I Bought the Villains With Money - Chapter 73

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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 73.
“Shall we go, Your Highness?”
Casion had changed into fresh clothes in the meantime. It was his going-out outfit.
I didn’t care for what Casion was wearing. It wasn’t ill-fitting like before, but it was a drab outfit that killed the brightness of his complexion and his delicate features.
“Spend freely today. Don’t hold back.”
“Did a ghost of someone who died without spending money attach itself to you?”
Casion told me not to be wasteful.
I myself was as good as a ghost.
A ghost who died without spending a coin!
That’s why I’d sworn that this life, at least, I wouldn’t be stingy.
When I announced my plan to go out, Liam sprang into action. Shortly after, he respectfully informed Casion.
“It will take some time, Your Highness.”
I had a Palace Entry Pass, so I could come and go freely, but Casion couldn’t.
A prince wandering the streets on personal business was dangerous in more ways than one.
No one would be rash enough to lay hands on royalty, but it wasn’t unheard of either.
There were always factions dissatisfied with the Crown, and Casion had Julia too—he could easily stumble into serious trouble if he went out carelessly.
That’s why Casion, being underage, needed Karman’s explicit permission to go out alone.
‘Guardian’s consent.’
I decided to wait for Karman’s response. The wait stretched longer than expected.
Casion sat on the sofa in his uncomfortable clothes, nodding off repeatedly.
‘Maybe we should just head back today.’
Recalling Casion’s schedule—he’d been training since dawn—I rose and tiptoed toward the door.
I didn’t want to wake him. But my efforts came to nothing.
At the knock at the door, Casion woke, and
“The permit has arrived.”
Liam had brought back the Exit Permit.
***
The start was promising.
But as the saying goes—a good opening doesn’t guarantee a good ending—our outing didn’t go smoothly.
“Haah, haah.”
After slipping out of the Royal Palace, Casion collapsed into a seat in the carriage, breathing heavily.
“Your Highness!”
“I’m fine!”
Saying he was fine with a face drained of all color did little to convince.
I tipped forward the chair directly in front of me. A storage compartment beneath came into view. Without hesitation, I pulled out a paper bag and thrust it at Casion.
“What—what is this?”
“Lebert said to give you this if you ever can’t breathe.”
I unfolded the bag and held it around Casion’s nose and mouth.
“Haaa—you, what on earth are you doing?”
He managed words well enough while gasping for air.
Casion thrashed about trying to push the paper bag away, but subduing him—drained of all strength as he was—was easier than picking up an ant.
“Stop your fussing and breathe! If Your Highness dies here, it won’t end with losing the family, it—”
It’ll be extermination of the clan. Extermination!
“Would I do something cruel to Your Highness? Kill the man I’m going to marry?”
Whether it was my words that calmed him or simple exhaustion, Casion’s arms fell limp.
“That’s right. Breathe. Deep, slow, steady breaths.”
I helped Casion breathe the way Lebert had taught me.
Even Casion, who’d resisted fiercely at first, gradually tried to match his breathing to my voice.
His chest, which had been heaving roughly, grew calm.
Once his breathing had fully stabilized, I pulled the paper bag away.
His color was still poor. I searched a basket sitting to one side of the carriage and found water, which I offered him.
“Are you feeling better, Your Highness? Would you like some water?”
Casion, completely drained, lay sprawled and simply stared at the water bottle.
“Should I feed it to you?”
“What?”
He flinched like a cat startled by something, then quickly snatched the bottle away. Casion took a drink while glaring at me with his eyes.
After putting the half-empty water bottle directly back into the basket, Casion issued me a warning.
“Physical contact is forbidden before marriage.”
Casion said something I hadn’t remotely anticipated.
“Let’s be clear on this. Everything happens after marriage. Understood? Actually, this won’t do either. After you come of age. Understood?”
While I hesitated, unsure what to say, Casion’s demands only multiplied.
Things I’d never considered, coupled with his worries and requests.
It was rather bewildering.
“Of course that’s obvious! You don’t even need to say it.”
“You know that, and yet you do it anyway? Just, just—”
“Just what?”
“You touch me like it’s nothing!”
I felt wronged. Anyone hearing this would think I’d committed some indecency against Casion.
But I swore—I had never touched him with any impure intention, and… why was I even thinking like this?
“I haven’t!”
“Haven’t you? Touching my head at all hours, pressing my forehead, reaching for my hand…”
“That’s only because Your Highness is in pain. This is so unfair. You’re telling me not to do something I never intended to do in the first place—that’s incredibly unfair. If you’re so worried, why don’t we just draw up a contract?”
“Let’s do it. Right now.”
The conversation was growing progressively childish, and I couldn’t understand my own exasperation with an eleven-year-old, but what could I do? It was infuriating.
‘And the conversation doesn’t even sound like a child’s.’
I had wanted to give Casion the experience of a fairy-tale world brimming with dreams and wonder.
But Casion had already transcended the level of an eleven-year-old. Consider how he’d immediately harbored sinister thoughts at the mention of marriage.
I busied myself searching for paper and pen that surely shouldn’t exist in a carriage, while Casion watched me with pity.
“Excuse me, Miss.”
Just then, the carriage window opened.
When Casion and I both stared sharply at the small opening, the coachman’s eyes widened. He hesitated before speaking.
“We’ve been standing here rather long. Perhaps we should set out now?”
“Let’s go.”
The coachman closed the window with a relieved expression. Soon the carriage began to lurch forward and roll.
“We’ll write a proper contract later.”
Having abandoned my search for pen and paper, I leaned back against the carriage seat. We stared at each other with our arms crossed over our chests.
After staring into the empty air for some time, laughter suddenly burst out. Neither of us could say who started it.
“Snort.”
“Pfft.”
Casion pressed his lips together hard, trying to suppress his laughter. Unable to hold it back, he kept his lips compressed while his nostrils flared. I too tried to contain my laugh, but crumbled at his expression.
“Hee-hoo.”
In the end, I let myself laugh freely.
“Your Highness, you’re hilarious.”
“Ha, you’re, haha, not so bad yourself.”
We laughed in the swaying carriage, pointing fingers at each other.
Like children quarreling over trifles and playing as if they’d never fought.
Like real children.
While we laughed and chattered, the carriage reached its destination.
“You said we were going to buy clothes. What is this place?”
Casion asked as he stepped down from the carriage.
“Follow me. I’ll introduce you to someone remarkable.”
I walked confidently into the alley. Casion tilted his head in confusion but followed close behind me.
A small, modest door appeared. I tapped lightly on the faded brown wooden door, and soon a woman in a worn dress emerged.
“Oh, Miss?”
The woman’s eyes widened at the sight of me.
“Hello? Bensi.”
I raised my hand in a wide gesture.
“It’s been a while.”
“Oh, it’s been so long, Miss.”
Bensi was taken aback by my sudden visit.
I should have contacted her in advance.
But if I had, would I have been able to see her? She’d been avoiding contact with the Irenber Family all this time.
Bensi had been the exclusive dressmaker for the Irenber Family until her mother passed away.
“Are you just going to leave me standing here? My legs hurt.”
“Oh goodness! Come in at once, Miss. Please come inside.”
Bensi hurried ahead into the house, and I heard the sound of her opening windows, airing out the space, and tidying the room.
I followed Bensi’s guidance and stepped inside. Her home remained unchanged.
A large work table sat in the brightest spot in the house. Bolts of fabric rolled tightly and lined the walls, with dress forms spaced here and there.
A few dresses hanging on the wall looked familiar.
‘Mother’s final dress.’
Mother never got to wear that dress. She passed away before it was finished. After the funeral, Bensi asked Matthew what to do with Mother’s final custom order.
The Countess Colcos tried to claim the dress. Bensi declared she would never give it to her—it had been made for Mother, not for her.
But the Countess Colcos drove Bensi away and took the new dress for herself.
Bensi cursed at her, telling her to place her own order if she wanted a new dress. Of course, the Countess heard none of it.
In the end, Bensi stole the dress during the chaos of the funeral, and that single act buried her in the fashion industry.
I was staring blankly at the dress hanging on the wall when Bensi approached.
“It’s nothing significant, miss. It’s just hanging there because it was the last order I received.”
Bensi spoke quickly, perhaps worried I might feel guilty on her behalf. But if anything, I owed her an apology.
In my past life, I had forgotten about Bensi entirely. I never understood her loyalty then. Only after my regression, only when I needed clothes again, did she cross my mind.
“It’s a magnificent work.”
“An unfinished one. A dress only becomes complete when its owner wears it.”
Bensi saw clothing as art. Living in a kingdom that treated dressmakers as mere technicians rather than artists—it couldn’t have been easy for someone who burned with such creative passion.
“That’s why I’m here to give you the chance to complete it. Your Highness.”
Casion, who had been waiting quietly to the side so we could talk, stepped closer at my call.
“Your… Your Highness?”
Bensi looked startled at my words, quickly studying Casion’s face before bowing deeply at the waist.
“Forgive my rudeness, Your Highness. It was an unintentional mistake, made in ignorance. Please, I beg your mercy.”
Bensi was born a commoner. She had become a renowned designer through my mother, but she remained a commoner still.
“It’s quite all right, madam.”
Bensi’s back trembled as she remained bent forward in her bow. She seemed startled by the word “madam.”
‘I suppose Bensi never had a proper romance. She wed herself to fashion instead—both lover and spouse in cloth and thread.’
“Rise, Bensi. His Highness doesn’t stand on ceremony. We’ve come because we need your help.”
“What manner of help, miss?”
Bensi straightened up as she asked.
I Bought Out the Villains with Money (serialized)
Author │ Lee In-hye
Publisher │ Kim Ju-hyung
Publishing House │ JPlus Media Co., Ltd. – Tiramisu
Marketing │ Han Jae-hyuk
Address │ Room 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 JPlus Media Co., Ltd. under contract 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 these terms 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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