I Bought the Villains With Money - Chapter 68

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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 68.
“Why would that scare you, Jennis? Mages talk to animals all the time.”
“But I’m not a mage. Doesn’t it disgust you?”
“The world is vast and full of people. What’s so disgusting about one or two who speak to animals instead of being mages? It’s not strange at all.”
Jennis’s arms tightened around me.
“Miss, sometimes you seem so grown up.”
Not seem—I was grown up.
“I’m still young, though. Jennis, what exactly can you do with rats? And forgive me for asking, but could you be careful not to let anyone else find out?”
I didn’t misunderstand Jennis’s ability, but others likely would.
“Absolutely! I’m not trying to belittle your gift or anything like that.”
“I know, Miss.”
Jennis smiled. Good—she hadn’t taken it the wrong way.
“And the rats, Miss—they can do anything you ask. I don’t command them; we’re friends, so I can ask them for help.”
Jennis released me from her embrace. Her eyes were red. I pulled out a handkerchief and handed it to her.
“I’ll be so careful, Miss. I won’t do anything to tarnish your reputation. I promise.”
Jennis spoke in a steadier voice now. Though I had more questions, I decided to save them for later—she’d had quite a shock.
I swallowed the thought that she should care about herself more than she cared about me.
“But Jennis, my dress is soaked. I need to change.”
“Oh my! What a terrible oversight on my part. Let me fetch you something dry at once!”
Jennis sprang to her feet and rushed to the wardrobe. Right now, keeping her busy was better for her anyway.
‘Jennis doesn’t seem to know where her ability comes from either. Hmm, it’s such a peculiar gift…….’
I wondered what its source could be.
***
Thanks to the distraction Jennis’s friend had caused, Oskin didn’t bring up the banquet again.
Instead, he prepared three lavish meals a day. And between them, he provided desserts in almost excessive abundance.
“At this rate, I’ll be sweating sugar.”
Watching the bread glistening with a sugar coating, I shook my head, and Jennis let out a quiet laugh.
“But you don’t eat all of it anyway. You’re just going to give it to the maids.”
“I have to taste it. That alone already puts me over my daily sugar intake.”
The moment meals and refreshments ended, Oskin would come rushing over with shining eyes.
Left with no choice, I said the food was delicious—and only because it seemed like he wouldn’t leave otherwise—but the instant he heard that, he asked which part I’d enjoyed most.
I should have told him not to ask such things the first time.
Once I answered, he came back every single day after that.
‘I need to tell him to stop coming.’
“Children shouldn’t think about things like that.”
Jennis interrupted my thoughts, speaking gently.
“Right.”
In truth, my dislike of overly sweet foods wasn’t so much an inborn preference as a habit I’d developed over time.
A slender waist had been the standard of beauty, so I had no choice but to cultivate this habit.
Even knowing how important it was to look like a child on the surface, after avoiding sweets for ten years, my hand didn’t reach for them easily.
I set down my fork and wiped my mouth.
Sitting quietly, I calculated when we might return to the Capital.
I was worried about Casion being alone.
‘The Mage will surely look after him well enough.’
But Julia didn’t seem like the type to simply sit still.
And there was work waiting upstairs.
‘I can’t put off the Betrothal Ceremony preparations any longer.’
Most of the ceremony would be prepared at the Royal Palace, but I had to personally see to the dress I’d wear, the gifts to be exchanged, and other such details.
‘I miss Mother.’
If Mother had been here, she would have stepped in before I even had to worry. At the very least, we would have chosen things together, chatting softly as we did…….
Even with good Jennis by my side, Aunt Cho, and Rumdracks who clearly doted on me, there was a loneliness that wouldn’t be filled.
For a moment I looked up at the clear sky, about to indulge in my feelings.
“I found him, that mage!”
The door burst open and Oskin strode in.
‘No time to miss Mother, I guess.’
The interruption to my private moment didn’t bother me at all—this was news I needed to hear. I jumped down from my chair.
***
Hendricks was a 3rd Circle mage on the verge of reaching 4th Circle when he fled from the Mage Tower.
He had his reasons.
‘Damn, this is exhausting. You can make a decent living with just 3rd Circle skill!’
A 3rd Circle mage cannot cast large-scale spells or perform precise Warps, but can fire multiple Fireballs in succession, employ minor Shield Magic, and perform basic Magical Healing.
That is why mages are treated as honored guests in regions where they are rare.
The further one travels from the Capital, the poorer the territory, the greater the respect and honor bestowed.
‘If only they knew what a truly great mage could accomplish.’
That was why Hendricks fled the Mage Tower and spent months wandering the Kingdom, searching for a place that would revere him.
And then he arrived in Helsing Kin.
For six months he had drifted through the Kingdom like an idle aristocrat, tired of changing his lodgings every night.
Following his feet wherever they led, Helsing Kin was precisely the city Hendricks had been seeking.
The people were artless, they looked up to mages, and the city was not wealthy.
‘A place that has no choice but to rely on me.’
Hendricks spent a full month in Helsing Kin.
The first week he spent assessing the city’s general condition; the remaining three weeks he devoted to building goodwill among the populace.
For him, a mage, cultivating favor among the people was simple.
He lightened heavy burdens with magic, healed children’s bruises from their play, and when he conjured Fireballs at the inn’s hearth, the way people looked at him transformed.
Word spread far and wide that a skilled and virtuous mage had come to the neighborhood.
‘If I carry on like this, someone important will come to invite me into their service.’
And his prediction proved correct.
This morning, someone from Helsing Kin Castle had come to find him.
“Is there a mage named Hendricks staying here?”
Hendricks stretched languidly on the stairs as if he had heard nothing, descending slowly, and the innkeeper waved toward him.
“Ah, there you are! Our esteemed mage, sir. But why on earth would Helsing Kin Castle be looking for our precious mage?”
The innkeeper fussed over Hendricks as if he were his guardian.
Hendricks grew anxious, worried that the innkeeper might accidentally insult the castle’s emissary and drive him away.
“Where have you come from? How may I be of service?”
Hendricks descended quickly, quietly pulled the innkeeper back by the sleeve, and stepped forward.
“My name is Jim. I come from Helsing Kin Castle. The Baron Oskin wishes to meet with you.”
“Baron Oskin?”
The innkeeper whispered that Jim handled the lord’s affairs—that if the lord himself was not coming, then Jim was the highest-ranking person in Helsing Kin.
“Ah… I see. Does he require my assistance?”
“You’ll understand once you come and speak with him.”
Unlike the other residents of Helsing Kin, Jim did not regard Hendricks with reverence. Hendricks found his attitude displeasing, but chose to interpret it charitably.
‘Once he sees what I can do, his manner will change.’
Since no mage greater than himself could possibly come to such a small territory, Hendricks had already introduced himself as a 5th Circle mage.
“Normally I don’t meet anyone without prior arrangement… but you seem pressed for time, so I’ll accompany you.”
Jim nodded indifferently.
“Fetch whatever you need and come down.”
Jim gestured upstairs with his chin. Hendricks had nothing to gather, but lingered deliberately in his room lest he appear too eager by coming down immediately.
He descended more than half an hour later. Jim’s brow had creased with impatience.
“Shall we go?”
Hendricks spoke without the slightest hint of apology and boarded the carriage outside the inn.
He had expected some ornate conveyance from the lord’s castle, but the carriage was plain and ordinary.
Hendricks was disappointed, but quickly reframed his thoughts.
‘Once I show this Oskin fellow a bit of magic, the treatment will improve.’
One had to admire Hendricks’ unfailing optimism.
***
“How extraordinary, my lady. The mage whose name you wrote down has been in our territory for a month already! How did you know?”
Oskin chattered on the entire way to the reception room where Hendricks was waiting.
But wait—he’d been in Helsing Kin for a month? This was the first she was hearing of it.
‘Hendricks pulling off a grand deception is a story for much later on… but did he swindle me while we were acquainted?’
When Hendricks came to Helsing Kin mattered little. What mattered was that he was here now.
Fortune was with her that he had arrived; otherwise, she would have had to spend a long time waiting in Helsing Kin.
“He is waiting inside.”
At the reception room door, a man with a neatly trimmed beard made his report.
“Good work, Jim. He followed without asking too many questions?”
Jim nodded and opened the reception room door. Oskin stepped aside to let her enter first.
Upon entering, she saw Hendricks standing with a pack on his back, gazing out the window.
He wore a pristine white robe and a long vest embroidered with gold thread, and in his hand he held a staff so obviously proclaiming ‘I am a mage’ that it might as well have announced it aloud.
‘Truly skilled mages actually hide their staffs, I’ve heard. Some make theirs smaller because carrying a large one is such a bother.’
Hendricks’ love of ostentation was on full display. The fact that he did not turn around despite hearing footsteps confirmed it.
“Ahem.”
I wasn’t fond of pretending not to have heard, so I cleared my throat. Only then did Hendricks turn around. The sun was shining behind his back.
‘The halo effect working perfectly.’
Surely he hadn’t orchestrated that too. If he had, I could only call it masterful.
“Good day to you. I’m Diana Viola Irenber, acting head of the Irenber Family.”
It was the first time I’d introduced myself as acting head of the family to someone entirely unconnected to it.
‘Strangely enough, I feel quite good about this.’
Yet that good feeling didn’t last long.
I Bought the Villains with Money (Serialized)
Author │ Lee In-hye
Published by │ Kim Ju-hyung
Published by │ J Plus Media Co., Ltd. – Tiramisu
Marketing │ Han Jae-hyuk
Address │ Room 1101, 11 Digital-ro 33-gil, Guro-gu, Seoul. (Guro-dong, Ace Techno Tower 8th Building, 11th Floor)
Email │ [email protected]
Homepage │ 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 no content may be used in any form or means without permission from the company and author.
Violation of this 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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