What do you think?
The Wicked Princess and Her Twelve Eyes: The Legendary Villainess and Her Elite Assassins (Light Novel)
やり直しの裏に隠された秘密とは――
公爵令嬢セリーナは王太子から婚約破棄され、服毒刑にて人生を終えた――はずだったが、何故か巻き戻り二度目の人生がスタート。
ちなみにあれは冤罪だ、とんだ冤罪である。
だって「ちょっと聖女の頭めがけて植木鉢を落としただけ」で「殺してはいない」のだから。
前回の敗因は有能な部下がいなかったこと。
であれば今度は拠り所のない孤児を引き取り暗殺者に育て上げ、自分をコケにしたやつら全員をぶちのめすのだ！
こうしてセリーナの従者育成計画が始まるが、過酷な訓練を経て仕上がったのはある意味（・・・・）最強の従者たちと番犬で！？
「我々はセリーナ様を愛しているか？」
「生涯忠誠！ 命を懸けて！ 忠誠！ 忠誠！ 忠誠！」
「セリーナ……、“あれ”はなんだね？」
「お父様、彼らは従者としての使命を前に、ああやって気を引き締めているのです」（すまし顔）
人生二度目の倫理観ぶっ飛びヒロインが征く、ちょっぴりおかしな逆行転生×悪党×勘違い英雄譚！
公爵令嬢セリーナは王太子から婚約破棄され、服毒刑にて人生を終えた――はずだったが、何故か巻き戻り二度目の人生がスタート。
ちなみにあれは冤罪だ、とんだ冤罪である。
だって「ちょっと聖女の頭めがけて植木鉢を落としただけ」で「殺してはいない」のだから。
前回の敗因は有能な部下がいなかったこと。
であれば今度は拠り所のない孤児を引き取り暗殺者に育て上げ、自分をコケにしたやつら全員をぶちのめすのだ！
こうしてセリーナの従者育成計画が始まるが、過酷な訓練を経て仕上がったのはある意味（・・・・）最強の従者たちと番犬で！？
「我々はセリーナ様を愛しているか？」
「生涯忠誠！ 命を懸けて！ 忠誠！ 忠誠！ 忠誠！」
「セリーナ……、“あれ”はなんだね？」
「お父様、彼らは従者としての使命を前に、ああやって気を引き締めているのです」（すまし顔）
人生二度目の倫理観ぶっ飛びヒロインが征く、ちょっぴりおかしな逆行転生×悪党×勘違い英雄譚！
404 pages, Paperback
First published July 25, 2024
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
October 24, 2025
3.5 Stars rounded down to 3.
This villainess story is a standalone one-shot, which is a nice change of pace. I also appreciate that the protagonist truly leans into being a villainess; she can be selfish, even cruel, and the “redo your life” trope isn’t just there for flavor. It’s central to the story’s themes: just because she got a second chance doesn’t mean she suddenly became a good person. Her redemption and growth take an entire lifetime, and she has to work hard for every bit of it.
That said, I don’t think I’m a big fan of Daken’s writing style, or maybe it’s the translation. The book spends way too much time on the orphan-assassin training arc. By the fourth flashback, showing yet another orphan’s harsh upbringing under her, I was starting to lose interest. Then the pacing flipped, and the later developments flew by so quickly it felt like the author decided halfway through to just wrap things up.
There was easily enough material in the second half for a multi-volume series, but at least the story ends cleanly with no loose threads. I’d probably rate it around 3.5 stars, not quite strong enough for a four, but still a satisfying standalone read.
This villainess story is a standalone one-shot, which is a nice change of pace. I also appreciate that the protagonist truly leans into being a villainess; she can be selfish, even cruel, and the “redo your life” trope isn’t just there for flavor. It’s central to the story’s themes: just because she got a second chance doesn’t mean she suddenly became a good person. Her redemption and growth take an entire lifetime, and she has to work hard for every bit of it.
That said, I don’t think I’m a big fan of Daken’s writing style, or maybe it’s the translation. The book spends way too much time on the orphan-assassin training arc. By the fourth flashback, showing yet another orphan’s harsh upbringing under her, I was starting to lose interest. Then the pacing flipped, and the later developments flew by so quickly it felt like the author decided halfway through to just wrap things up.
There was easily enough material in the second half for a multi-volume series, but at least the story ends cleanly with no loose threads. I’d probably rate it around 3.5 stars, not quite strong enough for a four, but still a satisfying standalone read.
January 7, 2026
Great find.
August 12, 2026
Holy shit she’s crazy. The children are hilarious. The timeline gets a little fuzzy in the middle, but that’s alright. The love of her life is a sweetheart. Her mother is a queen. The dogs made me cry.
A light novel that’s singular feels rare, but it was delightful! I read it as an audiobook but I might need a physical copy.
A light novel that’s singular feels rare, but it was delightful! I read it as an audiobook but I might need a physical copy.
June 19, 2026
This book surprised me. I got it on Audible for free as one of their included books, and the 12 eyes made me think of the one RiffTrax/MST3K movie... but you find out, in this case, that those 12 eyes are the pet dogs she made her "assassins" adopt and take care of.
A young woman is publicly accused of her evil deeds by the prince and executed. The thing is, she was guilty of everything she did and was a horrible person. She wakes up in the past and realizes she was too weak in her previous life. She decides to talk her noble father into allowing her to adopt 6 orphans her age to be her servants and bodyguards. Still, instead, she wants a group of people she can control and train to assassinate her enemies when she gets older. In the first part of the book, the FMC is a horrible person and is a drill sergeant from hell when it comes to training her 6 bodyguards/assassins. She also forced them to adopt and take care of puppies so they would get used to them and close to them so she could later on force them to all murder them and remove their humanity and family bonds and only obey her. However, they never find out that was her ultimate plan, and instead circumstances cause her to abandon that plot. The ending actually made me kinda sad, and I had to hold it together at work.
She abandons the plan to murder the dogs at the last minute after learning that the royal family, on a surprise visit, are actually big dog lovers. The dogs are a way to get closer to the royal family and the prince whom she had a crush on in her past life and was arranged to marry before that same prince denounced her and had her executed. She spares the dogs' lives and gets closer to them, who she learns actually treated her that way because they loved her, and her 6 guards are pretty loyal followers.
Towards the last half of the book, the FMC finds out she came back because of a spell her only friend in her previous life cast. It allowed events and things to be undone and time to go back, but at the cost of the person who casts it. Not only will that person lose their life, but all memories people have of that person in their head will vanish. Turns out he sacrificed himself to allow her a chance to relive her life. She sets about casting the same spell after she finds the book of her previous friend that she forgot existed. To bring him back, she needs a willing sacrifice, which is herself. At first her minions try to stop her and take her place instead, but she had poisoned them with a drink to make them fall safely asleep and not stop her. However, at the last second, all of their dogs, now elderly after a decade of life, take the place of the sacrifice, and the FMC is unable to stop them and is saddened to see them do so.
You then find out in one of the epilogues that the bodyguards figured out what was going on and knew that to save their mistress they'd all have to sacrifice themselves and/or their dogs if they are unable to do so themselves. Our FMC never finds out, but they all willingly gave up their one remaining family (they are orphans) for her.
The past friend comes back, and our FMC figures out that she never really loved the prince or even liked him, was only interested in the power his position held, gave him up, and married her friend instead. The fabled hero that she was trying to circumvent ended up marrying the prince after all.
There are multiple epilogues, and after a while I just wished they'd end, as the epilogues were treated as the original epilogue and the life-redone epilogue. So we got several short stories after the book ended, where we find out XYZ happened, actually, but then wait... one thing slightly changed this time when the FMC's life was relived.
The epilogues were interesting but also kinda distracted from the way the actual book ended and its own dialogue; they're more stories in the extended universe than part of the overall story.
Turns out in one of the epilogues the father is the reason our FMC is executed in her first life. Turns out the FMC's doting father was actually an evil, rude person, but it never really gave any hint of his horridness in the overall story. It felt more like, "Oh yeah, remember that one guy who only gets a few lines and is largely absent from the story? Well, it just so happens that this whole time he was doing horrible stuff I never alluded to. Her stole our FMC from her mom, as he suspected her mom was cheating on him with her cousin to keep her bloodline going. Evidently, the FMC's father murdered her mom's true cousin's lover. The mom is forbidden from ever having anything to do with her daughter's life and is forced to allow him to raise her. The epilogue says he was neglecting the daughter to get back at the mom, but we never really got any context of that happening in the original story. Also, he allows her to be executed the first time to get back at her mom for supposedly cheating on him.
Then it goes on to the next epilogue, which is the same story as with the father, but this time the FMC is a success and can live a long life. We are now told this same story twice, with a handful of changes... But wait... there's more...
We then get a 3rd and 4th retelling of this exact story. Turns out the mom actually did sleep with her cousin, whom she loves, and the FMC is actually her love child with her cousin, as she used steps to prevent getting pregnant by the guy the FMC actually thinks is her father. Then the next epilogue is the FMC, now elderly, during her final year(s), and she starts to vaguely remember the dogs she used to have, which is a problem because the magic spell caused her and the others to forget the dogs ever existed.
There is a total of 5-6 epilogues for this short book.
A young woman is publicly accused of her evil deeds by the prince and executed. The thing is, she was guilty of everything she did and was a horrible person. She wakes up in the past and realizes she was too weak in her previous life. She decides to talk her noble father into allowing her to adopt 6 orphans her age to be her servants and bodyguards. Still, instead, she wants a group of people she can control and train to assassinate her enemies when she gets older. In the first part of the book, the FMC is a horrible person and is a drill sergeant from hell when it comes to training her 6 bodyguards/assassins. She also forced them to adopt and take care of puppies so they would get used to them and close to them so she could later on force them to all murder them and remove their humanity and family bonds and only obey her. However, they never find out that was her ultimate plan, and instead circumstances cause her to abandon that plot. The ending actually made me kinda sad, and I had to hold it together at work.
She abandons the plan to murder the dogs at the last minute after learning that the royal family, on a surprise visit, are actually big dog lovers. The dogs are a way to get closer to the royal family and the prince whom she had a crush on in her past life and was arranged to marry before that same prince denounced her and had her executed. She spares the dogs' lives and gets closer to them, who she learns actually treated her that way because they loved her, and her 6 guards are pretty loyal followers.
Towards the last half of the book, the FMC finds out she came back because of a spell her only friend in her previous life cast. It allowed events and things to be undone and time to go back, but at the cost of the person who casts it. Not only will that person lose their life, but all memories people have of that person in their head will vanish. Turns out he sacrificed himself to allow her a chance to relive her life. She sets about casting the same spell after she finds the book of her previous friend that she forgot existed. To bring him back, she needs a willing sacrifice, which is herself. At first her minions try to stop her and take her place instead, but she had poisoned them with a drink to make them fall safely asleep and not stop her. However, at the last second, all of their dogs, now elderly after a decade of life, take the place of the sacrifice, and the FMC is unable to stop them and is saddened to see them do so.
You then find out in one of the epilogues that the bodyguards figured out what was going on and knew that to save their mistress they'd all have to sacrifice themselves and/or their dogs if they are unable to do so themselves. Our FMC never finds out, but they all willingly gave up their one remaining family (they are orphans) for her.
The past friend comes back, and our FMC figures out that she never really loved the prince or even liked him, was only interested in the power his position held, gave him up, and married her friend instead. The fabled hero that she was trying to circumvent ended up marrying the prince after all.
There are multiple epilogues, and after a while I just wished they'd end, as the epilogues were treated as the original epilogue and the life-redone epilogue. So we got several short stories after the book ended, where we find out XYZ happened, actually, but then wait... one thing slightly changed this time when the FMC's life was relived.
The epilogues were interesting but also kinda distracted from the way the actual book ended and its own dialogue; they're more stories in the extended universe than part of the overall story.
Turns out in one of the epilogues the father is the reason our FMC is executed in her first life. Turns out the FMC's doting father was actually an evil, rude person, but it never really gave any hint of his horridness in the overall story. It felt more like, "Oh yeah, remember that one guy who only gets a few lines and is largely absent from the story? Well, it just so happens that this whole time he was doing horrible stuff I never alluded to. Her stole our FMC from her mom, as he suspected her mom was cheating on him with her cousin to keep her bloodline going. Evidently, the FMC's father murdered her mom's true cousin's lover. The mom is forbidden from ever having anything to do with her daughter's life and is forced to allow him to raise her. The epilogue says he was neglecting the daughter to get back at the mom, but we never really got any context of that happening in the original story. Also, he allows her to be executed the first time to get back at her mom for supposedly cheating on him.
Then it goes on to the next epilogue, which is the same story as with the father, but this time the FMC is a success and can live a long life. We are now told this same story twice, with a handful of changes... But wait... there's more...
We then get a 3rd and 4th retelling of this exact story. Turns out the mom actually did sleep with her cousin, whom she loves, and the FMC is actually her love child with her cousin, as she used steps to prevent getting pregnant by the guy the FMC actually thinks is her father. Then the next epilogue is the FMC, now elderly, during her final year(s), and she starts to vaguely remember the dogs she used to have, which is a problem because the magic spell caused her and the others to forget the dogs ever existed.
There is a total of 5-6 epilogues for this short book.
May 26, 2026
Fun read. Good character development. Satisfying ending. Eagerly read this book in every spare moment over 3 days - even fell into the one more chapter trap at bedtime and jeopardized my sleep time with reading.
January 31, 2026
This was such a good story for only being book I cried twice 😭
September 27, 2026
Finally a villainess story about an actual villainess. Villainess stories are my favorite mass produced same but with a couple tweaks genre. Villainess stories are almost always more interesting than male targeted 'what if the world was dragon quest and elves with big boobs wanted to smooch me' isekai/regression stories. Villainess stories have a built-in arc, a villainess doesn't perform aristocracy or social virtues or femininity correctly and is despised and actively endangered by it. Or being aware of how the story is supposed to go makes her unaware of how much people love her for her good deeds. The thing that sets this one apart is that the villainess isn't some ingenue from earth forced into the role having to rebuild her reputation never having committed any crimes or a lady who instantly regrets her actions in hindsight, a second chance at life means she changes her actions only so much as is necessary to save her neck and is still pretty catty and sadistic throughout in ways that did get a few chuckles out of me. A lot of the comedy is like tearmoon empire where she does something self serving and everyone around her interprets it as wise, and it's not quite as funny as tearmoon but it gets points for having an out and out villainess and not anime Marie Antoinette (which is also a good gimmick). The prose in light novels is almost never good, being a mass produced pulp genre that also loses some flair in translation. And the worldbuilding is pretty generic, relying on genre familiarity. It also juggles a few too many characters at times for them all to get anything satisfying outside of interlude chapters from their perspectives. There's a clever little twist at the end and it didn't have a love interest that I hated. Does what it says on the tin a lot better than a lot of the genre. It's also great to have a story where dogs are pretty close to the emotional core of a story written by someone who clearly has no interest in dogs.
September 15, 2026
Just look at this cover art. You know this is going to be a bad book. Well imagine my surprise.
I actually really like the premise. And the character growth throughout. You can see the major plot points coming, but it is enjoyable all the same.
My major gripe is the jumping from the main charcter to the squires is like telling and not showing. Like the author couldn't figure out how to covey something and so let you get into the heads of the cast to tell you how they feel.
This is very much inspired by anime. That both helps and hurts this book. But I will look for other books by the author. Because it was fun.
I actually really like the premise. And the character growth throughout. You can see the major plot points coming, but it is enjoyable all the same.
My major gripe is the jumping from the main charcter to the squires is like telling and not showing. Like the author couldn't figure out how to covey something and so let you get into the heads of the cast to tell you how they feel.
This is very much inspired by anime. That both helps and hurts this book. But I will look for other books by the author. Because it was fun.
September 23, 2026
I picked this audio book because I was in the mood for something light and it sounded interesting and it wasn't a volume 1 of many (like many such light novels).
Maybe I should have picked on better criteria lol.
For most of the book it felt like a collection of events rather than a story. Similarly the characters had defining characteristics rather than personalities.
It got a bit better towards the end when the turn I had seen coming from the beginning (and which you might even guess from the title) finally arrived. Also I guess I just wanted to see how it ended.
But if this was a volume 1 I would not be continuing to volume 2.
Maybe I should have picked on better criteria lol.
For most of the book it felt like a collection of events rather than a story. Similarly the characters had defining characteristics rather than personalities.
It got a bit better towards the end when the turn I had seen coming from the beginning (and which you might even guess from the title) finally arrived. Also I guess I just wanted to see how it ended.
But if this was a volume 1 I would not be continuing to volume 2.
September 21, 2026
great story
Loved every minute reading this story, very good story work and even the ending was great and I was satisfied loveee the fact that she’s literally just a spoiled brat you portrayed that really well and I love her character ark or slowly becoming a better person. I honestly really love her assassins gave the story a lot more character for me I laughed a lot reading this I love her humor and cried so hard by the end of the story no joke I was bawling 10/10 would definitely read again!
Loved every minute reading this story, very good story work and even the ending was great and I was satisfied loveee the fact that she’s literally just a spoiled brat you portrayed that really well and I love her character ark or slowly becoming a better person. I honestly really love her assassins gave the story a lot more character for me I laughed a lot reading this I love her humor and cried so hard by the end of the story no joke I was bawling 10/10 would definitely read again!
March 16, 2026
This came up in the very first chapter and was referenced from the jump so it’s not a spoiler. Anyway, the racism took me out of the story a bit. The only child who’s skin color was described was a big, dumb brute who’s qualities were pretty much stated to be hereditary. And surprise, surprise he was dark skinned. All the other kids were either clever(one was quiet). Seriously? THE ONLY ONE who’s skin tone came up during the selection was dark skinned?
November 1, 2025
Great single volume regressor villainess light novel, it re-uses the done to death canceled engagement results in revenge trope in the beginning but makes it up later with the MC's subordinates hilariously overcompensating resulting in situations akin to series like Overloard and Eminence In Shadow. Short but bitter sweet.
June 6, 2026
It's a silly, delusional, illogical story but... HEAR ME OUT - it somehow works. I have no idea why I liked it (especially that cover makes me nauseous) but I did. It was entertaining and made my 20+ km hike so much easier.
August 22, 2026
Another fun book by Daken! Seems super lighthearted (and mean-spirited) throughout most of the book. Nothing new and unexpected... until the final chapters. Then you start crying and the book turns itself on its head (in an interesting way).
February 8, 2026
It's short and sweet, with an unexpected last boss!
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews