The Insane Regressor: Throne of Pride

Once they realized that silence would not save them and that they had to see this ordeal through, the others began pulling themselves together in search of a way to get them all out of the nightmare.

”To the table. We’re not leaving until we’ve reorganized everything,” Aldric said firmly, the sternness in his eyes deepening, though no one knew whether it was because the group had so little evidence or because Talia was dead.

He was the first to move, with Ravian following almost immediately.

Bran followed them, then Garrick, while Mirai remained where she was for a moment before stepping forward as well.

Sylvan alone remained standing where he had given his testimony, while Ravian glanced subtly in his direction to draw the others’ attention to him.

Sure enough, Aldric followed Ravian’s gaze and found Sylvan still standing there in utter silence.

”Sylvan,” Aldric called.

Sylvan slowly raised his head, then walked over and sat down without looking at anyone or saying a word.

As soon as they had all gathered around the table, the burly Garrick said, ”The fact that Talia’s accusation failed doesn’t mean she was wrong about Mirai.”

His eyes were fixed on Mirai with unmistakable suspicion.

’What an idiot.’ Ravian regarded him out of the corner of his eye before leaning back in his chair and silently closing his eyes.

All eyes shifted to Mirai, curious to hear her response.

Mirai remained standing at the edge of the table instead of sitting down, her cold, bored gaze sliding toward Garrick.

”What it does mean is that she tried to accuse and kill me without having enough evidence to prove her accusation,” she replied, her cold tone matching the expression on her face.

”She was only missing one witness,” Garrick retorted, narrowing his eyes at Mirai.

”And she was missing proof that any communication had taken place in the first place; it was a foolish accusation.”

Garrick slammed his palm against the table.

”You hold the keys to every room because you’re the head maid. You placed the wax together with Aldric and Sylvan, and now Kaiden has died inside his isolated room with its door locked!”

Everyone fell silent before Garrick’s outburst. His suspicion lacked proof, but the circumstances gave it enough weight that no one could dismiss it outright.

Yet Mirai’s expression did not change in the slightest. Instead, she maintained her composure and said, ”Aldric was with me.”

She gestured toward the elderly Aldric.

Aldric nodded in agreement with her point. Despite his own suspicions, he had not witnessed any clear communication between her and Kaiden before.

”That’s the only reason you’re still alive,” Garrick said, his brows drawn together.

Mirai’s eyes hardened. What Garrick had just said did not fit the situation.

’Is he a fool?’ Mirai thought, fixing Garrick with a genuinely accusatory look.

But was he truly one?

Before she could answer him, Ravian smiled, rested one hand against his face, and opened his eyes before intervening.

”A false accusation doesn’t prove the accused guilty, and none of us can afford to jump to conclusions now, either,” Ravian said.

”Rayan! Are we going to keep saying that we shouldn’t jump to conclusions until we all die at the hands of that damned Killer?!” Garrick demanded in his deep voice, with the fear of what lay ahead plain in his eyes—the fear that he might be next.

Aldric turned his head slightly toward him, seeming to agree somewhat with what Garrick was saying. Staying silent for too long would squander their chances, especially since one of them had died every night so far; in fact, a third had died before the third night had even fallen.

”I haven’t finished what I want to say, Garrick,” Ravian said before continuing calmly. ”A false accusation does not prove the accused guilty, nor does it prove the accused innocent. All the trial proved was that Talia could not provide two witnesses who could confirm that any genuine communication had taken place; any conclusion beyond that is nothing but conjecture.”

”And that’s the problem now, because all we have is a collection of suspicions without a single clear piece of evidence that would justify taking the risk,” Ravian continued, meeting the eyes of each of the five in turn as though confirming every point with his gaze before giving it voice.

Garrick continued to frown, but he could find no objection to Ravian’s words.

Aldric looked at Ravian for a moment. He had considered many possibilities and approaches, but none of them amounted to enough evidence to accuse any one person, and that was what troubled them all each night.

”That’s true. We’ll keep our suspicions, but no one is to call another trial until they have enough evidence to support an accusation. We can’t afford another loss now,” Aldric said, warning the entire group even as he knew that the Killer was sitting in one of those chairs, enjoying their current confusion.

Sylvan lowered his head even further.

”If only I had gone with them...” he said, his voice faint but still audible.

Mirai turned toward him.

”What?”

”If I’d gone with you and Aldric to inspect Kaiden’s pipe, Talia would still be alive.”

Ravian turned toward him and straightened in his seat.

Mirai then said, ”She would have died even if you had been with us. I’m not the Killer, after all.”

”That’s exactly what the Killer would say.”

”That’s—” Mirai was about to speak when she was interrupted again.

”Stop that nonsense. None of us is going to fall for this disgusting act of yours,” Ravian said, looking at Sylvan with unmistakable contempt in his crimson eyes.

Mirai stopped and turned toward Ravian.

Everyone’s gaze shifted back to him.

Ravian said, ”I summoned him because the supply records were tied to the kitchen and because the storeroom was his responsibility. I didn’t know Talia would call a trial the following day. But...”

”Even after he finished, he didn’t leave to catch up with them right away. Instead, he lingered in the office for a while, then came out slowly, wasting time because he was afraid Kaiden might be the Killer and target him,” Ravian continued. ”Isn’t that right?”

”What? What kind of nonsense is that?! I hurried after them as soon as I finished!” Sylvan said, the sorrow vanishing from his face in an instant as defensiveness took its place.

At that moment, Ravian smiled at Sylvan.

”There you are. That’s the real you, Sylvan—the one who’s afraid of dying, afraid of being suspected, and afraid of being cast out by the rest of the group. So stop pretending to be an angel among us. It disgusts me,” Ravian said, his smile giving way to disgust as he stared at Sylvan.

”That’s a lie—” Sylvan tried to defend himself.

”It’s true. You returned when we were nearly finished. Why did you take so long just to review a few statistics?” Aldric said this time, and the suspicion in everyone’s eyes gave way to reproach.

Sylvan froze beneath their reproachful gazes before looking back at Ravian.

Sylvan swallowed hard as he stared at Ravian’s calm, imposing expression, which, for some reason, frightened him more than Garrick—the largest and most violent person there.