"How do you know the statement is not balanced?" Alessandro marveled, walking over to her. Before he got the idea to invite 20 for tea, he had been pouring over the account books, trying to find the discrepancies in the figures. He found administrative tasks troublesome and tiring, and he didn't enjoy them in the least. On the other hand, he also hadn't found a good financial officer yet, so he was taking on this responsibility in the meantime – for a long time now, actually.
'See this column right here?' I replied, pointing at the equity. 'It doesn't show the difference between that column and the other one.' I then tapped on the numbers at the downmost part of the assets and liabilities, trying to show him why the numbers were not adding up.
Alessandro nodded. He looked at the sheet for a while before turning back to her, his gaze puzzled. That was the exact conclusion he had drawn, his calculations on another piece of paper. But it took him about an hour to figure it out, whereas it had taken her hardly a minute – and without writing the numbers down. Which meant she easily did the computation in her head. Her obvious numerical ability didn't match the background he had heard about her. "Who are you?" he whispered, staring at her as though seeing her for the first time.
'What?' I asked, confused. He was looking at me like he had never seen me before. But I didn't know what the fuss was about – I merely pointed out the error in some numbers. It wasn't as if I had put a stop on a plague or something along that line.
"I've heard a little about your background from Caio," Alessandro explained. It was impossible for a commoner like 20 to know about the principles of accounting all by herself, no matter how smart she was. This boiled down to one of two things: she had either acquired adequate education for it or she was not a commoner in the first place – or maybe both. "How are you so proficient with accounting?"
'I, uh, just know a bit about it,' I fiddled with my answer, suddenly feigning interest in a vase of fresh flowers on the coffee table. The truth was, I majored in business administration in university – but then so did millions of other graduates in the country. The competition in the job market was fierce, especially in Seoul. In the end I considered myself fortunate to have landed a corporate job as a secretary, and resigned myself to running errands and making photocopies most of the time – and handling the accounts of my department every now and then.
Alessandro chuckled at the understatement. 20 claiming that she only knew a little about accounting seemed to be the rough equivalent of him saying that he just ruled over a small piece of land. "Do you want to tell me what were you doing before you came to Luxentfort?"
I bit my lower lip, thorn how to answer that question. This could be the perfect opportunity to tell 1 exactly how I found myself in this foreign place, the chance to tell him I wasn't really from here. But I felt myself wavering. I wasn't sure I could trust him to that extent yet. Actually, the more time I spent in the empire, the more it seemed that my life in Seoul was nothing more than a dream – not the other way around. 'Does it matter to you where I'm from?' I said instead.
"I thought you don't like it when someone answers a question with another question," Alessandro grinned. "But I'll answer it anyway," he said, looking at her directly. "No, it doesn't matter to me." On the contrary, he couldn't care less where she was from, or what she was doing before she lived in the empire. She could tell him about it whenever she was ready.
But there was something he'd been itching to do ever since she woke up the night she was assaulted, and he wanted – no, he needed – her consent for that. "In the interest of fairness, it's my turn to ask a question now," Alessandro said. "But I'll ask it only if you promise to answer."
My breath hitched. The room was silent, and 1 was looking at me with such intensity it was like he had me pinned down with his stare. 'What is it?' I croaked.
"20, can I kiss you?"
*****
The man looked down at the girl, who in turn had her eyes glued on the ground. They were in the outskirts of a town, a town so poor many houses were like shacks rather than proper residences. He knew that in a place like this, he could easily get someone to accomplish the job he had in mind. After all, there were few things more motivating than poverty in order to get someone to do something they normally wouldn't attempt.
"Take it," he said, handing the girl a gold coin.
She held out her hand, trembling in fear and anticipation. It was more than what her family could scrape in a month. With this much, she could buy medicine for her sick mother and bread and milk for her younger twin brothers. Maybe she could even afford a few slices of meat if there was some left over. Her mouth literally watered at the thought. She couldn't even remember the last time she had meat. Probably it was several months ago, or maybe last year.
"I'll give you more if you succeed," the man said, smiling. Overall he was quite satisfied with what he was seeing. The girl didn't need any more prodding – she was desperate enough to want to do well on her own. In hindsight, it was his fault for initially entrusting the job to two idiots who couldn't even manage to keep their heads attached to their neck. This time was bound to be different. That was what he was hoping for, at least. Otherwise it would be his neck on the line.
"But if you fail, your whole family will perish." He turned to leave. "Remember that."