"What would Camilla do if she saw an injured bird?"
Since the conversationless journey became too dull, Iss tried to find a topic. He initially thought that Camilla was a quiet and obedient person who only followed orders. However, after a morning of conversation, Iss discovered that Camilla was not silent, and occasionally made awkward jokes.
Camilla blinked, obviously showing confusion.
"What does Lady Sister mean?"
"Can't we pick it up and heal it?"
"If you want me to do so, I will pick it up."
Would she just stand on the sidelines when faced with such a choice...
"What about after it's healed? Will you continue to keep it or let it go?"
"Um..."
This time, Camilla didn't answer. Instead, she lowered her head to ponder. Iss couldn't help but smile bitterly. He already understood Camilla's behavior patterns. In normal circumstances, Camilla was intelligent and observant. However, when faced with a choice without receiving a command, she would fall into a dilemma of not knowing what to do.
The question-and-answer dialogue quickly ended as they arrived at a clothing store. It was a rare ready-to-wear store in the entire city. Generally, in this otherworldly setting, families would buy fabrics and have their mothers cut and sew the clothes themselves. Although it was quite troublesome, it could save a lot of expenses. Because of this custom, women's sewing skills became an important factor that attracted men.
"Do you need anything, customers?" As soon as they entered, a young woman with a professional smile walked up to them. Upon noticing Iss and Camilla's noble attire - even though Iss's appearance was not easy to approach - her smile became even more charming. "Are the two young ladies looking to order formal dresses?"
"No, I would like some casual clothes and outfits suitable for winter."
"Alright, please follow me."
After speaking, Iss led them into a room filled with various women's clothing.
I want to get out of here.
That was Iss's first thought. Apart from the common clothes that peasants wore, there were also many women's undergarments with lace trims. In the past, if he had stepped into such an area, he would definitely have been arrested on the spot as a pervert.
If he were the only one here, Iss might have slightly let go of his courage. However, with Camilla and the female store assistant present, even though Iss had become the eldest daughter of an earl, he still felt stiff all over and dared not linger his gaze on the lingerie.
Noticing Iss's strange expression, the female store assistant took out many gorgeous clothes in distress.
"Indeed... With your taste, the ready-to-wear clothes we have in-store may not satisfy you, but we can offer custom-made formal dresses. We have had many aristocrats order clothes from us in the past..."
No, that's not what I mean.
Apologizing inwardly to the store assistant, Iss cleared his throat and looked at a more conservative long dress on another side.
Of course, it was also possible to switch to wearing pants, but one, pants did not have elegance and would ruin the inherent impression of being an earl's eldest daughter. Two, it was Iss's prejudice - young girls should wear formal dresses with fancy skirts.
Considering aesthetics, there was no other way.
Repeating this sentence countless times in his mind, Iss mustered up his courage and let the store assistant take down the clothes from the rack, comparing them against the petite body of the earl's eldest daughter - they were a bit too big, especially in the chest area.
Embarrassment appeared on the store assistant's face.
"I will get you another one immediately."
"Oh, no need to go through so much trouble."
With his vampire wings, it was not possible for him to try on the clothes then and there. As for the size, as long as the tailor made some adjustments, it would be fine. As for the size of his chest, Iss didn't think it was an embarrassing topic.
Thinking this, Iss looked at Camilla. For some reason, Camilla always wore a revealing black dress that looked cold. In winter, she would catch a cold within a few hours.
Considering that Camilla might have received the command to "wear this dress," she must have been wearing the same style of dress all the time. Iss pondered for a moment.
"Find some clothes for her - the more, the better."
The store assistant's eyes instantly lit up, like that of a new rich person.
"I'll take care of it!"
In less than five minutes, the disappeared store assistant appeared in front of Iss and Camilla, holding a pile of clothes."These are this year's new items. I brought all the clothes that fit this young lady's size," said the shopkeeper.
"Ah, Camilla, why don't you try them on?"
Initially, Iss thought Camilla would answer without hesitation, "yes". But things did not go as expected, and Camilla's face showed only confusion.
"Madam?"
"What's wrong?"
"No... nothing."
Camilla shook her head, returning to her expressionless face, and took the clothes handed to her by the shopkeeper.
Although curious about what Camilla wanted to say just now, since she said it was nothing, it would be impolite to press further, so Iss didn't dwell on it.
Then, Camilla directly undressed in public.
Her smooth and lustrous body appeared before Iss and the shopkeeper's eyes.
"Ah."
"Um..."
Almost simultaneously, two incomplete sentences were uttered. Following this, Iss's face turned red instantly, and she quickly averted her gaze, while the shopkeeper stepped forward and wrapped Camilla in a thick blanket.
Only Camilla herself had a look of confusion on her face, unaware of what had just occurred.
"What happened?"
"You dare ask what happened... Have you never bought clothes in a ready-to-wear store before, dear guest? Let's forget about the possibility of men coming in, it's already late autumn. It would be terrible if you caught a cold," the shopkeeper scolded.
"Yes, yes," Iss agreed, still turning her head away. Although she had seen Camilla's naked body before, it had been an accident in the bathroom, and at that time, she had to play the role of the eldest daughter of a count and had to act composed. Now, suddenly seeing Camilla's whole body was an instinctive act of avoidance.
Of course, as a normal person, images of what she had just seen kept flashing in Iss's mind.
After the commotion settled down for a moment, the shopkeeper looked at Iss with a strange expression. From a normal person's perspective, there was no need for Iss, as Camilla's older sister, to turn around, or rather, her turning around was simply incomprehensible.
"Miss... you are her sister, right?"
"Yes," Iss answered without looking back.
"Why then-"
"Don't worry about it. Hurry and bring one of each item, as well as various accessories and clothes for winter. If you don't have them, I'll go to the next store," Iss urged.
"Alright, I'll get them ready right away!"
With the near-coercion in Iss's tone, the shopkeeper hurriedly ran into the storeroom. Camilla still hadn't put on any clothes, so Iss continued to keep her back turned to her.
What Iss failed to notice was that Camilla's current expression was not one of indifference, but rather resembled that of a child who had never received a gift before and didn't know what a gift was. She was filled with confusion and perplexity, unable to understand everything before her.
It's worth mentioning that this emotion had already emerged when Iss mentioned buying clothes for Camilla.