I Raised Him Modestly, But He Came Back Obsessed With Me
Chapter 9

“Umm…”

The owner of the jewelry shop carefully examined the ring placed in front of him. He turned it over to see whether there were any scratches or if the jewel had faded. He looked at the ring, trying to replace any flaw.

Cersinia had an amazing eye for jewelry since childhood. Among the cheap accessories sold at the stand, she would always replace the best quality. Besides, she has a neat personality. She tends to cherish her belongings, so the jewelry has been preserved impeccably.

‘I’m sure there won’t be a single scratch on the ring.’

Cersinia looked interestingly at the owner, who was struggling to catch any flaw. She’s looking forward to how much the owner will pay for that ring.

“Ahem.”

Eventually, the owner shook his head as if he was not satisfied with the ring. In the midst of this, Cersinia could see his hand holding the ring, 

‘What’s wrong with his hand that is clenching a fist from start to finish? It bothered me a lot.’

‘I’m not easily fooled,’ in any case, swindle won’t work on Cersinia, who has a remarkable eye for jewelry.

“How much will you give me?”

“The ring has a scratch, so I can’t pay you much.”

At the absurd sound, Cersinia raised one corner of her mouth and laughed openly.

“Where’s the flaw?”

She kept the ring in the best condition, and among the counterfeit products, the ring shone without a single flaw. Even if it’s not well preserved, she can sell it for around 20,000 shillings, so how much does the owner want to cut down on the price by saying such nonsense?

“You can see a little scratch here.”

The owner brought the ring held closer and showed it to her. He then pointed a thin and sharp scratch. It was the first time Cersinia saw it. The scratch didn’t exist ever since she took it out of the dressing table. In addition, the scratch is sharp as if it had been cut by a knife. It seems that earlier, the owner would never let the ring go before replaceing a scratch on it.

“See? Because of it, I can’t even give you 10,000 shillings for this.”

He acted triumphantly as if he wasn’t lying. The owner’s shoulders shrugged, and his nose soared to the sky.

‘So you’re going to come out like this?’

Cersinia can’t let it go because of his disgusting behavior. She grabbed the fist of the owner who was collecting the ring with strength. 

“Argh! What are you doing now!”

Seeing the owner screaming in pain, Cersinia smiled leisurely.

“Why did you keep that hand clenched the whole time? Were you scared to open it?”

“W-Won’t you let go of my hand?”

Perhaps embarrassed, the owner’s eyes shook greatly. Then he screamed again. Cersinia gathered heat in her hands while holding the owner.

‘How dare you try to fool me and take my money! Did you see me as a fool!’

She threw the condensed heat that had quickly gathered into the owner’s hand.

“Argh! Ah, It’s hot! It’s hot!”

The owner flapped his arm as he was feeling the heat. In the midst of that, his clenched fist opened. As expected, there’s something in there.

Since the first time he inspected the ring, he clenched his fist tightly, so Cersinia observed him carefully. Then she caught the owner moving his clenched fist to lift something he was holding underneath. She didn’t see what happened after that as it happened in an instant. But that was an obvious trick. So when the owner showed her the ring again, it was already scratched. It wasn’t the skill he had done once or twice. She can’t believe that he was trying to lower the price, saying it has a scratch with a shameless face. She was disgusted and put more strength in her hands.

“Huh? What do you mean it’s hot?” Cersinia said, smiling while pretending not to know.

“Ah, it’s hot!”

Eventually, the owner, who couldn’t stand it, trembled and opened his fist.

Clink.

A small razor blade fell on display made of transparent glass.

“Hiik!”

The owner contemplated and tried to pick up the dropped razor in a hurry.

“As expected.”

Cersinia pushed away the owner’s hand roughly and picked up the razor blade that fell. It looked less than 1 cm in diameter and the tip was even sharpened. It was obviously made to scratch accessories.

“What is this?” She looked at the owner with a friendly smile. She was holding the owner’s hand. There was a red hand mark on his wrist as she glared at him.

The owner will only think that she’s strong. He won’t even suppose that his hands got so hot because of her since he never heard or seen anything of the sort.

“W-What do you mean! I just use it to cut the wrapping string!”

It was the owner who got angry.

‘So you’re going to come out like this?’

Cersinia rolled her eyes, as she did her eyes land on the most expensive-looking jewelry on display. A ring with a diamond that stood out because of its size. She quickly reached into the display and snatched the diamond ring.

“What? You want me to give you this? You didn’t know how much it costs!”

The owner panicked and ran to her. As expected. It was an expensive one. Cersinia admired it and turned her body away from the owner. She then proceeded to scratch the diamond with the razor blade. The scratch looked exactly like the one on her ring.

“What are you doing!”

The owner opened his mouth wide in amazement. As he was quite surprised, his stupid face was gone.

“It’s just like the scratch on my ring.”

“D-Do you know how much it costs!” 

He shouted so loudly that the room rumbled.

“Where does the dog bark come from?” 

Cersinia poked her ears with a grumpy face. The owner trembled greatly as if he felt insulted by her words. His face turned purple.

“It’s incomparably expensive compared to yours! How are you going to compensate me!”

‘I must have been too kind.’ The owner didn’t even know his subject and kept making demands.

Cersinia slammed her hand, which was moderately loaded with her power over the display.

*BANG*

The display stand shook loudly with a loud frictional sound. It didn’t break because of the proper control, but the neatly arranged accessories were jumbled away.

“You have to compensate me.”

“W-What?”

 The owner, who was looking at the scattered accessories with a devastated face, raised his head. He looked at Cersinia so fiercely like a laser would come out from his eyes.

“I guess you did business like this, but it doesn’t work for me. The evidence is in my hands, so it doesn’t matter if the rumors go around, right?”

As if he had been hit in the back of his head, he shut his mouth.

“If you pay for my ring, I’ll pretend I didn’t see anything today.”

“Yes, your ring! I can only give you 13,000 shillings for it!”

In the midst of this, he is still lowering the price! She would’ve let him go if he paid for 20,000 shillings, but now she can’t.

“50,000 shillings.”

“What?”

She said it clearly by giving strength to each word.

“Fifty. Thousand. Shillings.”

Originally, it would only be paid for 20,000 shillings. But since she used up her energy and suffered mental damage, she’ll have to get it sorted out.

“Hu…”

 He groaned briefly as if he was exhausted.

“You won’t give it to me? Then let’s just spread the words. I’m stronger than you thought.”

The owner trembled at the word stronger. His eyes were already filled with fear. It must be because of the handprint that hadn’t yet disappeared on his wrist.

“4-40,000 shillings.”

“50,000.”

“45,000 shillings, not anymore!”

 The owner’s attitude of pretending to be generous was ridiculous, so she raised the corners of her mouth.

“50,000 shillings.”

The owner clenched his fists tightly as if in anger and shouted out,  “Okay! I got it!”

He turned around and roughly opened the drawer he had placed on the display. Whether the drawer was a safe, there were a lot of bills piled up inside. Cersinia squinted her eyes and glanced at him.

The owner is a person who will cause great trouble due to his own tongue. She is not a person full of a sense of justice, so she had no reason to condemn the owner. It’s enough to get the money he gives to her and just go. She didn’t want to get involved in troublesome things. Because her goal was to live in peace, not become a saint.

The owner inflated his cheeks in dissatisfaction and held out the 50,000 shillings cheque. He looked like a very mean toad.

“That’s how it should be.”

She grabbed the cheque but the owner didn’t let go of it. The tension between them was so fierce that the cheque was torn.

Cersinia raised her other hand without saying a word. It was meant to leave a handprint on the owner’s hand again.

“Argh!”

The owner was surprised and took his hands off the cheque. She thought that he was still afraid of what had happened before. Cersinia smiled for victory and put the 50,000 shillings cheque in her pocket.

“I’ll confiscate this.”

She grabbed the razor and put the diamond ring back on display. She left the room while smiling at the owner, who chewed his lips and said his business would be bankrupt.