(BL) Rejected by daughter's second male lead-Chapter 21

Ivy’s eyes sparkled brightly. It was not clear whether he had not recognized that his own father was dead, or if he was excited precisely because he knew that fact, but the child looked more lively than before.

"Well... I am a wizard, I suppose."

Gillen finally answered the child’s question. Ivy shouted, "Wow!" and stepped on the pile of stones, running out of the door. Then, upon seeing Yuan standing in front of the house with his arms crossed, he let out a cry of admiration.

"I’ve never seen a wizard before!"

"I’m sure you haven’t. Especially a genius wizard like me."

"And, and you’re really handsome! You look like a prince!"

"I know. But I’m not a prince. Call me Marquis."

"But you look like a prince!"

"A prince is just a word that refers to an inherited status. I am Yuan Hampton, a one and only great being. You might as well call me Yuan-nim."

"Yuan-nim?"

"Yes."

Listening to the conversation between Yuan and Ivy, everything felt surreal. Gillen, Cecilia, and Claire looked at each other once, then swept the pile of stones with their feet to spread it out as much as possible and cautiously stepped out of the house.

Surprisingly, Yuan and Ivy got along perfectly well all the way to the Capelli security station to file a report and back to the villa. Although it felt more like a fan signing event.

"Yuan-nim! Yuan-nim, since when were you able to do magic?"

"I have used magic since the moment I was born. It was a legendary birth."

"Then when did you become a prince?"

"Not a prince, a marquis. I became a marquis two months ago."

"Can I become a marquis too?"

"Well. It would be difficult unless you’re a genius like me."

"But why weren’t you a marquis since you were born?"

"...Kid, stop asking questions. It’s annoying."

Their conversations were generally like this. Even when Yuan would lose his temper and unilaterally cut off the conversation, Ivy would undauntedly ask a different question. Then, strangely enough, Yuan would answer every single one before suddenly bursting with irritation.

Still, there was something to be learned from their conversation. Ivy was fundamentally a child with a cheerful and bright personality. A moment ago, he had been intimidated by violence and unable to show his spirit, but now he just looked like a typical five or six-year-old child.

"What a bothersome little kid. He is tiresome to deal with."

Yuan said, taking a few steps forward to shake Ivy off. Gillen, who was next to him, naturally replied.

"You don’t have to follow us all the way to our villa. You can go back to the lord’s castle, Hampton."

"...Have you forgotten that I took care of that domestic abuser? You are not trying to steal my credit, are you?"

"No, I did not mean it like that, I just meant that since we have been to the security station, now—"

"That is enough. How can I trust you, Duke, and go back? I will stay until the very end and see my name recorded on the sponsorship document."

Yuan said with his eyes wide open. Cecilia then asked in surprise.

"You are going to sponsor Ivy as well?"

At her question, everyone’s gaze fell on Yuan. Yuan glanced over at all of them, from Claire and Ivy who looked at him with admiration, to Cecilia and Gillen who looked at him as if it was unexpected, and then he scoffed.

"Hmph, I have more than enough money. Sponsoring one annoying little kid is no big deal. I can sponsor him enough to live in abundance without ever having to work until he dies."

It was very common for nobles to sponsor commoners. However, it was mostly limited to artists, scholarship students, or lovers. There were also many nobles who decided to sponsor and then canceled on a whim.

"The moment Ivy is admitted to Blake Academy, he will become a scholarship student of the Blake Foundation. Then his sponsorship will be handled by one of the nobles who are with our foundation, so you do not have to overdo it."

Yuan had a difficult and peculiar personality. If a person like him were to suddenly announce he was canceling the sponsorship, Ivy would be hurt emotionally, beyond any material loss. Gillen was trying to prevent that, but Yuan glared as if he had been insulted by a sworn enemy.

"Overdo it? Ha! Duke, although I may have only recently received my title, my wealth surpassed the level of the imperial treasury several years ago. I do not know if you have heard of a dragon’s hoard, but I have more than five such treasure troves. Money and the like are nothing to me."

Perhaps thinking he had been slighted, Yuan became excited and continued to pour out words.

"I am such a great tycoon that even if you told me to purchase not just that little kid but the entire Blake Academy, I could pay for it in gold on the spot. Why? Because I was born a god of wealth with a brilliant mind and an outstanding sense for money. To a person like me, you say overdo it? Ha, overdo it?"

No, I just said one thing, not to overdo it, and he’s getting so worked up.... Gillen showed both his hands with a sheepish expression.

"Alright, alright. Calm down. Yes, if you want to sponsor Ivy that much, then do it. I will register your name with the Blake Foundation. Let’s go together and fill out the sponsorship papers too. That will work, right?"

"...Hmph!"

Yuan turned his head with a triumphant smile. Then his eyes met with Ivy, who was looking up at him with a sparkling gaze from below.

"Yuan-nim! Do you like me? If you sponsa? me, can I become a wizard and a marquis like Yuan-nim, too?"

"..."

Yuan’s mouth clamped shut. It was because Ivy’s face was so incredibly bright. The child’s eyes were filled with anticipation. Gillen smiled and nudged Yuan’s arm.

"What are you doing not answering, Hampton?"

Yuan stared quietly at Ivy’s face looking up at him happily, then reluctantly nodded his head.

"We can test your magical power, and if you have talent, you might be able to become a wizard. A marquis... would be difficult, though. It’s practically impossible for a commoner to become a noble."

Seeing Yuan’s expression momentarily darken, Ivy said urgently.

"But Yuan-nim did it!"

"That was possible because it was me. I am a genius who appears maybe once in a thousand years."

"Woooow... A thousand years!"

As Ivy marveled, Gillen added a word.

"That’s right, Yuan-nim is an incredible genius. And he will surely make you happy. Of course, this mister will look after you too."

"This unnie will too."

Cecilia chimed in.

A pure joy quickly spread across Ivy’s grubby face.

"Yes! Thank you."

Gillen let out a hearty Ha! Ha! Ha! laugh. Cecilia laughed with him, and Claire stroked Ivy’s head. Only Yuan walked on with his arms crossed, primly looking straight ahead, but a faint smile also hung on the corners of his lips.

Yuan glanced sideways at Gillen, who was laughing beside him. He has his decent side, more so than I thought. He had that thought, for a very brief moment.

Upon arriving at the villa, Ivy was led to the bathroom by Cecilia and Chloe, while Gillen and Yuan went to the study. There, Yuan registered his name as a sponsor for the Blake Foundation and filled out the paperwork to become Ivy’s guardian.

"As a guardian, you must exchange handwritten letters with your ward at least once a month, and you must send a certain amount of money or more to the ward’s bank vault every month. Our Blake Foundation encourages emotional exchange in addition to financial support. Since most of them are young children without families, it is said to be an encouragement, but you should think of it as a guardian’s duty."

Gillen calmly explained next to Yuan, who was filling in the blank spaces on the document. Yuan finished with his final signature without any change in expression. He handed the document back to Gillen.

As Gillen’s eyes scanned the information Yuan had filled in, they stopped at one spot. Did I see that wrong? Gillen blinked his eyes.

Sponsorship Amount: 10,000 gold per month

"T-ten thousand gold?"

1 gold was worth about 500,000 Korean won. The average sponsorship amount was 10 gold, and the person currently sponsoring the largest amount was Grand Duke Fitzroy, who sent 20 gold every month.

"Um, Yuan, no, Hampton. This is the amount that must be sponsored ’every month,’ did you mistake it for something else?"

Gillen asked carefully. If he were to ask a prideful man like Yuan if he had written it wrong, he might insist it was correct out of stubbornness, not wanting to admit his mistake. But 10,000 gold every month. With 10,000 gold, one could buy a castle.

"I am aware. In a year, 120,000 gold will go to that little kid. Well, the kid will not be able to use all of it, I suppose. Some goes to the academy, some goes to the foundation, is that not how it is?"

"That is right, but... no..."

Even after 20 years since he was transmigrated, the characteristic Korean way of starting a sentence with "no" would not leave his mouth. No, but still, converted to Korean currency, that was 5 billion won a month. 60 billion won a year. This amount was comparable to the budget for running two or three imperial government departments.

"Is there a limit to sponsorship?"

Yuan asked shamelessly. He was clearly savoring Gillen’s shock like a fine wine.

"There is no limit, no, but... how about you reconsider, Hampton?"

Gillen’s expression became serious. The trace of surprise was still there, but the atmosphere was different from a moment ago.

"Sponsoring to this extent is excessive for you as well—"

"Not at all. In fact, it would be fine even if I sponsored one million gold a month."

Whether that was a bluff or the truth was unknown, but Gillen lightly ignored Yuan’s words.

"Hear me out. Sponsoring excessively is not good not only for you, but for Ivy as well."