"I am telling you, Mom, the standards are just too low right now," Ken bragged, puffing out his chest and giving them a totally ridiculous, confident wink. "I am holding out for perfection. I refuse to settle for anything less than a girl who brings me snacks without me even having to ask."
Jasmin rolled her eyes so far back they almost got stuck. She could not handle his massive, completely unearned ego for another second.
"You are completely delusional," Jasmin laughed, shaking her head. "You act like you are this massive prize, but you run away from any girl who actually likes you! Do you remember Lily?"
Ken’s confident, goofy smile faltered for just a tiny fraction of a second. "Lily? Why are we bringing her up?"
"Because she was totally, completely obsessed with you!" Jasmin declared, pointing an accusing finger right at his nose. "She was my friend. She was incredibly pretty, she was totally normal, and she literally begged you to date her last year! She baked you fresh chocolate chip cookies every single week for a month! She basically offered you a marriage proposal right there on our front porch!"
Khadija smiled softly at the memory. "Lily was a very sweet girl, Ken. She really cared about you."
"And what did you do?" Jasmin demanded, throwing her hands in the air. "You flatly rejected her! You told her to go home because she was blocking your view of the television! Who does that?! Did you think she was a ghost or something? Were you scared of her?"
"It was the season finale of my favorite cartoon, Jasmin!" Ken defended himself loudly, trying to keep the comedic tone alive. "It was a very critical episode! I could not be distracted by romance!"
"You are hopeless," Jasmin groaned, picking her pencil back up. "You just push people away because you are too lazy to actually put effort into a relationship."
Ken stopped arguing.
For a single, silent moment, the loud, complaining slacker act completely dropped away. The goofy smile vanished from his face, and his sleepy, lazy eyes turned surprisingly soft and quiet. He looked down at the wooden grain of the kitchen table, tracing a small scratch on the surface with his fingernail.
"It wasn't because of the cartoon," Ken replied softly. His voice was entirely different now. It was stripped of all the sarcasm, all the jokes, and all the loud whining. It was just a quiet, incredibly honest murmur. "Lily was a great person. But she simply hadn't matured enough to understand my true value."
Jasmin blinked, completely caught off guard by his sudden, serious tone. "Your true value? Ken, what are you talking about?"
Ken didn't look up. He forced a tiny, lazy smile back onto his face, shrugging his shoulders as if it didn't matter. "I am just saying, I need someone on my wavelength. That's all. Anyway, Mom, is there any more pudding left in that pot?"
Khadija and Jasmin exchanged a quick, confused look, but Khadija simply smiled and stood up to fetch him another bowl. The conversation easily drifted back to normal family gossip, complaints about the neighbors, and the rising price of groceries in the market.
But as Ken happily ate his second bowl of caramel pudding, his mind was completely isolated from the cozy, warm kitchen.
He stared out the small window, watching the normal people of the Iron Rose District walk down the street.
He had played it off as a joke, but the truth was incredibly dark and lonely. He hadn't rejected Lily because he was lazy, or because he was too arrogant. He had rejected her to protect her, and to protect himself.
Ken knew the absolute, undeniable reality of his existence. He was an anomaly. He was a glitch in the universe. Beneath his messy hair, his crooked ties, and his constant complaints about doing cardio, he carried a secret that defied the very laws of nature. He could erase reality with a single word. He could summon mythic, ancient demons from the shadows. He could snap his fingers and turn the entire capital city to dust.
He loved his family, and he enjoyed the funny, chaotic banter with his teammates at the estate. But there was a massive, uncrossable wall between him and the rest of the world.
He knew exactly what would happen if the truth ever came out. If Lily, or Jasmin, or Naomi, or any normal person ever discovered the absolute, terrifying entity hiding beneath his goofy smile, everything would change in an instant.
They wouldn't see a funny, annoying boy anymore. They wouldn't laugh at his jokes, and they certainly wouldn't love him.
If they ever saw the real him, the absolute best they would feel is sheer, unfiltered terror. They would look at him the exact same way a mouse looks at a towering predator. They would reject him, run away screaming, and treat him like an absolute monster.
To keep this warm, normal, happy life, he had to remain a joke. He had to be the fool.
Ken swallowed the last bite of his pudding, pushing the empty bowl away. He let out a long, quiet sigh, completely burying the lonely truth back down into the deepest, most locked-away part of his soul.
He turned back to his sister, flashing his biggest, most ridiculous, annoying grin.
"Alright, Jasmin," Ken announced loudly, popping his collar and slouching deep into his chair. "Enough about my tragic love life. Did you finish your math homework, or are you going to need my unparalleled, genius brain to help you cheat?"
Jasmin immediately rolled her eyes and threw a crumpled-up piece of notebook paper directly at his forehead. "You are an absolute idiot, Ken!"
Ken laughed as the paper bounced off his nose. The cozy, chaotic peace of his family home returned, and for the rest of the day, he allowed himself to just be a normal, lazy brother.
---
The last two days had been an absolute, undeniable dream for Ken Eliot.
After the intense chaos of saving the city and securing a massive chunk of points from the Upper Council, Princess Iris had officially declared a mandatory period of rest. For forty-eight glorious hours, the 13th Unit’s crumbling estate was totally peaceful. There were no early morning cardio sessions. There were no sudden monster attacks. Nobody was throwing fireballs across the courtyard, and absolutely no one was yelling about politics.
Ken took this break very seriously. He spent the entire time maximizing his laziness.
Currently, he was sitting in the strategy room, slumped so far down in his wooden chair that he was practically sliding onto the floor. His dark blue servant uniform was completely wrinkled, his tie was tossed randomly over his shoulder, and his eyes were closed as he enjoyed a perfectly quiet afternoon nap.
"Wake up, slacker. You are going to drool on the table."
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