The Insane Regressor: Throne of Pride

"They’re fine. Fine, and a little angry," Lysandra said.

She was still at a loss over everything she’d heard from Ravian, but she had confirmed every last thing she had wanted to hear.

"I can deal with anger," Ravian replied, remembering his squad back at the border.

"Claria thought you were dead," Lysandra said suddenly.

Ravian’s gaze settled on her.

"Kael wanted to go out searching for you on his own, and Malrik had to stop him," Lysandra continued. "And Sir Karius never told anyone what he found inside that forest, but not for one single moment did he behave like a man who believed you had left of your own will and weren’t coming back."

Ravian felt a small weight settle inside his chest.

"I don’t even know why they care about someone they only knew for a few days," Lysandra said in genuine bewilderment.

"I don’t know what it is about you—what makes you different—that pulls people toward you," Lysandra went on, her scowl deepening.

Ravian didn’t answer; he simply kept looking at her, a little taken aback by this sudden fit of irritation that had come out of nowhere.

"Is it that pride of yours, in spite of how frail you were?" Lysandra said, more as a guess than a question.

"Or is it out of pity, because you were the youngest one there?"

Even she didn’t know. It simply seemed as though Ravian had that particular presence that made everyone else wait to see what his next move would be.

They worried when he vanished, as though they had lost something. And yet whenever she tried to think about where that feeling actually came from, she could hardly come up with an answer at all.

Ravian kept looking at her and gave her the space to speak, and when she stopped...

"I think it’s just that I happen to have a supernaturally handsome face, which makes them all fall straight into the trap of my charm," Ravian said with feigned conceit, sweeping his hair back with his right hand.

Then he looked at Lysandra and found her staring at him in disgust.

"Ahem. My apologies," Ravian said.

And that was when he caught a smile briefly forming on Lysandra’s lips, though she hid it quickly enough.

Ravian didn’t want to comment on it, so as not to embarrass her, but he remembered the sort of person she was all the same.

Then silence fell between them again, particularly on Ravian’s side.

Nothing showed on his face, but Lysandra noticed the silence stretching on longer than it should have.

"I should have sent word to all of you," he said at last.

"You should have come back," Lysandra corrected him.

"If I’d come back in the state I was in then, I might not be standing in front of you now."

"And you might have been standing in front of me eight days ago, instead of all of us believing you’d died in that forest and were never coming back."

Her voice didn’t rise.

But her words landed with far more precision than any amount of shouting could have.

Ravian looked at her in silence.

"I apologize," Ravian said at last, though no regret showed in his eyes.

It looked more as though he were simply fulfilling an obligation.

Lysandra hadn’t expected the word, and it showed in her eyes.

"But I won’t lie to you," Ravian continued. "If I went back to that same moment with the information I had at the time, I would run again."

The coldness returned to Lysandra’s face.

"Your apology is a terrible one," she said.

"But it’s an honest one." Ravian shrugged in response.

"Tsk. And that’s exactly what makes it more irritating." Lysandra let out an annoyed snort.

A trace of a smile appeared on Ravian’s lips, but he hid it quickly when he caught the look she was giving him.

Then Lysandra’s gaze moved toward the manor behind him.

"And that heart you got hold of?"

"Part of the deal between me and the Earl," Ravian said, following her gaze toward the manor.

She looked back at him.

"What deal?"

Ravian brought his gaze back to her.

"Just a small deal between me and the Earl. I’ll make use of it to carry out a few things I want to do."

For all the words Ravian had used, he had given her no useful information at all.

And this was simply Ravian’s way of putting the other party at ease without giving them exactly what they wanted.

Lysandra closed her eyes for one brief moment, as though stopping herself from saying something she might regret.

And when she opened them again, her decision had already been made.

"Three days," she said at last.

Ravian raised an eyebrow.

"What?" he asked.

"You have three days," Lysandra said. "You have the two days you promised House Viola you’d stay, and the third day to get yourself back to the City of Light."

"You know this isn’t just a matter of time," Ravian said, and his expression seemed to turn colder for a moment.

"I don’t care," Lysandra said.

And she meant it. She wanted Ravian back as soon as possible.

What he had caused had to be put right. And he was the one who had to do it.

And Ravian knew that better than anyone and had already decided to go back, though not that quickly.

"I may need to stay in the capital," he said.

"Finish whatever you need to finish, then go back to Sir Karius yourself and tell him as much as you’re able to tell him," Lysandra replied.

"And if I don’t?" Ravian raised an eyebrow in curiosity.

"I’ll tell him I found you, and I’ll give him the place where I saw you and the name you were using when I saw you," Lysandra said. "And after that, you can try running from him yourself."

Ravian smiled faintly.

"A harsh threat," he said. "And I don’t like threats, Lysandra."

Lysandra hesitated, though only for the briefest of moments.

"It isn’t a threat," she said in the end, and her expression softened.

She paused for an instant before continuing:

"Don’t force me to choose between keeping your secret and my duty toward the people who are still out there looking for you."

Ravian’s smile disappeared.

He looked at her for a long moment, then nodded.

"Three days," he said.

"Is that a promise?" she asked, slightly surprised.

"I’ll be back within three days," Ravian confirmed.

Lysandra kept her gaze fixed on him, as though trying to make certain he hadn’t left some hidden gap in his words.

But he hadn’t.

This time, he had given her a clear promise.

She nodded, then turned and began walking away from the manor.

She didn’t head toward its gate, and she didn’t ask to be escorted back inside; she took the road that led to the main street.

"Lysandra," Ravian called after her.

She stopped, but she didn’t turn all the way around.

"Thank you for not putting my name in that report," he said with a faint smile.

She remained silent for a moment.

"Come back on time, and then thank me," she said.

She started walking again, and after several steps, she added without looking back:

"And I’m glad you’re still alive."

Lysandra didn’t wait for him to reply.

She disappeared at the end of the street, leaving him standing alone in front of the wall of Viola Manor.

He continued looking at the place where she had disappeared for several seconds.

Then he turned his gaze back to the manor gate.

Three days.

That was all he had left before he went back to face the things he had left behind.

It was enough, considering what he had planned...

And the plan to bring Lysandra over to his side had ultimately succeeded, by the look of it.

And Ravian was certain that even if he didn’t come back within three days, Lysandra wouldn’t breathe a single word about what had passed between them or about having seen him at all.

That was simply the sort of person Lysandra was, in the end.

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!