Lilianna tapped the table’s control panel, and the embedded display flickered to life beneath her fingertips.

"Rules," she announced, "Standard Blackjack. Table minimum is one thousand star coins per hand."

"Sponsors," She paused for effect. "Feed your funds directly into your player’s chip well. Fair warning: Every transfer is real-time, legally binding, and non-refundable."

Lilianna continued, lifting her chin, "Please scan your accounts."

The table’s embedded QR pads pulsed with soft blue light. Grayson showed his bank’s QR code and held it over the scanner behind Neville’s seat.

The confirmation chime was almost immediate with a crisp, clean sound.

Thiago did the same behind Ciel, though his scan was preceded by a long, contemplative exhale that spoke volumes.

Julius scanned his own account without ceremony.

Bryan did the same, though he shot a glance over his shoulder at Iris first—a glance that she answered with a raised eyebrow that contained a silent warning.

Sarah tapped her personal account in with a cheerful flick of her wrist.

Then at the dealer’s station, Lilianna’s authorization pinged as the loss-coverage backup.

The table’s independent system processed the inputs.

Account links established.

Transfer protocols active.

Ciel leaned sideways in his chair, tilting his head toward Thiago.

"So," he said, keeping his voice low, but it was still heard by most people in the room. "How much is my budget?"

Thiago’s arms stayed crossed. "Don’t ask."

"That’s not an answer." 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

"It is. Just know it’s already set to a limit. If you hit it, the table locks you out automatically. No override, no exceptions."

Thiago paused with a fake, generous expression.

"Just know that it’s a lot."

Ciel stared at him, eyes narrowing with suspicion. "Don’t be stingy."

"I have a wife and child to feed," Thiago said flatly.

"Curse you."

"Thank you."

A few seats down, Neville had been listening to this exchange with one ear while the other tracked the system’s setup notifications scrolling across his player console.

He patted Grayson’s hand that was still resting on the back of his neck.

Grayson looked at him, and Neville cautiously asked, "How much am I allowed to play?"

Grayson’s expression didn’t change as he said, "As much as you want."

Neville frowned, "That’s not good."

But Grayson, who was being reprimanded, had a faint quirk at the corner of his mouth.

"What’s amusing?" Neville said, pursing his lips.

Grayson lifted his hand and settled it briefly on the top of Neville’s head.

"Relax," Grayson said. "I have a sense of propriety."

Neville looked up at him, skeptical, but didn’t say anything more.

Grayson’s mouth twitched again, but he didn’t say anything and withdrew his hand.

To Neville’s right, Julius was reviewing his chip stack when Sarah, who sat to his other side, leaned forward and let out a long, theatrical exhale.

"It’s hard to be single," she announced, to no one and everyone simultaneously.

Julius didn’t look up from his chips. "You’ll get used to it."

Sarah turned her head toward him, scrutinizing. "You’re the same?"

Now Julius did look at her. His gaze was level, steady, and utterly devoid of self-pity. "You’ll get used to it."

Sarah took a quick look around the room.

Grayson’s hand lowered, but was still hovering near Neville’s shoulder.

Bryan kept on whispering something to Iris.

Chronos and Pete were in their own world.

Thiago and Ciel were bickering like an old married couple.

Even Helena and Colonel Vane, in their corner, were comfortably sitting next to each other.

She groaned.

Julius said nothing further. He simply began organizing his chips into columns of equal height—ten chips per stack, five stacks total.

Bryan just finished configuring his chip conversion and was now watching a tidy stack of one-million-star coins’ worth of chips rise from his well.

He turned his chair to face Iris behind him.

"Are you really sure you don’t want to play?" he asked, holding her hand.

Iris leaned one hip against the back of his chair and crossed her arms.

"If I lose a lot of money," she said carefully, "it will haunt me to sleep."

Her no-nonsense expression hardened a little imaging it.

She then asked, "Are you willing to go through long sleepless nights with me?"

Bryan just leaned in close and brought his lips to the edge of Iris’s ear. It was barely touching it, but the warmth of his breath could be felt.

"As long as you want," he said with a slightly hoarse tone.

Iris’s face went red with mild embarrassment. It would’ve been fine if it were just the two of them, but there were other people around.

Her hand shot up, caught the side of Bryan’s face, and forcibly rotated his head away from her.

"You don’t love me anymore!" Bryan wailed, his voice cracking with fake heartbreak so convincing that Sarah actually got startled.

But Iris had already reached her limit. Her expression snapped from flustered to stone-cold in the blink of an eye.

"If you lose a lot of money," she said, "say goodbye to our wedding."

The change was instantaneous.

Bryan’s theatrical grief was gone. His spine straightened. His jaw set, locked into place.

"I have a sense of propriety," he said with all seriousness.

The words were almost identical to Grayson’s earlier reassurance, but Bryan said it as if he had just taken a blood oath.

Iris rolled her eyes.

Lilianna watched all of this unfold silently while her fingers continued to practice her shuffling.

Ciel punched a number into his player console. The screen flashed red.

INSUFFICIENT AUTHORIZATION.

He scowled at Thiago and then deleted the figure.

Then, he tried again—lower this time.

INSUFFICIENT AUTHORIZATION.

Another red flash.

Ciel snapped his head toward Thiago.

"I tried two million," Ciel said, his voice climbing, "and one million. It still can’t be converted."

The young Colonel’s eyes were bloodshot. "Just how little did you set my budget to?!"

Thiago, who had been watching him struggle calmly, knew that this would happen. He uncrossed his arms and reached over Ciel’s shoulder.

Without a word, he tapped the console and entered a number: 888,888.

The screen pulsed green.

Chips materialized in Ciel’s well.