I Ended My Engagement With The Woman Who Despised Me

✦  Chapter 1  ✦

「Translator — Creator」

᠃ ⚘᠂ ⚘ ⚘᠂ ⚘ ᠃

[Even if everyone points fingers at you, I’ll forever be on your side, so don’t worry.]

In life, there are moments when a character suddenly captures your heart and takes root in your mind.

For me, that character was Elysia, the Grand Duchess of the North…

Cold and aloof to everyone else, yet warm to the man she loved.

Even when the protagonist fell into the bottomless pit of despair, betrayed by everyone else, she alone reached out her hand — the steadfast ‘true heroine’ character.

There were always a few insidious critics who would dismiss her with comments like, “The main heroine is obviously Rwen, so Elysia doesn’t count because she was just an arranged fiancée,” but that was nonsense.

After all, the defining trait of a true heroine was being the one who reaches out when the protagonist is at their lowest. It was an unshakable truth — Elysia was the true heroine.

‘Anyway, what matters is…’

From the moment I first saw her, I fell head over heels for this character and threw myself into every conceivable form of fandom.

Unfortunately, since the novel featuring her wasn’t particularly popular, there was no official merchandise, so I had to craft everything by hand.

‘The collection of handmade merchandise grew to about twenty pieces.’

Though I lacked artistic talent, I did have money earned from enduring a horrible corporate life. I poured every paycheck into commissioning illustrations (with the author’s permission) to create merchandise,

Or crafted crude figurines and cushions myself, filling my room with these treasures.

‘And as if that wasn’t enough,’

I even wrote fan fiction featuring Elysia as the protagonist and posted it online on novel platforms, not to mention sending the author a 57,000-character essay about Elysia’s wonderful qualities.

I can definitively say I’ve never poured so much affection into anyone else in my life, expressing my devotion with everything I had.

So when I first realized I had possessed Damian — Elysia’s fiancé, or rather, former fiancé who would eventually die at the protagonist’s hands due to his cruel and debauched nature – I felt joy before vague fear.

‘Isn’t this an absolute win?’

If I had friends (which I don’t) who heard this reaction, they would probably call me insane (and rightly so).

I was so overwhelmed with joy at not only being able to meet the character I’d devoted my entire life to loving but becoming her fiancé that I couldn’t see anything else.

…Though truthfully, there wasn’t much else to see anyway.

Well, enough of the dark stuff — the point is, I had become the fiancé of the character I loved with all my heart, and that was all that mattered. Without hesitation, I headed straight for Elysia’s office.

I headed to her office without any plan or preparation.

The only thing occupying my mind was the fact that after five years of devoted fandom, I could finally meet my beloved character.

So I entered her office with the simple goal of exchanging casual greetings face to face, but…

“You seem to have an abundance of free time. How enviable.”

Her response? A dismissive remark that barely acknowledged my presence, delivered with a tone that suggested I wasn’t even worth her attention.

A response that was, if anything, entirely expected.

After all, Elysia was a character who maintained a frosty demeanor, drawing clear boundaries with others until she truly opened her heart.

According to the novel’s description, quite a few people had been wounded by her responses like this.

But knowing all the warm actions she would eventually show the protagonist once she opened her heart, I accepted her cold demeanor with a smile.

“Yes, good morning.”

“……”

She gazed at my face, clearly taken aback by my response.

Thinking she had finally deigned to meet my eyes, I steadily returned her gaze.

Beautiful was too obvious a descriptor to dwell on.

Instead, I felt a pang of concern as I noticed the dark circles spread beneath her eyes and her skin’s sickly pallor, suggesting poor health.

‘The work must be taking its toll.’

The harsh realities of the North meant countless challenges to address, each with significant risks. As a result, critical responsibilities often fell disproportionately to the most competent decision-makers.

Elysia was one of them – recognized for her abilities since childhood and vying for the position of family head, she constantly struggled under an excessive workload.

Seeing this, I smiled warmly once again, wondering if perhaps helping her might win her favor.

⋆❉⋆

When I returned to Damian’s room, it was only then that clarity began to set in.

Up until just moments ago, it was as if I had been bewitched, consumed by the single thought of meeting Elysia. But now, sitting alone in the room, staring at the ceiling, reason began to creep back into my consciousness.

‘………..’

I let out a hollow laugh as I realized how absurd my actions and thoughts had been.

Yet, as absurd as my behavior seemed, I realized it wasn’t entirely bad, so I closed my eyes with a sigh.

‘Once possessed, there’s no way back – all I can do is accept it.’

Regret changes nothing of what has already transpired.

I knew all too well that self-recrimination would only drag me deeper into despair. Brushing aside my doubts, I ran a hand through my hair and began sorting through the situation.

‘I am Damian Karsaril.’

A villainous character introduced in the middle acts, destined to die by the protagonist’s hand in the latter half.

Until then, he plays a significant role before that, wielding considerable influence and exerting relentless pressure on the protagonist.

‘In the original work, his relationship with his fiancée Elysia was absolutely terrible – he viewed her as nothing more than his possession.’

Of course, she openly rejected and ignored that bastard Damian, so nothing particularly serious occurred. What mattered was that their values clashed so severely that Damian tormented Elysia relentlessly.

Therefore, in the original story, their relationship was beyond worst, completely shattered…

‘But judging by the fact that she limited her reaction to simply ignoring me…’

Whether by luck or fate, I seemed to have been thrust into the timeline before their relationship reached that breaking point. In other words, this was shortly after Damian first arrived in the North.

‘Then there might be a chance.’

Saving the world? Returning to Earth? A fantastical harem with big-bosomed elves, dragons, and holy maidens falling for me? None of that mattered. I only cared about Elysia to be honest.

So, my first goal was clear: do everything in my power to win her over. I began contemplating what actions might help me achieve that.

‘Well, Damian’s character is wealthy, for one.’

As the youngest son of a prestigious noble family, he was affluent enough to afford being engaged to the Grand Duchess of the North. Money was no issue—it practically overflowed.

Although he was a useless fool when he first appeared in the story with no ability, by the middle of the story he’d become a formidable enemy capable of facing the protagonist – that meant he had latent potential.

‘However, being naturally lazy and debauched…’

In the early parts, his abilities were weak, constantly getting thrashed by the protagonist. But in other words, this meant that with effort in the early stages, I could become someone capable of helping Elysia.

With these thoughts in mind, I resolved to work toward becoming someone who could genuinely help her.

‘Moreover…’

I nodded, thinking that naturally working to make the North more habitable might organically increase our mutual affinity.

‘Though all of this is my one-sided intention…’

It would be better to follow a path of natural familiarity, keeping my intentions concealed as much as possible; as much as I wanted to get closer to her quickly, I didn’t want to overwhelm her. Resolving to approach her slowly and carefully, I took a deep breath.

‘Alright, let’s do this.’

END of CHAPTER