“I’m sorry.”
“It’s not Miss Sophia’s fault, so there’s no need to apologize.”
With a gentle smile, Helen comforted the still teary-eyed Sophia.
“…I don’t think we can get a new dress ready in time for the start now.”
The time was 6 PM.
Considering the ball started at 7 PM, as Atal mentioned, no matter how quickly we tried to prepare, it would be too late.
Of course, participation in the Arcana holiday ball was fundamentally free.
But that was just a matter of rules; a ball held a myriad of meanings.
Especially for a commoner special admission student like Sophia.
Being admitted to Arcana meant she was recognized as a gem to lead the future of the Empire.
Certainly, there were special admission students who ended up living ordinary lives after graduation, but most walked paths that involved the Empire’s institutions.
In other words, knowing many nobles would be beneficial to one’s future.
Even if Sophia were to become a Saintess in the future, the fact wouldn’t change.
No matter how much Martires remained politically unaffected as the only religion of the Empire, complete exclusion was impossible.
In the original story, Sophia had little cooperation from the nobility, except for the Crown Prince and Helen, because she didn’t have much connection with them.
This led to various misconceptions among readers regarding her character.
‘Why wouldn’t the nobles cooperate with Sophia, the Saintess destined to save the Empire?’
However, a Saintess is close to a position described as ‘a woman chosen by the God Eos.’
The absence of a Saintess in the Empire didn’t pose a significant issue—that was proof enough.
A Saintess isn’t the savior of the Empire; it’s the one who saves the Empire who will be recognized as the Saintess.
Of course, it was true that Sophia had done a lot before being designated as a Saintess.
If she hadn’t been there, Avatarara would have completely engulfed the Empire.
But that was just a post-fact interpretation for the nobles.
They could argue that someone else would have thwarted their plans had Sophia not been around.
Moreover, until the perfume incident in Heros, Sophia was in opposition to Reina.
Even as the Crown Prince’s new fiancée, Sophia had almost no connections with other nobles.
She was the eldest daughter of the noble Rozelia Duke House, possessing great talent and being at the center of various factions—a stark contrast to Reina.
It was obvious whose preferences the nobles would cater to without having to say so.
In fact, after Reina’s death, the support for Sophia diminished as the Rozelia Duke House mourned their lost daughter.
All things considered, it was certain that if she lacked connections with other nobles, Sophia’s future would be fraught with difficulties.
And this ongoing ball was one of the greatest opportunities to connect with the nobility.
Although now that Reina had become a friend and I was present, it felt like that importance was waning.
Still, I thought having more cards to play was beneficial.
So, I intended to use this ball to initiate exchanges.
“…Miss Sophia. For now, let’s have you wear one of my other dresses. With the time I’ll take for alterations, you will probably manage to join by around 8 PM.”
“Lady Reina?”
Sophia’s eyes widened as she looked at Reina’s proposal.
“I’m okay. While it’s disappointing not to be able to dance with everyone, I don’t need to participate in this ball…”
“No, think of it as my gift. It’s a thank you for teaching me pastries this time.”
Reina smiled warmly and turned to leave the room.
“I’ll fetch my dress. Please wait a moment.”
And I could hear Reina’s voice.
“…I guess I should apologize.”
Regret lingered in her tone.
“Who on earth would do such a thing?”
Atal’s question was met with silence.
Of course, I could roughly guess.
Based on Reina’s earlier words, her followers were definitely involved, just like in the original story.
But I couldn’t understand the reasoning behind it.
In the original, it was mischief exploiting the bad relations between Reina and Sophia.
However, now Reina and Sophia were quite close.
So close that it sounded like a new faction had formed.
They couldn’t possibly be unaware of such rumors, so why target Sophia?
All students at Arcana would spend three years here.
Moreover, most classes, except for their major, were taken together.
That meant, like it or not, they had to spend three years with their classmates.
Thus, there was no need to foster bad relationships, especially with Sophia, who was close to Reina.
“I’ve brought the dress.”
About ten minutes later, Reina returned to the room.
A bright green dress was draped over her arm.
“I brought it in a color that closely resembles the one Miss Sophia was going to wear, so it shouldn’t feel too out of place.”
“Thank you, Lady Reina.”
“It’s nothing. Just try it on for now.”
At those words, Atal, the Crown Prince, and I quietly stepped outside and closed the door.
Not because we were worried about Helen’s noticing; that was definitely not it.
★
“It suits you very well, Miss Sophia.”
Sophia’s face turned red at Helen’s sincere compliment.
Reina didn’t explicitly voice it but shared a similar sentiment.
Sophia’s bright crimson hair and the light green dress matched so beautifully that it was breathtaking.
Especially her dark red eyes served as a distinctive point amid the splendor, adding to her charm.
One could easily say it was the perfect dress for Sophia, who brightened the atmosphere alongside Helen on usual days.
Every male participant at the ball would surely have their eyes drawn at least once by this radiant presence.
‘Perhaps Aike too…’
The thought momentarily weighed heavily on Reina’s heart, but that feeling quickly dissipated.
After all, Aike and she were just childhood friends.
She reminded herself there was no reason to worry about such things.
“I think that dress didn’t suit me, so I would be delighted if Miss Sophia continued to wear it.”
“No?! I can’t accept that, Lady Reina.”
The dress was visibly expensive.
For someone like Sophia, accepting such a gift was impossible due to her nature.
However, Reina’s feelings were genuine.
In reality, a calm and cool dress suited her far better than this vibrant one.
She had only worn this dress once before and had deemed it so unsuitable that it had never been taken out of the wardrobe since.
If it was an outfit she wouldn’t wear again, it would only make sense to gift it to Sophia along with her heartfelt apology.
“Besides, since Miss Sophia will have to alter this dress slightly anyway, right?”
“W-well, that is true…”
“Then let’s include the full ownership of this dress as part of my earlier gratitude.”
Inherently weak to pressure, Sophia had no choice but to accept Reina’s dress.
“But how will we manage the alterations?”
At Sophia’s question, Helen eagerly raised her hand.
“Leave it to me! I’m quite good at alterations, you know. Of course, since this is an expensive dress, it might turn out a little different from what it is now.”
As Helen often found her clothes torn during practice, she had learned sewing, tired of giving them to others for repairs.
With fine dexterity, she was quite talented at it.
Though she modestly downplayed her skills, in truth, she surpassed all the maids at her parental home and had even trained with numerous designers and seamstresses.
“By the way, it’s surprising. I thought Miss Sophia would be good at sewing too.”
Reina had an illusion that Sophia, who taught her pastries, would excel at domestic chores.
“It somehow ends up folding weirdly whenever I sew.”
So sewing was the only household chore she was expressly forbidden from assisting with.
“…I suppose it would have been a disaster without Helen.”
“Let’s get ready quickly! It’ll probably take about two hours depending on the situation.”
“Ah, yes!”
“On the surface, it seems there aren’t any major problems. Miss Sophia, do you have any discomforts?”
“Well, first, I think the dress might slightly drag on the floor while walking. And…”
“I’ll head to the ballroom for now.”
As the conversation about the dress alterations continued, Reina turned and spoke.
“Wouldn’t it be better to go together after the alterations are done?”
“It’s okay. There are others waiting outside…”
Reina gently brushed off Sophia’s suggestion with a smile.
“Above all, it seems there’s something I must do.”
Sophia and Helen couldn’t see the expression on Reina’s face as she said that.
★
With a click, the door opened, and Reina emerged.
“Let’s head out first, everyone.”
“Is it alright not to wait?”
“Yeah. There’s really no need to be together.”
As she said that, Reina wore an expression colder than any she had shown recently.
“The Crown Prince and four distinguished guests are entering!”
Loud applause erupted.
We passed through the banquet hall where we celebrated my birthday last time and entered the main building.
The time was just shy of 7 PM.
“Your Highness! May we have a moment to speak….”
“No. We’ve been waiting for you first.”
“Do you have any proof of that?”
The moment the Crown Prince made his entrance, numerous noble young ladies approached him.
It was a blatantly obvious scene of faction solicitation.
Naturally, it was expected since the news had spread that he hadn’t partnered with Reina.
But even though he must have come in with Reina, it was a little too blatant…
“Huh?”
I turned around, and Reina was nowhere to be seen.
“Prince Aike, Miss Reina just walked over that way. You should hurry after her.”
“It seems you and Miss Reina both know about the situation to some extent. I’ll draw the others’ attention over here, so go on.”
Atal quietly spoke to me in a low voice, away from prying ears.
I nodded slightly to them before breaking away.
“…Those people…”
Following Atal’s directions, what I saw was Reina facing off with some young women.
The atmosphere looked tense.
In the original story, it was Reina’s followers who ripped Sophia’s dress.
But standing there now were clearly different opponents than the original.
The original description indicated they were mostly young ladies from barons or viscount families.
However, those facing Reina were women who held prominent positions in one of the largest factions—the eldest daughter of the Marchi Marquis House, the third daughter of the Selt Marquis House, and the twin daughters of the Tenen Count House.
While they wouldn’t compare to the power of the second-generation Duke Houses like Akses and Rozelia, their faces were certainly not easily dismissed as mere followers of Reina.
It was a situation that couldn’t be simply brushed aside, no matter who they were.
I decided to hide behind a wall to gauge the situation, eavesdropping.
“Was it you all that tore Miss Sophia’s dress?”
There was certainty in Reina’s voice.
And surprisingly, they didn’t deny it at all.
“Yeah, that’s right.”
