You could eat me up with the taste of the first bite

There was a bit of commotion getting everything into place, which Nick expected. Fortunately for Nola, Dakota was willing to solve the problem with a flick of her cane. She drew one of the tables to the center of the ballroom, and had it set up with places for each of the party guests. It was a mirror to the table set up on the stage, where the judges would be seated, overlooking the contestants.

“Allow me to explain how this next event is going to work,” Dakota said, taking a bow. “As Gina pointed out when she designed this event, it is important to know just how one comports themselves while dining on fine cuisine at a fancy party. Wouldn’t you agree, Amelia?”

Amelia blinked, slightly surprised that Dakota would address her directly.

“…Yes, that goes without saying,” she replied cautiously, not sure what Dakota was alluding to here.

“That’s why I thought this would be a good event,” Gina explained, smiling proudly. “Having good manners is important or something!”

Mary sighed and Holly giggled. Nick smiled, appreciating Gina’s unusual wit, but at the same time he was concerned about how she would do in this event.

She didn’t exactly come off like the sort of woman who would do good at something like this, after all. Then again, not a lot of the girls in his harem probably could.

“I’m a little worried,” Mary admitted. “I’m not very good at these fancy table manners myself…”

“It’ll be fine, it’s not like we have to eat,” Holly pointed out. “Though you’re right, we should definitely be concerned for how these guys do.”

Nick frowned. Now that she mentioned it, they weren’t eating yet either, were they? “Are we gonna get dinner too?” He asked Dakota.

“Of course, once you’re finished judging this event,” Dakota said, shooting him a smirk.

Great. So he’d have to be reviewing people he cared about while hungry. Lovely. That light meal he’d eaten had been delicious, but he was already hungry again, thanks to all the **** in his system.

At least he wasn’t mentally impaired or anything. That was a blessing.

“So what is this gonna be?” Dani frowned. “Are you going to be grading us on knowing what silverware to use or something?”

“That’s not gonna go well,” Kim winced.

“I think that seems a little unfair,” Morgana moped.

Dakota tapped her cheek. “I would tend to agree!” She admitted. Sylvia nodded along with that.

“Thing is though, these events aren’t supposed to be fair,” the former host pointed out. She looked a little sheepish when the other girls glanced her way.

“…What? They’re not!” Sylvia looked around the room. “The events are supposed to be grading you based on your standing in high society! Sometimes, that means they’ll be a little lopsided, especially if people already have experience with that!”

Nick couldn’t deny that she had a point, but it still felt a little unfair.

“I can understand that perspective,” Dawn murmured, adjusting her glasses reflexively only to remember she wasn’t wearing them, “but I still don’t agree with it.”

“Besides, how many of the judges even know about how to look fancy when eating?” Marley pointed out. “Does Nick even know which fork is a salad fork? How would they know what constitutes proper etiquette?”

“Yeah,” Carly nodded in agreement. “Octavia would probably be the only person who would know any of that.”

Nick perked up. That was a good point, actually.

“I know what I know, and I know what I don’t know,” Holly said, crossing her arms over her chest. “And what I don’t know is how to look all fancy when you’re eating! …Well, maybe actually. I didn’t go to any fancy press dinners when I was working, but maybe I remember a thing or two… hmm…”

“All good points,” Dakota said, sweeping her eyes over the room. “And that’s precisely why I made a few… adjustments to the proposal.”

Gina bristled. “Adjustments?” She narrowed her eyes at Dakota. “What kind of adjustments?”

Gina wasn’t the only one worried about that, Nick also took alarm. The façade of this party was that Gina was nominally the one designing the events. If Dakota was willing to change things here and there, what did that mean for their activities moving forward?

It was a worrying thing.

Dakota just laughed it off though. She clearly didn’t regard it as a big deal.

“You all are so worried about nothing,” she giggled. “This was a necessary step. Forget you girls not knowing, forget the judges not knowing, how do you think the audience would respond to this?” She asked. “Do you think they would be interested in seeing you girls calmly sit down at the dinner table and debate which size spoon is proper for soup?”

Another valid point.

Gina turned red. “But… but… this was my idea,” she mumbled, looking crestfallen.

Nick’s heart went out to her, it really did. But at the same time, this really didn’t sound like a good event idea. Maybe Dakota was onto something.

“I know,” Dakota said, and she almost looked apologetic. “But I had to make a slight adjustment. Don’t worry though. The other two events? We’ll do them exactly as you wish.”

Gina perked up at that. “Oh? Really? You thought they were good?”

“Of course I did!” Dakota grinned. “You have quite the good head on your shoulders when it comes to that kind of thing, after all. I wouldn’t want to change anything in the slightest.”

Another worrying statement. Nick tried not to let it bother him. At least Gina was in a good mood again, right?

“…It’s just this event we’ll need to adjust.”

“Phew,” Vivian said, wiping the sweat from her brow. “I’m glad to hear it, because I’m not much one for all the stuffy table manners and junk.”

“As your grades reflect,” Amelia sniped at her.

Vivian rolled her eyes and scoffed.

Dakota clapped her hands together. “Let me explain to you girls how the new rules apply,” she said, gesturing to the table. “But first, please- take your seats.”

There was a strange ominous tone in the way she asked that which sent a shiver down Nick’s back. He bit his lip, staring hopefully at the girls as they all sat down in their assigned seats.

I just hope that nothing bad happens in this contest, he thought.

Once all the girls were seated before their empty plates, Dakota tapped her cane on the floor. In a flash, of wave of energy surged over the table, rippling through the tablecloth and spinning the plates. Mounds of food appeared on all of them in a flash, different treats and delicacies that filled the room with the sweet scent of a sumptuous meal.

Even with everything stacked up on the banquet tables, there was something about these dishes that made Nick’s mouth water. He wasn’t sure what it was, but he felt hungrier than ever before.

“Oh my gosh!” Morgana was the first to react. Her eyes bulged out in surprise. “Is this… squid-ink pasta?”

That sounded revolting, and looked pretty bad, too. But Morgana looked positively delighted.

“That it is,” Dakota nodded. “Your favorite, from when you ordered it in that restaurant before, due to the delicate gothic coloring. Bon apetit!”

“This is the tuxedo cake maman used to make for me!” Rose marveled, looking down at the delicious monochromatic pastry. “How-?!”

“It looks delicious,” Dawn admitted, resisting the urge to slurp up the dandan noodles placed in front of her. It was identical to the bowl she’d gotten in a little tea shop in China.

“Yeah, but… we’ve all got different stuff,” Gina pointed out, indicating to the greasy personal pepperoni pizza sitting on her plate. “And is something like this really fine dining?”

Dakota laughed. “That’s how this event works, you see. I went to great painstaking effort to prepare for each of you, your absolute favorite dishes. All the foods you love most!”

“I see,” Amelia noted, raising her eyebrow as she looked down at the petit fillet mignon braised in brandy sitting on her plate.

“That’s the challenge? That’s it?” Vivian looked disappointed. While everybody else had gotten fancy dishes, hers was distinctly not that special. “This is my favorite dish? Seriously?”

“What is it?” Marley asked curiously. “Chicken strips?”

“Of course not,” Vivian said, shaking her head. “Fish and chips, obviously. I’m just surprised they would serve this at a fancy party.”

While the heiress was complaining, Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin had no qualms about her own meal. A veritable mountain of an ice cream sundae drizzled in chocolate, caramel, and strawberry sauce filled the bowl in front of her, and she looked liable to swallow it all in one bite. Beside her, Ella was drooling at the big, juicy burger on her plate.

“I’ve gotta say, I’m definitely coming around on this idea,” Dani nodded, licking her lips as she admired the plate of kalbi ribs in front of her. “What about you guys?”

She looked over at Carly and Marley. Carly looked ready to devour the roasted chicken in front of her, while Marley tried to resist the temptation of the sumptuous stir-fried vegetable assortment she’d been given.

“Sushi is best fresh,” Kim pointed out, glancing at her plate. “Can we eat yet?”

“Not quite,” Dakota said, shaking her head. Everyone was still looking over their food, and dying of hunger. “I still need to go over the rules.”

Nick thought the girls were pretty lucky, getting to eat their favorite foods. The one exception to that, though, was Sylvia. Her favorite food was… a bowl of tomato soup? While Nick liked that himself, somehow, that didn’t seem right. He would have thought her favorite would have been one of the meals they ate together on their date, she seemed to love those. Or something Mary had cooked.

But whatever Nick’s opinion on Sylvia’s choice was, she looked excited to eat it all the same.

“To start, this is not merely your favorite dish from the past,” Dakota clarified. “In fact, it has been specially treated. It will be absolutely the most delicious thing you have ever eaten. Overwhelming flavor that will fill your heart with absolute ecstasy.”

“You’ve already sold me on the idea,” Rose groaned. “Can we eat it yet, or not?”

Dakota glared at her.

“…The challenge is not simply enjoying your food,” she said. “Remember- to be a member of high society, you must display elegance and class, in all situations. This challenge is about table manners, is it not? Mary, please demonstrate.”

With a wave of her hand, Mary’s favorite dish appeared in front of her, at least, that’s what Nick anticipated anyway. A nice, grilled steak.

She looked warily at it.

“Please, take a bite,” Dakota urged the other girl. “I assure you, it’s not poisoned.”

Mary hesitantly cut off a piece and popped it into her mouth. When she did, her entire body spasmed for a moment. Her eyes bulged wide and she began to shake, and her fork nearly fell from her hands.

“Oh my gosh!” She groaned, shaking like she’d nearly had an orgasm from the flavor alone. “It’sh sho gooooooood! The best I’ve ever had!”

She started digging into the steak, cutting it up and downing piece after piece. Nick was stunned. While Mary’s ravenous appetites were no surprise to him (though she was seldom hungry for food…) seeing a woman he usually associated with more self-control than this tear into that steak like a woman who’d been starved for days unnerved him.

That was the nature of this challenge?

He wasn’t the only one perturbed. The girls all had varying levels of concern and discomfort as they watched Mary finish the steak off, all but licking the plate clean. When she finally came back to her senses, she gasped, and turned bright red.

“I-! That-! I didn’t mean to-!” She looked around, flustered and embarrassed, as Dakota laughed.

“Oh, there’s nothing to be ashamed of,” she said, shaking her head. “You demonstrated things perfectly, Mary! That’s exactly what we were looking for.”

Mary blinked. “It… it was?”

“Yes.” Dakota turned back to the guests. “As you can see by Mary’s reaction, this food will be delicious. You’ll want to eat it as fast and as ravenously as possible, it’s just that good! …But a mature and elegant person would never do such a thing, of course.”

Dani’s heart sank. “So that’s the challenge then.”

“You want us to keep our composure, even when we’re eating the best food we’ve ever tasted, is that right?” Dawn guessed.

“Precisely,” Dakota nodded. “And our judges will be keeping track! If you can’t manage to conduct yourself properly, if you all get too flustered and overwhelmed and just go at your meals like wild animals… well, that won’t go well for you at all, now will it?”

Nick was stunned. What a diabolical twist on Gina’s event! While it wasn’t about proper silverware usage or anything like that, it was about table manners- Dakota had just twisted that criteria to be something far more stringent and engaging for the audience, while making it more difficult on the guests as well.

As much as he didn’t like this side of her, he had to admit- when it came to creative interpretations of challenges, she had some good instincts.

Probably because of all her experience subjecting people to things like this, he unfortunately had to acknowledge. Unlike a novice like Gina, Dakota had been around the block a couple times before already.

The girls were mostly hesitant. But at the same time, they really wanted to try the food in front of them. These were their favorite dishes, after all, and Mary had shown just what they could expect!

…But nobody wanted to go first. After all, if they made a big fool of themselves, they would be graded harshly.

“…You may begin,” Dakota said.

Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin broke through first. She snapped forward with her spoon and jammed it into the ice cream sundae in front of her, scooping up the first bite before anyone else could respond. The other girls watched with bated breath as she brought the spoon to her lips, and sucked it in.

Her eyes lit up and she smiled. Her pointed ears twitched and her cheeks flushed, but other than that, she maintained her composure brilliantly.

She set down the spoon, and Nick could her fingers trembling. It was clear as day she wanted to get another bite, but she was holding herself back.

That must have take tremendous willpower.

“Whoa, it’s that good, huh?” Rose asked, surprised.

“She is an assassin,” Dani pointed out. “She’s probably been trained to keep her composure in situations like this.”

Gina snorted. “What, when eating delicious food? They train for that?”

“M-maybe?” Morgana shrugged awkwardly. All she knew was that Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin had been able to eat her dish without going crazy like Mary, and if she could do it, why couldn’t Morgana?

Still, her hand refused to move.

“You won’t be scored until you empty your plate,” Dakota informed the girls. “So don’t think you can get away with one good bite and call it even with that.”

Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin shot Dakota a look, but followed instructions and went for another bite. It looked like it tasted just as amazing as the first, but the assassin still maintained her composure brilliantly.

She was the only one who had taken the risk so far.

Amelia was the next girl to step up.

“This should be a simple matter,” she said, slicing off a piece of steak. Her knife slipped through the meat with hardly any resistance at all. She brought the thin slice of beef up to her delicate lips, and took a bite.

Amelia’s eyes widened and her cheeks flushed. She shook, stunned, but **** herself to swallow. A small breathy sigh escaped her lips, and she had a glassy look in her eye as she paused. But she quickly regained her composure.

“That good, eh, Teach?” Vivian laughed. She popped one of the chips into her mouth, feeling the salty potato flavor spread across her tongue. A shiver went through the heiress’s body as well and she gulped, bringing a napkin to her lips to wipe off the flakes of salt. “…W-wow. Yes, that was rather good, wasn’t it.”

Seeing Amelia and Vivian, who had both been juggernauts in previous rounds, react like that got the other girls worried. A few looked at each other hesitantly, but Dani was having none of it.

I know I’m probably not going to win any points for table manners anyway, she thought, cutting off a piece of pork. So might as well eat!

“Oh god!” She moaned, losing her composure for a second as the barbecue sauce danced across her tongue. She quickly reached for a glass of water to chase it down. “This is delicious!”

While Dani probably had the shakiest first bite out of any of the girls who went so far, she’d been able to keep her focus. Witnessing that was like seeing a dam break, and soon the other girls were all digging into their meals.

“It’s just like maman’s!” Rose moaned, savoring each bite of the sweet confectionary. “How can it taste so good?!”

“I know!” Morgana groaned. She’d tried to seem all composed and mature; she really did! But… but it was pasta! You can’t look composed and elegant when eating pasta! You had to slurp it! This whole thing was rigged from the start! It took everything she had to not lose it immediately!

Dawn managed to swallow her dandan noodles without much of a fuss, at least if one was looking at her face. It took all her willpower not to slurp it up, and she admired Morgana for being able to do the same.

But as the slightly spicy noodle dish raced across her tongue, she heard the telltale swish of her tail behind her, and her eyes widened.

My tail! You stupid thing! She **** it not to move- she hadn’t even been thinking of the extra appendage! Dawn had tried so hard to keep her expression even that she’d completely missed that there were other parts of her body that could give her emotions away. Would she be judged on those as well?!

Carly and Marley both had similar reactions, both girls able to do pretty well as they ate their first few bites, before soon giving in and feeling the urge to keep eating. Marley in particular had it a lot rougher. While she was raised in a normal human household, she still felt the same consuming hunger from when she was Mimi- she was eating her favorite stir-fry! How could she hold back?!

She raised her head, trying to get her face as far away from the wonderful aroma of food as possible. That was when she saw Carly. Her sister had managed to keep her cool, cutting up her roast chicken into the finest bite-sized pieces possible. Her hands trembled like those of a junky, but she was able to resist it.

No way am I going to be the sloppy sister! Marley vowed. She was the mature and grown-up one, and Carly was the take-it-easy one! She could be like Dawn and handle herself!

But as Marley looked over at Dawn, her eyes landed on Sylvia instead, and she froze.

Sylvia… was flawless.

“Yum! This tastes delicious!” She brought the spoon to her lips and sipped it down without hesitation. She didn’t even slurp! If Marley didn’t know any better, she would have thought that her mother was unaffected by the delicious flavors of the food, but she knew that wasn’t the case! Sylvia had gone on and on for days about how great it was to finally really eat when she became human- now it was like it wasn’t even a big deal at all!

Her roommate was struggling though.

Gina clenched her teeth, trying to keep her hands from shaking. She was better than this! She was! If only her favorite food wasn’t a greasy piece of pizza! The thing was dripping with melted cheese and the pepperoni smelled so good…

She swallowed, and took a bite. It was amazing. She took another, then moved to take another, but stopped. Her mouth was already full, and as much as she wanted to just cram the whole slice in, that would definitely cost her points.

This was her party. She wasn’t going to look like a pig!

She set the rest of the slice down, feeling how greasy her lips had become from just a few bites. Every urge in her body was telling her to wipe them off with her arm like she always did, but she couldn’t! So she imagined she was still wearing her priceless leather jacket, and held herself back. She wouldn’t ruin the sleeves on that!

Instead, she picked up her napkin and dabbed gently at her lips.

While Gina was struggling with looking like a dignified host, Kim was struggling in a different way.

Chopsticks, she thought, taking a deep breath and exhaling. You can do chopsticks. It’s easy! Not a problem at all!

She hated using them, but right now, they were convenient to have. As the delicious smell of sushi slammed into her like a truck, her chopsticks practically **** her to eat with dignity, and that’s exactly what she did.

Oh man. It was delicious. The best sushi she’d ever tasted- she’d only ever been able to afford the cheap stuff before. Kim was immensely grateful for her years of experience in the customer service industry. If not for all her training at keeping her face focused and composed in a single expression, she might have turned as sloppy as Mary, the sushi was just that good. But she smiled elegantly through each bite, making sure not to drop even a grain of rice.

If she did, she knew she’d dart out her tongue and lick it up. That wouldn’t be elegant in the slightest.

Nick watched the girls sample their food. They were all doing a good job, a lot better than Mary had. His redheaded wife sank back in her seat, looking ashamed, but Nick extended her some consideration. After all, she hadn’t anticipated it at first. These girls knew what was coming, and they were all trying their hardest not to be overwhelmed by the delicious food.

He was proud of them all. With each bite, they were getting more focused and composed, rather than less. And much to his surprise, no one had made any outright embarrassing errors. Hopefully, he’d be able to give everyone a high score on this.

Save one person.

Ella looked around at the other girls. She was the only one who hadn’t tried her food yet. Because she was terrified.

The burger looked more delicious than any she’d ever had before, and she knew that it would be. Which was awful. Her table manners were already atrocious… and she was so **** to positive emotion, she knew that she would overwhelmed and squeal.

But she **** herself to do it anyway.

She picked up the burger with trembling hands, and licked her lips from the smell alone. Overwhelmed by the delicious aroma, she bit into it, and found herself awash with flavor. She dreaded the delicacy in her mouth- it tasted like getting a failing score.

Everything after that was a bit of a blur. It was as if she’d lost consciousness just from the taste alone.