I Was The Hero, But I Woke Up as a Phoenix Princess! – Chapter 20

Chapter 13 I Want Them All!
In Vist City, at a clothing store named “Twin Moons of the Azure Sky,” Verafia quietly watched the increasingly intricate style of the dress on her delicate body in the mirror.
It was a blue and white gown, styled in a courtly fashion, with slender lines at the cuffs and waist. The deep blue outline of the hem was adorned with hollowed-out lace, puffed up by layers of lace and ruffles.
The shop owner, a young lady, had already finished dressing her. Even in her polite smile, she couldn’t hide her amazement.
“Miss, your beauty surpasses even the Kingdom’s ‘Golden Flower’ and ‘Silver Iris Princess.’ Dressing you in these clothes is a desecration of your beauty!”
“Beauty…”
Verafia whispered the word with a slight curling of her lips, gazing into the long mirror. This was the first time she had seriously looked at the girl in the mirror who was identical to herself.
Brilliant like the serene and soft dawn’s light, her slender long hair was tied with a small knot and fell silently. Her luxurious golden eyes, like two beautiful bright moons, were embedded in that flawless face. It was as if…
She was a doll drawn by the gods, perfect and without blemish, ethereal and not of this world.
She shook her slender legs, wrapped in fine silk, as if to confirm that the girl in the mirror truly existed.
“Of course! Over the years at the Azure Moon Pavilion, your beauty is what I find most difficult to describe… as if mere human words would be an insult to you. Perhaps only the pure and flawless twin moons in the night sky, the goddess Elusia spoken of in the legends of the Silver Moon Elves, can compare to you.”
Beauty… pure and flawless twin moons, and the elves’ goddess Elusia…
I never thought such words could be used to describe me.
The brilliance in Verafia’s scorching gold pupils gradually solidified as she simply gazed at the beautiful girl in the mirror.
The shop owner noticed the girl’s expression and, thinking she was confused, tentatively said:
“Miss Verafia, I saw the noble young master who came with you earlier seemed quite concerned and caring about you. I wonder if you and…”
Verafia was startled by the shop owner’s voice and felt a bit amused and exasperated by her wild guess.
“That Ig, as a mere subordinate, of course he has to be concerned about this young lady!”
A proud and spoiled expression suddenly bloomed on the girl’s jade-like face. Verafia lifted her small face haughtily, like a pampered noble young lady.
After all, I am not Lothel; or rather, I cannot be Lothel until I can defeat Lancaster. My identity now is Verafia, a spoiled and willful Phoenix Young Lady with a child’s temper.
That’s just how it is.
Her small boots tapped on the wooden floor. Verafia tugged at her skirt, blinked her big eyes, and nodded with satisfaction. She then ran towards Ig, who was waiting.
“Ig! How do I look in this?”
“With your Ladyship’s beauty, naturally peerless…”
Before he could even see the girl’s face, Ig quickly got up to greet her.
However, upon seeing the meticulously dressed girl, even though Ig had watched his sister Shiel grow up since childhood, and had gradually become accustomed to the breathtaking beauty of this Phoenix Young Lady in recent days, he was still involuntarily startled.
“Hmph, you have good taste then!”
Verafia snorted lightly, a proud expression on her small face.
Behind the girl, the shop owner pushed a small cart filled with the girl’s exquisite outfits into the young man’s line of sight.
“Mr. Ig, these are the outfits Miss Verafia has tried on before. Which ones would you like to purchase?”
Looking at the various styles of dresses, Ig felt dizzy and overwhelmed.
“Miss Verafia, what do you think?”
So, Ig simply shifted his gaze to Verafia, who was lounging on the small wooden table, swinging her slender legs and propping her snow-white cheeks with her hands.
However, a disdainful look from the girl made Ig realize he had asked a stupid question.
“Does that even need asking?”
Verafia raised her delicate and fair face. The colors flashing in the girl’s pupils sent a shiver of fear down Ig’s spine.
“Of course, we’ll take them all!”
…
Although they were not made with magical materials or other rare treasures, these exquisitely crafted dresses were naturally made with superior materials, so they were not cheap.
In the end, Ig spent over ten gold coins to complete the purchase of the girl’s clothes. Verafia also forced Ig to stuff all the clothes into his storage space.
Watching Verafia humming happily ahead, Ig felt as if his heart was bleeding. No matter how pleasant the girl’s singing was, it couldn’t erase the stiff smile on the young man’s face.
Over ten Kingdom Gold Coins…
In today’s stable prices, a sturdy ox cost only one gold coin. An ordinary commoner would have to work and save for over a decade to accumulate such an amount, which would be enough to buy decent housing in the Royal Capital.
At this price, one could buy a well-made Gold Rank magic item at an auction, yet this young lady, who had no idea how expensive gold coins were, had just bought several dresses that were pretty but useless?
Besides the savings card from the Balosius Commercial Alliance, and the money the girl had confiscated from the three betraying mercenaries and given to him, Ig only had a little over forty gold coins in cash on hand.
In such a short time, a quarter of his money was gone, making Ig feel that serving this Phoenix Young Lady would be very difficult.
“Hey, Ig, why the long face? Is something wrong?”
Verafia noticed the young man’s expression and leaned her small face closer to ask, somewhat perplexed.
“Uh… it’s nothing, really.”
Ig forced a smile. As a scion of the prestigious Landishlofen family, a mere ten gold coins was nothing… to the young man.
However, in order to have money to eat in the future, lest he be devoured by this potentially starving young lady, Ig had to offer some subtle advice:
“It’s just that, Young Lady, we only have a little over thirty gold coins left. For us to have food in the future, perhaps…”
“En?”
Verafia frowned, sensing something was amiss. She looked at the young man in front of her suspiciously.
“Ig, I heard from your three guards that you have a crystal card from the Balosius Commercial Alliance. Cards like that require assets of at least a thousand gold to obtain!”
How did you know that!
Ig’s plan to secretly keep some private savings, by taking advantage of the Phoenix Young Lady’s ignorance of the human world, was completely shattered.
Under the girl’s suddenly majestic and irresistible gaze, Ig could only honestly confess:
“Miss Verafia, including that card, our total money is only a little over ninety Kingdom Gold Coins, not even a hundred gold.”
“So little!”
Verafia exclaimed in surprise. “Didn’t you say you were the sole son of a Saint Rank Lord? How can your entire fortune be so small?”