The banquet returned shortly. As for Lord Tibult and the prince, they naturally had their own seats in an area physically higher than the rest of us. I was expecting angry glares and hateful stares from Tibult the entire time, but he basically ignored me as if I was nothing. I wasn't sure if they made me feel any better. Now that we were locked into a battle as competitors, it seemed almost more insulting that he didn't put me in his eyes.
The food was brought out, and I made sure to cast Cure Poison on all of it just in case. It was probably a little paranoid, as I didn't think he'd go to that extent, but it didn't hurt to cover my bases. The girls ate joyously. Lydia attacked all the meat on the table. Miki kept trying to get me to feed her. Terra kept eating with her hands until I made her use a fork. Celeste shrank down to her fairy form to eat, causing a stir amongst the nearby nobles and competitors.
"Haha!" Pait said. "Someone even smaller than us, it seems." He laughed jovially.
He let his maid sit at the table with him, which went a long way to show how much he cared about her. Even though she was pretty much silent unless addressed or apologizing for something rude Pait said, she always remained by his side.
I ate until I was full, which turned out to be a lot less than I remember eating in the past. Rubbing my stomach, I was reminded I had lost quite a bit of weight since I had been to this world. It had only been a few months, but I had walked and worked out, and often didn't have a lot of food to eat. The deserts they brought out actually tasted too sweet to me. I was definitely changing. Well, the girls all didn't have the same opinion, and I ended up sharing my dish with all of the girls.
Literally, I had to spoon-feed my cake one bite at a time into four waiting mouths. By the time I was done, there were at least three tables of men shooting me angry, jealous glares.
"This guy definitely wants us to kick his ass tomorrow!" One guy muttered.
There were other sentiments as well, but I could only smile wryly. Sorry guys, the competition is canceled. I won't be fighting with any of you.
At the very end of the banquet, the Prince himself stood up and explained this fact. There were many angry yells, but no one was going to start a fight with the prince. The banquet ended with a lot of angry people storming out of the mansion while grumbling to themselves.
"Just who is this Deek guy anyway, that he hogs the spotlight from all of us?" Someone asked.
"Ah, I heard he was the guy with all the slave women."
I decided to quicken my step as I heard conversations like this. It was better if we didn't linger around. It should be no surprise that our group was the first to leave.