Yes I am surprised given the nature of the game. And this IS indeed a (porn) game, after all, it's not real life. I thought this was a corruption game in which the MC can dominate the girls. That's appealing to me and there are many great games with these themes. I got that impression from the overall theme of Pale Carnations, given that you're managing whores who are desperate.
The second surprise is that this seemingly minor choice (whether or not to apologize) takes place in the first couple of hours of the game and determines your relationship with one of the main LIs for the entirety of the game.
So now, having played several days longer, it's rather inconvenient to restart.
Third surprise, you
didn't check the walkthrough and/or the story guide in the OP.
Anyway, in the early game the player MUST make
1 single choice to start a main girl's path.
If the player doesn't trigger this event, he/she/it/them is evicted from the girl's route.
They are:
- Rosalind: you must have coffee with her on 12th May
- Mina: you must go shopping with her on 2nd June
- Felicia: you must accept her invitation and have dinner with her on 3rd June
- Hana: you must agree to "help her out" and go to her gig at the pub on 4th June
- Veronica: while having a conversation with Samson you must decide that you want to help Veronica to get her business back on 6th June.
These choices are mandatory. If you miss them, you miss the whole route.