Reflection
Regina has a complicated relationship with.. her mirror. It serves as many things at once, as a guide, as a means of communication, or, as an insight in the whereabouts of others. Regina's mirror is necessary for some of her power. But it is also her Achilles' heel. She is slightly addicted to it's appraisal. She needs her beauty and worth to be confirmed.
Her beauty is another of her strong points. Yet it did not always work in her favour. Her beauty had trapped her inside her royal marriage. King Leopold, for one, would never have wanted to marry her if she was ugly, even if she did rescue his daughter. It would have spared her a lonely marriage, and could even have meant the survival of her Daniel. The mirror was a poor replacement for him in most regards.
In a way her loss of Daniel had turned her towards magic. A chance to defeat her mother at her own game. Perhaps a chance to revive him. With magic had come power, and a skill she could use beside her beauty. Some would say, her mother definitely would have, that marriage to a king meant power, but she had never felt quite so powerless. Of course, she had often felt it before, having a mother like hers. It was a feeling she had grown to hate. A feeling to be defeated, kept at bay at all costs.
She hadn't realized at the time that might means constant fear. The awareness of enemies eating at one's power. The never sleeping feeling of danger, war, attacks. The constant suspicion of hidden motives and motivations. Having her mirror at her side gives her some consolation. She will never admit it, but it does serve as a sort of friend.
Regina knows she should feel guilty at trapping him inside the mirror. But, she did not. She had fulfilled his wish, granted him his need to be at her side. Apparently, he could not escape his fate of being locked up inside an object and live to please others.
With the death of her father, her most trusted adviser was gone, and the mirror had replaced his role in that respect. Someone to discuss her plans, to orchestrate her schemes, to make the world go round. The world according to her, that is.
Of course, the mirror could never be a true friend. She could hold the mirror, but it could never hold her. Touch her. A mirror is cold by nature. And truthful. Mirror's don't lie, which isn't always an advantage. They don't tell white lies, like real friends would. Sometimes the honesty of the mirror was downright annoying or infuriating even. The mirror occasionally questioned her decisions, which she simply could not stand. Fortunately, she could scold it and needn't fear repercussions.
There's an old saying that was the perfect description for her feelings about her mirror. Mirrors: Can't live with them. Can't live without them.