***

Back in the kitchen, Musa was still in a state of fright. Despite Armad's assurance that no harm would come to him, he still felt threatened. He would be safe as long as he didn't tell anyone, right? The prince even dangled a possible reward before him if he would only keep his mouth shut.

But then, his fear was for a different reason now because the food Armad ate was meant for the kitchen staff. How would he explain to them, as some of them even take it back home to feed their families? Right now, the soup was gone, thanks to the prince. Even the mush was half-eaten by him, and he knew that some of them may return since there wasn't anything to feed the family. He couldn't possibly tell them it was the prince that ate it, so the fingers would only be pointed at him. The penalty for stealing Royal foodstuffs is a jail time of at least two years. What could he do now? He stood thinking of what to do and eventually decided to prepare another meal since it wasn't too late. So he made a fire and started cooking, but it wasn't long afterward that the door opened again, and Armad returned.

Only then did he remember that he hadn't locked the door the first time the prince left. He should have done so to avoid any disturbance while cooking, but it was too late. As soon as he entered, Armad saw the fresh pot of boiling stock, and he realized the situation. He understood what the man was about to do. This made him hesitate a bit, but then he saw another pot at the far side of the kitchen.

It caught his attention because it was filled to the brim with soup. It was placed a bit slanted on the counter, making it easier for him to see the generous cuts of meat swimming within. He meant to ask Musa before proceeding, but seeing that pot stopped him from doing so. Within a short time, he picked up the pot, and without seeking a spoon or anything, he opened his mouth and poured.

The soup splattered and made a mess of the floor and his clothes as meat fell inside his mouth.

But Armad didn't care. All he cared about was getting more cultivation.

Something that bothered even himself was that he never felt full. The amount of food he had eaten recently was enough to burst his stomach, but Armad felt unsatiated.

He felt famished. It should be recalled that he ate at 2 in the morning, and then he ate the soup meant for the kitchen staff. Now he was devouring from a pot thrice as large as the first, without knowing whose food it was.

Stolen novel; please report.

As for Musa, he felt his breath hitched at the way Armad entered unawares on him. He felt momentarily paralyzed and didn't react earlier than he should. He was yet to regain his composure from their earlier encounter, but the next thing he saw was the prince gulping soup from a pot and devouring the meat within it.

Instinctively, he leaped up towards him. "Be careful, Your Highness!" He shouted. "There is meat inside that soup." He warned.

Armad didn't heed him, and before Musa could finish, he had swallowed everything that went through his mouth. Still, he kept on at it.

Musa was fearful the first time, but now he was in full-blown terror. He thought that it was impossible to get any more terrified than he already was, but now he was proved wrong.

The prince was long since banned from eating meat when he was a child. Back when his mother was alive, he had once been fed with some food. It was prepared with meat stock, but the prince wasn't fed any meat. After eating that food, he spent two days unconscious and was later confirmed to be allergic to meat. This was why two separate meals were always prepared in the prince's kitchen. The second meal was for the Royal Army that works for him, while the first, which was meatless, was for the prince, and the kitchen staff also fed from it. They endure a vegan meal in solidarity with their master.

What would happen to someone who ate a meal cooked with meat broth and fell unconscious for two days, now that he ate meat?

Musa was so alarmed at the moment. All his friends had witnessed how he was the only one left alone with the prince in the kitchen. He knew that all the cultivation in the world would change nothing for him if something happened to the prince. No one would believe that he wasn't the one who hurt him. He and his family would be dead even before the prince regained his consciousness. And he realized that this was the very beginning of his terror.

Without wasting another second, he ran towards the prince in a bid to stop him from continuing with this insane mission.

He began to think if it was the prince or if it was a demon that looked like him. Was it an evil hypnosis working on him? He had never seen even the lowest of the nobles doing such. But he hit a wall that blocked him midway. It was a cultivation-powered wall that stopped him from reaching the prince. Armad wasn't about to let anyone stop him from his quest for acquiring cultivation. So he didn't allow Musa to reach him.

Musa watched helplessly as his eyes brimmed with tears. He watched as the prince emptied everything in the pot, and it was a very large pot that could feed at least a regiment from the Royal Army. When he was finished, Armad scanned around and saw another pot full of rice and another full of mush. There was a third one also filled with boiled yam that was about to be pounded. Without wasting time, he took a serving spoon and set to work. And with every mouthful, a new alert from the System surfaced. It was always a message about another new substance that was acquired. This only served to boost his confidence.