Carlos Marlon

"Could you let me take the holidays, my lady?"

- Carlos Marlon

Carlos Marlon, later taking the name Joseph, was the Third Prince of the Kingdom of Marlon and a cook for Banica Conchita. Engaged to Banica as a child, the marriage was canceled due to Banica's terrifying behavior. Having grown attached to his former fiancée, Carlos impersonated a famed cook in an attempt to steal Banica's wine glass for AB-CIR. While serving as her chef, the prince satiated the Duke's appetite, only to be trapped by her gluttonous will.

Early Life
Born in the Kingdom of Marlon, Carlos was the Third Prince of the Marlon Royal Family. Due to his weak constitution, he was often sickly. In June of EC 311, he was engaged to Banica Conchita of the Beelzenian Empire. At the palace, the Conchita's head chamberlain, Ron Grapple, introduced the young Prince to Banica and they became acquainted with one another. While eating with his fiancée, Carlos was disturbed by Banica's manners at the dinner table and the engagement was canceled in February of the next year.

Having heard stories of his ancestor, Karchess Crim, defeating Duke Sateriasis Venomania with the magical Grim the End, the Prince eventually tested the family heirloom, experimenting with powder he got from sharpening the key. Once a shaman living in the Millennium Tree Forest taught the family that combining the ink of the rare octopus off Marlon's shores with the poisonous powder created a powerful healing elixir, the Prince began regularly ingesting the concoction to cure his weak physical constitution.

Service to Conchita
Around EC 325, Carlos was captured by a lord of Lioness and imprisoned in his dungeon at Castle Hedgehog. While there, Carlos overheard the mage AB-CIR and Platonic discuss the latter's failure to retrieve a red wine glass from Banica due to the twin servants and undead soldiers. Carlos called out to them, volunteering as a spy to help retrieve the glass. Having already killed the famous cook, AB-CIR planned for Carlos to impersonate Joseph with the Venom Sword. With the blade swiped at his face, Carlos passed out.

Later awakening with a new appearance while cared for by Platonic, Carlos was shown his new appearance and told it wasn't permanent. He accepted the task and, disguised as the cook, Carlos infiltrated the mansion and was hired as Conchita's chef, cooking meals for his former fiancée. Though disturbed by what he had to serve her, Carlos continued his duties whilst slowly learning how to cook. When not working, Carlos spent his time at the local pub at the foot of the mountain.

At some point, Carlos attended to Banica when she was drunk; as he started to leave her bedside, the prince realized that she knew his true identity. After she tugged on his sleeve and implored him not to go, he gave into the temptation and spent the night with her; the next morning he awoke before Banica and headed to the kitchen, making breakfast in the company of Arte and Pollo.

Several months later, Carlos became concerned to see the Beelzenian army surround the mansion. At that moment, Pollo appeared covered in blood and laughing, a corpse soldier laying before him. Shocked by the sight, Banica then told her lover not to worry and to leave it to them. Carlos then witnessed the ground shake and roar, and the undead soldiers emerge from the estate grounds. As he watched in horror, he saw the Beelzenian army torn apart by the white horde.

Noticing Arte and Pollo also participating, Carlos recognized the undead soldier Arte rode was Ron Grapple, and fervently asked Banica to explain what happened to her. Ignored, he watched the Duke jump from the mansion and slowly descend onto the courtyard far below, shouting that she planned to devour the entire world to satiate her curiosity, seeing her dance in circles among the twins' maniacal laughter and the Beelzenian soldiers' screams.

Terrified of what she had become, Carlos attempted to escape and fled into the neighboring town, only to be slowed by the undead soldiers rampaging across the territory. Caught by Arte and Pollo, the prince was dragged back to the mansion and Banica demanded to know his reasons for fleeing. Realizing his predicament, Carlos lied and asked if he could take a vacation. After a long silence, the insulted Banica decided to keep him in her employ and not punish him, though forbidding the cook from leaving the estate.

That night, while preparing for the next day's meals, Carlos fretted over the current situation, realizing civil war was inevitable and that he was trapped. After remembering the Golden Key's metal was a powerful poison, Carlos took out the two vials he had left and mixed it with the soup, planning to kill Banica and himself. The next day, the prince served it to his beloved before consuming it himself. Shortly afterwards, he coughed up blood, seeing his beloved still alive and his murder a failure. Not long after, he died of the poison.

Legacy
Following his death, the betrayed Banica ordered Arte and Pollo to cook Carlos as another one of her meals and gleefully devoured him, enamored with the taste of his different body parts. Because of the amount of golden powder he had eaten over the years, Carlos' remains and the poison he gave Banica weakened the Demon of Gluttony tremendously, leaving it helpless to prevent Banica from devouring herself.

By the time of his death, Joseph was rumored to be a blood relative of the Marlon Royal Family, although there was no proof to connect him to Carlos. When Elluka Clockworker and Platonic entered Banica's mansion as part of the Beelzenian Empire's investigation into rumors of her cannibalism, they discovered her home to be empty. Finding everything in perfect order, the Empire concluded Joseph and the rest of the staff fled with Banica to a neighboring country and ended the investigation. The son he sired with Banica was later given to a servant of the Beelzenian Imperial Family and eventually descended to the famed Germaine Avadonia.

Personality and Traits
Carlos was an arrogant prince, looking down on others with contempt and treating those of lower social status as if they were uneducated and unrefined. Despite this overconfidence, he was willing to cooperate with AB-CIR when the latter required him to steal Banica's wine glass. When initially engaged to Conchita, he looked down upon the plump Banica but grew some degree of attachment to her even after the engagement was destroyed, willingly volunteering to become a spy to see her again; despite this, her disgusting eating habits inspired fear in him as well.

After reuniting with her again, Carlos fell in love with the feudal lord during their tenure together. However, Conchita's monstrous appetite and cruel behavior rekindled his fear of her, becoming so torn that he believed killing her and then himself was the only viable option. As her cook, Carlos took no pride in his cooking due to the lord's abnormal tastes. Carlos also had no taste for alcohol and didn't drink, although he did enjoy frequenting the local tavern while in service to Banica to socialize.

Skills and Abilities
Since the time he was born, Carlos had poor health and was very sickly. However, he was also very resourceful and experimented with magical power of the Golden Key to discover how to cure him of his ailments and also refine an even more deadly and effective poison. In spite of this, the elixir he ingested did not protect him from harmful toxins and he was still vulnerable to poison. But because the vessel of Wrath's residual magic remained with him, his body became harmful to the Demon of Gluttony when ingested and the amount of golden powder he had consumed over the years severely weakened it. Carlos was not a very good cook, although his meals were more than satisfactory for Banica's unusual tastes.

Character Connections
Banica Conchita: Carlos’ fiancée and later employer. Although initially disgusted by Banica’s eating habits during their engagement, Carlos continued to care about his former fiancée and even came to love Banica during their time together, fathering a child with her. Despite this, he grew terrified of the monster she had become and wished to put an end to their sordid affair by taking her life and his own.

AB-CIR: A mage whom Carlos encounters. While Carlos had been coerced to follow AB-CIR’s instructions to infiltrate the Conchita estate, the prince did not feel any lasting loyalty to the mage or his objectives after falling in love with Banica.

Joseph: A famous cook of the Evillious region Carlos attempted to pass himself off as. After the chef was murdered, Carlos infiltrated the Conchita Mansion using his name.

Pollo: A fellow employee of Conchita. As with anyone below him in status, Carlos thought little of him and was annoyed by his daily pestering.

Arte: A fellow employee of Conchita. As with anyone below him in status, Carlos thought little of her and was annoyed by her daily pestering.

Conceptualization and Origin

 * His surname, Marlon, is a reference to Mammon, the patron demon of greed.

Curiosities

 * Carlos is the only character mentioned in Evil Food Eater Conchita that is visually absent from the original PV.

Gallery
Concept Art=