Chapter 10: The Demon Lord faces... shopping!

"No... please. Don’t do it..."

Lars dropped heavily to his knees.

He was trembling with fear, his wide eyes fixed on the figure looming menacingly over him.

He swallowed.

"No, please... not shopping!"

"Oh, come on, stop throwing a tantrum, Master! Your wardrobe looks like it came straight out of the last century! Actually, it did come from the last century!" Ingrid grumbled.

She was busy going through Lars’s clothes from his previous awakening.

She wasn’t sparing a single one.

"Mommy Ingrid is right. It’s pretty embarrassing to go out with someone who dresses like my great-great-grandfather!"

Camila grabbed Lars by the arm and pulled him to his feet.

"Get ready, big bro. I’m about to turn you into the coolest guy in the world!"

Lars let out a long huff.

I miss the days when women kept their mouths shut.

Ah... damn women’s emancipation.

"There’s no better place in the whole city to give big bro a whole new wardrobe!" Camila exclaimed.

Her eyes lit up in front of the enormous Vrenford Shopping Centre.

Ingrid lovingly took Lars by the arm.

"Come on, son. Be brave. A little shopping can’t possibly be the worst thing that’s happened to you in your long life."

Lars stared at the entrance to the shopping center like a man facing the gallows.

"I have serious doubts about that."

The first stop on their shopping tour was an upscale boutique specializing in elegant clothing.

They had barely set foot inside when a young sales assistant swooped down on Ingrid like a vulture on its prey.

"Good morning, ma’am. Are you here to pick out a suit for your husband?"

Ingrid lit up.

"Did you hear that, son? She thinks we’re husband and wife. Apparently, I still look like a young girl."

"Or maybe this shameless woman just called big bro old..." Camila hissed under her breath.

Lars’s discomfort was obvious even behind his usual mask of cold impassivity.

"Please, miss. Let’s make this quick."

The young sales assistant didn’t need to be told twice.

She darted between the racks at lightning speed and, a second later, reappeared carrying a mountain of clothes for him to try on.

"The fitting room is right over there, sir. Take all the time you need."

With that, the sales assistant dumped a stack of clothes into Lars’s arms that was almost as tall as he was.

He headed toward the fitting room, but after only a couple of steps, he noticed Ingrid following him.

"I can change on my own."

Ingrid gave him an offended pout.

"What’s this? Now that you’re a big boy, you’re embarrassed by your mother? Come on, get in."

Before Lars could protest any further, she pushed him past the curtain and slipped into the fitting room with him.

"Never again are we pretending to be a family. Understood?"

"You’re such a grump, Master. This is so much fun. Camila really did have a great idea," Ingrid replied as she stripped off his school uniform one piece at a time.

Yeah, Camila was so embarrassed by Lars’s clothes that she had forced him to go out wearing his school uniform instead.

Ingrid took off his vest first, then unbuttoned his shirt and moved on to his belt, sliding his pants down his legs.

Finally, with one firm tug, she pulled down his underwear too.

"Ingrid...?"

She looked up at him with a sultry expression.

"Forgive me, Master. Self-control has never been my strong suit."

Lars’s cock hardened instantly as soon as she took it in her hands and stroked it with the tip of her tongue.

Outside the fitting room, fifteen minutes after they had gone in, Camila started tapping her foot impatiently.

"What the hell is taking them so long? This is such a pain..."

The sales assistant was starting to grow impatient too, though her professionalism kept her from showing it.

When she stole a quick glance through the gap between the curtains, she saw the woman with the long blonde braids kneeling in front of the young man she had introduced as her son just a few minutes earlier.

That sight, combined with the ambiguous female moans coming from inside, didn’t leave much room for interpretation.

"M-Ma’am... do you... need some help?"

"Oh, no... I’m doing perfectly fine on my own, believe me. Thanks anyway," Ingrid replied, her voice slightly muffled.

"So... those two are mother and son, right?" the sales assistant asked hesitantly.

Camila beamed.

"Yep! And I’m his adorable little sister! Don’t we look like such a close and happy family?"

The sales assistant cast another glance through the gap between the curtains.

"Y-Yeah... a very close and happy family..."

It wasn’t until half an hour later that Lars finally stepped out of the fitting room, with Ingrid right behind him.

He was still wearing his school uniform. The clothes Ingrid was carrying were folded exactly as they had been when the sales assistant handed them over.

You didn’t need to be an expert to figure out that Lars hadn’t tried on a single one.

"S-So... um... do you like the clothes, or would you prefer to try something else?"

"I’ll take them. They’re fine," Lars cut in before she could even finish.

The sales assistant barely managed to hold back a sigh of relief.

"Perfect. Then you can wait for me at the register."

Before Ingrid could walk away, however, the sales assistant discreetly stopped her.

"Ma’am... you have a little... um... something right here."

She pointed to the corner of her mouth.

Ingrid ran a fingertip over her lip. She looked at it and let out a small laugh.

"Goodness, it must be some milk foam from what I drank earlier. How embarrassing. Thank you, miss."

The sales assistant stared at her for a moment.

"D-Don’t mention it..."

As soon as they stepped out of the boutique, Camila grabbed Lars by the arm and dragged him toward the streetwear store right across from it.

"This is ridiculous! We threw out your old-man clothes, and Ingrid just made you buy more old-man clothes! She doesn’t know anything about fashion!"

"I made him buy classy men’s clothes," Ingrid shot back.

"Yeah, yeah. Now let me show you how big bro is supposed to dress!"

Lars sighed.

"Do whatever you want. Just stay out of the fitting room this time. We’ve already embarrassed ourselves enough for one day."

Lars entered the store.

"Hey, Luis! Great to see you here too! Give me a second and I’ll be right over to help you out!" Niall Al O’Tep exclaimed.

He was wearing the chain’s standard black-and-white striped employee uniform.

Lars left the store.

"We’re going home."