Amira and Amina quickly finished the food on their plates, then obediently lifted their heads and looked quietly at Charlos.
Shalria blinked. "Are you still hungry?"
Amira shook her head gently. "N-no, we're full."
Beside her, Amina nodded vigorously as well.
Charlos remained composed as he spoke slowly. "Tell me how you became slaves."
Amina's small hands tightened slightly. Her soft voice was hoarse as she began. "Saint Charlos... my sister and I were sold."
Shalria scoffed offhandedly. "Well, obviously. Aren't all slaves sold?"
Amira lowered her eyes and picked up the story, her voice catching faintly. "It... it was our parents who sold us."
Charlos's gaze darkened slightly. "Why?"
Amira sniffled and slowly recounted their past. "A group of pirates came to our village and demanded that our family pay a hundred million Beli in protection money, or they would slaughter the whole village. There was no way our family could come up with that much money. The pirates took Mom away. By the time we saw her again, she was already dead."
Her body trembled slightly, and she bit her lip before continuing. "Dad had nowhere left to turn. In the end, all he could do was sell me and my sister, hoping the money he got for us would be enough to pay those pirates."
As her words faded, the hurt they had bottled up for so long became too much to bear. Amina's eyes reddened, and she began to cry softly.
Shalria knitted her brows and snapped in her high-pitched voice, "What are you crying for? No crying!"
Seeing this, Charlos reached out and drew the tearful Amina into his arms, soothing her softly. "It's all right. Go ahead and cry. It's okay."
Watching from the side, Shalria's eyes darted as she secretly muttered to herself, So Big Brother will hug me if I cry. Hehe, another trick learned.
Amira hurriedly gave her sister's clothes a gentle tug.
Amina immediately caught on and stopped crying, hastily lowering her head to apologize. "I-I'm sorry, Saint Charlos, sir."
Charlos gently patted her back. "It's all right."
Then he turned to Akali and casually instructed her, "Bring me my pajamas. I'm going to change."
"Understood." Akali bowed in acknowledgment.
At that moment, Amira raised her eyes and looked cautiously at Charlos, asking softly, "Saint Charlos, sir... y-you don't blame us?"
Seeing how timid the sisters were, Charlos spoke gently. "You don't have to keep calling me Saint Charlos, sir. It's too formal. You can call me Big Brother, just like she does."
At those words, Shalria immediately puffed out her cheeks and protested urgently, "No! Big Brother is mine! You're not allowed to call him that!"
Amira hesitated for a moment, then tried saying softly, "Ch-Charlos..."
Amina followed in a small voice. "Charlos..."
Shalria nodded with an air of solemn importance and muttered, "Well, they've dropped the 'sir,' so I suppose that's a little progress."
Holding the two strange-looking Devil Fruits, Shalria offered them to Amira and Amina.
Charlos looked at the sisters and spoke slowly. "You can stay by my side, but from today onward, you belong to me. Do you understand?"
Amira looked at Charlos and nodded gently. "Yes, I understand."
Nestled beside her sister, Amina echoed softly, "Yes, I understand."
Shalria held out the two Devil Fruits and huffed. "These two Devil Fruits are for you to eat! If you want to stay by Big Brother's side, you need to have something going for you!"
Amira and Amina cautiously reached out and accepted the two Devil Fruits with their strange patterns.
Charlos watched them and spoke slowly. "These are Devil Fruits. A person can only eat one in their lifetime. As for what abilities they'll awaken, I don't know yet."
Amira looked down at the fruit glowing white in her hand. Without hesitation, she opened her mouth and took a large bite.
An utterly disgusting, dry taste instantly filled her mouth. Her little face scrunched up, her features pinching together, but she gritted her teeth and forced the flesh down.
Just as she was about to take a second bite, Charlos raised a hand to stop her. "That's enough. One bite of a Devil Fruit is all it takes to awaken its ability."
Seeing her sister's distress, Amina gathered her courage and bit into her own dark-colored fruit, fighting back her nausea as she swallowed it all.
Charlos watched the two of them and asked, "How do you feel? Does anything about your body feel different?"
Shalria's eyes widened with curiosity, and she stared at the sisters without blinking.
The next second, two faint lights suddenly shone from within their bodies.
Behind Amira, a pair of flawless, pure-white wings slowly unfurled, radiating holiness. Soft light curled around her, and her presence instantly became pure and ethereal. She quietly grew taller, her face becoming even more exquisite, her entire being suffused with an unearthly sanctity.
Behind Amina, a pair of deep-black shadow wings slowly spread, with a faint black mist swirling around her. Her figure became fuller and more graceful, her features alluring, her presence bewitching and enticing, filled with a deadly allure.
Seeing their dramatic transformations, Shalria stamped her foot in agitation and shouted, "Stop changing! Stay just like that!"
She puffed out her cheeks, fuming inwardly. Damn it! These two have become so pretty that they've stolen all of Big Brother's attention!
Charlos watched their strikingly different, beautiful forms with amusement in his eyes.
"So one is an angel, and the other is a fallen angel."
Shalria puffed out her cheeks and gave a dismissive snort. "Who cares whether they're angels or fallen angels? What's so great about that?"
Charlos opened his arms and pulled both girls into his embrace, chuckling. "Mm, you smell even sweeter now that your abilities have awakened."
That was more than Shalria could bear. She hurried forward, grabbed the back of Charlos's clothes tightly, and shouted indignantly, "Big Brother! You're not allowed to hug them!"
Amira and Amina stiffened and hurriedly spoke in low voices. "Saint Charlos... if this keeps up, Lady Shalria will get jealous, and things will be hard for us afterward."
Only after their warning did Charlos release them. He turned and pulled the sulking Shalria into his arms.
"Jealous?"
Shalria lowered her head and sniffled softly. After a moment, she looked up at Charlos with watery eyes. "Big Brother, it's not that I won't let you hug them... I'm just scared that you'll like them best someday and won't like me anymore."
Charlos gently tapped her little nose and said tenderly, "That won't happen. You'll always come first in my heart, all right?"
"All right." Shalria immediately stopped crying.
She turned toward Amira and Amina and declared haughtily, "Then I'll allow you two to stay by Big Brother's side from now on. Make sure you protect him!"
Amira and Amina froze for a moment, then immediately answered respectfully, "Yes!"
Just then, Akali stepped forward and said seriously, "Saint Charlos, sir, neither of them has any basic combat ability. Even with their Mythical Zoan abilities awakened, they cannot fight in actual combat. This is no different from wasting two top-tier Devil Fruits."
Charlos raised a hand and cut her off. "Stop. I know what you're going to say. If they can't fight, we can train them."
He looked at Akali and asked evenly, "You were an agent. You know the Navy Six Powers, don't you?"
Akali bowed. "I am proficient in them."
"Then you'll be responsible for training the two of them."
"Understood." Akali accepted the order solemnly.