In Ender’s mind, the question lingered.
“…I’ll have no choice but to do it.”
Ender slowly recalled his original intentions.
He hadn’t yet forgotten that feeling—the determination not to give up on his students, no matter what.
How can anyone claim the darkness within students is too deep?
‘Isn’t it our role to guide that darkness into the light?’
With that resolve, Ender headed to the conference room to discuss his future class policy.
***
“…Lady Reina, what are you doing?”
“I don’t know what you mean. Are you trying to say I did something wrong?”
Reina glanced at me, her eyes cold.
My head spun at how different she was from the girl I once knew.
“What I did was pointing out the mistake of a special student who came from a commoner’s background. I’m the victim here. If even this much can’t be said aloud, then what else would we be able to speak freely.”
“That’s not logical—that’s just verbal abuse.”
“Even if someone considers it verbal abuse, I believe I’m in the position to make such a statement.”
Is the person standing in front of me truly the Reina I once knew?
That question echoed in my mind.
“Um, excuse me… It’s all my fault.”
Sophia, standing beside Reina, bowed deeply.
Reina glanced at her, then turned back to me.
“See, Young Master Ike? If I hadn’t spoken up, would she have even realized her mistake?”
“I’m sorry. I’m really sorry…”
Sophia bowed again and again.
Reina glared at her.
Three years ago… It was a similar situation, like when we went to the market.
So why did this feel so different now?
“Sorry…”
“Yes. Lady Reina is right—she did make a mistake.”
Sophia’s body trembled at my words.
“But that doesn’t mean she should be subjected to one-sided verbal abuse.”
“…What?”
“Go back to the dormitory.”
“But, this—”
“It’s fine. Go back quickly. There won’t be any problems—don’t worry.”
“Ah… I understand. Thank you.”
Sophia bowed to both Reina and me before hurrying out of the garden.
“At times like this, if you don’t point out mistakes clearly, they’ll just be repeated. When someone makes a mistake, their credibility drops, and eventually, it catches up to them. Young Master Ike, don’t you know that?”
Once Sophia had disappeared completely, Reina spoke again.
“You may be right. But what you just did was still wrong.”
“…Is that so? In the end, everyone ends up leaving my side.”
“What?”
“Nothing. Young Master Ike was just another liar, after all.”
Reina slowly folded her mat and closed the book she had been reading. Her actions made it clear: she had nothing more to say.
“Young Master Ike, we’re 17 now. Soon, we’ll be considered adults. So from now on, let’s speak with formality.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I’m the fiancée of His Highness the Crown Prince. Even if we’re alone, don’t forget that fact.”
She didn’t wait for my response.
Reina turned her back to me.
The meaning was clear.
Even if we were ever alone again, she had no intention of speaking casually with me.
Why had it come to this?
I knew it was wishful thinking to expect everything to go smoothly in the future.
Still, I had hoped to make the best of it. So how did everything become so tangled?
No… This wasn’t just tangled.
This was a completely different story from the one I thought I knew.
“Is he the only one I can ask?”
Someone who might understand what was happening.
No matter how many solutions I thought through, he was the only one who came to mind.
***
“Can you tell me about Lady Reina?”
“Yes.”
The crown prince slowly placed his cup of black tea on the desk.
“If it’s about her, you probably know more than I do, Ike.”
“I haven’t seen Lady Reina in three years. But I heard Your Highness spoke with her just last month.”
“That’s true. But I can assure you, there’s very little I can tell you. Honestly, I didn’t expect you to come in person—but you might be barking up the wrong tree.”
“That’s fine.”
At my reply, the crown prince sighed and placed the saber he had been toying with into its sheath.
His expression showed clear reluctance.
“You and Lady Reina are called childhood friends, but after the Heros Knight Competition three years ago, you stopped seeing each other. That was to avoid complications in my engagement. You’re aware of this, right?”
“Yes.”
“Then, let me ask—how many times do you think Reina and I have met alone since the competition?”
Reina had said her relationship with the Crown Prince was fine. And she claimed they had met as recently as last month.
“No matter what, you must’ve met at least once every three weeks.”
“Wrong. Twice.”
“…What?”
“I met Lady Reina only twice in the past three years. Once right after the finals of the Knight Competition. And once last month. Both times, we simply had tea and parted ways.”
I couldn’t say anything in response.
“I did wonder if she disliked me, but Duke Richard said that wasn’t the case.”
What was happening in this story?
I couldn’t understand it at all.
“As I said before, Ike—there’s very little I can tell you.”
The prince gave a faint, bitter smile.