Chapter 4: Declared Dead

To protect him, he was buried alive in another name.

City lights shimmered across the window, casting fractured shadows onto the glass.

Inside the car, silence lingered.

Mr. Zane didn't speak.

Elric didn't ask.

Reclining in his seat, Mr. Zane stared out at the city.

His gaze seemed distant, detached.

But the slight furrow in his brows betrayed him—he was thinking.

Or hiding from something.

**

He remembered another night, years ago.

He had been in a different car, wearing the same silence, staring at a different city.

His father was still alive then—

a man who believed in honor and brotherhood.

But that faith was the very thing that destroyed them.

One night was all it took—

friends turned, creditors came knocking, his mother fell ill, and relatives vanished.

He had to claw his way out of the ruins alone,

learning to survive in the darkest corners of the world.

"Stay clean, and you'll stay poor."

That's what someone told him at the docks—

the first time he was denied a deal.

He remembered.

And he agreed.

**

He didn't rise from luck.

He rose from silence—

from days without a name, from nights spent running numbers for men who never looked him in the eye.

He watched, he learned, he adapted.

Because no one was coming to open doors for him.

**

He hadn't married for love.

He married because the woman's father owned a vital part of the industry.

And the offer had been simple:

"Marry her, and I'll treat you like my own."

He nodded.

But in his heart, he drew a line:

He would never trade in people.

No trafficking.

No disappearances.

He believed everyone should keep at least one card hidden.

That would be his.

**

Until Elric disappeared.

And the investigation pointed inward—

to someone inside his own house.

He knew who it was.

He knew why it was done.

He didn't react.

He just replaced people, reshuffled the structure.

But he also knew:

the boy who returned would no longer be the same.

**

He looked at Elric now.

The boy leaned against the window, his expression too calm for someone his age.

Something shifted in Mr. Zane's chest.

He spoke, his voice low:

"Hate me if you want. Blame me if it helps."

"The world doesn't clean itself up just because you cry."

His tone was flat. A rule, not an apology.

He pulled a candy from his pocket and held it out.

"If you want clarity, you'll need to see the world sooner than most."

A pause. Then softer:

"But don't let yourself go numb too fast."

Elric didn't take the candy.

He didn't nod.

He didn't refuse.

He just kept looking out the window, silent.

**

The night stretched on.

And when Mr. Zane finally closed his eyes,

he could still feel the boy's gaze on him—

steady, restrained, unreadable.

Yet somehow, it said:

"I know you chose me."

—

[Chapter Prologue]

We often think we're following someone else's design.

But some paths are paved by the silent nods we give.