<h4>Chapter 601: Jacob Hall’s Interrogation</h4>


    <strong>Evaline:</strong>


    The recording ended with a soft click.


    For a moment, no one spoke.


    The silence in the study felt heavier than anything Jacob Hall had said during the interrogation.


    Kieran reached forward, his expression unreadable, and stopped the audio on his phone before slipping the device back into his pocket. The small movement felt oddly loud in the stillness of the room.


    It waste sunday afternoon. The golden light from the setting sun filtered through the tall windows, casting long shadows across the polished wooden floor and the massive desk that dominated one side of the study.


    All five of us were there.


    Me.


    Rowan.


    And the brothers.


    We had just listened to the full recording of Kieran’s questioning of Jacob Hall... the former Silver Moon student who ced the alcohol order at the diner Naira worked under the fake name and address.


    Turned out Jacob was also a member of the same secret student group as Marcus and Carson.


    And the person who had unknowingly brought Naira to the academy the night before her incident.


    My chest felt tight.


    Because now...


    It finally made sense.


    Jacob’s voice still echoed in my head.


    Respectful.


    Nervous.


    Clearly terrified that he was in trouble with the headmaster. Which - technically - he had been.


    "Yes, Headmaster... I-I was told to arrange alcohol for a gathering," he had admitted, his voice strained with anxiety. "We couldn’t leave campus midweek, so I... I ced an order outside town the Sunday before the party week."


    Kieran’s tone in the recording had been calm but firm.


    "You used a false identity."


    "Yes, Headmaster."


    "And a false address."


    "...Yes."


    There had been a long pause.


    I remembered gripping Oscar’s hand tighter at that moment while listening.


    Then Jacob had continued.


    "When the diner employee called Wednesday night, I told her the delivery location had changed. I offered extra payment for the inconvenience and requested her to make the delivery. She eventually agreed."


    My stomach twisted again remembering that part.


    Because that "diner employee" was Naira. Completely unaware that she was stepping into the worst nightmare of her life.


    Jacob had exined how he met her at the small back gate of the academy grounds.


    How he paid her.


    How she had looked around suspiciously at the towering structures, the forested slopes, the mountain air.


    She she wasn’t a local, she might not have realized she was delivering the alcohol to a student at an academy, Silver Moon on top of that, but she definitely sensed something wasn’t right.


    Still, she left the alcohol with him.


    Kieran’s next question in the recording had changed everything.


    "Did she enter the academy grounds?"


    Jacob had sounded confused.


    "No, Headmaster. I collected the delivery and closed the gate. Then I headed straight to our group’s secret meeting spot."


    "You did not see her leave?"


    "...I assumed she left."


    Assumed.


    That word echoed in the study like a hollow drum.


    Then came the question that had made even River tense beside me while we listened earlier.


    "Did you lock the gate from the inside that night?"


    Jacob had hesitated.


    "I... might have, Headmaster. I don’t clearly remember. It’s been so long and I was in a hurry that night."


    His voice had grown more anxious after that.


    "Headmaster... am I in trouble? I-I know what I did break a lot of academy rules-"


    Kieran had cut him off calmly.


    "That is not my concern at the moment."


    And that had been the end of the relevant part.


    Now...


    Sitting in the study with the recording over... the truth settled over us like cold fog.


    "She dide to the academy," Rowan said quietly.


    No one disagreed.


    Because there was nothing left to argue.


    Naira had been at Silver Moom.


    The night before her incident, the night before her soul was snatched away.


    My fingers curled into my palms.


    Which meant...


    She had encountered it.


    <i>The Great Evil.</i>


    A shiver ran through me.


    "She might have entered the Academy that night," I finally spoke the words out loud, "that’s the only possible way she could havee across the Great Evil as it was still trapped under West Tower back then..."


    My voice trailed off.


    My heart felt heavy.


    Because I realized that her curiosity... just curiosity... could have led her into the path of danger.


    Kieran spoke next.


    "Now at least we have confirmed that she indeed came to Silver Moon and somehow got corrupted by the Great Evil that night. And while we still don’t know how exactly she might have fallen victim to the Great Evil that was still sealed away under West Tower, we now know how she ended up bing its first victim."


    No one spoke. Everyone was lost deep in their own thoughts.


    My gaze shifted to Rowan who hadn’t spoken a single word. I reached forward and ced a hand on his knee, pulling him out of his shock.


    Among all of us, he was the one who badly needed answers about Naira’s incident. And now that some of the mystery had been cleared, I could only imagine what he might be thinking.


    He still didn’t say anything, just squeezed my hand back softly to let me know he’s alright... or getting there.


    I shifted my attention to my mates next. "So what’s the next n?"


    Now that we had solved Naira’s case’s mystery to a level, it was time to n our next step. However, I didn’t even know what we were supposed to do next.


    "Next I meet the witches. I’ll also update the council about our recent discoveries."


    Right. The witches.


    "When are you meeting them?" I asked.


    "Thest day of the month. Golda have invited me and Kieran to her house for evening tea." River revealed the date and it turned out to be over two weeks away.


    So there wasn’t much we could do until River and Kieran met with the witches.


    I just hopes the meeting would result in a sess and not brought us back to square one. We needed witches on our side.


    Before any if us could have spoken, someone knocked on the study door.