"..."
(￣~￣) Chomp!
The banquet continued. Annie only cared about eating her own food and had absolutely no intention of entertaining the guests. She simply let Hank and Edgin talk and exchange pleasantries with those insincere, scheming people.
She had noticed them occasionally steering the conversation and their gazes toward her while they laughed and put on false smiles, as if they wanted her to say something or draw her into their boring topics. But unless someone asked her directly, she ignored them completely, acting as if she hadn't seen or heard anything and just getting on with her meal.
"..."
"..."
(ω)
After all, Annie had never been one to make herself uncomfortable. The fact that she'd come to meet these strangers she didn't like while she was eating was already more than enough. They could forget about expecting her to put on the same insincere act and play hostess.
(...)
(●￣￣●)
(Tibbers didn't like those people much either. They'd come to offer their congratulations, and every last one of them was either huge and brawny or old and crooked—but they hadn't even brought a single fresh, tasty female human as a congratulatory gift for His Lordship Tibbers. What outrageous behavior! They really didn't know how to do things properly.)
"Cough, cough!"
At last!
After everyone had spent quite some time eating food that tasted like sawdust, the Grand Duke of Baldur's Gate and Marshal of the Flaming Fist, Ulder Ravengard, finally couldn't take it anymore.
"Um..."
"So, here's the thing."
"Would it be all right if I asked you a somewhat presumptuous question, Queen of Neverwinter?"
He thought it over and hesitated for a moment. Then he gritted his teeth, put down his utensils, and skipped over Edgin and Hank, who had been chatting with everyone. Instead, he