As the attendants carefully presented the VX-9 Adaptive Combat Drone Suite...
Arthur suddenly froze for the briefest moment.
A familiar mechanical voice echoed inside his mind.
〘Item acquired: VX-9 Adaptive Combat Drone Suite.〙
〘This item is now registered as your personal property.〙
〘Would you like to enhance this item?〙
〘YES〙 〘NO〙
...So this is how it works.
He had been wondering about this ever since awakening the system.
There were countless objects throughout House Ashbourne.
Weapons.
Armor.
Tools.
Vehicles.
Yet none of them had ever appeared as items he could enhance.
At first...
He’d assumed the system simply couldn’t recognize them.
Now...
The reason had become obvious.
...Ownership.
The item had to belong to him before the system would acknowledge it.
Arthur couldn’t help but smile inwardly.
...Not bad.
It was actually a rather clever restriction.
Without it...
He could have wandered into the family treasury, picked up some old relic, and enhanced endlessly.
The developers had clearly anticipated loopholes like that.
Still...
His smile faded slightly.
...This could become a little problematic in the future.
If he wanted to enhance something truly valuable...
He would first have to own it.
And convincing people to hand over priceless military technology, legendary weapons, or strategic assets simply because he wanted to "borrow" them...
Wouldn’t exactly be easy.
...Looks like I’ll have to build my own collection.
For now...
Arthur silently selected...
〘NO〙
There would be plenty of time to examine the system later.
Right now...
Hundreds of eyes remained fixed upon him.
Unknown to Arthur, on the far opposite side of the banquet hall...
Miranda’s wandering eyes landed on him.
She paused.
Then her gaze shifted toward the woman standing beside him.
"...Isn’t that Lyra Evergreen?"
Celestia, who had been casually observing the banquet, glanced toward Miranda.
"Hm?"
Miranda leaned slightly closer, lowering her voice.
"Look over there, my lady."
Celestia followed her gaze.
Her eyes immediately landed on Arthur.
And then...
Lyra.
The two appeared to be engaged in a rather comfortable conversation right now.
Celestia’s smile slowly disappeared.
"..."
Miranda noticed the sudden change in her expression.
"She seems to have gotten rather close to Young Master Arthur."
The glass of wine in Celestia’s hand suddenly cracked.
A faint surge of energy radiated from her body.
Miranda’s eyes widened slightly.
"...Lady Celestia?"
Celestia intensely stared silently at the two of them.
The fine cracks continued spreading across the glass.
Then...
She slowly inhaled.
The energy surrounding her immediately subsided.
Her expression returned to normal.
Without saying a word, she placed the damaged glass onto a tray held by a nearby maid.
Her gaze remained fixed on Lyra.
"...That little wallflower."
She gritted her teeth for a moment, biting the left edge of her lip.
"That timid little forest girl... How audacious."
"She actually thinks she can come here and try to claim what I’ve already set my eyes on?"
Miranda glanced between Celestia and Lyra.
"...Should we approach them?"
Celestia soon calmed herself.
A smile widened across her face.
"Of course."
"If she’s so eager to approach him..."
She gracefully adjusted her hair.
"...then I suppose we should greet her properly."
Miranda nodded.
The two began slowly making their way across the banquet hall.
"Let’s see..."
"...what exactly makes this little wallflower think she can steal from me."
As Celestia gracefully approached the group, Arthur, Lyra, and Florain noticed her arrival almost immediately.
Celestia stopped before them and turned her attention toward Arthur.
"It seems you’ve been rather impressed with the gifts you’ve received so far tonight, Young Master Arthur."
Arthur smiled politely.
"I certainly am."
Celestia’s smile widened.
"I’m glad to hear that."
"Although..."
"I believe the gift I’ve prepared for you will make everything else you’ve received tonight pale in comparison."
Arthur raised an eyebrow slightly.
"Oh?"
Celestia gave a soft laugh.
"I’m quite certain that once you receive it..."
"...you and I will finally be able to put the differences between our families behind us."
Her gaze remained fixed on Arthur.
"And look toward the future together."
Arthur maintained his polite smile.
"I do hope so."
The two exchanged a brief glance.
Then...
They both laughed lightly.
For a moment, the atmosphere between them appeared perfectly cordial.
However...
Celestia’s gaze slowly shifted.
Toward Lyra.
Her smile remained.
But a look of exaggerated curiosity appeared in her eyes.
"Oh..."
She tilted her head slightly.
"Young Lord Evergreen."
Lyra gave a slight bow.
"Greetings, Young Lord Celestia."
Celestia folded her arms beneath her chest.
"I almost didn’t notice you there."
"So, how has House Evergreen been recovering from the Elysian Reclamation Project?"
Lyra’s expression suddenly stiffened.
"I heard your family suffered some losses during the operation."
"I certainly hope the damage wasn’t too severe."
Lyra immediately understood what she was doing.
...She’s trying to put me in my place.
She maintained her composure and forced a polite smile.
"Oh..."
"It was just some minor losses."
"Nothing House Evergreen can’t recover from."
Celestia’s smile remained unchanged.
"Oh?"
"Minor losses?"
She tilted her head slightly.
"If I remember correctly..."
"House Evergreen lost two hundred and forty-seven thousand personnel during the operation."
Lyra’s fingers tightened subtly.
Celestia continued in a dramatically sympathetic tone.
"That’s a rather staggering number."
She glanced briefly toward Arthur before returning her attention to Lyra.
"Especially for a relatively small Star Lord family."
Lyra’s smile remained on her face.
But her eyes had become noticeably colder.
"...Yes."
"It was unfortunate."
Celestia gave a sympathetic smile.
"Indeed."
"One can only imagine how difficult such losses must have been for a house of your standing."
Celestia smiled.
"I certainly hope House Evergreen will be able to recover from its recent losses."
She paused briefly.
"But then again..."
"I believe there is nothing to worry about."
Her smile became slightly warmer as she clasped her hands.
"Your house is rather well known for having remarkably few political and public enemies."
"Quite admirable, actually."
"With such a peaceful reputation..."
"I’m certain there will be no need for House Evergreen to muster its forces again for quite some time."