Caught on the Rooftop

I’m so tired…

After school, I had to take eighteen detours just to shake off the fans chasing me.

At first, there were only a few of them, but soon the number grew exponentially.

As expected, Margaret and the others were already waiting for me on the rooftop.

In response to my question, she just shrugged.

“That’s just the tip of the iceberg of your fan club. After all, they’ve established rules about who gets to see you each day.”

“…What do you mean?”

“You don’t know? There’s a fan club for you in the academy now. What was it called? ‘Eileen Support Association’ or ‘Silver Maid Center Fan Club’? Ah, I can’t remember.”

“…Why would such a strange association be formed!?”

“Isn’t it obvious? It’s because of your ‘Charm’.”

“I’ve been able to control it a bit lately… At least it’s not as strong as before, but it’s still like this…”

“That’s normal. You’ve always been a standout person. Without Katerina absorbing the attention these days, others naturally notice you.

And your recent performance has been too brilliant—model student, helping everyone everywhere. It’s only natural. You just have no self-awareness of your own charm.”

“Ah, this…”

I subconsciously tugged at my ponytail.

“What should I do? If this continues, my practice will be delayed!”

“You can practice anytime. So it’s fine to leave it alone, right? It won’t affect you much.”

“It does affect me! I’m being chased around every day now!”

“Even if you don’t run, what’s the harm? They won’t hurt you, they’ll just express their affection.”

“That’s exactly what troubles me! I’ve long belonged to the Young Miss!”

“Oh? Belonged? Looks like she trained you well?”

Ugh!

Realizing I said something wrong, I blushed.

“It was just a slip of the tongue!”

“…It’s all the Young Miss’s fault! She keeps emphasizing that I’m her thing,”

“so I blurted it out!”

“Mm-hmm, I see, I see.”

Margaret’s perfunctory attitude… She definitely didn’t take my explanation seriously.

No choice but to change the subject.

“Sigh… Let’s start today’s practice…”

“Creak—”

But before I could finish, the rooftop door was inexplicably pushed open.

“…Why would someone come to the rooftop at this hour?”

With an outsider present, we couldn’t practice.

So I asked toward the door:

“Who is it?”

“Huh? There’s already someone here?”

After I spoke, a little pink head peeked out from behind the door.

When I saw that face, I couldn’t help but freeze.

“Sophina…?”

Shouldn’t she still be in a coma?

“When did you wake up?”

Compared to my confusion, Margaret was much calmer.

“I woke up this afternoon… Lying in the hospital bed for so long made me want some fresh air. By the way, what are you doing here?”

“We…”

That stumped me.

I couldn’t exactly say we were practicing controlling the ‘Charm,’ could I?

“She’s just here to assist with my experiment. You know she occasionally needs to help me out, right?”

“Oh, is that so?”

Sophina seemed to buy our explanation.

Right, now Sophina is the Sophina we know.

Since I had already told her about Margaret before, and they were supposedly meeting for the first time, this story should work.

…Wait, aren’t they meeting for the first time? Why does she act like she knows Margaret?

“Sophina, I have a question for you.”

“…Huh? Margaret, what is it?”

“Why can you call me by name right away? Isn’t this our first meeting?”

Clearly, Margaret also noticed the discrepancy.

“…”

Hearing this, Sophina lowered her head.

Had the plan to seal the reincarnator’s soul with the ‘Sealing Box’ failed? Was Sophina still that ‘Sophina’?

Had the mysterious person shoved the soul back in, or had the ‘Sealing Box’ never sealed her soul in the first place?

Just as I was bracing for the worst, Sophina lifted her head and gave a pained smile.

“Actually, when that person took over my body before, I could still see what was happening around me. That’s when I got to know Margaret. I just couldn’t control my body…”

She looked at me, apologetic.

“I’m sorry. When she falsely accused Miss Anis, I couldn’t do anything, just watched from the sidelines…”

Seeing her self-blame, I immediately rushed over and took her hand.

“It’s not your fault! It’s all the fault of that person who stole your body!”

Indeed, the real Sophina is still that good girl!

“But…”

“No buts! The bad guy is the one who stops at nothing to achieve their goals! It has nothing to do with you!”

“Mm…”

Her voice was still low, clearly still bothered by the matter of hurting us.

But she quickly rallied, forcing a smile and bowing.

“First, let me thank you. If it weren’t for you, I might still be trapped in that little black box, never able to get out…”

With that, Sophina’s body trembled slightly, as if in lingering fear.

I squeezed her hand even tighter.

“It’s okay, we’ve driven away the bad guy!”

Even though the item that imprisoned her is missing… we did rescue Sophina properly!

I’ll protect her from now on!

Thinking this, I examined Sophina again.

…And then I saw a strange purple crystal pendant.

“What’s this…?”

When did Sophina get this? I remember in the game, Sophina never wore any accessories.

“This? Caron sent it. He heard I was unconscious and gave me a talisman-like thing… I’ll have to thank him properly later.”

“I see…”

—After the Red Oni attack, to salvage Sophina’s reputation, Margaret and I claimed on campus that she had been controlled by a demon when she made the false accusations.

Given Rebecca’s precedent and the demon attack, everyone believed it.

Conrad must have heard that lie too… Hence the talisman for Sophina.

The other male leads would gradually return to Sophina’s side, right?

Yes! Everything’s going smoothly, everything’s fine!

Just as I was thinking that…

“Creak—”

The door opened once more.

This time, it was a biting cold wind that swept in.

“Eileen… What are you doing?”

…Why did the Young Miss come to the rooftop too!?