You’re My Flame

Chapter 4

Lonely? Chersinia felt she hadn’t had time to feel lonely. It had only been ten days since she had entered this body, and she had spent each day fueled by resentment. Besides, the original Chersinia had lost her parents at just fifteen years old. Perhaps as a result, something inside her remained comfortable being alone.

“Lonely…? Well, not really.”

The boy’s eyes flickered. He seemed quite surprised by her answer. After a moment, he nodded his head slightly. “You’re strong, Miss Chersinia.”

“Just call me Chersinia,” she said casually, not used to being addressed with such formality.

“Chersinia…” He repeated her name as if savoring it. His voice carried a hint of envy, and Chersinia noticed the shadow that fell over his face.

“I don’t have a name…”

The look on his face when he admitted that he didn’t have a name flashed through her mind, and a strange heaviness settled in her heart. She realized it was sympathy for this boy who lacked something everyone else had.

If the viscount delivered her cash-out money in a week as promised, she’d have to return the boy. Becoming attached would only make his departure harder.

But I’ll need something to call him while he’s here, she thought. Relying on a rotation of “hey,” “you,” and “oi” probably wouldn’t cut it.

Chersinia rationalized the decision to herself. Turning back to the boy who still was contemplating her name, she said, “I need to call you something, too.”

His dark eyes reflected her face. “You mean a name?”

“Yes, a name. You should have one.”

“I’ve never had one before…” His body drooped like he was a mournful puppy.

He really does pull at the heartstrings, Chersinia thought. It was an appearance that could draw sympathy from anyone.

Pressing against her aching heart, she offered the first name that came to mind. “Hmm, how about Ben?” Simple, quick, and easy to remember. She wondered if it was too simple.

“Ben?” he said with a forlorn face.

“Oh, you don’t like it? Then—”

“No, no! I like it. Ben…” He cut her off, hastily and loudly declaring his approval.

It appeared her naming skills were more than acceptable. A sense of unexpected pride washed over her.

“All right. From now on, your name is Ben.”

“Ben…” Ben smiled broadly, his eyes curving like crescent moons. He was as angelic as a sculpture atop a cathedral. For a moment, Chersinia lost herself in the beaming, rosy-cheeked boy’s smile.

***

Viscount Montena was aghast at the scene that greeted him when he entered the casino cage. It was pure chaos. The desk was split in two, a vase was shattered on the floor, and a chair was smashed to bits. He expected that the woman would be gone by the time he got there, but he was not expecting her to leave the room looking like it had been ransacked.

“What on earth happened here?!” he thundered.

Louis, the employee on duty, was still sitting stunned on the floor. The viscount grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him. “Snap out of it! What happened?”

The man’s unfocused eyes sharpened. Recognizing the viscount, his face twisted as if he might burst into tears. “My lord!”

Uneasily, Viscount Montena wondered if a thief actually had broken in.

No… What if…? The important documents he had locked in the desk sprung to the front of his mind. In a rush, he pulled the key from his pocket and opened the safe drawer in the broken desk. He found the casino license and land deeds inside, just as they should be.

So it wasn’t a burglary. The viscount sighed in relief and straightened up. Louis finally began to compose himself and rose to his feet as well.

“What happened here?”

“That woman—”

“That woman?” Viscount Montena’s brow furrowed. His employee was probably referring to the woman who had almost bankrupted his whole casino.

Viscount Montena Delmond had invested a lot of time and money into turning his underground gambling ring into a legal, legitimate casino. He had spent nearly his entire fortune lobbying the ministers and vying for the emperor’s stamp of approval, which left him with debts to pay. It took him a whole year, but he had finally managed to do it. He had to pay taxes on the casino income, but he could manipulate the numbers down the line.

The casino had only just started operating, so there was no revenue yet. And then, that woman had come and wreaked havoc. She hit a jackpot three times in one sitting, winning a grand total of thirty million shillings.

As the viscount’s business was still in the red and he already had debts, exchanging her chips for thirty million shillings would bankrupt him. Instead, he had made a run for it. He couldn’t let one woman ruin everything he had built.

He had planned to lay low, send the woman away, and hire someone to make sure she never returned. So why was Louis blabbering as if he’d seen a ghost?

“She’s turned everything upside down…” Viscount Montena glanced disdainfully at the trembling man. “I’m surprised you couldn’t handle a delicate woman.” If a single small woman could cause this much disarray, he wondered needed to beef up security.

“She’s different! She’s completely unhinged, my lord! She split the desk in half with a kick, and even tried to use some strange power on me!” Louis stomped his feet in frustration.

“Strange power?”

“Yes, my lord! Some weird magic! The air around her became hot, and wind started blowing in the room, even though that should be impossible!”

The idea of air rushing through the windowless, sealed room was absurd, but Louis seemed earnest.

The viscount stroked his chin in thought. Though feeble, Louis had been with him since he first planned the casino, and he had never lied before. What was this strange power he was talking about, then? It was a tale unlike any the viscount had heard before. Although he had felt a peculiar aura about her when he briefly spotted her, he thought she was simply remarkably beautiful.

“My lord, her eyes… They burned like fire…”

It wouldn’t hurt to investigate. Viscount Montena scowled, a dark glint in his eyes.

Louis still trembled, but the viscount shoved his shoulder, commanding him to clean up the room. Meanwhile, he sank his heavy body into the large sofa and took another look around the room. Other than the desk, chair, and vase, everything else was intact.

Wait… No, there was something missing. The viscount whipped his head around, searching each corner.

“Where’s the slave?” The boy he had purchased just the day before was nowhere to be seen. The empire was beginning to discourage aristocrats from keeping slaves, so he was keeping the boy in the casino cage for the time being.

Louis stopped sweeping up the vase fragments.

Sensing trouble, the viscount snapped, “Where is he?”

“Well, my lord… There was no stopping that woman, so…”

“So?”

“So I gave her the slave as collateral for—”

Before he could finish, the viscount hurled a sofa cushion at his cashier. His face flushed red. “How dare you! Do you have any idea what you’ve given away?!”

Louis, hit squarely by the cushion, dropped to the floor. “I’m sorry, my lord! But there was no way to stop her before—”

“Don’t even start! Where did she go?!” Montena huffed wildly like a beast, unable to contain his fury. He bolted up from his seat.

The boy was a gem unearthed at the slave market. He was a precious gift intended for Count Enettio, a wealthy and influential nobleman with a penchant for handsome and particularly young male acquisitions. The boy was perfect to win the count’s favor, so perfect that the viscount had bought him at an astronomical cost.

Having exhausted his fortune and taken on debts to establish the casino, Viscount Montena desperately needed the count’s support. He was lucky to have found the boy at exactly the right time. He had even written a personal letter to present with his gift—but he couldn’t present something that woman had stolen.

The viscount ground his teeth. The gruesome noise of scraping bone resonated from his mouth.

Louis flattened himself to the floor at the sound. “I’m not sure where she went. But she said she would return in a week to collect the money!”

“Shut up, you useless lump of filth! Find that woman and bring back my slave. Now!”

“Yes, my lord!”

With Viscount Montena’s fury surging like a tidal wave, Louis hurriedly scurried out of the casino cage.

Montena, overcome with anger, hurled another sofa cushion. It hit the floor with a thump.

Clearly, if he didn’t pay out, the woman wouldn’t give up the slave. He had no intention of paying her a single penny, but he had to retrieve the boy at all costs. With just one week until his meeting with Count Enettio, he quickly had to find a way.

“There is only one thing I can do, then,” he murmured. A faint murderous intent flickered in his eyes.