‘Lonely.’ I’ve only been living as Chersenia for ten days, so I’ve never thought about being lonely at all. Rather, I spent every minute of my days in anger, in particular, at the witch, Chersenia, who was accustomed to live by herself after losing her parents at the tender age of 15. Maybe that’s why she was used to being by herself.
“Well, not really?”
His eyes trembled slightly at her answer. He seems quite surprised to hear that she said no. Before long he nodded as if he had accepted.
“I see, you’re strong. Miss Chersenia…….”
“Just call me Chersenia.”
I’m not used to any honorifics, so I said it lightly.
“Oh, yes. Chersenia …”
He mumbled her name. It contained envy of what he did not have. Chersenia caught a shadow as it fell upon his face in his eyes.
‘No. Name …’
It reminded Chersenia of a dead face without a name. Strangely, her chest became heavy.
It was a pity for the one who didn’t have what others had. A week from now, she brought the money back with him as collateral when she returns him back. If she were to give him affection, it would break his heart once they have to part ways.
‘But you’ll need a name to call while I keep him.’
‘Hey, you, there. I can’t keep calling him like that. Yeah.’
Chersenia made a decision after finishing her self rationalization.
So she talked to him, while pondering on a good name.
“You should have a name, too. “
She could see herself in his dark eyes.
“Name ……?”
“Yes, a name. You should have one, too.”
“I’ve never had one before… …” Like a sad puppy, he dropped his shoulders.
“Wow, that’s drawing a lot of compassion.’
Anyone who saw this must have felt a hundred hearts broken at once. 1
Chersenia, pressing hard on her stuffy chest, continued.
“Well, what about Ben?” 1
This was the only name that came to her mind right now. A name that is simple to call and can be easily memorized. But it’s his first name, and she’s wondering if it was too simple.
“It’s Ben…?”
He spoke with a wistful look.
“Oh, you don’t like it? Then … “
“Oh, no! It’s good.”
All right, Ben. He cut off Chersenia in a hurry and shouted. She must have been pretty good at naming. Somehow a sense of pride came to Chersenia.
“Yes, and so from now on your name is Ben.”
“……”
As if to respond, Ben bent his eyes like a crescent moon and smiled vaguely. His figure was as noble as an angel carved inside the cathedral. Chersenia was momentarily enchanted by Ben’s laughter. Ben grinned as he flushed his cheeks at Chersenia.
***
Entering the currency exchange, Viscount Montenegro was shocked at the sight of their banner. The desk was split in two, the flowerpot was broken on the floor, and the chair was smashed. Literally a mess. He came back thinking she’d gone by now, but it looked like a thief had entered.
“What happened!”
The staff Lewis, who was keeping his seat, was sitting on the floor like a fool. The viscount grabbed Lewis by the shoulder and shook him.
“You’re not getting yourself together! What happened!”
His focusless gaze towards the air seemed to be distracted by external stimuli.
“Come on!”
Louis recognized his own work and was about to cry. Viscount Montenegro was anxious to see if the employee’s response was truly being done by a thief.
‘By any chance…?’ He remembered putting important documents in the safe. He hurriedly took ten iron out of his inner pocket and opened the safe of his broken desk. The vault contained all the original documents, including a certificate of permission for gambling houses and land contracts.
“It wasn’t a thief?’ Viscount Montenegro rose in small relief. Louis only got up from the floor and was warming up.
“What happened?”
“Well, that woman….”
“The woman?”
His eyebrows shook. The woman he is talking about now may be the woman who would help bring his business into bankruptcy. Viscount Montenegro invested quite a lot of money and time to build this gambling site and make it legal. They poured almost all of the money they had to lobby the new officials so that the emperor agreed to his proposal, which incurred debts.
A year is no small measure. After a year’s effort, he obtained the emperor’s approval and created a legal gambling house. Of course, he had to pay a certain portion of his income in taxes, but it was enough to rig the profits he will earn after that. But right now though, he didn’t have any income since the gambling house was just opened.
And somehow, a woman made a jackpot today. A woman who has popped three jackpots in one sitting position. When converted into money, the chips won were over 30 million shillings. He has no income earned yet, and even has debt, he would completely be left bankrupt if he exchanged 30 million shillings. So he ran away. He wouldn’t let a woman destroy everything he had achieved.
From this point onwards, her name would be written as Chersenia since it’s more fitting with the original.