I Bought the Villains With Money - CH 12.1

“I am embarrassed by the sudden confession of loyalty.”

Not knowing what to say, I scratched my nose and looked at him. Why would he talk about wanting to give up his life just because I decided to become the family’s successor?

Matthew, who was overwhelmed, wiped his tears with his sleeve.

“Okay, Matthew. I will work hard to be the official head of the family. Um, could you leave first? I have to look at the documents.”

I managed to appease Matthew. As he went out, he rambled about the history and glory of the Irenberg family.

He was happy that I decided to continue Irenber’s brilliant history and glory and that I didn’t know how hard he was praying and feeling thankful for that to happen.

“Sigh, I’m so distracted.”

As I returned to the sofa and sat down, I recalled Matthew from the past. After my parents passed away, Matthew took care of me like a precious baby bird.

Then one day, he began to keep his distance from me.

I thought Count Corcos was bribing him, but the current Matthew seemed concerned that I wasn’t interested in succeeding the family.

‘Come to think of it, Matthew wasn’t nice to Count Colkos either.’

The two had no chance of meeting unless Count Corcose visited the Irenberg mansion.

‘I can’t believe I suspected Matthew like that.’

It was also a good precaution to doubt the people around me by tapping the stone bridge before crossing it, but I also should look more carefully than blindly suspecting them.

When my doubts toward Matthew disappeared, I felt like I was throwing a load that burdened my shoulders.

I dove into the pile of documents with a lighter mind.

It didn’t take long for me to read the documents.

Except for the report stacked at the very top, most of the petitions were written by young people who barely knew how to write.

‘So, Nobel is the problem.’

Nobel, the most barren land of Irenberg’s territory; Nobel was the only land in the kingdom where monsters lived.

The King drove the remaining monsters to Nobel at the end of the fiery war between monsters and humans.

The land was vast, but it was located in the extreme northern, surrounded by mountains, where it was always cold throughout three seasons of the year.

Did he keep the monsters there so that the land wouldn’t be a waste?

Then Irenberg took over the land.

After hundreds of years, one of the best knights went on an expedition to Nobel in spring. The Silver Expedition.

The expedition with such a romantic name was nothing more than a monster slaughter unit.

Nobel was nothing but a burden on Irenberg.

But my father loved Nobel because it was my mother’s hometown.

‘A love story between a simple country girl and a noble son, they said.’

The heir of the noble, who led the Silver Expedition, fell in love at first sight with a simple girl who lived in Nobel.

How romantic.

My father always told me to marry someone I love.

‘I didn’t listen to my father and got married without thinking twice, and my life was ruined.’

That was the reason why I had to listen carefully to what my parents said.

Nobel was a problematic land that my father loved and where my mother was born and raised.

And I remembered after reading the report.

Around this year, Nobel residents, who were struggling with taxes, made a riot.

Count Corcos, who was my guardian at that time, tried to overpower them with force.

In the end, Silver Expedition wielded swords against Nobel residents, not monsters.

Then raged Nobel residents broke the monster boundary stone and triggered chaos.

‘Foolish Count Corcos!’

When I thought of him, anger washed over me.

“Lady, the documents are getting crumpled.”

I guess I gripped onto the document without realizing it. Janice, who put down the tea she brought, pulled me back to my senses.

I opened the document again and smiled awkwardly.

“Mr. Matthew prepared this in case you’re hungry.”

Janice put down a plate of sweet cookies and the teacups in front of me.

My mouth was watering, perhaps because I was hungry after using my brain excessively or because of the sweet smell.

I had to look at the documents, but I want to eat them, too.

“If you want to eat, I will prepare your meal.”

When Janice told me to eat the cookies, I held documents in one hand and the cookies in the other.

I was too occupied with the documents without realizing that Janice had left the room.

Matthew said it was a document related to the revision of the Territorial Land Tax Act, but most of the papers contained how the Nobel residents complained that they had a hard time because of the taxes.

‘It shouldn’t be a problem if I fixed a few numbers.’

I was too focused thinking while chewing the cookies.

‘If I reduce taxes, some people will be affected, so I can’t revise the law recklessly.’

The Irenberg family’s tax rate was significantly lower than other places that even until now, we still got complaints from other vessel families.

‘Moreover, Nobel already has lower tax rates than other regions.’

To lower taxes, I had no choice but to reduce taxes paid to the royals, but no matter how powerful Irenberg was, we couldn’t ask the King to lower our taxes.

Moreover, Nobel also paid lesser taxes to the king than other regions.

This was due to the King’s understanding of the damage caused by monsters.

‘Huh? What is this? As soon as my father died, the tax rate rose.’

But when I looked at the documents, I noticed something strange.

Nobel’s taxes were raised.

Nobel was a special area where monsters appeared, so a formal negotiation between the head of the family who owned the land and the king must be done first to raise their tax rate.

But I didn’t remember negotiating that matter.

Of course, it might be because I wasn’t an official head of the family yet. However, it was strange that I didn’t even remember hearing about the negotiation.