Chapter – 9
“Hmm…”
The jewelry shop owner carefully inspected the ring in front of him.
He turned it over in his tightly clenched fist, checking for scratches or whether the gem’s shine had faded.
He was scrutinizing it with all his might, trying to find even the smallest flaw.
Cersinia had been interested in jewelry since she was young, so she had an incredible eye for detail.
Even among the cheap accessories sold at market stalls, she could always pick out the best quality.
On top of that, she was extremely meticulous.
She took great care of her own belongings, so her gems had been preserved without a single scratch.
There shouldn’t have been a single flaw in the ring she brought in.
Cersinia watched the shop owner, seemingly fascinated, as he tried so hard to find some fault.
She was curious to see how he would try to haggle the price down.
“Ahem.”
Finally, the owner shook his head, clearly dissatisfied.
Even in this moment, Cersinia noticed his hand still holding the ring in a tight fist.
Why hadn’t he opened his hand even once?
It was quite annoying.
‘He won’t take me lightly,’ she thought.
Anyway, with his exceptional eye for gems, trying to haggle wouldn’t work on him.
“How much are you willing to pay?”
“There’s a scratch on the ring, so I can’t offer much.”
Cersinia laughed openly at the absurdity of his words.
“Where is this scratch?”
The ring was in pristine condition, the design intricately crafted even among fakes, and the gem shone without flaw.
Even a conservative estimate would fetch 20,000 silings—how much could he possibly try to knock off with such nonsense?
“See here? There’s a tiny scratch, right?”
The owner brought the ring closer, pointing to a thin, sharp-looking scratch with his fingernail.
It was the first time she had seen it.
It hadn’t been there when she took it from her dressing table.
Moreover, the scratch was so precise it looked as if someone had deliberately cut it with a knife.
It could not have been caused by ordinary wear.
“See? So I can’t even offer 10,000 silings for this.”
He looked pleased, as if he hadn’t lied.
‘So that’s how you’re playing it,’ Cersinia thought.
She couldn’t tolerate such audacity.
She grabbed the owner’s hand as he tried to reclaim the ring.
“Ah! What are you doing?!”
Seeing him scream in pain, she smiled calmly.
“Why is your hand clenched in a fist the entire time?”
“Y-you… aren’t letting go?!”
The owner’s pupils darted wildly.
He yelled instead.
Cersinia concentrated heat into her hand, which was holding his.
How dare he try to cheat her out of her money.
‘Do you think I’m a fool?’
She channeled the concentrated warmth into the owner’s hand.
“Ah! Hot! Ah, it’s hot!”
He flailed his arms, but still his clenched hand wouldn’t open.
There was something inside that hand.
She had been observing him since the initial inspection of the ring, noticing his fingers trying to maneuver something inside the fist.
What happened afterward was too fast for her to see.
But it was clearly the shop owner’s usual trick.
When he presented the ring again, it had a scratch.
He shamelessly tried to lower the price using this fabricated flaw.
Infuriated, she strengthened her grip.
“What, hot?”
Cersinia smiled innocently.
“Ah! Hot!”
Finally, the owner, unable to bear it, trembled and opened his clenched hand.
Clang.
A tiny razor blade fell onto the glass display case.
“Eeek!”
The owner, pale, scrambled to pick it up.
“No chance.”
Cersinia pushed his hand away roughly and grabbed the fallen razor blade herself.
It was less than a centimeter long, its tip sharpened.
It seemed specially made to scratch jewelry.
“What is this?”
She looked at the owner with an innocent smile.
He wrapped his other hand around his wrist, glaring at her with eyes like daggers.
Red marks from her grip were visible on his wrist.
He probably thought she was just strong.
He could never imagine that her hand could radiate heat.
“It’s just for cutting packaging string!”
The pot calling the kettle black.
‘So this is how it’ll go,’ Cersinia thought.
She searched the display for the most expensive-looking gem.
A ring with a large diamond caught her eye.
It was obviously the most valuable in the display.
She quickly reached in and grabbed it.
“Hey! Give that back! Do you know how much this costs?!”
The owner panicked and lunged.
It really was expensive.
Cersinia admired her own eye for gems as she twisted her body to evade him.
She lightly scraped the shining diamond ring with the razor blade.
The thin band bore a scratch identical to the one he had shown her.
“What the—!”
The owner’s mouth fell open in shock.
The color drained from his face, leaving him looking ridiculous.
“It’s exactly like the scratch on my ring.”
“Do you know how much this costs?!”
He shouted, his voice echoing through the jewelry shop.
“Which dog is barking?”
Cersinia remained indifferent.
He trembled as if insulted by her words.
His flushed face became an absurd mix of red and purple.
“It’s far more valuable than your fake ring! How will you compensate me?!”
Perhaps she had been too kind.
Seeing him overstep without knowing his place.
Cersinia struck the display with enough force to shake it but not break it.
Bang.
Accessories that had been neatly arranged were now in disarray.
“You should compensate me.”
“W-what?!”
The owner, stunned, looked at the scattered items.
He glared at Cersinia as if shooting lasers from his eyes.
“You did business like this, huh? Doesn’t work on me. I have proof in my hand, so even if rumors spread, I don’t care.”
He was speechless, like he had been slapped on the back of the head.
“If you pay me the price for my ring, I’ll pretend I didn’t see anything today.”
“Y-you mean… my ring’s worth only 13,000 silings!”
Even now, he tried to haggle.
She had intended to accept 20,000 silings at least, but there was no way she’d settle for that.
“50,000 silings.”
“What?”
She enunciated each word with force.
“Fif.ty. thou.sand. silings.”
Originally, 20,000 would have been fair.
But considering the effort and mental damage, she deserved more.
“Huh…”
He let out a short groan.
“Not giving it? Then I’ll spread the word. I’m stronger than you think.”
The owner flinched at the word “strength.”
Fear was evident in his eyes.
And rightly so—his wrist still bore the red marks.
“40, 40,000 silings.”
“50,000.”
“45,000, that’s the limit!”
His pretending-to-be-generous act was laughable.
“50,000 silings.”
The owner clenched his fist and shrieked.
“Fine! Fine, alright!”
He opened a drawer roughly, revealing a safe filled with bills.
Cersinia squinted at him, unimpressed.
She didn’t need to punish him; his tongue would get him into trouble anyway.
She only needed the money and could leave peacefully.
The owner, looking dissatisfied, puffed out his cheeks and extended 50,000 silings.
He resembled a grumpy toad.
“About time.”
She took the bills.
Still, he hesitated, unwilling to let go.
They engaged in a tense tug-of-war, and Cersinia raised her other hand.
She intended to leave a mark on his hand again.
“Ah!”
The owner flinched and let go of the money.
Probably scared of the memory of the heat.
Cersinia smiled victoriously and pocketed the 50,000 silings.
“Confiscated.”
She took the razor blade and placed the diamond ring back on the display.
She left the shop, smiling at the owner, who was gnawing his lip in frustration.
