Praise and Judgment
"Here, eat!"
Arsenio gave a warm bread to Henry's daughter, Layla, which he had just asked Helena. But, judging by the look on Layla's face, which is not good enough to look at, it seems that she will refuse it.
"How many times have I told you, I don't need it. I am not like this because I lack food. I am like this because this is my beauty."
"Are you stupid?" Arsenio said loudly, sat next to Layla, then looked up at the clear sky.
"I'm not stupid. I am very beautiful, even my beauty exceeds anyone else."
After Layla said that, Arsenio stared at Layla for a while before he finally looked back at the clear sky.
"Never play with yourself. If you're hungry, eat! If you need help, find someone who can help you! Only you know about yourself. You know, before you can pay attention to others, you have to take care of yourself."
"Then why..."
"I wasn't paying attention to you. I just don't like it when you waste food in front of you. You have so much food, but you choose to take a few of them instead."
"I already said, I'm like this because this is my beauty, right?"
Layla remained in her stance. She became thin like that because she probably wanted the ideal body with that pretty face. But still, Arsenio wasn't happy with it.
"I don't want to compare you to others, but what can I do. You know what, my father even has prettier maids than you."
"Yeah, I know that. They are so beautiful, and I was mesmerized when I saw them standing behind me. I wonder, how can you have such beautiful maids? They just make me jealous. I want to be like that, beautiful and seen as a grown woman. Your mother, your maids, I envy them."
There seems to be something wrong with this. Layla, as Arsenio suspected, seemed to be underappreciated by her family. Her thin body indicated that her mother and father didn't care about her, forcing her to lie that she was like that because of her beauty.
"You can be beautiful like them, as long as you want. But first, you have enough food and grow up well. You can do that for yourself. It's very easy, even if your parents don't pay attention to you."
After Arsenio said that, Layla put her arm around herself.
"I'm just confused, what kind of beauty do they want? I try to keep my body ideal in their eyes, but in reality, I end up like this. They want me to be beautiful. They say, 'You have to be beautiful to be the pride of your family', and that made me work hard to be beautiful in front of other people."
"..." Arsenio was silent, looking at Layla who was embracing herself.
"I'm also aware of this thin me. This is all so that I can be their pride. I can't do anything. I'm just a little girl who still needs my parents' attention."
"Yeah, you're still a little girl," Arsenio said, and Layla looked up at the clear sky.
"I once imagined that when I was 15 and didn't need my parents anymore, I wanted to eat as much as I could."
"You're imagining that too far. Why not now?"
"I can't. What my parents wanted of me, I have to do it. All this so that I can be their pride."
Everyone has a different relative, and Arsenio knows that. If Layla sees that beauty comes from the body, she will continue to achieve the ideal body. Even if in reality she currently has a thin body, she will continue to strive to achieve the beauty she desires.
This is wrong, this is certainly wrong. What was wrong was what her parents wanted. Layla could have been a pretty girl if she hadn't been under that kind of pressure from her parents, who insisted that she should be the pride of her family. This is already done, Layla can only follow what her parents want. Even so, there is still something that can be changed.
"Here, eat!"
"I told you, I-"
Arsenio cut the bread into two pieces, and Layla saw that.
"I just want to share it. This bread is completely not only yours, I also get a share of this bread."
After Arsenio handed Layla the bread and thought for a moment, Layla took it slowly and hesitated.
"T-Thank you."
Layla was shy, but at least she thanked him and took the bread. It made Arsenio happy to know that Layla accepted his gift.
Turning towards Layla who was enjoying the bread, Arsenio smiled sincerely.
"If you don't get caught, you can just keep enjoying that and the rest, can't you?"
***
The night before the de Bodic family came to the de Jansen's castle.
A man who lay down and almost died was placed by Alika right on the table, and the maids of the de Jansen family just watched that. Those in the kitchen noticed a man wearing a closed garment and talked to each other.
"Again, again, and again like this..." Jamila said.
"Yeah, it's been the tenth time," Cheryl said.
"They will continue to come while their destination is not finished here. Someone from one of the noble families ordered them," Helena said.
"If this continues, Lord Arsenio will be in danger," Franciska said.
"Then..." Alika backed away from there after placing a man on the table. "Is it my turn now?"
"You can enjoy the man, Alika!" Jamila said.
"Okay."
By snapping her fingers, Alika burns the man. And after that, she ate the man without thinking that the man was not dead. She devoured the man like he was her food.
As if dissatisfied with that, she snapped her fingers again. But this time, she snapped her fingers not at the one in the kitchen, but at 700 meters from the de Jansen's castle.
"I've got another one. Um, five people burned there. I hope the villagers don't notice that," Alika said.
"Alika, you're again..."
They were 700 meters from the de Jansen family castle and had not yet fully arrived here. They are still on their way here, but Alika already burned them there. That's what made Jamila have to sigh.
"It can't be helped, they came here to kill Lord Arsenio. So, I acted first before they got here."
"But still, you can make things worse. What if the villagers find out that someone died there?"
Jamila and Alika argue. But in the end, Jamila gave up. It was because she knew that Alika would always win her argument.
"Don't worry, I can assure you that no one will find out. After all, Fran and Evan are already there. If anyone saw that, they would both surely kill them. Today is my turn, so I can act as I wish. It was all for Lord Arsenio's sake."
Alika doesn't smile at all. Her face showed that she was very happy to do so, but she didn't allow her lips to smile at all. And the strangest thing about her was that both her eyeballs turned blackish red, and her entire body was shrouded in a dark aura.
"It doesn't matter if it's a hero or not, I will kill them to keep Lord Arsenio safe."
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone