I Bought the Villains With Money - Chapter 56

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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 56.
“I’m not qualified to be Family Head.”
“What are you talking about? Is it because of that blasted law?”
Rumdracks, being a con artist, knew the law well enough—it made sense, really; you had to know the rules to skirt them properly.
When I nodded, Rumdracks’s expression turned serious.
“So you were thinking of becoming Family Head legitimately. That explains why you mentioned marrying the prince. In that case, there’s nothing to worry about.”
“That’s true. But as you know, marriage right now is impossible.”
“Hmm, then your only options are finding a new guardian or putting Count Colcos in place as a puppet.”
It was easy for Rumdracks to say such things—he only knew the guardian system in theory.
The moment one became a guardian, they wielded power nearly equal to the Family Head’s. Would they surrender such authority willingly? In the end, weakening a guardian’s powers required enormous effort.
‘The time and money involved! It’s not impossible to manage, but I hate taking the long way around when there’s a shortcut. And there’s always the worry it might fail.’
It made no sense to let me become Family Head only to then needlessly appoint a guardian, wait until I came of age, and spend all that time fighting to reduce their authority. No, that wouldn’t do.
When I shook my head, Rumdracks asked.
“You said you can only become Family Head by marrying Prince Cassion. But marriage is difficult. So what’s the best outcome you can get from this meeting?”
“An extension of the guardianship period.”
“There’s a legally set deadline. We have to respect that.”
A con artist telling me to follow the law—it gave me chills.
“I looked into it. If the family retainers don’t request the guardian appointment, it’s possible. Not indefinitely, but it buys me at least another year.”
“Simple. Make it so they can’t ask.”
The way Rumdracks said it made it sound simple, but it wasn’t nearly that easy.
The retainers needed the Irenber Family’s financial support, after all.
“You’d just give it to them. You’re rich. You have Phoenix Bank, you have Savings Guild money.”
All of that had its designated uses. Besides, if you handed money out whenever someone needed it, they’d develop bad habits.
“Alright, that’s enough. I’ll think this through myself. Now go.”
I waved my hands, shooing Rumdracks out like a bother, and he backed toward the door, muttering.
“I’m bored.”
Was I some kind of entertainment puzzle for him?
“Then go run a con or something. Wait—Con Artistry!”
Watching Rumdracks, a brilliant idea suddenly struck me.
“What? You want me to charm more noble ladies this time? I’m not doing that again. Last time I left with scratches on my neck.”
Rumdracks lowered his shirt collar to show me his wound.
“Those scratches are barely visible. Besides, that’s not what I meant!”
“You and your closest confidants—I don’t con you. It causes problems.”
Rumdracks was more resolute than I’d ever heard him.
But this time, it wasn’t something I’d be asking Rumdracks to do anyway.
“That’s not it. This time I want to shake Count Colcos’s trust in himself.”
I smiled brightly, and Rumdracks looked utterly baffled.
***
On a night when the moonlight shone bright, I sat alone in a private dining room of a restaurant.
Before me lay enough food for two grown men, more than they could finish.
Though steaming dishes of appetizing food lay before me, I didn’t eat.
Right now was a time to listen, not to eat.
“Good evening, Lord Noanda. I’m Ludras, handling the practical affairs of the Lopiipa Merchant Company here in the Brook Kingdom.”
Rumdracks, his voice distorted, stepped into the adjacent room and greeted him, and I heard his words clearly.
Rumdracks had forged his identity to meet Noanda. The Lopiipa Merchant Company in the Brook Kingdom was real, and quite substantial in scale. But Ludras was a fiction.
“Pleased to meet you. I’m Noanda, secretary to Count Colcos. I heard you were looking for me.”
Noanda, who’d been waiting in advance, rose awkwardly to greet Rumdracks.
I pressed my ear against the thin wall.
Beyond the wall, Rumdracks and Noanda, Count Colcos’s closest aide, were meeting.
“I understand you wanted to discuss business with Count Colcos.”
“Oh, I’m afraid that message was miscommunicated. I actually came to meet you, Lord Noanda.”
Rumdracks, well done!
I could picture the look of surprised interest that would cross Noanda’s face at those words.
So now I was eavesdropping on the conversation between Rumdracks and Noanda.
***
“Haha. Me? I’m merely a modest aide to Count Colcos. That someone would be interested in me… What is it you need?”
Noanda’s eyes sharpened with a keen glint.
Rumdracks realized Noanda wasn’t someone to be trifled with and straightened his posture.
“The food will grow cold. Let’s eat while we talk.”
I’d said this to soften the atmosphere, but Noanda kept his eyes fixed on Rumdracks without even reaching for his fork.
Noanda had served at Earl Colcos’s side for over ten years.
Colcos was simple-minded but possessed considerable potential for growth.
He had been born with things in his grasp that most people could never obtain even if they died and were reborn: family lineage, blood, and title.
For Noanda to rise in the world, there was no ladder quite like Colcos.
“What is your dream?”
When Noanda showed no sign of touching his food, Rumdracks lost interest in eating as well. He wiped his mouth and posed the question about dreams, and when Noanda only blinked in response, Rumdracks chuckled softly and continued.
“Let me speak plainly. How long do you intend to spend your life wiping Earl Colcos’s backside?”
Noanda’s brow furrowed. He had heard that the merchant of the Lopiipa Merchant Company was some upstart who happened into wealth, and now he found the man’s servants spoke with equally vulgar tongues.
“Earl Colcos’s ambitions are quite shrewd. Haven’t you ever considered that you might be used by his dreams?”
Rumdracks hoped Noanda would grow heated and reveal what Colcos’s ultimate objective was, but Noanda proved far from an easy mark.
“Used?”
“More than one person has served at Earl Colcos’s side and then vanished without a trace.”
Rumdracks drew a list from his pocket and held it out.
Billy. Jacob.
Noanda knew those names. They were thugs who would lend money on Colcos’s behalf, then beat down anyone who failed to repay and extort double the amount.
But why those two?
“I don’t know them.”
Noanda spoke flatly, but even as he did, his eyes wavered ever so slightly.
“If you don’t know them, so be it. But there’s no guarantee you won’t end up like Billy and Jacob yourself.”
“I said I don’t know them.”
Rumdracks nodded along with Noanda’s words, murmuring “Of course, you wouldn’t know” as a punctuation mark.
“Let’s talk investment. I’d like to invest not in Earl Colcos, but in you, Noanda. Whatever business he’s planning to undertake this time—let’s put it under your name instead.”
Rumdracks began to persuade Noanda in earnest.
He knew the ideas came from Noanda’s head. Could an addled mind like Colcos’s ever have conjured such brilliant schemes?
But what were you compensated for supplying the ideas?
Surely not just your current salary, meager as it is.
Consider this: the profits you’ll generate from this venture will be staggering.
You needn’t wait for Colcos. Start the business yourself, ahead of him.
I’ll provide the capital. All I ask is that you tell me plainly why you’re leaving when the time comes.
You already know the reason well enough.
Just speak the feeling you have right now.
The fear that you’ll be betrayed.
“What—what are you?”
Noanda bolted from his seat after hearing Rumdracks out to the end.
“Let’s forget this ever happened.”
“As you wish. But should you change your mind, let’s meet again here two days from now. Ah, what a waste of good food.”
As Noanda stood trembling, Rumdracks picked up his fork and knife without so much as glancing his way, and began eating with deliberate focus.
Noanda exhaled a sharp, ragged breath over Rumdracks’s head, then wrenched the door open and stormed out.
Rumdracks stuffed meat into his mouth and waved his hand dismissively.
Not long after, Diana entered the room.
“It was lonely eating alone, Diana.”
Rumdracks peeled off the wig and whined theatrically.
“So? Will Noanda waver?”
“His eyes told me everything. He’s already trembling with the fear of betrayal. There must have been times before when suspicion of abandonment set his heart aflame.”
“Oh yes, there was. He went into a joint venture, and when business started thriving, he stripped away his partner’s stake and threw the man in prison.”
Rumdracks nodded. He swallowed the food in his mouth, rinsed it with water, then regarded Diana with sudden gravity.
“What about Billy and Jacob? I read from the script you wrote, but you didn’t actually do anything wrong, did you?”
Rumdracks had declared he would raise Diana to become a master of Con Artistry, but now that she was dipping her toes into darker waters, he felt a twinge of resistance.
‘She’s still young. I’ll train her a bit longer before she fully becomes a swindler….’
Rumdracks smiled at his own thought.
He himself had begun running cons at eight years old—earlier than Diana was now. He’d had no choice, needing to survive, so he was hardly in a position to reproach her for stepping into shadow’s edge.
“What do you take me for? Billy and Jacob received enough coin to sustain them for a lifetime and departed for other territories. The homes they lived in were made to look as though they’d been robbed.”
So when Noanda, shaken by Rumdracks’s words, tried to find Billy and Jacob, it would appear as though they’d vanished or fled in the dead of night—hunted by someone.
But because they had crimes to their name, I sent them away. Then, half a day later, I turned them in to the Security Force.
‘The rest is a matter of fate.’
“My, what a sharp mind. The more I see you, the more I like you.”
Diana laughed softly.
“All you need do is have Noanda say one thing when he submits his resignation and leaves Earl Colcos: that he’s an untrustworthy man. Then the seeds of doubt will plant themselves.”
A man who gave ten years in service to Earl Colcos will turn his back.
That blow to Colcos’s trust will be considerable indeed.
***
The seed of suspicion took root quickly.
Word spread that Noanda had quarreled fiercely with Count Colcos at a tea house.
And two days later, Noanda came looking for Rumdracks.
“Count Colcos had no intention whatsoever of sharing any profit with me!”
Listening to Noanda’s furious voice from the adjoining room, I smiled with quiet satisfaction.
“Invest with me instead!”
I would provide the capital; now it was Noanda’s turn to move on my behalf.
I Bought the Villains with Money (Serialized)
Author | Yi In-hye
Publisher | Kim Ju-hyung
Published by | J-Plus Media Co., Ltd. – Tiramisu
Marketing | Han Jae-hyuk
Address | 11th Floor, Ace Techno Tower 8th Building, 11 Digital-ro 33-gil, Guro-gu, Seoul (Guro-dong)
Email | [email protected]
Homepage | 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 the content may not be used in any form or by any means without permission from the company and author.
Violation of this restriction may result in 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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