[You are no longer apprenticed to Obern Dell.]

Even as Lan heard the words, he did not understand them right away. When they finally sank in, time seemed to lose all meaning and rhythm. Before he knew it, Lan was moving forward. Every fibre of his being screamed that he needed to stop this from happening. Why was this happening? Arms grabbed him as Lan fought to scream.

Dell couldn’t just do this, not after all he has done, not after ten Light damn years of his life. But all that came out was a hollow.

‘Why?’

Even still, it was all Dell needed for one last humiliation.

‘The son of a low noble in the merchant business has taken a liking to Eliza, and so you are no longer needed. I would be a fool not to, and from what I have heard, Eliza seems happy for the first time in years.’ Even though Lan knew that was a lie, the words hit him like a punch to the gut.’

‘Lies…’

Dell smiled. ‘What? Do you think she could really be happy with a fool who couldn’t become a merchant in ten years of trying? No wonder she ran into the arms of anyone that was a fraction better than you.’

‘I have only been an apprentice because you never showed me anything!’ Lan spat, all the anger He had been burying for a decade rushing out. Even for a sick joke, this was too far. ‘Why put me through all this just to throw me away?’

‘As I told you years ago, I needed an heir. When I couldn’t find anyone worthy enough, I decided to pick some backwater trash pawn too stupid to betray me until I found someone better.’ he shrugged. ‘Just in time, too.’ Dell grinned as Lan felt like he would be sick. ‘Did you think that I couldn’t see your… progress. Oh, and you can keep that money you thought you were hiding. Think of it as a parting gift, in hopes that you can find another Merchant to Apprentice under. Although you will need it for your travel expenses to find someone in this or any kingdom that will take a twenty-two-year-old Apprentice.’

As if watching the curtains close on a play, Lan watched as he was slowly dragged from the storehouse before being left to stand there as the workers filed back in and closed the large red doors. The sound of the doors closing, along with a slow return of sounds of people going about their day, filled his mind.

Suddenly, Lan broke out in a dead run, knocking the bucket of potatoes out of a man’s arms as he tripped and rammed past him. He had to get back; even if everything else Dell had said was true, there was no way that Eliza would ever go along with it.

Reaching the three-story house that Lan had begrudgingly called his home. He unlocked it with his key and threw it open. To find… nothing. She wasn’t there. Even though she was always home at this time, Lan searched the whole house and found no one, not even the maid.

It was almost lunchtime. There hadn’t been a day they didn’t eat together after she had learned to cook. Despair clashed with his waning ability of disbelief. There was just no way what Dell said about her could be true. It just didn’t make any sense. That Eliza…

Even though their relationship had been a little uncomfortable in the beginning. Learning what was expected of them had been overwhelming at such a young age, and there were a few times in which Lan hadn’t been so sure that he could be with her, and He was sure she must have felt the same about him. But in time, they had begun to confide in each other, things they didn’t think anyone else could relate to.

So many times, He would have run away if not for her being the only glimmer of light in this oppressive void of an existence. And Lan knew it wasn’t one-sided.

The number of times she had cried to him about some new level of unreasonableness her father and mother had dreamed up about their expectations of her, Lan had lost count.

More than that, back before, her father's treatment had turned him into the hollow shell he was now. Even if a girl looked Lan’s way and he happened to notice, she would pout for days. Their first time together had been when she snuck into his room after he had been away from the house for a year. He couldn’t believe all of it had been a lie.

Lan found himself back in the doorway, and for an hour, he just stood there, hoping he would hear her call out to him. His legs must have given out as he found himself kneeling at the doorway at some point.

When Lan realised the sun had set, he sat with his back against the wall, hugging his knees. Hopelessly, Lan rose and headed to his room. The money he had been able to save. He had hidden it in a lockbox under a loose board.

Five silver coins… the only thing he had to show for ten years of work. Just enough to buy a pair of cheap boots. As he stood, Lan made the mistake of looking into the mirror across from his bed.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

Red bloodshot eyes set in deep dark circles stood in contrast against pale white skin like off-milk, framed in a gaunt face. His eyes looked like dull rocks, and his hair was a mess. Lan would have laughed if he remembered how, as he looked at the fruit of ten years of his life, and it looked back at him.

Sickened by what he saw, Lan moved to leave, pausing at the door as he saw the four small knuckle depressions in the door's wood frame. Every morning, a younger Lan would punch it, sometimes to the point of bleeding before he could face Dell without attacking him. But it had been a long time since then.

Lan had told himself there was no point when all He was doing was hurting himself. Lan moved to touch the dents but stopped before he could, almost as if he couldn’t even interact with a mark made by a better person.

He wasn’t sure how, but he found himself standing outside his family home before he knew it.

It was only normal, but Lan couldn’t help but notice how small the door was now since he last saw it. As part of his apprenticeship, Dell said Lan couldn’t see his family, so he had written to them every day for the first year but had never received a letter back.

Would anyone even answer now? He thought for a moment before fighting down the thought. Knocking on the door, Lan was greeted by his father. He hadn’t aged a day since the last time Lan saw him, but his eyes were different, cold, distant and unsurprised.

Lan couldn’t bring himself to look into them, and he knew why they were like this. The day before, Lan was set to move in with Dell and Eliza. His father had brought up the fact that he didn’t have to go through with the betrothal if he didn’t want to. Reeling from an endless barrage from Dell and his feelings boiling, Lan had lashed out, thinking his father didn’t believe he could become a merchant.

What he had said had hurt his father, but Lan didn’t know how to fix it and never had the chance to apologise.

Without a word, he motioned Lan in, and Lan jumped as his mother wrapped him in a hug.

‘It’s good to see you, my sweet,’ she said with a forced smile that only made the pain in her eyes so much clearer. She, too, hadn’t changed, and it hurt Lan the most that, at that moment, she looked the very image of the last time they had seen each other, her trying to put on a brave face and failing and him unable to talk at all.

They ate without saying a word, and Silus stared angrily at his plate the whole time. His father looked off into the distance while Lan’s mother tried to start up a conversation. After failing a few times, she perked up.

‘Oh, we got a letter from Cara today. It seems like she is doing well. The school seems to have taken a shine to her, and your grandmother said that they would definitely accept her.’ She said before waiting for an answer.

‘Who is Cara?’ Lan asked, and for the first time, everyone at the table looked at him.

‘Ca… Cara is your sister. She was born a year after you left.’ Lan's mother managed. The fixed smile she tried to put on fractured at the edges as Lan felt like he would throw up. ‘We always talked about her in the letters, remember?’ And for the second time that day, he felt like he had been punched in the stomach. For moments that wouldn’t end, Lan just sat there as emotions battled inside him.

He had a sister… who was already nine years old. They had written to him.

‘Did you even read the letters?’ Silus sneered at his older brother.

Somewhere in his subconsciousness, Lan felt a spark of joy that he had grown out of his shyness before the weight of the words crashed down on him.

‘I never received any letters.’ Lan said, his hollow words filled with pain and shame. His mother let off a shuddering gasp before covering her mouth as Lan’s father simultaneously breathed in deeply and looked away, and Silus just stood, knocking his chair over as he stormed out. Shortly after, his father left the table.

And Lan listened as his mother tried to make talking about his sister, whom he didn’t know, seem like a normal topic of conversation. Caraline Cross was indeed nine years old. Aside from being the spitting image of their mother with her father’s hair and eyes, she was said to have a talent for magic and was currently visiting the capital with her grandparents after being scouted by a passing mage.

Although she couldn’t join until she was older, the mage had seen enough potential to provide a note of introduction. She didn’t say it, but it seemed like they were a little more hesitant to send another child off, so their grandparents had taken her.

Although Lan was ashamed to admit it, he was happy when he finally got away and could hide in his old room. So much had changed, which only made it hurt more to see the things that hadn’t, as it made it clear that nothing could ever be the same again. Much worse, he had a sister… he always had tried to be a good older brother, but he was worse than he ever thought possible.

Even if Dell had hidden the letters. He had let himself believe that his family had never written to him, and he had stopped trying to visit after the tenth time Dell had caught him and had the workers teach him a lesson, even if Liza had begged him not to try again until her father gave him permission, and even if living in the village his whole world had quickly become nothing but the walls of Dell’s home and the red paint of the warehouse, it was his fault because he had listened.

‘So, what are you going to do now?’ Lan’s father asked as Lan forced himself to eat breakfast the next morning. Lan blinked, surprised by any auditory stimuli.

‘I… I’ll find another merchant and explain what happened. It’s not like they will need to train me. All I need is a little more experience. Not even a day's worth.’ Lan all but whispered. It was the first thing Lan had said all day, and it almost felt strange to do that much. He got an unconvinced grunt as a response.

‘Then you should get on that already.’ Silus snapped. Before going back to angrily shoving food into his mouth. ‘I am sure that you are eager to return to it, and I know we will be happy when things are back to normal.’ Silus flinched as their father's head snapped over to him. Even still, their father didn’t contradict him. Because Lan didn’t think he could, he wasn’t the type to lie.

Already not having an appetite, Lan felt himself losing the will to force the food down and stood. ‘I should start looking then.’ Lan said, passing his mother at the door as she brought in more bread. Still wearing the same pained smile, she told him to be careful and closed the door as he left.

Lan spent the whole day in the Market District trying to find a merchant willing to listen to his story. Half the stores in the village wouldn’t even let him in. No doubt, having already been warned off by Dell, Lan headed into the city with no other choice.