Jessie activated a few unique sequences on her watch.
After the final sequence had been entered, the watch began to shift and unfold in her hand, morphing into a compact biometric terminal. It resembled a miniature foldable computer small enough to fit comfortably within one palm.
The lower half contained the fingerprint scanner.
The upper screen remained almost entirely blank aside from a single word glowing across the dark display.
[ BLOOD ]
The sight alone was enough to make Camille Dreyer stiffen.
She stepped back abruptly, as though she had just seen something horrifying.
Dr. Lucian Harrow immediately moved toward her, steadying her by the shoulders before turning toward Jessie with visible displeasure.
"What do you mean by this?" he asked, a harsh undertone slipping into his voice.
"Exactly what it looks like," Jessie replied with a faint smirk. "Before I hand over the Piao family's items, fingerprint authorization is required. Blood ended up becoming the chosen verification method for the contract."
Jessie shrugged lightly afterward, as though the situation itself had merely inconvenienced her.
Lucian frowned deeply.
Yet despite that, he did not hesitate.
Without wasting a second, he immediately brought his thumb to his mouth before biting down hard with one of his canine teeth.
Blood quickly welled against his skin, dripping across his thumb and palm.
Before Camille could even properly process what he was doing, Lucian gently took hold of her hand and carefully smeared some of the blood across her thumb, using his own injured hand to ensure she would not have to hurt herself.
Then, guiding her movements himself, he pressed her thumb against the scanner.
Using the remaining blood on his palm, Lucian then used his uninjured hand to complete the second imprint himself.
His actions were smooth.
Quick.
Fluid enough that Camille, who still carried deep discomfort and lingering trauma from the wartime era even now during peaceful times, did not have the chance to properly react before both imprints had already been accepted.
The moment Jessie realized what Lucian had done, her eyes widened slightly.
Then, without delay, she immediately collapsed the device shut and activated the transfer sequence.
Afterward, she swiftly gave the couple some distance.
Jessie already knew an argument was about to begin.
And unsurprisingly, she was right.
The moment Camille fully came back to her senses, she stared at Lucian in distress before anger quickly overtook her expression.
While Camille began scolding Lucian for his actions, Jessie quietly slipped away and approached Angel Piao instead.
Angel looked at her with clear dismay.
"Do you genuinely enjoy never giving us peaceful days?" Angel asked flatly. "What even is this?"
Jessie merely shrugged.
"Not my fault," she replied. "I didn't know this would happen either."
Then, leaning closer, Jessie quietly relayed the message Grace had instructed her to pass along.
"Grace wants you at the indoor shooting range," she whispered. "Subsection F."
Angel frowned slightly after hearing the message.
But before she could question anything further, several sharp notification chimes suddenly rang throughout the banquet hall one after another.
Angel instinctively turned back toward Lucian and Camille.
Or more specifically, toward the center of tonight's chaos.
The sounds had originated from their personal connection devices.
Camille ignored hers entirely, still too busy scolding Lucian.
Lucian, however, immediately opened his notification as though it were a lifeline.
The moment the screen expanded before him, an ownership transfer document appeared.
Angel's eyes narrowed slightly as she quickly scanned the visible summary.
The transferred asset granted to Dr. Lucian Harrow was a well-known suburban horse ranch owned under the Piao Corporation. The property included massive free-range grounds, racing facilities, horse breeding sectors, and access to a protected forest region where he had even been granted the right to personally select ten trees as a congratulatory gift.
Technically, Lucian did not own the land itself.
The land still remained under Piao ownership.
However, the ranch, facilities, horses, and operational rights had all been transferred fully into his possession.
The elites within the banquet hall immediately understood the true meaning behind the arrangement the moment they saw the summarized contents of Lucian's transfer agreement.
To outsiders, the gift might appear underwhelming compared to the wealth possessed by the Piao family.
But in reality, this was one of the greatest forms of protection the Piao family could possibly grant someone like Lucian Harrow.
Lucian possessed prestige because of his abilities.
But he did not possess deep-rooted standing within elite society.
Now he did.
The transfer itself publicly declared that Lucian Harrow stood under Piao backing.
More importantly, anyone attempting to pressure Lucian in the future would first have to consider whether they were willing to trespass onto land that still legally belonged to the Piao Corporation.
In simpler terms:
Dr. Lucian Harrow could now stand beside Camille Dreyer with his head held high.
Even Camille, who had previously been quite upset at Lucian's actions, visibly mellowed down after her eyes landed upon the transfer agreement.
The brief understanding of what Grace Piao had silently done for her cooled some of her emotions.
Only then did she finally open her own notification.
A property transfer agreement appeared before her as well.
Unlike Lucian, however, Camille had not received a horse estate.
What had been transferred to her was the very business district they were currently standing in.
At first, confusion crossed her face.
Then suspicion.
Then dread.
Camille quickly began scrolling through the overwhelming amount of legal documentation attached to the agreement.
The deeper she read, the darker her expression became.
Although she already possessed shares across multiple districts, this agreement elevated her into the primary acting CEO over the entire district surrounding the banquet venue itself.
And then she found the catch.
As acting overseer, all damages caused through elite negligence within the district would now fall directly under her responsibility.
Silence overtook Camille for a moment.
Then realization hit her.
She now had to pay for the broken window Jessie had shattered earlier.
The instant the others noticed the small additional note Grace had attached to the agreement, laughter immediately began spreading throughout the hall.
First came Isolde Farren.
Then Cassandra Riel completely lost composure beside her.
Serena Veylan and Selene Veyra tried desperately to suppress their laughter, but with Isolde and Cassandra making things worse beside them, they eventually failed as well.
Even Angela and Angel ended up quietly chuckling.
Only Lena Corviss and Vivienne Carrow remained composed enough not to openly laugh, fully aware that doing so would probably make Camille explode on the spot.
Meanwhile, Jessie's eyes darkened, as though she had finally understood something.
Snapping herself out of the daze, she slowly pressed her lips together in an attempt to remain professional.
But internally, she also wanted to laugh.
Especially after realizing why Grace had allowed the banquet to be held here instead of inside the Piao headquarters.
And the expression on Camille's face was making it incredibly difficult for Jessie to maintain composure.
Off to the side, Mimi, whose attention had previously been focused entirely on PewPew, finally noticed the sudden commotion spreading throughout the banquet hall.
She lifted her head slightly before staring toward her bosses and superiors, only to find nearly all of them laughing amongst themselves at something she could not understand at all.
Mimi tilted her head in confusion.
She genuinely had no idea what was happening.
Still, seeing the elites relaxed enough to openly laugh like this created an oddly pleasant atmosphere.
And although Mimi understood absolutely none of the reason behind it, her intuition told her that whatever information they were reacting to was likely restricted behind permissions only higher-level cleaners or elites could access.
Mimi had long since accepted that there were worlds she could not yet see.
Rather than dwell on it, she simply enjoyed watching her superiors enjoy themselves.
After confirming that nothing dangerous was happening and that her involvement was unnecessary, Mimi quietly wandered toward the refreshments table off to the side of the banquet hall.
The table itself was filled with light snacks and smaller side refreshments placed there for guests to casually eat between conversations rather than as part of the main course itself.
Naturally, Mimi immediately began inspecting the various snacks with full seriousness.
Every now and then, she would secretly store a few in her spatial pouch for future consumption at her own leisure