I’m Telling You, I’m Not The Villain! – Chapter 19

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Lord Fourth
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Knock, knock, knock –

“Father, it’s me.”

At the Grain family mansion, a polite voice echoed in the silent hallway outside the head of the family’s room.

“It’s Elisha. I heard you have something important to discuss with me.”

Elisha Grain seemed to have business with her father, Philip, the head of the family.

“Come in.”

After a short knock and announcing her presence, a faint, muffled voice responded from beyond the door.

Creak –

“Please come in, Lady Elisha.”

As his words fell, the door opened from the inside, and a maid escorted her in. What felt different was the maid’s unusually formal and serious demeanor.

“Thank you.”

Passing the maid who opened the door, Elisha entered the room and saw her father sitting on the guest sofa.

“Elisha, welcome. We might have a long talk, so please make yourself comfortable.”

He was already preparing tea, as if he had been expecting her.

“Yes.”

At her father’s words, Elisha walked towards him, her steps light yet carrying the weight of the serious atmosphere.

Click –

She heard the door close. It seemed the maid waiting at the entrance had closed the door behind her.

“….”

The atmosphere in the room became even more solemn. Although Elisha didn’t know the reason yet, she instinctively sensed the formality and braced herself.

“What is it?”

Elisha sat across from Philip, maintaining a proper posture.

“….”

The silence stretched, and just as she prepared to swallow the dryness in her throat—

“Have some tea.”

As if stalling, Philip handed her a cup of fragrant black tea before getting to the main topic.

“Thank you.”

Elisha, whose throat had become dry from the tense atmosphere, accepted the teacup, and—

Sip –

“…”

—took a calm sip.

“It’s nothing in particular… I called you because of your relationship with the Stenman family.”

“Ugh? Cough -!”

Elisha choked on her tea at the mention of the family name.

“Cough, cough…! Why are you bringing up that family…?”

The Stenman family. A truly hateful connection for Elisha.

Even though she had reluctantly agreed to the engagement with their son at her father’s request, she had always loathed the fact that she was tied to such a wicked and cruel family.

“Did something happen…?”

Elisha wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, worry filling her mind. Even though it was a political marriage, she had been cold to Arnold for the past five years. She was anxious that the Stenman family might have taken offense.

“No… Nothing like that.”

However, Philip shook his head, and she breathed a sigh of relief.

“….”

Now that she thought about it, it was strange that Arnold continued to approach her despite being treated with disdain for five years.

Even an ordinary person, let alone a wicked one, would have turned hostile after being subjected to constant hatred.

Yet, Arnold persistently pursued her. Of course, compared to the beginning, it was less frequent now….

“Then what is it?”

Elisha seemed unrepentant. She had rationalized her behavior by thinking that if they treated each other as if they didn’t exist, she wouldn’t have to hear his unpleasant words.

“Ah, before that… Oliver, could you excuse us for a moment?”

“Yes.”

Philip dismissed the maid before speaking to Elisha about the important matter.

Click –

Now, only he and Elisha remained in the room.

“Elisha… This might be a little difficult to understand, but listen carefully.”

Philip finally began to speak, as if ready to reveal the reason he had called her.

“How about… considering marrying him seriously, not just as a political maneuver?”

He hesitated, seemingly struggling with his words, but finally conveyed his wish to Elisha.

“What?!”

However… or perhaps as expected, Elisha’s eyes widened in shock at his words.

“Why?! What makes you think that now, of all times?!”

Her father knew how much she rejected Arnold. And yet, he was encouraging her to marry him.

She was not only against the idea itself, but she also couldn’t understand her father’s judgment, knowing their relationship so well.

“No…! Absolutely not! What is your reasoning behind this?!”

Elisha vehemently protested. She had intended to refuse from the start, but she asked him for his reasoning, willing to listen if he had a valid explanation.

“That’s… difficult to explain… Just know that I, as your father, care deeply for you and have made this decision after much consideration.”

He wiped the sweat from his forehead with a handkerchief, seemingly aware that he was putting her in a difficult position.

“Your very suggestion is absurd! You know how much I want to stay away from him.”

Elisha protested, as she was not given an satisfactory explanation.

“Besides… a simple engagement is enough for our mutual benefit….”

“Elisha -”

Philip’s tightly pursed lips relaxed as he called her name.

“It’s just that -”

He seemed to have decided to reveal the truth after much deliberation, even though he had initially intended to keep it hidden.

“First of all… your engagement with the Stenman family, especially with their young master, was an extremely wise decision.”

“It saved our family, which was on the verge of collapse, barely holding on to its name.”

“Thanks to that, we’re not only out of danger now, but we’re perhaps even more prosperous than before.”

He spoke of the benefits they had gained from their connection with the Stenman family…

“And more importantly… Arnold is -”

Just as he was about to reveal the secret about him—

Bang !

Elisha slammed her hand on the table and stood up abruptly.

“Is that true?!”

Contrary to her previous displeasure, she looked at Philip with anticipation, like an excited child.

“Then… let’s end our ‘relationship’ with the Stenmans!”

Without even hearing the rest of Philip’s explanation, she began urging him to break off the engagement.

“What? W-Wait a minute, Elisha… Calm down and let me finish -”

“No, didn’t you promise? You said we would break off the engagement as soon as the family’s situation stabilized!”

He tried to calm her down, but Elisha showed no intention of backing down, interrupting him mid-sentence.

“So… Elisha -”

Philip, unable to speak further due to his past promise, lost his voice.

“But didn’t you say in the past that you also disliked the idea of an engagement with the Stenman family, but asked me to endure it for a while to save our family?”

Elisha was so eager to break away from Arnold that her words sounded more like a declaration than a plea.

“That’s true, but….”

“Then…! I’ll break off the engagement with Arnold. I’ll handle the procedures myself, so don’t worry!”

Unable to contain her excitement, she ran out of the room before he could finish.

“Elisha, wait…!”

Clatter -!

Philip tried to stop Elisha, but he couldn’t. He called out to his daughter, but… she seemed too excited to hear him.

“…….”

He stared at the door Elisha had just exited, his body frozen in place.

“Oh, dear…”

Elisha had left to break off her engagement with the Stenman family.

“She’s always been like this… Even if she’s excited, she should at least listen to what others have to say.”

Philip was so disappointed because… he believed Elisha was throwing away a good opportunity.

“….”

Five years ago… he had witnessed it. The true nature of the Stenman family’s only son, whom he had believed to be wicked.

He had clearly seen with his own eyes Arnold’s genuine desire to help others and his lack of greed, despite his immense wealth and prestige.

Therefore… he had believed that Arnold was a man worthy of entrusting his daughter to and had spoken to Elisha with that in mind.

“I don’t know anymore….”

He had tried to keep his secret with Arnold, but he was stuck in a dilemma and had finally decided to reveal the truth when Elisha suddenly left.

“My daughter… I hope you make a wise decision.”

Philip looked up at the ceiling in the empty room, picturing his daughter’s face.

“Since things have turned out this way… I’ll keep the secret a little longer, as I promised him.”

He let out a sigh filled with mixed emotions and… slowly sank into the sofa.

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“Master, a carriage from the Grain family has just arrived at the main gate.”

“Oh? I see. I’ll go and see.”

One peaceful afternoon, someone from the Grain family paid an unexpected visit. It was probably Elisha.

“Arnold.”

“Elisha? What brings you here?”

And his prediction was correct.

“You’ve already visited more than twice this week, haven’t you?”

However, what was unexpected was that Elisha, who usually only showed her face for the minimum required time, was acting differently this time.

Did she have something important to discuss?

“Yes, but this will be the last time.”

She uttered cryptic words and handed him a scroll filled with writing.

[Contract of Termination of Engagement]

“Huh…?”

At first, he thought he had misread the words at the top.

“This is it for us. Things have changed.”

But Elisha’s following words confirmed that he hadn’t misread.

“Suddenly…?”

This was unexpected, and he was quite bewildered.

“Yes, I’ve already informed my family, so don’t worry.”

A broken engagement at this time…
This would deviate from the game’s storyline. Elisha was supposed to be Arnold’s fiancée and also an ally of the protagonist.

If the engagement was broken off now, the story would diverge.

“Hmm, is that so?”

But… would it really matter? Although it was a bit early, Elisha had to break off the engagement with Arnold at some point for the Harem Route to be achieved.

Considering the long-term goal, it didn’t seem to be a big problem.

“Alright.”

She hated Arnold intensely… He thought it would be better for her to do as she wished rather than forcing her to stay.

“Here -”

He signed the contract of termination of engagement with magic.

The method of breaking off an engagement in this world was unique.

If both parties agreed and kept identical copies of the contract for two months, the engagement would be officially dissolved.

Also, since the contract itself was a special scroll inscribed with magic, there was no room for falsehood.

“Alright, I’ll be going now.”

He knew this because it was a setting he learned while playing the game. As a side note, if they wanted to cancel the termination, they just had to destroy both copies of the contract.

“Goodbye.”

But judging by the atmosphere, that probably wouldn’t happen.

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“Did you hear? The engagement with the Grain family is going to be broken off.”

“Eh… Really?”

The news of the broken engagement spread quickly through the mansion.

“They did seem a little rocky….”

“Yeah, even if it was a political marriage, they barely spent any time together…”

“I heard they hated each other.”

The atmosphere in the mansion was quite chaotic.

“….”

Still, it didn’t seem to be a major problem. As mentioned before, Elisha and Arnold were destined to part ways, and that was even more necessary for the Harem Route.

He was slightly concerned about outside interference, since they had made the decision on their own…

“A broken engagement? Good riddance. They were useless anyway.”

“Honey, don’t say that. Still… it wasn’t a pleasant relationship.”

However, seeing as Gregory, the head of the family, and Stella, his mother in this life, seemed to accept it… there wouldn’t be any problems on their side.

“Master! Is the news about the broken engagement true?!”

Oh, and as a side note,

“Yes.”

“I see…, somehow…! I knew it would come to this! She was always so cold to you, Master!”

“But I think it’s for the best! A woman who only hurts you, Master, is better off gone!”

“But if you’re sad, I’ll comfort you as much as you need! I’m always ready, Master~?”

For some reason, Eilly seemed happier than ever on this day, after hearing the news that he had signed a contract to break off the engagement with Elisha.

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Hi Lord Fourth here!
I’m new to translating so if you find some mistakes or inconsistencies let me know about it on the dedicated channel on discord.