I Possessed the Villain’s Childhood Friend – Chapter 24

At the end of her heart-wrenching scream, Reina’s tears ceased.

And then, she finally began to speak.

“It’s been a month since we exchanged letters, and you said you wouldn’t be able to send a letter for about a week. Suddenly, Anna disappeared.”

The traces of tears were still visible on her cheeks.

With a vacant expression, she looked as if her soul had left her body.

“I don’t know why. The letter she left behind had nothing unusual in it. Still, that was fine. It said at the end she would be back soon.”

I could easily imagine it.

Despite Anna’s sudden absence, Reina bravely holding on, believing in that promise.

I pictured her standing there, swallowing her sorrow, trying to be strong.

“What about Duke Ricard?”

“Father said to not worry too much and let it go quietly. From what I’ve heard, it seems she said goodbye to Father before leaving.”

That struck me as odd.

The Anna I knew didn’t seem like one to get involved with the Rozelia Duke House.

To put it bluntly, she felt like someone who was only there for Reina, stuck with the Rozelia Duke House only because of her.

Yet, this Anna left only a letter for Reina but properly said goodbye to Duke Ricard?

Was Duke Ricard hiding something?

“It’s already been over three years since Anna left. But since then, I’ve heard nothing. Even when I ask Father, he won’t give me any answers.”

What on earth must she have felt during that time?

I couldn’t grasp it.

“If she hadn’t left a letter, I could have let it go faster. That way, I wouldn’t be hanging onto a promise that wouldn’t be kept. It’s foolish, really.”

Reina slowly raised her lips into a hollow smile.

As if she had finally given up everything.

“So? Is that all you wanted to share?”

Reina looked at me with her murky purple eyes.

Glancing at the clock on the wall, it was past eight forty.

Normally, it would be time for class, but I didn’t want the conversation to end.

‘She didn’t send any of the promised letters, and she didn’t even come to the ball I was participating in!’

I still hadn’t heard the meaning behind Reina’s earlier sobs.

I could confidently say that during the six months of sending letters with her permission, I dispatched three letters every week.

I believed there had to be a reason for her silence and sent the letters unilaterally.

Also, I attended every ball I could, but I only heard that Reina couldn’t participate due to family matters each time.

No matter how I thought about it, it felt like someone was deliberately trying to keep Reina and me apart.

And if someone could do that, it would be…

“…Duke Ricard.”

There was no one else.

But why?

After all, the letters were supposed to last for six months.

Even if I avoided the balls I attended, we would eventually meet again at Arcana.

There would be no reason to forcibly sever the connections.

“If there’s nothing more to discuss, let’s wrap it up. Class starts soon.”

But time was too short to talk about that, and I was hesitant to suspect Reina’s father without concrete evidence.

“I’ll take my leave first.”

Reina stood up from her seat.

Since the first class was history, a common subject for first years, it would have been fine to go together, but Reina didn’t seem to have any intention of doing so.

“Reina.”

“…?”

Just as Reina was about to open the counseling room door, I called out her name casually.

I thought she might ignore it, but luckily, she stopped and turned back to look at me.

Although I was still full of doubts, I wanted to say at least this much.

“I won’t betray you, no matter what happens.”

“…Liar.”

I meant it, but Reina coldly replied with a short response before leaving the counseling room.

Yet, in saying that, she seemed to have smiled reminiscently, just like before.

“But what promise was that?”

‘You said you would help me! If I’m in trouble, you’re always there, saying you won’t leave me alone, remember?!’

Another part of what Reina had said.

Sadly, I had never made such a promise.

It was a pity that it wasn’t me, but if that’s the case, it must have been a real promise made with the genuine Aike.

Reina’s end would undoubtedly be a lonely beheading, met without anyone’s help.

But if Aike were indeed a close childhood friend of Reina…

And if he really had made that promise…

Why hadn’t the real Aike kept his promise to Reina?

It was an incomprehensible question.

★

“Liar.”

I smirked slightly, directing a short remark at Aike.

It felt like I was smiling for the first time in ages.

When was the last time I felt like this?

Once I confessed everything, even the emotions that had always been bottled up felt a little lighter.

“That aside.”

Something still felt off.

Aike looked at me with a puzzled expression, clearly not understanding what I meant.

It didn’t feel like a lie.

And seeing that expression somehow revived my spirits.

Come to think of it, there were no benefits in Aike breaking his promise.

After all, since our families were both from the second generation of duke houses, it was impossible to completely sever ties.

“What I heard earlier was certainly my father’s name.”

Aike probably had similar thoughts too.

Though it was impossible to completely cut ties, there could be someone who could weaken the connections as much as possible.

The only one capable of that, the only one who would act like that, was my father, Ricard Rozelia.

But why would he?

I had no idea.

If that was the case, then I would have to talk to him when I returned home for the vacation.

“…I guess it would be okay to hand it over to Aike for now.”

I hadn’t originally intended to hand it over.

Embarrassingly, I had blamed Aike, thinking he was a liar simply because I was having a hard time until today.

However, if there was no fault on his part in this situation, I might be able to let it slide a little.

After all, it was true that he hadn’t kept his promise, so I could never fully forgive him.

With Anna suddenly disappearing and claiming a week of not being able to contact us, Aike still hadn’t sent a letter after that week.

I kept trying to put letters in the magical mailbox, thinking there might be a chance, but nothing ever came back.

The magical mailbox wasn’t broken, either.

I wanted to visit Arcadia directly, but I couldn’t due to my father’s opposition.

Just like that, I was isolated in no time.

I had once read that the most terrifying thing for a human was loneliness, and I finally understood the depth of that statement with all my heart.

The fact that I couldn’t express my feelings to anyone was so dreadful it was beyond words.

The memories I had of not wanting to experience that again were still gnawing at me.

So for now, I couldn’t go back to living like before.

At least not until Anna returned.

★

An hour had passed since the history class started, but unfortunately, I was totally unable to focus on it, much to the professor’s dismay.

“The Astria Empire…”

Why on earth did Anna leave Reina behind?

What role did Anna play in the original story?

Only these two questions kept swirling around in my mind.

“Hmmm.”

If Anna’s existence didn’t matter, then Reina wouldn’t have reacted like that.

If, in the original story, Anna really did leave Reina, then why did Reina only despair at the very end?

Conversely, if Anna had not left Reina in the original story, what could possibly have driven her to leave now?

It would have been nice to have at least some trivial information.

Initially, I had many plans to do something once I arrived at Arcana.

But that wasn’t what was important right now.

First, I had to resolve the issue of Anna.

“The age of chaos has passed, and the age of peace has arrived.”

Suddenly turning my head, I saw Reina taking notes in class.

Though no one was sitting nearby, no one cared about such things.

It was normal for Reina Rozelia to be alone.

Even though the children of the same faction were around her, they were certainly far from being friends.

Thus, my first plan after enrolling in Arcana was to increase the number of people Reina could at least confide in a little.

The first candidate I thought about was the female lead, Sophia, but that possibility seemed to have nearly vanished.

“Sigh.”

It felt like nothing was going according to plan.

Of course, I believed my actions would influence the future, but I thought I had refrained from doing anything too impactful.

Yet what I received in return was…

An utterly despondent Reina from the start.

And it felt like the relationship between Reina and Sophia had started in an even worse state than in the original story.

“Sigh.”

Even if I wanted to hold back, I couldn’t shake off the feeling of frustration.

“Aike-kun? Is there something wrong?”

In the end, I had to fall silent after being pointed out by the professor.

“Um, excuse me. Are you Prince Aike?”

Unexpectedly, the person who spoke to me after class was someone I never would have guessed.

“…Miss Sophia?”

“Ah, yes. I’m Sophia Eris, whom you saw in the garden yesterday. Thank you so much for your help yesterday.”

Sophia said this while bowing slightly.

“And there’s one thing I’d like to ask, if that’s alright?”

“…Yes?”

“I’d like to apologize to that individual from yesterday.”

Ah. This is the first episode of the original story.

Despite the misunderstanding in the garden with Reina, Sophia chooses to talk to her again.

There was also the fact that the other person was Reina of the Rozelia Duke House, but until then, Sophia had wanted to get closer to Reina.

Originally, she would have gone directly to Reina to ask for a conversation, but perhaps due to me helping Sophia yesterday, things had changed a bit.

“Is that okay?”

Sophia looked up at me, asking.

Naturally, I wanted Reina to become friends with Sophia.

So,

“I’m sorry, but I don’t think that’s possible right now.”

I rejected Sophia’s request.

That episode where Sophia goes to find Reina in the original story.

Their relationship would once again diverge here.

While Sophia tries to apologize to Reina, Reina might suggest it would be better for her to study etiquette instead of apologizing.

Reina likely wouldn’t mean it to be sarcastic, but rather sincerely thought there was no need for an apology.

Of course, the problem was that her tone was so cold it could easily be misinterpreted.

But given that Reina was in such a state now, if Sophia approached her under the pretense of an apology, it would likely make their bond even worse than in the original.

I had already nearly given up on the idea of them becoming friends, and if it became worse here, I couldn’t handle it.

“I think it might be better to wait to apologize since Reina seems to be in a bad place right now.”

“Is that so?”

Sophia’s expression noticeably darkened.

“If you suddenly go and try to talk, it might just end up making the atmosphere worse.”

“Understood.”

“Reina probably didn’t mean it with ill intent, so don’t worry too much about it.”

“It’s alright. I was the one who made the mistake.”

The moment I comforted Sophia and sent her off.

“Discussing others behind their back isn’t a good behavior, you know.”

A chilling voice that could freeze the blood surged from behind me.

I slowly turned around, and there was Reina regarding me with her murky eyes.

“Prince Aike, may I have a moment of your time?”

I had no way to refuse that request.