"Caitlyn, resign from Piltover Wardens. You're simply not suited for the role of an enforcer."
"Come back home. Help manage the family business by my side where you belong."
Cassandra pinched the bridge of her nose. She knew exactly what Caitlyn was planning.
If it were just a minor issue, she might have let Caitlyn have her way for once. But the indentured labor system was far too significant to disrupt.
Aside from the Hextech factories, which required highly trained technicians, at least two-thirds of the labor force in other industrial facilities came from indentured workers.
Abolishing the indentured labor system would create a catastrophic labor shortage and cause employment costs to skyrocket exponentially. Who would bear that financial burden?
Certainly not the House Kiramman or any other business interest.
Resign, resign, always resign
Sheriff Grayson said it. Now Mother's saying it too.
Caitlyn's nose stung. It felt like being an enforcer was doomed to bring her nothing but misfortune and isolation.
But all she wanted was to uphold justice, what was so wrong about that?
She tensed her shoulders, and the teacup she was holding suddenly froze halfway to her lips.
Cassandra sighed deeply, knowing what her daughter was thinking.
"Sit down properly. Don't be so rough, you weren't raised to serve others like some servant."
Her tone was heavy with fatigue, as if she were utterly worn out.
Caitlyn was shaken. She sat down on the sofa obediently, settling into the cushions. It was the first time she had heard her mother speak in such a tone.
So many first times today...
"The world isn't black or white. Real life exists in delicate shades of gray."
"Camille may not be the most admirable person, but her words hold insight. Human nature is just like that."
"Caitlyn, nothing is ever as simple as right or wrong. Your understanding is too shallow, and your worldview too limited."
"With such childish thinking, you can neither be a competent enforcer nor a worthy heir to the House Kiramman. All you'll accomplish is causing trouble."
While brewing tea, she harshly dismantled Caitlyn's spirit without showing mercy.
Caitlyn pressed her lips together. Her delicate face was full of rebellion. She remained utterly unconvinced by her mother's arguments.
Her plan to feign innocence and awaken maternal protectiveness had failed completely, so she dropped the act entirely and pushed back with direct confrontation.
"Maybe to you I seem childish. But I still possess a functioning conscience, I can hear the desperate cries of innocent people."
"But what about you, Mother? Do you still have any conscience left?"
"Marcus, the overseers, the corporate bosses, and that law supporting indentured servitude that ignores human life, what's the real power behind all of them?"
"What could make you, someone once so gentle and kind in my childhood, throw away noble principles, twist the truth so callously, and speak so coldly in front of your own daughter?"
"What are you really afraid of?"
"Jayce has clearly taken our side. Councilor Medarda will back him. If you agree to support us, we'll have three votes."
There was disappointment burning in Caitlyn's eyes. She had never imagined that her own mother was just another cold-blooded politician who cared only about maintaining interests.
And yet, faced with her daughter's harsh moral questioning, Cassandra did not become angry or defensive.
"You really want to know?" Cassandra suddenly asked.
"I want the truth!" Caitlyn replied firmly.
"Very well then."
"I'll teach you something I should've taught you five years ago. As the sole heir to the House Kiramman, your vision must extend far beyond Piltover."
Her tone softened again.
"To explain the inner logic of the indentured labor system, let me ask you a question first: Why has Piltover been able to sustain prosperity for hundreds of years?"
She gazed directly into Caitlyn's eyes as she asked.
"Of course it's because we have the most advanced technology, the best research teams, fearless enforcers, and the full support of Piltover's citizens," Caitlyn replied without hesitation.
"You're being far too idealistic. Enforcers aren't even a proper military force, they're adequate for catching petty thieves and maintaining civil order, perhaps. But serious warfare? Laughable!"
Cassandra's laugh was bitter and mocking.
"Piltover, at its core, is nothing more than a sheep carefully tended by Noxian shepherds."
"Think about why Mel is the most powerful Councilor."
"Because her mother is Ambessa Medarda, a Noxian warlord with actual military strength."
"If not for Quiletta, the one currently stationed in the Piltover and Zaun, being a person of integrity who refrains from excessive exploitation, we would have to pay far more tribute."
"Otherwise, Piltover's situation would be much worse. It wouldn't just be tens of thousands of indentured workers dying, it could be hundreds of thousands, or even millions of our own citizens!"
Cassandra poured a bucket of ice-cold water straight over Caitlyn's burning idealism, leaving her stunned and frozen.
"You're saying we've been paying tribute to Noxus all along? How can that be possible? Then what's the meaningful difference between Piltover and a servant of the Noxian Empire?"
Caitlyn was questioning everything she believed.
"Servant may sound unnecessarily harsh, but it describes our reality with accuracy."
Cassandra admitted it calmly, without even a flicker of emotion.
"You've always wondered why such a cruel, inhumane system like indentured labor exists, haven't you?"
"There are two main reasons behind its creation."
She raised two fingers.
"First: a few years ago, Zaun successfully rose up and broke away from Piltover's direct jurisdiction. Piltover lost both a stable supply of cheap labor and its massive industrial waste disposal system. The economic loss was absolutely devastating."
"Just managing the pollution crisis alone consumed nearly 20% of the city's total fiscal budget."
"Nearly 70% of factory positions went completely unfilled, leading to forced shutdowns and mass bankruptcies. Piltover was desperately hemorrhaging jobs and productivity."
"And to make the situation even worse, Zaun not only took a substantial chunk of what used to be Piltover's exclusive economic pie, but it also unleashed powerful technological advances that flooded the markets with products."
"Piltover urgently needed a massive labor force to restart full production, and it needed to cut costs to remain competitive."
She paused to sip her tea and soothe her throat before continuing.
"Second factor: Noxus and their endless military campaigns."
"They've been waging wars across multiple continents, capturing enormous numbers of war slaves, so many prisoners that they couldn't use them all, so they began selling the surplus."
"As a de facto vassal city to the Noxian Empire, Piltover had absolutely no legal right to refuse these transactions. Half of the total wealth Piltover generates already flows directly into Noxian coffers through various tribute mechanisms."
"With a new rival like Zaun emerging and the necessity of consuming this massive supply of war slaves... What do you think we could have done?"
"If hadn't invented Hextech and opened up two entirely new high-value industries, Hexgates and Hexweapons... We might not even be able to maintain Piltover's facade as the City of Progress."
Cassandra set down her teacup and looked at Caitlyn, speaking slowly and clearly, "Now do you finally understand why I will never sign your documents? You thought you were fighting corrupt cops, greedy overseers, and heartless business owners?"
"No. Those are merely the visible surface symptoms. What you're really fighting against... is Piltover itself, the very city you swore to protect."
Clink!
The expensive imported porcelain teacup in Caitlyn's trembling hand slipped and shattered against the floor, scalding tea soaking into the wool carpet.
She had suspected there were powerful politicians behind the corruption, maybe even her mother or other Council members.
But never, never in her worst nightmares, had she imagined it was Piltover itself.
This...
Cassandra had painted a bleak reality, but Caitlyn still spotted a flaw in the logic.
Even if the indentured labor system couldn't be completely abolished due to geopolitical constraints, it was still entirely possible to improve the treatment of indentured workers, at the very least, to allow them to live like human beings rather than disposable property.
And it wouldn't even cost Piltover any extra money, they simply needed to eliminate the middlemen who profited from human misery.
"Even if the indentured labor system has some degree of rationality, why do we need overseers at all? They are entirely unnecessary for the system to actually function. Removing them wouldn't affect productivity in the slightest."
She hadn't forgotten, Levi and his sister had testified that overseers would literally dismantle disobedient workers into spare parts for profit.
Such inhumane groups needed to be completely wiped out.
"You naive child!"
Cassandra held her forehead, reluctant to say more.
To her, Caitlyn's words were childishly abstract, showing zero political acumen, it gave her a splitting headache.
The House Kiramman was rather unique among Piltover's elite; power and influence were traditionally passed down through the women of each generation.
As the sole heir, Caitlyn was expected to eventually inherit the family's vast business and become a Councilor.
But after years of careful observation and testing, it was painfully clear, Caitlyn simply wasn't suited for politics.
Too naive about human nature, politically tone-deaf, and even lacking in the ability to identify problems.
What she had told Caitlyn earlier had been seriously misleading, especially about "tributes."
Noxus's demands from Piltover were not simple plundering; they were shrewd commercial strategies.
One could even say that Noxus and Piltover complemented each other.
And yet Caitlyn, despite coming from a merchant family, hadn't even noticed such obvious deception. This foolish girl actually believed that Piltover had to surrender half its profits to Noxian.
She also completely lacked the ability to distinguish between emotional manipulation and logical argument. Under her twisted reasoning, her daughter's stance had been seriously shaken.
From originally wanting to abolish the entire indentured labor system and capture all the masterminds behind it, she now only wanted to slightly improve working conditions, and naively believed that removing overseers would somehow solve everything.
All signs pointed to one conclusion: Caitlyn was not fit to govern anything, let alone a major family business.
Perhaps it was time to find her an appropriate marriage alliance with a politically competent partner who could handle the real decision-making?
Otherwise, with such a foolish daughter, the family would sooner or later be devoured by more ruthless competitors until not even their bones remained. It was genuinely worrying for any parent.
For some reason, the image of Cipher suddenly appeared in her mind.
As an angel investor in Zaun's communications industry, she had visited the Undercity more than once for business negotiations. And as both a highly skilled mechanical engineer and seasoned political operator, she had seen through a great many things, but she had said nothing.
Zaun!
She narrowed her eyes. Maybe... maybe it wasn't impossible to make a massive gamble for her daughter's future.
She raised the corners of her mouth in a smile and gave Caitlyn a strange look as she said, "Perhaps I expected too much of you. But fortunately, there's still time to arrange alternative solutions."
Caitlyn blinked in confusion.
What did that mean? Why was she suddenly being dismissed so casually?
"Let me explain how to truly reform the indentured labor system. You..."
Cassandra shook her head. Although she didn't voice it directly, the meaning was crystal clear: you're not up to it.
This matter couldn't possibly be resolved by just Caitlyn and Jayce working on their own.
Before Caitlyn could argue, she continued, "To get this done, relying only on the scattered resistance within Piltover isn't enough. Even combined with the influence of Jayce and Mel, it's still insufficient to oppose all of Piltover."
"In the past, I wouldn't have entertained your foolishness for a moment, but circumstances are different now, we actually have a chance to win this fight. But Caitlyn, you'll have to make a small... personal sacrifice."
"For the future of Piltover, are you willing to accept that sacrifice?"
She took a sip of her black tea, a strange smile on her lips, eyes burning as she stared at Caitlyn.
"Even though I don't quite understand what you're really saying... Are you saying that as long as I'm willing to make some personal sacrifice, you'll help us?"
Caitlyn let out a breath. The situation had inexplicably taken a turn for the better. She felt that, after all the harsh words, her mother still cared about her wellbeing.
"That's right. If you agree, I'll help you," Cassandra affirmed.
"Alright, I agree. No matter what the sacrifice is, I'll accept it."
Caitlyn sat upright, answering her mother with utmost seriousness. Her expression radiated firm resolve in the pursuit of justice, without even a trace of hesitation for her own comfort or safety.
For the moral soul of Piltover, there was absolutely nothing she wouldn't sacrifice.
Sacrificing personal interests to achieve something greater, this had always been the path she pursued.
"Good resolve. Have you ever been to Zaun?"
Cassandra nodded approvingly, then suddenly asked a question that seemed completely unrelated to their discussion.
Caitlyn was utterly confused and answered honestly, "No, never."
"When you have some free time, go visit The Last Drop. It's an interesting establishment, you can learn a lot there."
Cassandra mentioned this as if making casual small talk, then smoothly shifted the conversation topic.
"Our family has always been a business dynasty. Investment is a very important skill. Let me teach you a bit about investment."
She took out a fresh teacup and poured tea for her daughter.
"Our family wealth has accumulated to a certain limit. Continuing to invest solely for monetary returns has become essentially meaningless. We need to invest in assets that hold far greater value, returns that can't be measured by money. That's the only way to ensure the family prospers for generations."
"Caitlyn, what do you think represents the most brilliant kind of investment?"
She handed the teacup to her daughter and posed the question.
"People. The best investment is in people."
Caitlyn accepted the teacup and, after a moment of thought, guessed the correct answer based on what her mother had always valued most highly.
Cassandra had recognized Jayce's potential early on, investing in him consistently over many years, even fostering a deep personal friendship between him and Caitlyn.
That successful investment had brought the House Kiramman great returns, not only in wealth but also a lifelong alliance with a top-tier scientist.
Even if the family were to face serious decline someday, as long as Jayce remained alive and successful, their connection would allow them to rise again. It would only be a matter of time and patience.
"Absolutely correct. It really is always about people and relationships. The two most successful investments of my entire life: one was Jayce, the other was Cipher."
"Both of them brought enormous benefits to our family. Our influence has grown exponentially day by day. Even in the face of major disasters like war, the family's survival wouldn't be seriously threatened."
"Now I'm about to make a third major investment."
"Hmm... the scale of this one is far greater than the previous two. It's easily the biggest investment of my entire life. I'm not completely confident in the outcome, so it's safe to say, it's a gamble."
"So, Caitlyn, are you truly prepared for this?"
Cassandra set down her teacup and looked at Caitlyn with a smiling gaze.
She knew perfectly well that her naive daughter didn't fully understand, there were several layers of meaning carefully hidden in those seemingly simple words.