I stood on the balcony of my brother's study and looked out. A gust of cold wind ruffled the sharp-tailed flag hanging under the eaves. The whole city stretched out before my eyes.

The door to the study opened, and I could hear people preparing for the flood of students and workers tomorrow. In the cacophony of words and small steps, I also heard the old years slowly unfolding. Most of the memories are indistinguishable, except for two images: a handsome man from the desert, dancing and taking my heart away; It was this man who I asked to take my heart away.

How many times have Hakim and I been here together in between those two shards? The breeze that blew the flag also passed through the ends of his hair. "Great prospects," his eyes wandered over every glowing spire in the city, and the glimmer of the buildings of Zaun below. "What a delicate machine, where all the parts bite together."

I told him that my father told me that this was the prospect of evolution and that of Piltover. But, I wary of it, a cog that doesn't fit in the way can threaten everything, and a single part that doesn't want to do its job can destroy an entire machine.

Along the carpet, the creaking of Stivan's wheelchair could be heard. My fingertips missed the touch of Hakim's curls, even the carefully polished glass rosary in my pocket. But I just tightened the whip that Avoye had left behind in my hand. Hakim desperately tried to pull me out of the gloom, only to find it too late. My work, my responsibility to my family, is something that I can't part with.

"Camille?"

I didn't speak, and the fragile sight in front of me, and the more fragile memories, made it impossible for me to take my eyes off. The clockwork mechanism made a soft sound, and Stivan came behind me.

"You're back, Avye?"

I threw her whip onto the woolen blanket that covered his thighs.

"I see."

"Her purpose was accomplished." I say.

"That's?" For someone who has been in a wheelchair for so long, my brother is such a good dancer. He ripped off the whip.

"Remind me of my purpose." I say

"Your purpose?" Stivan's initial nervousness turned to anxiety. He knew he wouldn't survive tonight. He was caught and couldn't escape, especially since I was the one chasing him. His only chance was to grieve and suffer as much as I could before the deadline came. His weak body restrained him, and his weapon was only words.

"You need to be responsible for me. It's like being responsible to your father. ”

Liability. Father. Every word is deeper than a knife cut.

"Your meaning is to serve me." He growled.

"No, it's this family that I swear to obey." The content of the oath is deeply imprinted in my mind, and it is the oath of all agents. Without difficulty or remorse, I repeated: "I will serve faithfully and without hypocrisy or selfishness." For this oath I will make all my vows, with my spirit, with my body, and with my heart. ”

That's what I said with Hakim on our last night. I can't belong to him, because I've already given myself to something else.

"The responsibility of the spy should have been my responsibility." Stevan's voice pulled me back to reality. He clung to the armrest of his wheelchair so tightly that even his joints turned white. "You swore to our father too, but what did you do? Just because you weren't strong enough, he died. And then you almost ruined the family. For what? Love? Or vanity? Where did your responsibilities run at that time? ”

His words whipped in my face like a whip. Cobweb-like veins, this disease, I've allowed it to grow for too long. How much kindness did I show to this family under his madness?

"I poured out my heart for the sake of this family. And for you, Stivan. I gave everything I had. After all these years, do you dare to say that you have also done it? ”

Stivan hesitated like a wet firework. He was desperate to explode, but he knew in his heart that nothing could make him burn.

"Father gave it to you, but I spent my whole life trying to prove to him that I was the right person." His words were full of disgust. His anger rose instantly, spreading poisonous gas like an alchemy. "You may see me as a traitor, but you're responsible for it, sister. If you're a trustworthy decision-maker, I don't have to meddle. ”

I made him a monster. I endured his poisonous schemes and evil thoughts because I didn't want to lose him. If he's gone, no one will remember what kind of woman I used to be. If I had been more determined, I would have ended it all years ago. Although I chiseled everything I had, little by little, I didn't have the courage to cut off this piece of necrotic flesh, and our family would one day be eaten away by him.

"That night, if you hadn't taken the trouble to remind me of my responsibility, I would have followed Hakim away." I say.

He came to me, bloodied and bruised, forcing me to look at the consequences of my negligence. Even years later, when I found out that he had directed and staged the attack, I was relieved. When I was faced with a choice, but I was overshadowed by emotion, my brother reached out and pushed me, and finally made me make up my mind to completely separate honor and affection. I knew that if it hadn't been for that, I might have given up on the responsibility I was supposed to have. It was his unsightly strategy that made me completely clothed in today's outfit.

I walked over and put my hand on his shoulder. Through the expensive silk and parchment-like wrinkled skin, I could feel his aging bones. The device on my chest began to vibrate. Stewan looked up at me, the azure of his eyes sharpening like a piece of broken glass, reflecting the light that was gradually lighting up around me.

"You've always been my responsibility, brother." A chill in the air seeped into my voice. "Stevan, I'll never let you down again."

I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up under the charge of the charge. I took my hand off his shoulder and stroked his face. The lock of boyish hair that once hung on his forehead had thinned out many years ago and had finally disappeared. The arc of light that jumped from my fingertips enveloped Stivan.

The whole process didn't last long. The atrophied muscles dragged his heart into a dark corner, and now finally clenched his chest completely. His eyes were closed, and his chin was limply resting in my hands.

The crystals in his chest gradually flattened. I turned to face the city. Tonight's chill will seep into her metal skeleton, but tomorrow, she'll move on again, alive and well—all the while evolving.

What a sophisticated machine.