia and Dayson must have shown themselves. Casion pointed at me accusingly.
I grabbed his finger and lowered his hand, then turned my attention to the people moving about the courtyard.
“It looks like staff are arriving too.”
The people carrying goods didn’t look like mere porters. Their uniforms were the official issue provided to the royal household’s chamberlains and handmaids.
“So I’ve heard.”
“Did someone explain it to you?”
Casion nodded and pointed to an older-looking man with his finger. The man appeared to be in his later years.
“That man seems to be the chief, I think.”
Chief Chamberlain, to be precise.
“Do you know his name?”
“Something like Liam, I believe.”
Liam. Liam. The name felt familiar somehow……
Oh! It came to me.
Liam Neble—he was the chamberlain who’d served Karman since childhood, and once fell victim to poison while tasting Karman’s food for toxins.
‘It left him with a limp, so he could no longer serve Karman.’
Though Karman said it didn’t matter, Julia claimed he was a liability to the royal image and cast him out.
As far as I recalled, he’d been left in a holding position before eventually being driven from the palace altogether—and now he’d come as Chief Chamberlain to Casion.
‘Perhaps it’s fitting for Casion’s palace. As long as Liam accepts Casion as his master, it works well. Liam is an excellent chamberlain, after all.’
I looked away from Liam.
“Could I possibly receive a list?”
“What sort of list? Of the people working in my palace?”
“Yes.”
“Wouldn’t it be simpler to ask that man?”
Casion pointed toward Liam.
“Don’t ask him—command him, Your Highness.”
“If I command him, will he actually listen to me?”
Casion had never directed servants before.
He was aware he was a prince and possessed a naturally arrogant temperament, but ordering people around felt foreign to him.
‘He’s simply unfamiliar with it because he’s never tried. He’ll need to grow comfortable with it, so I should teach him.’
“He will listen. And if he doesn’t, then we’ll teach him to.”
How?
I answered Casion’s questioning look by telling him to call Liam over.
Teaching a chamberlain obedience was something best handled when the occasion actually arose.
Casion called Liam with obvious reluctance. Liam approached, his limp pronounced with each step. His gait was notably slow, and it tested one’s patience. Still, not so badly that one couldn’t afford to wait.
“You called for me, Your Highness?”
The white-haired old gentleman bowed at the waist. Casion nodded unconsciously, so I seized his collar firmly.
He was receiving a greeting from a subordinate. I signaled this to Casion with my eyes, and when he furrowed his brow, he spoke to Liam.
“I’ll need a list of people to work in my palace going forward.”
“I shall prepare it at once, Your Highness.”
Liam answered as though he had readied it beforehand, and Casion’s shoulders lifted in surprise.
He hadn’t expected Liam to agree so readily.
“Is there anything else you require, Your Highness?”
“No.”
“Should you have need of anything, please call upon me at any time. Your Highness, and you must also select a chamberlain to serve at your side.”
Casion looked toward me, seeking help.
‘I’ll tell you later,’ I whispered to him.
Casion repeated my words aloud. Liam bowed respectfully once more and withdrew.
“Sigh.”
Casion, exhausted from giving a single command, draped himself across the sofa.
“Isn’t that what I said? Once you give an order, they obey.”
“This has never happened before.”
Well, until now they’d treated him as a cast-off prince in the palace. Most of them had been sent by Julia.
But his standing had changed. So the servants had no choice but to show him proper respect.
‘And if I’m right about this,’
Liam is a gift from Karman to Casion. A loyal subject who would give his life to protect his master.
For Casion, who has no allies of his own, could there be a more precious gift?
‘Since Liam was the King’s chief chamberlain, it’s only natural the other servants respect him.’
With Liam, the chief chamberlain, showing Casion proper deference, the servants and attendants beneath him would naturally not treat Casion carelessly.
‘Even if they’re Julia’s people, they won’t dare openly trouble him.’
I could stop worrying about Casion being alone in the Third Prince’s Palace.
“Your Highness, I’ll take this list with me. And Your Highness, about Flak……”
“You’re taking Flak with you?”
Casion straightened his back and opened his eyes wide. His voice was full of confusion and disappointment.
“No, of course not.”
In such a short time, Flak had grown close to his heart.
‘But Flak should stay with me,’ I thought.
I was happy for Casion that he had someone to care for, yet at the same time, I felt left out.
It must be something like this—when a puppy you’ve raised starts following someone else around.
“Flak will stay with you. But since his name isn’t on this list……”
“I’ll speak to Liam about it.”
In such a short time, Casion had learned what kind of power Liam wielded and how to make use of him.
Normally, he would have investigated Liam thoroughly, but since I knew Liam’s past, I said nothing more about it.
“By the way, Diana. You seemed incredibly excited earlier. You said something good happened. What was it?”
Oh, that’s right!
The unexpected commotion in the Third Prince’s Palace had made me forget to tell Casion.
“Your Highness, the Mage Guardian has agreed to be your master! And me! I received the King’s recognition!”
Casion’s expressionless face gradually brightened. His lips curved into a wide smile, and the corners of his eyes lifted like a bow.
Casion smiled radiantly, like a flower bursting into bloom in spring rain.
Though the Third Prince’s Palace had undergone a complete transformation, and Casion had seemed indifferent to it all, he was finding happiness in my words.
After that, we said nothing more. We simply looked at each other and smiled.
That night, I lay in bed recalling Casion’s smile.
His smile was so bright it felt like a sudden flash of light, and it didn’t leave my mind all through the night and into the next morning when I opened my eyes.
***
“Just now…… what did you say, Anderson?”
Julia crumpled the document in her hand. It was related to how to address the financial shortfall that had appeared.
“His Majesty sent various furniture, fixtures, servants, and handmaids to Prince Casion’s palace, Your Majesty.”
Anderson spoke calmly while meeting Julia’s piercing gaze. The handmaids watching trembled.
“Explain what’s happening here properly.”
Anderson explained what he had learned.
The meeting between the Mage Guardian and Karman, then Karman’s visit to Casion’s palace afterward, and today’s events as well.
Anderson’s explanation was quite thorough, but it didn’t fully resolve Julia’s questions.
“Fine, let’s say Karman had something to say when he saw Casion’s palace. And let’s say His Majesty is now concerned about Casion. But why Guardian of all people?”
It was strange that Karman, who had known Casion was being neglected yet ignored it, would suddenly take interest now.
‘Did paternal affection well up in him after meeting him last time?’
If one thought generously, it was something that could be overlooked.
The problem is Guardian. The world’s mightiest Mage.
A dark premonition stirred in her—that Guardian, Karman, and Casion might somehow be connected.
“Since His Majesty and Guardian held their private audience, I cannot say what words passed between them.”
Crash!
Julia swept the teacup from the table. It shattered with a deafening clang.
“You call that an answer? Not a single rat in His Majesty’s Palace?”
The sum she’d squandered to maintain that one miserable rat was staggering.
Now that she’d lost the Phoenix Bank and counted every coin, she saw how truly vast that expenditure had been.
She’d lavished money on a creature hardly worth the investment, and in return—nothing. Not a single useful scrap of intelligence.
“I beg your pardon, Your Majesty. I shall place more reliable personnel henceforth.”
“How do you propose to manage that in our current circumstances?”
Anderson could not answer with confidence. Julia’s finances were in dire straits.
The funds she’d buried in the Phoenix Bank as slush money had become ownerless—evaporated into thin air.
When the Minister of Finance came under investigation, she’d been forced to replenish what she’d secretly siphoned away.
Julia exhaled a frustrated sigh.
“I’ll unlock the frozen purse strings myself. You find me someone worth recruiting to His Majesty’s side.”
One name surfaced in her mind. She ground her teeth. She’d rather not beg from that woman if she could help it—yet in her desperation, she was the first person Julia thought of.
‘Mother……’
Julia clenched her fist, then released it, turning her gaze to Anderson.
“Move at once.”
“But what of the Third Prince……?”
“I’ll handle that myself.”
Julia sprang to her feet.
“Bring me a new dress this instant!”
She barked the command at her attendants.
She had to send word, and there was somewhere she needed to be—urgently. Haste seized her.
The attendants hurried, adorning her with practiced efficiency.
In moments, Julia was dressed and ready, her hair streaming behind her as she swept down the corridor. She reached the carriage waiting perpetually at the palace entrance and called out from within:
“To His Majesty’s Palace.”
The carriage arrived at Karman’s residence in short time—both because the Queen’s and King’s palaces lay near one another, and because Julia would not allow the driver to slacken pace.
“Where might His Majesty be?”
Caught off guard by Julia’s unexpected visit, the servants stumbled about in confusion until Kal approached.
“His Majesty is in his office.”
Julia didn’t bother acknowledging the reply; she made straight for Karman’s office.
“Your Majesty, shall I announce the Queen’s arrival——”
Kal tried to stop her. Julia ignored him and opened the door herself.
Karman looked up to see the uninvited guest, and Julia approached with a radiant smile.
“Your Majesty, I fear I’ve been neglectful of late. I thought perhaps we might take tea together, husband and wife, just as we once did.”
Her honeyed voice drew a smile from Karman in return. He set down his pen.
“An excellent notion. Close the door—everyone out.”
I Bought 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 │ 11F, 1101, Ace Tech Tower 8th, 11 Digital-ro 33-gil, Guro-gu, Seoul
Email │ [email protected]
Homepage │ http://blog.naver.com/jayplemedia1
ⓒ Lee In-hye 2021
※This work is published by J Plus Media Co., Ltd. in accordance with an agreement with the copyright holder.
No part of this work may be reproduced or used in any form or by any means without the permission of 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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