“Ike.”
After the attribute magic class, the Crown Prince unexpectedly came to visit me.
“Were you watching earlier?”
“…Yes.”
“I don’t think Miss Reina was merely pointing out Miss Sophia’s behavior. What do you think?”
He was right.
The reason Reina called out Sophia in the first place was simple—jealousy.
She was envious of how close the Crown Prince seemed to be with Sophia. But Reina couldn’t voice that openly to him. It would be a breach of etiquette to expose someone’s true intentions so directly.
“Your Highness and Miss Reina are clearly engaged. If you’re seen embracing another woman in public, it could damage your reputation. Perhaps Reina was simply concerned about that.”
“I said I only caught Miss Sophia as she was about to fall. That there were no ulterior motives.”
“Even if it was unintentional… rumors have a way of spreading regardless.”
“…You do sound very convincing when you say that.”
Even if I admitted I had some feelings for Reina, nothing between us would change.
We were childhood friends. That was all.
But gossip has a way of twisting relationships, distorting them into something they’re not.
Maybe that’s why Reina and I stopped meeting.
The Prince, clearly understanding that much, gave a bitter smile.
“Then I should apologize to Miss Reina separately. After all, she probably spoke up because of me.”
“…?”
Apologize?
That didn’t happen in the original novel.
In the original story, the Crown Prince never spoke to Reina about the incident. Instead, he apologized to Sophia, claiming that his fiancée Reina had been too harsh.
How did it end up like this?
Has the story changed… even if just a little?
No.
It’s time I admit it.
I realized it back when I first went searching for information about Anna.
Since arriving in this world, the one who’s changed the most isn’t Reina—it’s the Crown Prince.
How will that affect Reina’s future?
Right now, I had no way of knowing.
Still, I felt a small sense of relief that Reina and the Prince’s relationship hadn’t turned into something more complicated.
“Mmm.”
Even if my biggest concern was resolved, I still couldn’t rest easy.
If Reina and Sophia ended up in conflict over today’s events, Reina would be at a disadvantage.
I wish I knew what Reina truly thought of Sophia.
If only the original side story had continued to be serialized…
A week after the conclusion of She Heals a Wounded World, a side story was uploaded.
The title was “Reina Rogelia”.
As the name suggests, it focused on the villainess who had faded out of the story during its second half.
That episode showed Reina’s sincere love for the Crown Prince and captured the loneliness of someone who always stood alone.
Originally, the author planned for the side story to run for a long time.
But reader backlash was so strong that it ended up being completely scrapped.
It was unfortunate, but perhaps unavoidable.
Reina Rogelia had been despised by almost all readers.
I suppose I was the outlier—the only one who truly sympathized with her solitude.
Still… these days, I deeply regret that the side story was never completed.
If it had been, maybe things would be easier to understand now.
***
[Reina’s POV]
I made a mistake.
This… shouldn’t have happened.
My head throbbed, and I couldn’t focus on the subject I was studying.
“Why am I acting like an idiot again…?”
After my conversation with Ike two weeks ago and receiving Anna’s letter yesterday, I came to one clear realization:
I need to change, too.
Until now, I’d just waited.
I wanted someone to notice my struggles.
I hoped the people around me wouldn’t leave.
But I understand now—waiting achieves nothing.
If Anna didn’t return, I had to go find her.
If Ike didn’t send me a letter, I should have reached out myself.
Even if it caused others to talk or push back—if something is truly precious, you can’t be afraid to protect it.
I have to change.
Starting now.
First, I’ll work on making my small world a little bigger.
So, what should I do?
The first thing that came to mind was a certain nickname I’d been given.
Ice Princess.
They said it was because of my cold demeanor and expressionless face.
It wasn’t something I could help—it was simply my nature.
But maybe… if I started by changing that, something else might change, too.
I really believed that.
“I did it again, didn’t I…”
I remembered her—lowering her head repeatedly.
That wasn’t my intention.
And yet again, I’d ended up hurting her.
When I saw her stumble, I genuinely wanted to ask if she was okay.
I didn’t mean to sound critical.
Sophia—a special student with a familiar face, the one Ike and I had first met in the garden during the entrance ceremony.
Even after I scolded her, she later approached me, apologized, and asked if we could get along since we’d be seeing more of each other.
When I decided to change, it wasn’t Ike or Anna who first came to mind—it was her.
Somehow, I felt that if I became close to Sophia, I could truly change.
So today, I had intended to apologize for the way I acted at the entrance ceremony, and for ignoring her afterward.
In the end… I couldn’t do it.
Of course I knew.
Miss Sophia is a commoner, unfamiliar with aristocratic etiquette.
I could have spoken to her more kindly, more warmly.
But the words naturally came out cold, like a reprimand.
I couldn’t shake the strict upbringing drilled into me by my family.
In the end, I’m still a daughter of House Rogelia.
So then… what kind of impression did I leave on her?
“I’m sorry, Miss Sophia.”
But no one was around to hear it.
My apology dissolved into the empty air.