At sunset, the Ferros Clan.
Stevan, his back hunched, sat in the Ferros Clan patriarch's chair, stroking the wooden armrest that had been passed down for nearly a century. His face was filled with nostalgia.
"Elder sister, this seat should have been yours. Now that you've returned, it should be handed back to you."
"Put away your little schemes, Stevan. Decades have passed, yet you are still so timid. If Ferros is to grow strong, it needs an iron-blooded hand."
Camille's expression was stern as she sat beside the window, quietly watching the sun sink below the horizon.
"Time has not left a single mark on your face. I have grown old, and my children and grandchildren are worthless. Perhaps having Hakim operate on you back then was a mistake. Otherwise, even your grandson should be as old as Miss Kiramman by now." Stevan rambled on about old memories.
Camille withdrew her gaze from the window and frowned at her younger brother. It was not because he had mentioned Hakim; she had long since lost all feeling for that name. Rather, she felt that perhaps because of his age, Stevan truly was no longer suited to the position of patriarch.
Seeing Camille's gaze, Stevan's eyes grew even dimmer.
Though they had not met for several years, they had spent decades together. No one understood his elder sister better than he did.
Ever since Hakim had completed Augmentation Technology on her, she had lost the emotions of a human being.
She was now like a precision instrument, living only to carry out her preprogrammed directives.
And there were only two directives: protect Piltover, and ensure the Ferros Clan prospered forever.
"Stevan, it is time to let those children raised in comfort see the world. This incident is an excellent proving ground."
"Evan and the others are not even fifteen. His father's generation already works desk jobs in Piltover." Stevan looked dreadful.
Camille knitted her brows and rebuked him, "Indulgence will bring Ferros to ruin!"
"Everything we do is so that our descendants can enjoy life. If they still have to face danger as we did, then what is the point of the family's prosperity?" Stevan raised his head, confronting his elder sister firmly for the first time.
Camille had led the family to greatness for half a century, and Ferros had enjoyed endless glory. He had become deeply enamored with the feeling of being patriarch.
But during the years Camille had been away, everything had changed. He had been the one to hold the entire family together again. Ferros had never retreated behind the scenes; at least two seats in the Council were willing to follow his arrangements.
He had grown tired over the years. Though he was still reluctant to relinquish the patriarch's position, he wanted even less for his children and grandchildren to bear that burden.
"I appreciate your attitude, but I will still carry out my will. Stevan, reality will tell you that without strength, you will be at the mercy of others—just like you, now old and frail."
Camille did not want to argue with her brother. She preferred to solve problems through action.
"Elder sister, I heard you went to see Mr. Meredith not long ago." Stevan did not press the matter and changed the subject.
Camille had made a promise at the Council yesterday. Knowing his elder sister, he was certain she would act tonight.
"I can more or less confirm that he is backing Zaun from behind the scenes," Camille said flatly.
Stevan froze slightly. "Didn't Noxus once promise that as long as you served them, they would not target Piltover?"
"He and the Noxus Emperor are not of one mind. Since joining Noxus, he has been Swain's adjutant."
Seeing the confusion on Stevan's face, Camille sighed.
"Stevan, do not limit your vision to Piltover. Runeterra is vast. Only after leaving did I understand that Piltover's advancement and progress have always been measured against its own past, not against the entire world."
"Is Noxus truly as powerful as the rumors claim? Dominating the center of the continent, campaigning north against Freljord, west against Demacia, south into Shurima, and east against Ionia?" Stevan's eyes were full of disbelief.
Or perhaps, in his view, if Noxus truly was that powerful, then Piltover could not possibly be weaker than the nations Noxus had campaigned against.
"Do not let narrow knowledge blind you. Take Meredith as an example—you should have heard his title."
Camille's expression turned solemn. She felt it was necessary to educate her younger brother.
"The Blood Mist Adjutant?" Stevan said uncertainly. "With 'adjutant' as the suffix, he should not be anyone especially formidable."
Camille raised a brow, her expression halfway between a smile and a sneer.
"Adjutant? Do you know whose adjutant he is among the Noxus elite? He can command a legion of one hundred thousand men in battle, and those soldiers answer only to him and Swain."
"One hundred thousand!? Piltover and Zaun combined do not even have that many people." Stevan's eyes widened.
He could not imagine the sight of so many people clad in iron armor charging forward. Even if Piltover's advanced artillery batteries fired until they smoked, they surely could not kill that many.
"Heh, Stevan. Strategist Commander Swain is the supreme commander of the eastern front, while Meredith is his adjutant. Over the years, they have led every war the Noxus Empire has waged against Ionia." Camille let out a cold laugh.
"If Ionia can withstand the relentless attacks of one hundred thousand men for years, then it should not be weak either."
Piltover lay within Noxus's encirclement. Even a foremost patriarch like Stevan rarely paid attention to news from the outside world.
They only needed to know that they had a good relationship with Noxus and that every other nation was being conquered by Noxus. They had even taken a little pride in that fact.
"Ionia? There are countless people there stronger than I am. They could destroy Piltover with ease."
Hearing the casualness in Camille's tone, Stevan suppressed the shock in his heart. His gaze flickered constantly as he began reevaluating this world.
After thinking for a moment, Stevan furrowed his brow as a question arose in his mind.
"What position does Medarda hold in Noxus?"
Camille glanced at him, fully aware of what her brother wanted to ask.
"Noxus has internal struggles as well. The elite troops commanded by Swain and Meredith were betrayed by their own people and left to die in Pilltover. That was why that war was lost. After enduring months without aid or support, everyone believed they would die in Ionia."
"But in the end, they survived and became legends of Noxus." Stevan sighed with emotion. This story had even reached Piltover.
Strategist Commander Swain and Blood Mist Adjutant Meredith had fought their way alone from Pilltover, Ionia's central city, back to the Empire.
"After returning, the two of them voluntarily gave up command of Noxus's eastern front, and Medarda was the one who succeeded them."
"It sounds as though Medarda is weaker than the two of them, both in strength and influence," Stevan analyzed.
"Medarda's power is second only to the factions behind the commanders of the four fronts. Stevan, do not forget that the young Medarda councilwoman is merely the family's nominally disowned daughter." Camille wore a mocking expression. She was not targeting Stevan, but rather looking down on all of Piltover.
To be toyed with so thoroughly by a young girl from Noxus—these people truly deserved to die in shame.
"I roughly understand now, but even if they have conflicts, with Your Excellency Meredith's strength, we would still have no way to resist, would we?"
Stevan looked helpless, and even his way of addressing Ryan had gained an honorific.
Ignorance bred fearlessness. Now that he knew more, it was difficult for him to view the world with his former mindset.
"Noxus will not force us to kneel through military might. There are things we, as people of Piltover, must do."
Camille watched the last ray of sunset vanish outside. She rose to her feet, turned back, and warned Stevan.
"Stevan, fulfill your duties as patriarch. You have not done poorly these past years. Do not make me reconsider my support for you."
With that, she vaulted out the window. The cable at her feet shot out and embedded itself in a nearby tree trunk, sending her swinging through the air and into the distance.
Inside the room, Stevan sat in the patriarch's seat and watched the dark silhouette fade into the night through the window. His gaze was complicated as he murmured, "Camille, ever since you replaced your heart with the Heart of the Primal Crystal, you have always viewed me and this family through a programmed lens. This world has never been simply black and white. It is a delicate gray!"
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