Arcane: Thicker Than Blood

Silco worked for an hour to prepare dinner. Steam rose from various pots and pans as he moved through the kitchen. The rich aroma of roasted meat and fresh bread filled the air.

By the time he finished, Mylo and Claggor had already returned home. Together, the family brought the dishes to the table.

Compared to the meal Cipher prepared on the day he seized power, tonight's dinner was much more extravagant, complete with pre-dinner desserts and hot drinks.

The difference was meaningful. Cipher's previous meal reflected the typical dinner of an ordinary Piltover family, symbolizing his hope that the children of Zaun would one day reach Piltover's standard of living.

Silco, however, prepared a meal resembling that of a small Piltover business owner's dinner.

Clearly, with Zaun receiving massive investments from various factions, its industrial system was gradually being set on the right track, and its armed forces were seeing significant improvements.

He could now realistically envision Zaun surpassing Piltover. He wanted Zaun to achieve even more.

Unlike Cipher, who sought a stable and gradual transition, his ambitions had always been more radical. The very way he arranged the food showed his desire to reach beyond mere equality.

The family sat down at the table, with Vander and Silco seated side by side in the positions of the heads of the family. Next to them were Sevika and Cipher.

This arrangement wasn't a reflection of authority within the household but rather a recognition of seniority.

Every family member was treated equally. What mattered most was mutual respect.

The children could sit wherever they wanted. After all, they were still considered minors within the family, deserving of care and protection.

They shuffled around, finding their preferred spots.

"I'm staying right here," Vi declared, still clinging to Cipher.

"Me too!" Powder echoed, her small hands gripping her his sleeve.

Vander was long used to this and acted as if he didn't notice.

Silco, however, frowned—not because he thought Vi and Powder were being disrespectful, but because Zaun's children were all naturally mischievous.

Powder was still young, so it didn't matter, but Vi was getting too old for such behavior.

Each day she clung to childhood was another day unprepared for Zaun's harsh reality.

In the Zaun of the past, someone her age would already have to fend for themselves.

Still, since Silco had only recently reintegrated into The Last Drop, his relationships with the others were still relatively superficial. It wasn't the right time to bring up such concerns.

He decided he would talk to the rough-and-tough Vander in private sometime. Vi was growing up, and they needed to plan for her future. It wasn't proper for her to cling to her brother like this all the time—it might harm her reputation.

But for now, only Vander could say something. Even Cipher wasn't in a position to intervene, as it would easily lead to misunderstandings with Vi.

The dynamics of a large family and a small family were fundamentally different. The bonds here were intimate, personal, forged in shared struggles and triumphs.

Though Cipher was the decision-maker for Zaun as a whole, making policies for the city, Vander held the highest seniority within this small family at The Last Drop.

For sensitive matters like this, only he could handle them. His understanding of each family member ran deep as the mines they'd once worked.

So, when it came to matters within the family, even Cipher had to respect the head of the household. If he disagreed, he could only reason it out with Vander privately.

"Everyone's had a busy day. You must be starving. Let's eat!"

With Vander taking the first bite, the rest of the family began to eat in earnest.

He might not have been a qualified leader for a large family, but as the head of this small family, he had always done an excellent job.

This man, with the body of a bear and the fists of a heavyweight champion, had a surprisingly gentle and soft temperament.

Everyone in the family respected him, even Silco, who had once been at odds with him.

"Cipher, I want to eat that!" Powder's eyes widened as she pointed at the frosty, creamy thing.

She didn't know the name since this was her first time seeing it, but her mouth watered just looking at it.

"This is called ice cream. It's cold, so eating too much might upset your stomach. One scoop now, maybe another later if you're good," Cipher explained, handing her a small portion.

This was something you couldn't find in the Undercity. Silco wasn't particularly fond of sweets, so he must have gone out of his way to learn how to make it recently.

"Vi, what do you want to eat? I'll get it for you."

Vi had always been close to Cipher, but she rarely clung to him like this. It felt as though she'd been affected by something.

He decided he needed to pay more attention to her. Because of her tomboyish nature, he had often neglected her emotional well-being, leaving her to grow like a weed—wild and untamed.

When Vi heard Cipher's question, she didn't answer. However, her eyes lit up, and she nudged him, signaling him to look at Sevika, who was adding ice cubes to her cup.

Cipher immediately understood—the focus wasn't on Sevika, but on the glass with ice cubes in it. That was the glass she used to drink hard liquor.

Vi wanted to drink alcohol.

When she was 10, she had secretly drunk Vander's liquor, gotten drunk, and caused a scene, only to be taught a memorable lesson by his iron-fisted but fatherly discipline.

"No alcohol. Here's some coffee instead," Cipher said firmly, placing a cup of milk and sugar-laden coffee in front of her.

At such a young age, she had no business drinking alcohol. It was better for her to try some coffee imported from Shurima.

Tea would have been a better option, but they didn't have any. Tea was produced in Ionia, outrageously expensive, and only affordable to the upper class in Piltover.

On the other side of the table, Silco pulled out one of Vander's prized bottles and poured Sevika a full glass, much to her delight.

Then, he prepared another glass, adding ice cubes and filling it with liquor before handing it to Vander, who was busy devouring his meal.

"Thanks," Vander mumbled through a mouthful of food. He'd been working hard at the construction site all day and was famished.

But as soon as he took a gulp of the liquor to help wash down his food, his face darkened.

This was his treasured bottle of Soulflame, a fiery liquor from Noxus, often called the "Elixir of Life" and a true badge of manhood.

The rich flavor, smooth yet potent, was a masterpiece he had kept hidden for over a decade.

"How much of my liquor did you pour, Silco?" Vander turned to see Silco downing half a glass in one gulp before refilling Sevika's glass and pouring himself another half-glass.

"Don't bother me with those details. No matter how good the liquor is, it's meant to be drunk, isn't it?"

"Today's a happy day, Vander. Come on, cheers!"

Silco, his face already flushed, raised his unsteady glass toward Vander for a toast. The fiery liquor burned less than the memories, but its warmth spread further, reaching places old wounds had long kept cold.

He wasn't a heavy drinker, certainly not on Vander or Sevika's level. Half a glass of Soulflame had left him red-faced and tipsy, teetering on the edge of drunkenness.

Meanwhile, Sevika, who had already downed a full glass, looked entirely unaffected. She was calmly eating some food to prepare for another round.

The bottle Silco had brought out was from Vander's top-tier collection, its storage location so secret that even the sharp-witted Cipher had no idea where it was hidden.

"You're right. Liquor is meant to be drunk. Even the best liquor isn't an exception."

"To family," Silco raised his glass again.

"To family, and to Zaun," Vander replied, clinking his glass with Silco's.

The two men drank, but this time they didn't down it in one go. Instead, they sipped in a tacit, unspoken understanding.

If Silco kept chugging like before, he'd end up passed out under the table.

There were many things that adults left unsaid, but many more that didn't need to be spoken aloud—they simply understood each other.

Vander, knowing Silco's limits, could tell he was already more than a little drunk, with about seven-tenths of his senses dulled.

For the first time in years, he felt relieved. After all these years, after everything that happened on that bridge... he's finally home.

The heavy weight of guilt and sorrow he'd carried for so long seemed to dissolve with the fiery liquor in his stomach.

Because Silco was drunk—drunk here, in The Last Drop, Vander's home base.

It was a clear sign that Silco had completely forgiven him.

At this moment, they were truly family again.

Brothers who had once crawled out of the pitch-black mines together, bonded by life-and-death camaraderie, had become bitter enemies after the incident on the bridge.

But now, a new bridge—a true bridge of progress—had brought them back together.

Once again, the brothers were fighting side by side for a brighter future.