I picked up the largest spoon, feeling like I was playing with dolls. It was the biggest among the items laid out, but still smaller than a teaspoon.
When I tried to scoop the soup with it, only a tiny bit came up.
The fork couldn't even lift a single leaf of the salad's lettuce.
The knife, which was the only one of a decent size, was so blunt that it couldn't even pierce the surface of the tenderly roasted meat.
'Interesting.'
I picked up the utensils one by one, playing around with them, and poked at the steaming food in front of me.
I decided to at least poke at the food I couldn't eat.
'How did Emily manage to bring the food so diligently despite such poor kitchen conditions?'
Thinking about it, it made sense.
Even when rotten food was distributed, the treatment of the maids in the kitchen was so poor that they wouldn't be affected.
After I threatened her, Emily brought me proper food regularly.
Moreover, when I mentioned food I wanted to eat, she would clumsily try to make it for me.
'...I should give her an award when I get back to my room.'
I felt a bit guilty for having built a wall against Emily all this time.
I looked at the utensils scattered on the plate with a sharp eye.
'I need to put her in her place.'
In the end, I didn't manage to eat a single bite of the food.
As expected, the duke and his two older brothers had no idea whether I was eating or just playing with the food.
This was Penelope's position.
"The festival is already coming to an end."
When the meal was about halfway through, the duke, sipping his wine, started the conversation.
And the first target was me.
"Since it's the last day, aren't you going out?"
"Yes."
I, who was already annoyed, answered curtly.
Penelope must have always gone out on the last day of the festival.
I had no intention of going out, and my mood was at rock bottom because I couldn't even touch the delicious food in front of me, so I didn't want to please the duke.
But my cold attitude immediately made the eyes of the first and second sons turn fierce. Their affection levels were blinking.
'Oh, these sharp guys.'
I forced a smile and looked back at the duke.
"I'm still under house arrest."
"Tsk, you've been using that house arrest excuse for a long time now."
The duke clicked his tongue, clearly displeased with my answer.
"Never seen a fool who puts herself under house arrest just for a slave brat."
Renaud sneered. No one reacted, as if it was a common occurrence.
Since no one was going to shut his mouth, I ignored it and inwardly flipped him off.
"The reason I invited you all for lunch today is... because of the upcoming hunting competition."
The duke revealed the real reason for inviting me to this meal.
"The hunting competition will be held in the northern forest of the royal palace again, I believe."
The duke continued, elegantly placing his utensils down.
"As you all know, this hunting competition is significant. Not only will the nobles and royalty of the conquered countries participate, but rare animals representing each country will also be released."
"..."
"The prince's supporters are not looking kindly upon him for not participating in the war. It's a good time to solidify his position."
"..."
"Therefore, at last night's noble meeting, it was announced that Ecart would also attend this hunting competition."
All of this was irrelevant to me.
While half-listening to the duke, I suddenly remembered the 'hunting competition' in the game.
[The Inca Empire holds a hunting competition every season. They slaughter rare creatures or slaves from the conquered countries to indirectly exert pressure.]
I had seen a brief background description while playing the normal mode.
However, the protagonist didn't attend the hunting competition this time.
Why? Because Penelope, jealous of the attention the 'real lady' would receive upon her return, secretly poisoned her.
Unable to attend the hunting competition due to her near-death state, the protagonist instead raised Eclis's affection level to the max.
It was the moment when Penelope lost her last hope.
After that, the angelic protagonist, unable to bear the cruel acts of the empire, convinced the prince to abolish the hunting competition.
In the prince's route ending, Penelope's atrocities against the protagonist were revealed one by one, and she suffered a terrible torture.
Her heart was frozen to keep her alive, and she was forced to eat the poisons that the protagonist had been given, one by one.
Her face melted away due to the poison.
'Ugh!'
The vivid illustration scenes came to mind, and I shuddered reflexively.
At that moment, the duke, who had been talking about the noble meeting, suddenly turned his gaze to me.
"Penelope."
"Yes, yes?"
I, who hadn't been paying attention to what he was saying, was startled and stammered like a fool.
Fortunately, the duke didn't take it seriously.
"The meeting decided to lift your ban on participating."
"Participate... ban?"
"Yes. What do you plan to do?"
I couldn't answer the duke's question right away.
'What's this about lifting the ban?'
I didn't know what kind of mischief the previous Penelope had caused at the hunting competition, which made me uneasy.
As I hesitated, the duke asked again if I would participate.
"If you're going to participate, I'll tell them to prepare your hunting tools."
"Father!"
At that moment, the pink-haired one slammed the table and shouted fiercely.
"That crazy woman, no, that girl, did such terrible things last year, and you're going to let her do it again!"
"Renaud."
The duke clicked his tongue and called his second son.
"Thinking back to when the noble ladies petitioned to lock that wild girl in the dungeon every hunting competition...!"
Despite the duke's attempts to calm him down, Renaud continued to glare at me fiercely, as if he were looking at a traitor he wanted to kill.
I needed to understand the situation. I decided to act boldly like Penelope.
"What did I do?"
"Don't you know?"
If I didn't know, I wouldn't ask, right?
I wanted to retort sharply at the annoying Renaud, but I had to hold back. I needed to provoke him to get the full story.
However, the answer I wanted came from an unexpected source.
"She begged to have a crossbow made, something no other girl cared about."
I turned my head sharply at the calm voice, which was much more composed than Renaud's.
The first son looked at me with icy blue eyes and spoke softly.
"Even when told it was dangerous and to leave it behind, she insisted on taking it, and at the Tifarty ball, she threatened to shoot and kill the Baroness Kellin and her group, and was subdued like an animal by the guards. Have you already forgotten that?"
"Because of that, for a while, there was a rumor that Ecart was teaching a mad chimpanzee how to use a crossbow."
As soon as Derrick finished speaking, Renaud sneered coldly.
'Damn...'
I couldn't respond to such an outrageous act.
However, it wasn't as shocking or surprising as I had expected.
'Well, she is the game's ultimate villain, after all.'
She didn't crawl on the floor drunk like some troublemakers I see at the start of the semester, so it was within a manageable range.
"Stop it. She has repented enough."
While I was silent, the duke, with a displeased tone, stopped the two sons from criticizing me.
Although I had already been embarrassed enough, it was a good timing.
As the two sons shut their mouths, the duke looked at me seriously and warned.
"You still remember that Ecart's mouth is heavy, right, Penelope?"
"Of course. I won't disappoint you this time, Father."
I answered promptly. From one side, I heard the sound of someone grinding their teeth.
"Good. Let's end the conversation here."
The duke, having finished all the important matters, lightly rang the bell on the table.
The dining room door opened, and a servant pushing a cart entered, bringing dessert.
'I didn't even eat, what kind of dessert is this?'
I watched the servant place different desserts in front of each of us with a gloomy eye.
The middle-aged woman called Mrs. Donna had been in charge of the duke's kitchen for a long time.
And she knew the food preferences of those she served very well.
In front of the duke and Derrick, teacups filled with tea were placed, and in front of Renaud, a plate with homemade cookies.
Next was my turn. I usually liked desserts, so I would have been fine with anything.
'What is this?'
But I couldn't help frowning at the plate placed in front of me.