The situation is reversed

I saw… Sophia-san doing something in the classroom!

“Oh? So you’re saying this whole thing was staged by Miss Sophia herself?”

The moment Beglit spoke, every gaze snapped to Sophia.

“Uh…?”

Sophia instantly panicked.

“N-no, that’s not it! I never came back to the classroom last night. You must have seen wrong…”

“No! I definitely didn’t! Sophia-san’s pink hair is impossible to mistake! I just… didn’t know what you were doing…”

“Now that you mention it, last night on my way back to the dorm I think I saw a pink-haired girl heading toward the classroom~ But I didn’t think much of it at the time.”

Even the onlookers chimed in, completely cutting off “Sophia’s” escape route.

“Th-that’s… I remember now… last night…”

“I did come back to the classroom! I just forgot something and came to get it!”

“You forgot something?”

“But I clearly remember…”

“You said you forgot your uniform in the classroom, right? If you came back just to pick something up, why would you leave your uniform behind again?”

Seizing the contradiction, I pressed her.

“Uh… after I picked up my things, I accidentally left the uniform there again…”

“That explanation is way too forced.”

“And besides…”

“It was pretty chilly last night, wasn’t it? How do you forget just the jacket?”

The young lady raised an eyebrow and scoffed at “Sophia’s” excuse.

“Th-this…”

Sophia was speechless—she had been driven into a corner.

Riiiing!

At that exact moment, the bell rang for class.

A balding middle-aged teacher walked in right on time and turned toward the crowd we had formed.

What are you all doing over there? Hurry back to your seats!

…Yessir~

There was no choice; the matter had to be dropped for now.

Still, judging from the faintly scornful looks around the room, everyone’s opinion was already clear.

…

The instant school ended, “Sophia” slipped away like a scolded dog.

After enduring whispers and stares all day, she must have reached her limit.

…Now I truly understood just how mentally tough the young lady was.

“Sophia, wait!”

Conrad immediately chased after her.

Adam started to follow too, but he froze after a single step.

“You’re not going after her?”

The young lady asked.

“…No. I need to cool down first.”

It was only natural to be confused.

Up until today, “Sophia” had been a goddess in Conrad’s eyes.

“By the way, thank you so much for today, Miss Rome.”

“N-no, Lady Duke, it… it was nothing.”

Miss Rome lowered her head in her usual shy way.

“And… actually, I was listening outside from the very beginning…

I just… couldn’t bring myself to come in…

I should have spoken up for you much sooner…

I’m sorry… I was too cowardly…”

“But you still helped us, didn’t you?”

The young lady smiled gently at her.

“It’s okay to be scared.

As long as you find courage when it matters most, that’s enough.

To me, Miss Rome, you’re a very brave person.”

…

Miss Rome fell silent, but her slightly flushed cheeks revealed how happy she was.

“The mood over here sure is nice~ But someone over there must be regretting it down to their guts~”

Beglit snickered.

“Using such a dirty trick to frame someone, only to end up eating her own medicine? I really can’t imagine anyone liking a girl with a heart that venomous~”

As she spoke, she glanced at the tall man whose expression was complicated.

“Sophia, she—”

Adam tried to protest, but no words came. In the end, all he managed was a weak defense.

“When I first met her three years ago, she was cheerful and kind…

And until recently, there was nothing strange about her at all…”

“Because the current Sophia is not the real ‘Sophia’.”

After much thought, I decided to reveal part of the truth.

“?”

Adam stared at us in confusion.

“Actually, the young lady and I knew the real Sophia a long time ago…

But after just one year apart, she no longer recognized me and acted like she knew nothing about our past.”

“You’re saying she lost her memories? But she clearly remembers our first meeting three years ago!”

“That’s because, to the current ‘Sophia,’ your story is one she already knows.

But ours is different… our story has gone off the rails.”

“?”

My vague explanation left everyone bewildered.

Only Beglit, whose mind worked at lightning speed, instantly understood.

“I see. No wonder you’ve always felt a little different from the others. That’s where it was.”

“She… figured out I’m a transmigrator too?”

“…Could you explain a bit more?”

The young lady asked Beglit.

Beglit sneaked a glance at me, then spoke.

“Right now, Sophia is probably in a state of ‘possession.’

The possessor has a certain degree of knowledge about what’s supposed to happen between us…”

She tilted her head, thinking, then continued.

“It’s like she’s read the original novel.

But because the little maid and company did things outside the story, the plot has changed to a certain extent…

Yet the overall framework remains the same, so the possessor still holds most of the information—like your first meeting with the real Sophia.

She’s been perfectly playing the role of ‘Sophia,’ acting according to the script and fooling you.

But because some details don’t match, the little maid and the others noticed something was wrong.”

“So the current Sophia… is a fake Sophia?”

Adam clutched his head, completely lost.

“That’s pretty much it…”

I nodded in agreement.

To think she hid the fact that she’s a regressor/transmigrator so perfectly.

No wonder I felt like she’d become a different person.

The young lady seemed to accept it completely—she had already sensed something off about “Sophia.”

After a brief pause, I continued.

“I want to save the real Sophia.

Not just because she’s my friend…

But because that impostor has now turned her sights on the young lady!

That is something I absolutely cannot forgive!”

Originally, I thought she had no real intent to harm the young lady, and since the young lady was diligently completing requests and had almost no chance of becoming the villainess, I decided to set the matter aside for now.

But my inaction had only allowed the fake to hurt her.

I could no longer sit by and do nothing!

I quietly took the young lady’s hand in the shadows.

Ailena…

“Oh? If you’re saying that, does it mean you have a plan?

Even I don’t know how to expel a soul that’s possessing someone else.”

After a pause, Beglit added.

“And that girl has the rare light attribute—my curses have no effect on her at all.”

Now it was my turn to fall silent.

With the knowledge I currently possessed, I truly couldn’t think of any way to remove the impostor without harming the real Sophia.

That was one of the main reasons I hadn’t acted even after realizing “Sophia” was fake.

It troubled me deeply…

But very soon, the situation would take an unexpected turn for the better.