Literature / I Swear I Won't Bother You Again!

"I…definitely won't make that mistake again."

— Violette Rem Vahan

Violette is the eldest daughter of the ducal Vahan house. While she's considered a perfect noblewoman by those on the outside, she's considered the Black Sheep of the family by her father, who prefers her younger half-sister, Maryjune, over her. Violette is jealous of Maryjune, who not only excels at academics better, but has garnered Crown Prince Claudia's affection. In a fit of rage, Violette attempts to kill her sister, but is caught and sentenced to life imprisonment. In her cell, regretful over her destructive behavior, Violette wishes she could turn back time, swearing that she would never bother anyone again.

The next day, Violette finds herself back one year in the past, when she met Maryjune for the first time, just before her debut as a noble. This time, Violette wants to live a quiet life in atonement, without bothering or hurting anyone. Unfortunately, her new attitude gets her the attention she once so desperately craved, when she no longer wants it…

I Swear I Won't Bother You Again! (今度は絶対に邪魔しませんっ！, Kondo wa Zettai ni Jama Shimasen!) is a web and light novel series written by Reina Soratani. The web novel started publishing on Shousetsuka ni Narou in 2017, while the light novel was later picked up and published by Gentosha with illustrations by Haru Harukawa. Since 2018, a manga adaptation by Haru Harukawa started publishing on Gentosha's Denshi Birz website. Since 2021, the light novel and manga series are published in English by Seven Seas Entertainment.

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This series provides examples of:

• Abusive Parents:
  • Violette, from all of her parents. Her father is neglectful and cold to her, as she's the daughter of his Yandere first wife; he becomes physically abusive later on. Her mother, Bellerose, used Violette as a Replacement Goldfish, dressing her up in boys' clothes. She only stopped once Violette grew too feminine to pass and soon after died of an illness. Her stepmother, Elfa, does the exact same thing as Bellerose did to Violette, sexually assaulting her as well.
  • Marin's parents were as well, as they left her at a church due to her illegitimate status.
• Adaptation Deviation: The manga deviates so significantly from the light novel that it's better to consider them as loosely connected scenarios at best. They use the same premise and characters, but the manga is much more of a romantic comedy than the light novel, which was originally intended to be one but eventually became a darker tale about abuse and its effect on Violette.
• All Love Is Unrequited: Most of the characters' loves are one-sided. Violette is loved by Yulan, Claudia, and Marin, but she isn't interested in anyone at the beginning. This also applies to Maryjune's familial love toward Violette, as while she loves her sister, the feelings aren't mutual with Violette.
  • The same could apply for Violette herself in the original timeline, who wanted the love of her father and Claudia. Sadly, her desire for their affection only pushed her to misery, which lead her to decide that she was better off without them in the new timeline.
  • In Volume 2 of the Light Novel, this is no longer the case as Violette realizes that she is in love with Yulan, but she is worried about what this means or what she should do. She and Yulan ultimately get together in Volume 4.
• All Take and No Give: Violette fears this is the relationship she has with Yulan. He is always helpful and friendly to her, but she never offers him any help in return, and she makes several attempts to either reward and/or thank him, such as buying him a new pocket watch or treating him to something because she's afraid he'll eventually grow to resent her. On his end, Yulan wishes that Violette would rely on him more, knowing she does need help, especially since she helped him when he was younger and discriminated against by other nobles. He also regrets not doing more to help her in the original timeline.
• Bisexual Love Triangle: In both timelines, Yulan and Marin love Violette due to her saving them during their childhoods. In the current timeline, Yulan and Violette become engaged while Marin continues to faithfully serve Violette as her personal maid, having no intention of revealing her true feelings for her mistress.
• Bully Hunter: Prince Claudia hates bullies and reacts with anger when he sees Maryjune being bullied. In the original timeline, Violette's bullying is the reason why Claudia becomes so protective of Maryjune, eventually getting together. He tries to defend Maryjune initially in the new timeline, too, but since Violette is innocent this time, he is called out by Yulan for being overbearingly judgmental.
  • This trait is also deconstructed; in the original timeline, his constant protectiveness of Maryjune while lambasting Violette for bullying her only contributed to Violette lashing out at Maryjune in the worst possible way. Yulan also calls him out on judging the situation he sees without recognizing his royal authority or understanding the full circumstances, two factors that would not be ideal for a future ruler.
• Chocolate Baby: This is the reason why Marin was abandoned by her parents. Her parents' families either had blue or green eyes, but Marin's eyes are red. Her mother then admitted that she had an affair, and Marin was left on a church's doorstep when she was four.
• Fair-Weather Friend: Violette views her former entourage as being this. She's certain they only cared about her because they believed associating with her was a valuable connection, and Yulan believed they were of this nature as well. She's certain that they are unlikely to bother associating with her anymore due to her rocky situation, and she ends up growing to enjoy solitude outside of spending time with Yulan and later Rosette.
• Foreshadowing: Violette noticing that certain interactions she had with Yulan didn’t happen in the previous timeline, but she dismisses it as something that happened because she was doing things differently. It would be later revealed that Yulan remembers the previous timeline, and he’s taking action to save her from her previous fate and her horrible home life.
• Good Adultery, Bad Adultery: Both Marin and Yulan are in the opinion that adultery is bad. Marin doesn't know who her biological father is, but she figures any man who would have an affair with a married woman can't possibly by a good person. Yulan is disgusted by the idea of men thinking they can dress up adultery with pretty words, such as mistresses, due to how he was mistreated as the product of adultery and how Violette's life was ruined by her own father's unfaithfulness.
• Irony:
  • Claudia only discovers why Violette resents Maryjune (which was the fact Bellerose was driven to madness after Auld left her for his mistress, Maryjune's mother and Violette had to handle said unstable mother for years) in the timeline where he doesn't end up becoming attracted to Maryjune and Violette is treating her sister more respectfully.
  • In the original timeline, Claudia and Maryjune fell in love and got engaged without a hitch, while he lambasted Violette as a vile, jealous woman for her actions. In the new timeline, it's implied Claudia may have been Loving a Shadow concerning Maryjune; when he sees Maryjune being prejudiced against nobles, his view toward her are negatively impacted, while he ends up attracted to Violette, who's now not blinded by her envy and resentment.
  • Auld left Bellerose for Elfa because he couldn’t stand her obsessive love for him, believing his mistress to be the complete opposite of his wife. Elfa turns out to be exactly the same kind of crazy Bellerose was over him, just better at hiding it and in other ways, WORSE.
• Kangaroo Court: In the original timeline, it is revealed from Yulan’s perspective that there was no actual investigation into Violette’s case. While she did attempt to kill her sister, they never investigated why she broke down. They apparently disregarded Marin’s testimony about how Violette was horribly treated in the household. While Violette would’ve been found guilty, if they had investigated her family, there is a chance she might’ve been granted some level of mercy due to extenuating circumstances.
• Love Makes You Crazy: It happened to Bellerose, Violette's mother, who grew extremely possessive of Auld. When he left her for his mistress, tired of Bellerose, she started dressing up Violette as a boy, since she resembles her father so much. Once Violette grew more and more feminine, Bellerose lost interest in Violette and eventually became ill and died.
  • Unfortunately, the same thing happens with Auld's second wife, Elfa. She even tries to pawn her actual daughter, Maryjune, off to Yulan since she doesn't want to let Violette (or rather, her husband's stand-in) go that easily.
• Loving a Shadow:
  • Marin reveals that Bellerose couldn't get over the fact that her husband abandoned her. Instead, she dressed up their daughter Violette, who resembles her father, as a boy as a Replacement Goldfish.
  • Violette eventually comes to the realization that she didn't really love Prince Claudia. She just thought if she could get together with Claudia, he would surely make her happy.
  • It's heavily implied this was the case for Claudia's feelings for Maryjune in the original timeline. Though Violette noted them as a happy couple engaged without a hitch, Claudia's affections for her may have been more from the Dulcinea Effect rather than really knowing her. When he overhears Maryjune being prejudiced against nobles (which could have escalated the situation she was in had Violette not stepped in), he does not become attracted to Maryjune. Instead, he sees Violette in a different light and ironically begins developing feelings for her.
  • Maryjune's love for her family is this. She's very affectionate towards Violette, never realizing that the latter resents her for being their father's favorite child, to the point that she tried to kill Maryjune in the previous timeline. Her mother seems to be gentle and loving to her daughter, but she is really only in love with her husband and was willing to give her away for marriage so she could keep her stepdaughter, who looks like her father, around. Even her father, who truly loves her and spoiled her growing up, abuses his other daughter over her. He is also shown to be aware of his favorite daughter's status as a bastard child, and may unconsciously look down on her for that. Maryjune's need for a loving family overlooks the fact that said family is dysfunctional and only holding together because of Violette's resignation as the family punching bag. Until she doesn't, which is when Maryjune's "perfect family" falls apart.
  • Auld’s feelings for Elfa also turn out to be this. He had believed her to be a gentle, angelic woman, the complete opposite of Bellerose. However, he had no clue that his beloved mistress-turned-second-wife was just as bad, if not worse, than Bellerose. He finally discovers Elda’s true colors when she tries to pawn off Maryjune to Yulan so she can keep Violette.
• Mad Love:
  • While Auld and Bellerose had an Arranged Marriage, he actually tried to make it work. However, his wife's violent jealousy-induced abuse eventually became too much for him and he abandoned her and his daughter for his mistress.
  • In the original timeline, Violette tried to pursue Prince Claudia, who wasn't interested. Violette lets go of this in the new timeline after recognizing she was Loving a Shadow, which visibly confuses Claudia and several other characters.
  • In the new timeline, Yulan becomes obsessed with the idea of ensuring Violette's happiness after knowing what happened to Violette in the previous timeline.
  • Auld's second wife, Elfa, is revealed to be as crazy in love with Auld as Bellerose was. She assaults Violette, due to her resembling Auld, and she attempts to trade Violette for her own biological daugher, Maryjune, to keep her from leaving the Vahan household.
• Murder the Hypotenuse: In the original timeline, Violette grew so jealous of Maryjune (one of the reasons for getting Prince Claudia's affection) that she ended up trying to kill her half-sister in her sleep. She would have been sentenced to death had Maryjune not pleaded to spare Violette. While Violette has avoided this trope in the current timeline, she occasionally has flashbacks to the night she tried to kill Maryjune in the previous timeline.
• My Greatest Second Chance: Having gotten a second chance to not mess up her life thanks to Time Travel, Violette vows to not bother Maryjune, Prince Claudia, or anyone else again. While she has done her best to live up to that vow, her paths keep crossing with theirs, regardless of whether she likes it or not.
• Oblivious to Love: Violette doesn't seem to realize that Prince Claudia has developed feeling for her. Justified as in the original timeline he tried to have her executed with a passion and in this time line she is actively trying to avoid spending any time with him if she can help it.
• Parental Abandonment:
  • Violette's maid Marin became an orphan when she was four years old. Her parents left her at a church and never returned.
  • Violette was abandoned by her father and left with her insane mother for better part of a majority of her life.
  • Maryjune's mother nearly did this with her when Yulan comes to help Violette leave the family for good.
• Please Spare Him, My Liege!: This is the only reason Violette isn't executed for trying to murder Maryjune; the latter desperately begs for the former's life, though Violette later considers it more of a form of Cruel Mercy.
• Queer Romance: Averted. Violette's maid Marin is in love with her mistress, but she keeps her feelings to herself. Marin knows she is not a suitable partner for Violette, but she resolves to continue supporting her mistress to ensure her happiness.
• Rags to Royalty: Duke Vahan married his commoner mistress after his noble wife passed away. This turns her and their daughter, Maryjune, to nobles.
  • In the original timeline, Maryjune gets together with Prince Claudia.
• "Reborn as Villainess" Story: Noble lady Violette is imprisoned due to the evil deeds she has done towards her younger half-sister Maryjune. Regretting her actions in her cell, she's mysteriously sent back to the time she first met Maryjune. She decides this time just to leave her sister alone and have a peaceful life. Nevertheless, this new, aloof Violette only attracts more people to her, especially Maryjune herself.
• Set Right What Once Went Wrong: Having realized that she is back at the time when she just met Maryjune, Violette decides to not bully her half-sister and avoid people as much as possible. Things go sideways as her new attitude attracts the very people she wanted to avoid, though it also helps those same people see why Violette resents her sister so much.
• Shipper with an Agenda:
  • Violette attempts to get Maryjune and Prince Claudia together so that their engagement will distract the Vahan family while she leaves them for good. Unfortunately in this timeline the Prince has no interest in her and Maryjune ships him with Violette.
  • In the manga, Violette becomes this for Rosette because Maryjune puts pressure on her to win over Prince Claudia when she tells their father that Violette won Claudia's affection. She sees Rosette as her ticket out of this scenario due to her being a princess, and it would be a perfect excuse for her father not to be angry at her. However, she comes to regret being too enthusiastic about supporting Rosette when she learns that Rosette has a lot of pressure of her own.
• Sins of Our Fathers:
  • Violette's father Auld never loved Violette's mother, Bellerose. He instead took a commoner as a mistress, which drove Bellerose to madness and a Death by Despair. After Bellerose's death, he married his mistress and brought her and their daughter, Maryjune, to the Vahan household. In the original timeline, instead of venting at her father or stepmother, Violette started bullying Maryjune, blaming her half sister for what effectively was her father's fault.
  • Auld is clearly treating Maryjune much better than Violette. He has no love for Violette, because she is Bellerose's daughter.
• Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: It is shown in a flashback that when Violette was forced to cross-dress, it was shown that it was painful for her, mentally and physically, which is why she doesn't take it well when Maryjune's mother, Elfa, tries to do the same thing with her.
• Taking the Veil: Once Violette graduates, she plans to become a nun and escape her family without ever returning. She doesn't go through with it thanks to Yulan, who gets engaged with her instead.
• Time Travel: The story begins with Violette rotting in her prison cell for the rest of her life after she tried to kill Maryjune. She then travels back one year in time, right before her life went completely off the rail. Yulan also travelled back in time, hoping to save Violette from her fate.
• Undying Loyalty: Marin is fiercely loyal to Violette and Violette only. She loathes the Vahan household - and especially holds Auld with the most contempt- for their wretched treatment of her mistress and the misery she experienced while living under their roof. She also despises Maryjune as well for being insensitive over Violette's plight. Marin's so loyal to her that if something were to happen to Violette and she was asked to serve anyone other than her, she would bite out her tongue and willingly bleed to death in response. The only reason she's serving the Vahan family and following their orders is so she can protect Violette and watch over her.
• Unrequited Love Switcheroo: Violette spend quite a bit of time and effort chasing after Prince Claudia to no effect. After realizing she didn't truly love she gives up and actively tries to avoid him. It was only after that did Prince Claudia start taking an interest in her.
• Wanted a Son Instead: In Volume 4, Violette speculates that both her parents wished that she had been born a boy; she could have been pleased her mother because a male Violette would've resembled her father more, and a male Violette would have been useful to Auld to protect Maryjune's future as a sacrificial pawn.
• What Beautiful Eyes!: One of the reasons why Marin and Yulan fell in love with Violette was because she praised their eyes.
  • For Marin, her red eyes reminded Violette that red eyes, the same eyes as her abusive mother, can be beautiful. Marin actually hated her eyes, as they were the constant reminder of her mother's infidelity, which led to Marin being abandoned by her parents at a church. However, Violette’s praise for them caused her to feel differently.
  • For Yulan, his eyes were proof that he had the blood of the king running through his veins, but he was abandoned by his father due to being his illegitimate child. When bullies were making fun of him for them, Violette interjected, and she made it clear she thought his eyes were beautiful.
• Yandere:
  • Bellerose, Violette's mother, was one. While she managed to marry Auld, the man she loved, she wanted him to love her back so badly that she attacked any woman that came near Auld. Auld eventually gave up on a harmonious marriage and left his family for his mistress.
  • In the original timeline, Violette's violent assault on Maryjune is a mix between jealousy and anger.
  • In the new timeline, Elfa, Violette’s stepmother, is shown to be this as she harassed Violette after Auld is called away by Violette’s grandfather because of Violette resembling Auld.