After his father passed away and he realized it was all a scam, Dion couldn’t contain his rising anger when his share disappeared, and he threw a punch at his brother.

‘I’m your older brother and Baron Buckle. How dare you hit me?’

‘You shouldn’t have touched my share.’

‘There’s no share for you. I’m the Baron of the Buckle family now. Everything father had is all mine.’

He beat his shameless brother nearly to death, and that was the last day he saw his brother’s face.

He had left cursing, saying he’d see how well his brother ate and lived, but it seemed his brother had caused another incident in the meantime.

“What happened?”

When Baroness Buckle remained silent with a frightened expression, Dion asked first.

“Well… well. The Baron has been going to gambling dens lately.”

“What gambling when he has no money?”

Gambling? Where would someone without money get the funds? Dion’s brow furrowed at the unexpected word.

“He’s borrowing money from people around him, saying he needs to make up for the shortage. Dion, couldn’t you stop him? At this rate, we’re really going to go bankrupt.”

Baroness Buckle’s expression, which had started with worry, now reached despair beyond sadness.

Even though the business had failed, enough funds remained to maintain the estate, but Baron Buckle, unsatisfied with this, seemed to have chosen gambling as an easy way to make money without hardship.

Was bankruptcy the problem? Their bankruptcy was none of Dion’s concern. What he worried about was his own future. If a gambling addict emerged from his family, it could harm Dion’s promotion prospects.

After stealing his money, Baron Buckle was now trying to take away his future as well.

Damn it.

“How much debt is there?”

For the honor of the Buckle family and his own future, Dion barely held back his anger and asked.

“I believe it’s about 80 gold coins.”

80 gold coins… It would have been a disaster if he hadn’t received 200 gold coins from Miss Huntley. Thanks to her, Dion seemed fortunately able to pay off his brother’s debt.

“I think I can handle that amount.”

“Really? Thank you so much.”

Tears welled up in Baroness Buckle’s eyes, unaware of Dion’s burning heart.

“What? You had money? Can you give me some more?”

Since he was someone who went crazy over money, Baron Buckle returned the moment money was mentioned. He was staggering, having apparently lost money and drunk heavily again today.

“Crazy bastard. Pay back my money first.”

Seeing his brother’s senseless state made anger surge up. Dion immediately grabbed his brother’s collar and lifted him up. The Baron’s feet flailed in the air after being suddenly suspended.

“Damn it, if you’re part of the Buckle family, you should help me too! If you have money, you should share it, right?”

Gasp. As the hand gripping his collar choked his neck, a small groan escaped the Baron’s lips. His face began turning red.

“S-save… me.”

So the trash still wants to live. Dion released his brother, practically throwing him to the floor.

“Kyaah! Honey!”

As Baron Buckle rolled on the floor, the startled Baroness ran toward her husband.

“Are you alright?”

The Baron, who had barely managed to sit up, glared at Dion while gasping for breath.

“Work properly and pay it back. Being the eldest son and only ruining the family, tsk.”

“What did you just say?”

As Dion spoke sarcastically, Baron Buckle huffed and tried to get up from his seat. He had pride despite his pathetic state.

“Want to try something?”

“Hiik.”

When Dion drew the sword from his waist, the Baron fell back down, landing hard on his bottom.

“S-save me. You’re not really going to kill me, are you?”

As the sword tip pointed toward the Baron’s neck, his pupils trembled anxiously.

“I’ll withdraw it if you promise not to touch gambling again.”

Since he had already touched gambling once, the probability of doing it again was high. So to nip it in the bud, Dion had no choice but to threaten his brother.

“Th-that’s difficult. As you know, I need to make money… hiik.”

As the Baron only made excuses, irritation surged, and Dion pressed his sword closer to the Baron’s neck.

“No excuses needed. If you want to make money, earn it through legitimate means.”

“O-okay, so please put away the sword.”

The terrified Baron finally gave in. Only after hearing the answer he wanted did Dion withdraw his sword.

“If you don’t keep your promise, this sword will cut your throat next time, so handle it yourself!”

“O-okay.”

Dion didn’t think his brother would keep his promise. But if he didn’t do at least this much, his anger wouldn’t be satisfied.

“Keep a close watch on him.”

As he left the Buckle estate, Dion spoke to the Baroness like giving advice.

No more help beyond this. It meant they should handle their household affairs themselves.

“Yes. I will.”

When had she ever been sorry? She answered with a displeased expression, seemingly asking why he wouldn’t provide more help.

The couple was shamelessly matched. That’s why birds of a feather flocked together.

Sighing deeply, Dion headed to the gambling den. Knowing that Baron Buckle couldn’t quit gambling no matter how much he threatened him, he needed to make the gambling dens refuse to accept him instead.

Gambling was illegal, so punishment would be given if caught, but the imperial court deliberately turned a blind eye and only cracked down on gambling dens when occasionally necessary.

So Dion used the name of the imperial knights to notify the gambling dens. If they let his brother participate in gambling, he would arrest them all immediately.

“We don’t like that drunkard coming either.”

“He was easy money, but since the knight dislikes it, we’ll ban him from entry.”

The reactions varied, but Dion was able to get promises from the gambling den owners. They too wouldn’t want to deal with trouble because of one person, so the threat worked.

The problem was… not knowing what Baron Buckle might do.

Surely he wouldn’t cause an even bigger disaster than gambling?

Whatever Baron Buckle thought or whatever business he did, Dion had no interest at all. But he could only hope that the damage wouldn’t reach him.

If his brother caused an even bigger disaster next time, he clenched his fist with the thought of killing him with his own hands.

Was there any need to protect such petty pride?

After meeting his brother, Dion felt his life was miserable.

The fact that such an absurd bastard was the head of the Buckle family was utterly disgusting, and he resented his parents for leaving so much wealth and authority to him simply because he was the eldest son.

No matter how much he earned in the future, his life would only consist of cleaning up after such a bastard. In that case, it might be better to abandon the Buckle family.

And the best way to escape this disgusting life was to marry Miss Huntley and become Dion Huntley.

He had tried to protect even his petty pride, but… the situation he faced wouldn’t allow it.

‘This won’t do. I have no choice but to win over Miss Huntley.’

So Dion had to seduce Angela, and though she might have developed a dislike for him, he had to think of a way to change her heart somehow.

However, if there was one thing that bothered him…

‘Miss Huntley will fall for me anyway.’

It was Mark’s confident attitude.

He knew Mark had skills in seducing women. Even so, being confident in the current situation with so many competitors was impossible.

It felt like having a thorn stuck in his throat. So Dion could only hope his thoughts were wrong.