The Despicable Duke Settles His Affairs

by Miori Kayamoto, Faye Duxovni (Translator), Karatsuyu (Illustrator)

After careful consideration and meticulous planning, Kashimiya Tsukasa ends his life to save his family. However, instead of reaching the afterlife, his eyes snap open to scenes of torture, mutilation, and so much pain…all inflicted by his own hands. When his head clears, he realizes that he’s been reincarnated into the world of his favorite novel—not as a hero, but as the sadistic Duke Heinreid von Rodvelia. Haunted by the memories of the duke’s vile deeds, he vows to atone by giving himself the permanent ending he deserves. But soon, his shift in personality arouses the suspicions of Craig Bauer, Heinreid’s personal knight and the one who finally kills him in the original novel. Craig’s attention slips into obsession, and as his fate intertwines with Heinreid’s doomed destiny, the story of the novel begins to warp around them. Will Heinreid end up skewered down to the hilt of Craig’s sword? Or can even the most despicable duke find a reason to keep living beyond the final page?

Genres: Light Novel

330 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 25, 2025

Reviews

[Miele ♡ · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was 382 pages on my Kobo, and yet I’m still sitting here wondering how a story this long managed to contain absolutely nothing. I slept on it, read the last bits, and somehow my opinion got worse. It’s almost impressive how a novel can feel both overlong and completely empty at the same time. Nothing truly starts, nothing develops, nothing concludes — it’s like watching fog for 400 pages and being told there’s a plot somewhere inside if you squint hard enough. Spoiler: there isn’t.

And the romance? God. If this is what the author considers “love,” then I’m running in the opposite direction. I genuinely spite the ML by this point. Craig’s so-called feelings for Heinreid never felt like love, just pure body-driven obsession. He sees the man doing something explicit in the aftermath of violence and suddenly decides, “Yes, you’re mine now”? That’s not romance — that’s derangement with abs. His personality didn’t help either; I’m sorry, but even his name started to irritate me by association. And the book tries so hard to make this dynamic meaningful, but all I ever saw was sex, forced sex, more sex, and absolutely zero emotional foundation. If there was ever potential for a deeper relationship, it was buried under the rubble of bad writing and misplaced horniness.

The only character who didn’t make me want to close the book and walk into the sea was Karl, the butler — simply because he used his brain instead of his genitals to make decisions. He’s the only one who felt remotely sane in this mess, which probably says more about the book than it does about him.

Genre-wise, the story fails at everything it claims to be. Romance? Nonexistent, unless you count lust framed as fate.
Adventure? We saw the outline of it, as if the author planned big arcs and then forgot to actually write them.
By the end, even the extras — usually the place where light novels redeem themselves — somehow made everything worse. I genuinely prayed the main couple wouldn’t end up together, and yet here we are.

If I had to summarize the experience: the book looks like a full-course meal but tastes like undercooked meat — promising from a distance, but unpleasant the moment you dig in. A 2-star read, and that’s me being generous.

[Reichis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This had so much potential, I'm dissapointed a bit. I love the theme of guilt and power overwhelming someone. And the smut parts at the middle where great addition and i was excited to see how it will play out, but then the Duke became secondary/ doll like, moldable to what Craig wants.

I would have liked the guilt explored more, I liked the chapters where he (the Duke) realized the true impact he had on his sister and mother. I thought we would explore that more. The part of him that is Heinreid wasn't as impactful to me as the pre-suicide him. I wish he had told someone about things more or there was a chance for someone to see the other life he had through his actions that were something he might have done in his last life. They did that a bit with him talking to Elmer in the dungeon. I just wish there was more of that.

The romance after felt very bitter, then one sided and dark. I guess it did actually achieve the feeling of it being a tortured, twisted kind of love.

[Bea · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lot more melancholic and bittersweet than I expected. Of course, given the summary, I wasn't expecting anything super fluffy - but the nature of the romance between Craig and Heinreid still left a lot to be desired.

I did enjoy the more plot-focused parts wherein the isekai'd Heinreid maneuvers and schemes to right the old Heinreid's wrongs. And the amount of guilt he carries with him - despite not being the one to commit those heinous acts to begin with - felt refreshing, because I think this remains a relatively underexplored aspect of isekai works involving villains and villainesses. However, this is another work that I think suffers from its relatively short length, even if we get a fairly lengthy coda to the main story from Craig's perspective.

Still, I think this is a good start to J-Novel Club's BL licenses, and I'm eagerly awaiting for more licensed Japanese BL works with the same themes and tropes.

[Benji · Rating 4 out of 5]

J-Novel Club’s first BL light novel release! This is a transmigration alt-historical where the MC takes on the role of a sadistic novel villain. This book has a bunch of stuff I like in it: angst, a prickly MC, slowburn romance, kinda toxic relationship dynamics. Watching Craig experience nonstop emotional whiplash was fun, poor dude was put through the wringer by the author. I love that the book avoided the trivializing Love Cures All trope and instead gave the characters a more realistic happily ever after. Includes PTSD rep.

Big heads up that suicide is a driving motivator of the MC

[ジュディ · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s was an easy book to read. I feel like the ending was rushed, it strange trying to understand most of the plot towards the end, they hinted slightly as to why the previous king became evil but they don’t really say much.

[Elise]

Seems interesting.

[Eve Healy]

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