More than an hour passed before the dinner ended.
After more than an hour, not a single one of the more than eighty dishes served was left uneaten—everything had been completely polished off.
All of this made everyone present cast strange looks at one particular person as they finished eating.
"Uhh…"
Lizbeth lowered her little head so far down that it was almost buried in her chest, her ears turning bright red, clearly embarrassed to the extreme.
Of the more than eighty dishes, about sixty had ended up in this little princess's stomach.
Aside from Riezel, there was no way the rest of the group, who were only filled with delicate and pretty girls, could have possibly finished so much food if not for Lizbeth.
In fact, the extravagant spread wasn't meant for everyone to finish but rather to show off, to display a sense of grandeur.
When someone from a duke family invited a Sword Saint to dine, such an event, even if it meant serving over a hundred dishes, with each dish only being tasted once, would still be worth it.
In other words, although the food didn't have to be finished, there had to be a lot of it, and it had to be top-notch.
Hydromel hosted many nobles every day, and at the end of each day, they couldn't even count how much leftover food there was.
It was truly extravagance and waste pushed to the extreme.
However, today, there were unusually no leftovers.
Everyone could only stare at the extremely shy little princess and her petite body, their minds filled with questions.
'Where did all that food even go?'
As soon as this thought popped into their heads, they all glanced toward Lizbeth's chest, and their doubts were immediately answered.
In an attempt to save his attendant from the embarrassment of not being able to raise her head, Riezel had no choice but to take Lizbeth away, bidding farewell to Serena and the others.
Serena and the other two immediately stood up.
"Sir Riezel, you should have a communication magic crystal, right?" Serena asked with a smile. "How about we exchange crystal wavelengths?"
Riezel did indeed have a magic crystal, given to him by Yuri when he had just returned from the world of Danmachi, so they could stay in touch easily.
However, in the past two months, he hadn't used it even once.
No choice.
Since the only people in this world who had his crystal's wavelength were Yuri and Marilyn, and the fact that they all lived together, there was no need to use the communication magic crystal.
"Me too." Carrera chimed in, pulling out a magic crystal from her chest. "Exchange with me as well."
Not agreeing immediately, Riezel thought for a moment.
Although he didn't want to get too close to these important figures from the Duke Faction, nor did he want to get involved in noble affairs, after what happened between him and Sorren, and the favor he owed to the Cordelion family, it wasn't easy to refuse.
Besides, everything had its pros and cons.
Nevertheless, one thing was sure—maintaining contact with the Cordelion family might prove useful in the future.
With this thought in mind, Riezel agreed, then exchanged crystal wavelengths with Serena and Carrera before saying his farewells and leaving with Lizbeth.
Serena and the others walked Riezel and Lizbeth to the door of the private room, watching as they left, not turning back until their figures disappeared down the staircase.
"I must admit, he is way more interesting than I expected."
As soon as she returned to the private room, Serena dropped her young-lady-like act and acted like a lively girl with a cheerful smile on her face.
Carrera and Sylvanie, on the other hand, acted completely differently. They no longer sat or stood alongside Serena like before but stood respectfully behind her, like two subordinates.
"Miss, how do you think he compares to Sir Hardt?" Carrera asked tentatively.
"No idea..." Serena shook her head. "I haven't seen the Lightning Sword Saint fight with all his strength, so it's hard to judge, but... Sir Hardt did mention that, in terms of speed and explosiveness, he's no match for the Lightning Sword Saint."
"..." Carrera stayed silent for a moment before sighing. "Honestly, that's already a pretty high evaluation..."
"What's up? Feeling conflicted?" Serena teased while glancing at her friend, who had been sent by a vassal family to study and play with her.
"Yes..." Carrera replied with a sigh. "I still find myself wondering if I'm dreaming... Riezel Brynhart suddenly became a Sword Saint, someone we have to look up to... Even the kingdom itself highly values him now... It's... complicated..."
"It feels like a joke, doesn't it...?" Sylvanie, standing nearby, muttered. "Out of nowhere, that country bumpkin who used to follow Elder Sister Carrera around has become this? It's hard to believe..."
Upon hearing this, Serena's curiosity was piqued, and she felt a bit confused.
"Hey, Sylva, did he really have a thing for Carrera back then?" Serena asked, genuinely confused. "You know, I just can't see it."
"I wasn't lying!" Sylvanie immediately reacted. "You could totally tell he had feelings for Elder Sister Carrera if you saw the past him. Even Archie and the others knew it and used to make fun of him behind his back more than once, calling him a clueless and naive country bumpkin dreaming above his league."
From the perspectives of Archie and the other members of their small group, Riezel originally had nothing but talent going for him.
In the first place, whether Riezel could even become a Tactical-Class Magician at that time was still up in the air, yet he dared to dream of being with the daughter of a count—it was akin to a toad trying to eat swan meat.
Archie and the others did mock Riezel behind his back more than once, sometimes even in front of Carrera, which was definitely true.
Serena had gathered information on Riezel before, so she knew about this.
However, the problem was—
"Even if you say that, I really can't see that he had any interest in Carrera..." Serena frowned, stroking her chin. "Since he arrived here, he hasn't even glanced at Carrera properly. Even when he talked to Carrera, his gaze was calm, clear, almost transparent—like someone with no desires, almost like a saint..."
In this area, Serena was qualified to judge.
With her looks, her accomplishments, her talents, and her family background, countless people had pursued her, including many talented noblemen who had put on some truly impressive performances just to win her favor.
She had watched enough of these 'shows' to see through them, and she prided herself on being able to tell when someone was interacting with the one they liked.
However, from what she observed, Riezel gave her a completely different vibe.
She could clearly tell that Riezel had no interest in Carrera at all, and, if anything, she felt that Carrera wasn't even a friend to him—just a familiar stranger.
Such a situation left her both surprised and confused.
"Well... I don't know why he was like that..." Sylvanie said with a frown. "Maybe he's just pretending not to care?"
"No, you can't fake that kind of calm."
Serena shook her head in disagreement before turning to Carrera.
"What do you think, Carrera?"
"Uhh..."
Carrera's face showed a hint of awkwardness, as she didn't really want to get involved in this conversation.
However, if she were to be honest, she believed that Serena was right.
She could also see that she was no longer the same in Riezel's eyes.
In the past, when Riezel looked at her, his eyes were always filled with a certain fascination and admiration that made her want to frown, but now he looked at her with nothing but calm and indifference—there wasn't a trace of fascination or admiration left, not even a shred of warmth.
All of this told her that she was no longer the object of this young man's affection.
Oddly enough, the more she thought about this and the achievements he had pulled off recently, a mix of disappointment and regret welled up inside her.
Most people were vain.
If they knew that someone exceptionally outstanding had feelings for them, they would likely feel a sense of pride.
On the other hand, if someone ordinary who had once liked them became successful and no longer had feelings for them, anyone would feel a bit down seeing how far they had come without them.
Such was the way Carrera felt right now.
People were really complicated creatures who didn't care when they had something, but when it was gone, they started to regret it—truly contradictory and foolish.
As a result, Carrera could only reply half-heartedly.
"Maybe him liking me was just pretending all along, and the one he really likes is Marquis Frenzel?"
As soon as Carrera said this, she regretted it.
It couldn't be helped.
She knew very well what bringing up that name in front of Serena would lead to.
"Hmph!"
Sure enough, Serena's cheerful expression instantly disappeared, her charming face darkening and her mood visibly soured.
"Yuri Frenzel... again?"
Serena grumbled, clearly annoyed.
"Why is that woman's name everywhere?"
"What makes her so special that someone as young and outstanding as him would like her?"
"Pretending? Hmph, I bet that woman did something to seduce Sir Riezel, which is why he lost interest in you!"
"Yeah, that's definitely it!"
Serena pouted and kept ranting like this, showing none of the grace or intelligence she had displayed when dining with Riezel earlier.
"Hahh..."
Carrera could only watch helplessly as Serena puffed up and ranted about Yuri, letting out a long, exasperated sigh.
It seemed like there was going to be some trouble ahead.