Kabe had naturally noticed the princess long ago, and he had also noticed the admiration in her eyes when she looked at Irene.
It had to be said that Hisui truly deserved the title Princess of Blossoms.
Even at such a young age, she had already grown into a graceful and lovely young woman.
And because of her royal upbringing, she carried an innate air of nobility, yet her elegant bearing never came across as arrogant.
Even though Kabe thought highly of Princess Hisui, he himself did not have many thoughts about her.
First, there were already enough women around him, and quite a few other beauties still waiting for him to win over.
He had neither the will nor the desire to slowly cultivate feelings with some little girl.
Second, he did not believe the king would marry off his only daughter, the future heir of the kingdom, to him.
After all, along with Kabe's fame, word of his many romances had spread just as widely.
No matter how confident Kabe was, he had never imagined that Toma would give the future Queen of Fiore to a man as fickle and uncontrollable as himself.
So from the very beginning, Kabe had no intention of wasting time on Hisui. At least, not for now.
And that was exactly what made things amusing.
Before Kabe could bring up serious business, and before the dishes were fully served, Toma began circling around the topic, praising and subtly promoting his own daughter in every possible way.
Meanwhile, Kabe's perfunctory replies at the start were misunderstood by Toma as a sign that he had no interest in Hisui at all.
That instantly made His Majesty grow increasingly anxious.
Irene saw all of this clearly, but she simply listened without saying a word.
What a joke. Kabe could barely count as her son-in-law already. There was no way she, as the mother-in-law, would lose her mind and start helping her daughter's man get matched with other women behind Erza's back.
Fortunately, after only a few exchanges, the maids began carrying in dish after dish.
Toma could only stop talking and temporarily shelve the matter.
"Lord Kabe, I had long heard that your appetite is astonishing, so I specially ordered them to prepare extra food. Please do not hold back. Eat as much as you like."
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
Kabe wasted no words. After thanking him, he picked up plate after plate and began devouring the food voraciously.
At first, Toma watched with a genial smile.
Kabe's table manners might not have been elegant, but if he was eating this happily, then it only meant the food suited his taste extremely well.
But as time went on, Toma slowly began to realize that something was very, very wrong.
'What is happening here? We have not even finished the appetizers, and there are already two stacks of empty plates piled up beside you?
Even if you can eat, this is way too outrageous!'
At once, Toma lost all mood to continue dining. He immediately turned to a maid and ordered,
"Quick, go tell the royal chefs to continue bringing dishes. Use the standard for a full-scale banquet!"
The maid also looked at Kabe as though staring at some kind of monster, then hurriedly turned and rushed off to relay the king's orders.
By this point, Irene and Brandish were already thoroughly used to Kabe's absurd appetite.
Neither of them said a word. They simply ate in efficient silence, quickly dealing with the dishes in front of them.
Because if they did not hurry up, all the food on the table really would end up being eaten by that bastard Kabe alone.
For a moment, the dining table practically became a battlefield, with the sharp clinking of knives, forks, and plates colliding ringing out nonstop through the hall.
Such a ridiculous scene made Hisui's mouth slowly fall open.
Staring at the plate in front of her, she began thinking deeply.
Could it be that Lord Kabe had become this strong because of his enormous appetite?
She had indeed heard rumors before that eating more could increase one's magic power. Maybe she should try it too?
Hisui, who also had a sincere desire to become stronger, immediately put the theory into practice.
But a great appetite was not something built in a single day.
Hisui, who was used to eating lightly in order to maintain her figure, very quickly became too full to continue.
She could only set down her utensils, hold her stomach with difficulty, and silently guess just how much more Kabe would be able to eat in the end.
And under the watchful eyes of the king and princess, Kabe really did continue until he had finished the equivalent of a full day's food for one hundred people before finally putting down his chopsticks and letting out a satisfied burp.
"Burp~~ I cannot eat much more. Eight-tenths full is healthiest."
Hearing that, Toma nearly toppled straight out of his chair.
'After eating all that, you are only eighty percent full?!
With an appetite like that, even an ordinary noble house would not be able to afford to raise you!'
Raising a hand to wipe away his sweat, Toma forced out a strained smile and asked,
"L-Lord Kabe... would you like a bit more? The royal kitchens still have plenty of food in reserve."
"No need, Your Majesty."
Kabe waved a hand, picked up a napkin, and wiped his mouth.
"This is the first time I have ever enjoyed a banquet so delicious and so abundant.
I would not want to indulge myself too much and eat the royal household into poverty. Otherwise, where would I ever find food this good and this filling next time?"
Toma froze for a moment.
Then joy immediately flooded his face, and he nodded again and again.
"Right, right, right. Even delicious food should not be overdone.
In that case, let us leave it for next time. Next time, I will absolutely prepare an even better feast for all of you."
Only after her father spoke did Hisui finally catch the second meaning hidden in Kabe's words.
He was saying that he liked the royal family's hospitality very much and intended to come again in the future.
To a royal household that had already wanted to draw him closer, that was naturally good news. As long as they could build a stronger relationship with him, the palace would not care about such a tiny expense.
After the maids finished clearing away the table, none of them bothered changing locations.
Instead, they stayed right there in the banquet hall, drinking and chatting casually.
Raising his glass toward Toma from across the table, Kabe finally brought up the real reason for his visit.
"Your Majesty, there is one more thing I came here for this time. I would like to ask for your help."
Toma had been hoping all along that Kabe would ask something of him.
The moment he heard that, he set down even his wine and immediately said,