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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Lord Fourth
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What was going on?
Arnold Stenman –
Her perception of him had become muddled since entering the academy. She had heard that the Stenman family was cruel and wicked… Her own grandparents had suffered at their hands.
Even on the day of their first meeting for the arranged marriage, she had been warned to be wary of him, that he might betray her at any moment, and not to give him an inch…
“………”
But now… she wasn’t so sure. He had helped her. Twice. And not in small ways, but significantly.
Why… Why would he do that…?
Was he different from the Stenmans of the past?
Then… should she try to be kinder to him? But now? After treating him like an enemy for the past five years… Wouldn’t he find it strange?
“Ugh….”
She didn’t know…
But one thing was certain… it wouldn’t hurt to try and see him without her prejudiced lens.
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His initial plan was this:
When the waiter approached Elisha, Varis would “accidentally” bump into him, preventing her from drinking the spiked beverage.
He would memorize the direction from which the waiter came and find the private room where Viekka and her friends were hiding, stopping them from causing further trouble.
This way, from Elisha’s perspective, she would only see Varis helping her, allowing him to naturally gain her favor.
“S-Sorry…”
He seemed to have played his part well.
“I-I won’t do it again…”
“Will you… f-forgive me…?”
The noblewomen, who had initially been hostile, were now begging for forgiveness, their voices trembling.
“Hmm……”
This should be enough.
“You better be careful.”
““We understand!! ””
He glared at them coldly, as if warning them that there wouldn’t be a next time. They nodded vigorously, their shoulders trembling in fear.
“Good…”
He left them cowering in fear, after receiving their almost shriek-like agreement.
…..
…..
When he stepped outside, the banquet hall was brightly lit. It seemed the headmaster’s speech had ended, and the festivities had begun.
~~ ♩ ♪ ♬
The band’s music enlivened the atmosphere of the glamorous banquet hall.
“I’m Evered.”
“Nice to meet you, I’m Berlo. Pleased to make your acquaintance.”
People mingled, each in their own way.
“This banquet food is delicious~”
“It’s perfect for my taste.”
Some enjoyed the feast.
“Would you like to dance?”
“I’d love to.”
Some danced to the music.
“To our future success!”
““Cheers -!””
Some raised their glasses, offering toasts. People were enjoying the banquet in various ways.
“Master, you’re here?”
He reunited with Eilly as soon as he returned to the banquet hall. He had excluded Eilly from this plan because she disliked Elisha.
“Hey~ Arnold!”
“…….”
After joining Eilly, he went to see Varis. As expected, he was with Elisha. Judging by Elisha’s calm demeanor and the puddle on the floor, Varis seemed to have played his part well.
“Where were you?!”
“Um… Bathroom?”
“Really? Then let’s enjoy ourselves! The food over there looks delicious.”
Varis, beaming, immediately set his sights on the banquet food.
“Alright! Let’s go there first~”
He ran off towards the area with the most food, like a child at a buffet.
“…..”
He hoped Varis wouldn’t break any plates…
“Eilly? Could you keep an eye on Varis and make sure he doesn’t cause any trouble?”
“Yes, Master! I’ll bring you some food as well!”
He asked Eilly to supervise Varis, and she left to get some food for him as well.
“…..”
Wait a minute…
“…….”
This meant he and Elisha were alone now…?
“…..”
“………”
It had happened so naturally that he hadn’t even noticed.
“…….”
As soon as Eilly and Varis left, an awkward silence filled the air.
“………”
The atmosphere was incredibly uncomfortable. They had been on bad terms for five years; they weren’t going to suddenly become friendly just because they were at a banquet.
If this continued, Elisha would probably leave abruptly, as usual…
“Arnold.”
—Just as he was thinking that, she spoke to him first.
“…..?!”
He was taken aback. Elisha had initiated the conversation… and in a rather gentle tone.
“…Why?”
It wasn’t the first time. She had also approached him after the delinquent event. But the situation was completely different this time.
Last time, he had helped her, so it was understandable that she might be curious.
But this time, there was no such reason. She should have seen Varis as her savior in this event.
“Well…”
Unlike the previous event, where she seemed flustered, she now had a calm, determined air about her.
“Congratulations on your enrollment… though I’m a little late.”
Her words were rather unexpected. It sounded like she was struggling to make conversation.
“Oh…? Um… Congratulations to you too.”
He responded with a similar greeting.
“Now that I think about it, I didn’t get to say this last time… Thank you for helping me back then.”
She looked at him with a wistful gaze, as if recalling the delinquent event. It was a gentle look he had never seen before.
“Don’t mention it.”
“…..Is that so?”
She smiled at him for the first time. It was a bittersweet smile rather than a joyful one.
“You don’t have to follow those two, do you?”
“Well… They’ll come back eventually.”
“Haha, what’s that supposed to mean?”
A slightly awkward conversation followed. It was stiff and unnatural, like between two people who had just met.
“I’ll be going now… I hope you enjoy the banquet.”
After their stilted conversation, she bid him goodnight, telling him to enjoy the banquet.
“Yes… You too.”
“See you later.”
Unlike usual, she said she would see him again.
“……”
He watched Elisha walk away, wondering what was going on… It felt like she was trying to approach him, opening the door to her heart that had been firmly shut.
Had there been a change in her feelings? But there was no reason for that. He had made sure Varis was the hero of this event.
Elisha shouldn’t have any reason to see him differently…
“Yahoo~ Arnold!”
“Master!”
But before he could ponder further, Varis and Eilly returned.
“Uh, well…”
“Try this! It’s really delicious!”
“You should try this too!”
Should he just… enjoy the banquet as Elisha had said? He had successfully cleared the event, and there was nothing else to do for now.
“……..”
Even so, Elisha’s unexpected kindness towards Arnold, something that hadn’t happened in the original story, lingered in his mind.
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“Ugh… I don’t know who he is, but… I’m so angry…!”
Meanwhile, after Arnold left the private room, Viekka clenched her fists, still reeling from his harsh treatment.
“And he was so strong… Is he working with Elisha?”
“He was merciless… Ugh… Could he be the ex-fiancé everyone’s talking about…?”
“Then, that’s the Stenman family…?”
The other noblewomen also groaned in pain, barely able to stand.
“So… what are you going to do? It seems like your plan to prank Elisha failed… Are you giving up?”
One of them, struggling to stand, asked Viekka. Would she give up now? Their plan to drug Elisha had been completely foiled.
“Ugh!! No way!”
But Viekka let out a short groan, as if enraged, and her hatred for Elisha intensified.
“I still have other ways! After being humiliated like this…! I’ll destroy her family completely!!”
She grabbed the armrest of a broken sofa and struggled to stand up, her eyes filled with malice.
“Hahaha… Just you wait…!”
Viekka forced a smile, savoring the pain and fueled by the promise of revenge. She gritted her teeth, determined to get back at Elisha.
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The banquet event had been successfully resolved. After that, his academy life continued without any major problems.
“Arnold, I’m thinking of getting a part-time job this weekend.”
One day, he heard that Varis was planning to get a part-time job.
“A part-time job?”
This line hinted at the next event.
“Yeah! The Grain family is looking for someone to work in their fields for a day~”
“I’m running low on allowance, so I thought I’d earn some money for living expenses.”
It was the event where Varis, the protagonist, helped Elisha’s family with their farm work. It sounded like a simple and insignificant event, but it actually led to a major incident.
While peacefully working in the fields, a pack of ferocious monsters would attack.
For some reason, the monsters, more violent than usual, would rampage through the farmland, turning it into a wasteland.
Not only that, but Elisha would also be in danger due to the rampaging monsters.
In that moment of crisis, Varis would rise to the occasion, performing a heroic act.
He would defeat the monsters with his incredible skills and battle sense and rescue Elisha, like a scene from a play.
This event would significantly boost his affection with Elisha, marking the beginning of her romantic feelings for him.
“Really? Can I go with you?”
“Huh? But you’re a noble, Arnold. Are you short on money?”
“No… No particular reason.”
He couldn’t miss this.
Of course, Varis, who would become a hero in the future, could handle some rampaging beasts on his own.
But it would be easier if he secretly helped him, so it would be best to be there.
…….
…….
“Viekka… Is this the right place?”
Meanwhile, in a secluded forest some distance from the Grain family’s farmland,
“Yes, all we have to do is sprinkle this everywhere.”
Viekka took out a suspicious bottle and scattered its contents around.
“What is this? Ugh… It smells awful.”
The stench emanating from the liquid made one of the noblewomen pinch her nose.
“Huhuhu, this is a hard-to-find Berserk Potion. If we let it seep into the surrounding soil, the monsters living here will become even more ferocious.”
Despite the horrific nature of her actions, Viekka continued to pour the potion with a smile, driven by her obsession with ruining Elisha.
“Then, you see? The berserk monsters will go on a rampage and naturally invade Elisha’s farm, and her family will be in chaos. Hahahaha!”
This wasn’t just a personal vendetta. The rampaging monsters could harm not only Elisha but also many innocent people.
She was literally inviting disaster.
“What?! We can’t do that! What if innocent people get caught up in it…!”
“Shut up! If you have time to talk, grab a bottle. We need to spread this over a wide area for it to be effective.”
“Ugh… I don’t know about this…”
But Viekka didn’t stop. She was consumed by hatred.
“But… are you sure it’s okay to use this much? The instructions say we only need a small amount…”
The noblewomen who had reluctantly followed Viekka also received the potion and began sprinkling it around.
“It’s fine, the more we use, the more ferocious the monsters will become. I had this specially made, so it’s three times more potent.”
One of the timid noblewomen asked Viekka a question, and she gave a crazy answer.
“Isn’t that bad?! And you said it was a normal potion at first!”
It was an act that would horrify any normal person.
“No… We have to do this! Honestly, I didn’t want to use it all, but-”
But Viekka’s thought process was different.
“I’m still so angry about what happened at the banquet…!”
The humiliation she suffered at the banquet, especially at the hands of a certain man, still stung.
“Because of Elisha’s fiancé or whatever he was… Ugh…!”
The fate that had been drastically altered by that man…
He wondered if Arnold could have predicted this situation.
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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.
