“It’s been three years since I got engaged to Lady Reina. But even before the Knight Competition, I met her alone less than twenty times. So, even if you ask me questions, there’s nothing much I can tell you.”
The Crown Prince drained the last of the black tea in his cup, then looked at me with weary, sunken eyes.
“Even when I was invited to social events like balls, I never had a private conversation with Lady Reina. She’s absent from everything except the bare minimum.”
The path forward was blocked.
With Anna gone, the person who had been closest to Reina over the past three years should have been the Crown Prince.
But what could he do if he didn’t even have any meaningful information?
“Ike. Is this the answer you were hoping for?”
“…Thank you for your time.”
I didn’t respond to his question directly. Instead, I bowed my head in silence.
I couldn’t afford to sit here any longer. I had to gather information—anything, even the most trivial clues.
Even if the story had changed, I couldn’t imagine a happy ending for Reina in her current state.
If anything, I feared she was heading toward a worse fate.
“Then, I’ll take my leave.”
I downed the rest of the black tea the prince had served me and stood to leave.
“Wait, Ike.”
The prince grabbed my arm just as I was about to exit the dormitory room.
“Yes, Your Highness?”
“There’s something I’d like to discuss with you, if only briefly.”
“…I’m a bit busy right now.”
“You came here unannounced, and I listened patiently to your story. Knowing that, don’t you think it’s worth sparing a little time, no matter how busy you are?”
It was a flawless argument.
In the end, I had no choice but to sit back down across from him.
“Very well. Let’s talk again.”
“I’ll keep it brief.”
“Please do.”
The Crown Prince got straight to the point.
“I think you already know this, but I don’t have romantic feelings for Lady Reina.”
Of course I knew.
In the original story, Reina’s death ultimately stemmed from that very truth.
“But regardless, she is still my fiancée. No matter how politically motivated our engagement is, that fact remains unchanged.”
“I understand.”
“That’s why I want Lady Reina to be happy. No matter how you look at it, it’s not a good thing if the person you’re supposed to spend your life with is miserable. So—”
The prince slowly lowered his head.
It was a strange feeling.
I knew the kind of person the Crown Prince was.
Even though he smiled brightly on the outside, on the inside, he was cold, calculating—Leon.
That’s why he never reached out to others first.
He didn’t act for the sake of others.
“Save Lady Reina.”
He was supposed to be that kind of person.
“…Did you know?”
“I’m not so naive as to be fooled by a forced laugh. It’s hard to look into those cloudy eyes and think she’s fine. I picked up on it quickly.”
Reina had changed.
She looked like someone teetering on the edge of ruin.
And it was probably because of me.
If something had altered the course of this world, it must’ve been me—Ike.
But it wasn’t over. I couldn’t give up now.
“So, will you do me this favor?”
The Crown Prince gave me a bright smile as he said that.
In the original work, that smile usually meant he no longer cared what happened.
“No matter what.”
But I chose to trust that smile this time.
“When you met Lady Reina last month… was there a maid named Anna Margret with her?”
“Anna Margret?”
I hadn’t even thought to ask the Crown Prince that question.
In the original story, he didn’t even remember Reina’s birthday—there was no way he’d remember her maid.
“Ah. You mean the tall, brown-haired maid?”
“That’s right.”
But the current Crown Prince not only remembered Reina—he remembered Anna too.
I didn’t know what caused the change, but it was a welcome one. It gave me hope.
“Now that I think of it, she was with Lady Reina the first time we met and again after the Knight Competition.”
“Which means…”
“Yes. When we met last month, a different maid accompanied her.”
Just as I suspected—Anna was the missing key.
“Thank you, Your Highness.”
“I’m glad I could help.”
This time, I bowed to the Crown Prince with sincere gratitude.
***
[Leon’s POV]
“Hang in there, Ike.”
The Crown Prince muttered as he stared at the dormitory door Ike had just walked through.
Thinking back to Reina’s clouded eyes and artificial smile from last month, he knew this wouldn’t be an easy task.
When Ike first arrived, the Crown Prince already knew the purpose of his visit.
If it had been the old him, he wouldn’t have paid any attention.
He might have smiled and laughed outwardly, but deep inside, he would’ve turned his back without hesitation.
“The debt has been repaid. Reina, Ike.”
But thanks to them, he had changed.
The Crown Prince was a genius.
Because of that, he understood many things intuitively.
But as a child, he didn’t realize his abilities were extraordinary. He couldn’t understand why the people around him struggled with things he found simple.
Why did they get so worked up over things that were obvious to him?
It wasn’t arrogance—just a disconnect caused by unmatched talent.
When the Crown Prince turned five, his body burned with an intense fever.
It was a reaction to his innate mana—his body couldn’t adapt.
It was a dangerous illness, but it also marked him as gifted.