Chapter 46: Moon Jade
The shop assistant praised her sincerely, as if marveling at the beauty of the young girl she had dressed.
She wasn’t just trying to sell the dress, she genuinely felt that way.
Ig thought.
“She’s praising my girl’s beauty…” Ig’s cheeks also broke into a smile.
The girl in the pure white dress smiled faintly, saying, “Thank you.”
Holding the hem of the skirt, the young girl spun around once in front of the floor-length silver mirror. Her flawless, jade-like delicate face revealed a gentle smile.
She didn’t look like her usual self… instead, she truly looked like a noble lady of high birth, elegant in bearing and speech… Would Ig like me like this?
The splendor in her golden eyes became slightly hazy, and Verafia wore a captivating smile on her cheeks. In her peripheral vision, she observed the young man behind her in the mirror’s reflection.
Ig also smiled, and he hadn’t noticed her subtle change.
He called out softly.
Another shop assistant, dressed in a fluffy skirt like the properly dressed maids in noble castles, walked over with the bill. “Sir, this is the price of Miss’s evening gown.”
Well… I shouldn’t have to worry about things like gold coins.
The golden-haired girl in the pure white dress gracefully moved her steps. Her soft voice rang out in the air as she came beside Ig, her big golden eyes gazing at him.
The black-haired young man’s lips were curled into a faint smile.
As the direct heir of Marquis Mays, Ig had received an education in noble etiquette.
Normally, as an attendant serving the Young Lady, he rarely displayed it. However, since the young girl was earnestly playing the role of a noble young lady, he, as her male companion, naturally needed to exhibit aristocratic demeanor.
Right, consider it playing along with the Young Lady.
With just a slight glance, the price was a bit steep, but still reasonable. Ig closed the bill, a slight smile on his lips, and handed it back to the shop assistant.
Although the coins gifted by Count Sirius had been spent in the alchemy workshop, Ig still carried Peka’s gold coins.
Previously, he had tried them. Even money from a foreign country could at least be used as currency of equivalent precious metal.
Using Peka’s currency would not conflict with the Young Lady’s claim of being a noble lady who had drifted from a strange continent.
As Ig took out his money bag, beside him, Verafia, dressed as a noble Young Lady, rolled her golden eyes and looked at him. The atmosphere in the air fell into a strange silence, and then, Ig slowly raised his head.
His young cheeks bore a very embarrassed expression.
“Mr. Ig… have you, perhaps, dropped your money bag?” the shop assistant holding the bill asked, frowning slightly.
“Cough, cough, probably…”
Ig gave an embarrassed smile. He thought back carefully; it was likely that someone had secretly stolen it while he was chasing Verafia. “Um, I wonder if I could pay in a couple of days?”
“Is that so… I’m afraid our establishment does not accept credit.”
The shop assistant’s brow furrowed briefly, but she quickly composed herself. Her complexion was bright, clearly indicating she was not from a poor family, and she possessed good manners and education, so she did not reveal too many impolite gestures.
Moreover, the black-haired young man’s demeanor, and the stunningly noble golden-haired girl beside him, who looked like a princess, made it convincing that they were not trying to deceive anyone with excuses.
The shop assistant pondered for a moment and suggested, “If you truly don’t have any gold coins on you… perhaps you could go to the pawnshop across the street and mortgage something for now.”
Ig followed the direction she pointed. The bright, decorated pawnshop stood with its doors open.
“Pawning…”
Ig started fumbling all over himself. He was the only son of the Marquis, but he carried no precious gems or artworks. Even the small golden sword, which was once a symbol of his status as the Marquis’s heir, had been melted down into an equivalent amount of gold to pay for his travel expenses during his escape.
Suddenly, his palm paused slightly. In the deepest part of his storage space, his hand touched a smooth piece of jade ware. He took it out from his embrace.
It was like fine white jade, but it appeared more exquisite and delicate. Its radiant light subtly refracted in the air, like flowing moonlight.
“This…”
The shop assistant’s eyes widened, filled with surprise. She couldn’t discern what the jade in the young man’s hand was, but her intuition told her that it must be a treasure beyond price. “Is this yours… are you planning to sell it for money?”
Thinking it might be a treasured ancestral item of the young man, and that he was about to trade it for ordinary gold coins, the shop assistant felt a pang of sympathy. Verafia, in her eyes, had become a girl greedy for vanity, and she showed a hint of displeasure.
“Ah, yes.”
Ig picked up the white jade in his hand. He recalled its origin: it was a gift from the silver-haired princess waiting to awaken in Peka’s royal palace, her small face slightly flushed with shyness.
Peka did not favor jade ware like the Western Empire. Misella told him that it wasn’t from the Peka royal palace, but rather her mother, Filirya, had given it to her when she was a child… it was said to be from the moonlight of elves from a thousand years ago.
That was the young girl’s heartfelt intention at the time.
Ig’s palm tightened slightly.
He wasn’t clinging to his past feelings for the silver-haired princess. He had already made his choice on that night when Lichen descended with light… However, he still harbored guilt over the weeping sounds of the silver-haired girl at their parting.
To sell the gift that innocent girl, who had given herself to him with her soft, true feelings, would that also be a harm to her in his heart?
However, Ig knew he shouldn’t hesitate. Another young girl stood beside him, a girl to whom he had sworn to devote everything… even if she didn’t know its origin, his hesitation was undoubtedly a harm to her.
“Veer, wait a moment.”
Ig smiled, showing no unusual expression. Just as he was about to turn away, his wrist was suddenly grasped by a small hand even more delicate and smooth than fine jade.
The young man’s movements froze. “Veer…?”
The girl in the gorgeous white dress, as radiant and captivating as a princess, lowered her golden eyes slightly to the young man’s hand. The translucent moonlight tinged the brilliance of her golden eyes. She suddenly spoke softly, “Ig… did Misella give this to you?”
The young man looked up in surprise. But under the girl’s gentle gaze, he couldn’t lie, and lowered his face, saying, “Veer, you knew?”
“Pfft, what’s so hard to guess about that.”
Her pupils, like the golden moon, curved slightly. Verafia was not angry. Her slender jade fingers lightly stroked her golden hair.
The girl’s pure white jade face, just like her state of mind, appeared light and cheerful. She suddenly winked her golden eyes playfully at him, “You know, Misella’s mother is Liya.”
Ig froze, recalling that when the girl was Lothel in the past, Princess Filirya was her lover.
In his moment of stunned silence, Ig felt the girl’s small hand suddenly grasp his, and she placed the white jade, reflecting the moonlight, back into his hand. “Veer, you’re…?”
