By Masamune Okazaki and Hayase Jyun. Released in Japan as “Mob Dōzen no Akuyaku Reijō wa Dansō Shite Kōryaku Taishō no Za wo Nerau” by TO Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Caroline W.

The gimmick for this book, of course, is despite it being a villainess novel, and Elizabeth genuinely being a woman, it is essentially a BL harem in all but name. Lilia is the sole exception, and for the most part she’s started to get reduced to a combination of comic relief and sole purveyor of common sense. Lilia is, like Elizabeth, a Japanese girl who has been brought into this game world. Unlike Elizabeth, though, Lilia seems to accept that things are different and she can make different choices, and also seems to have awakened her sapphic side, in a PG sort of way. Elizabeth, though, who seemingly does everything in order to try to seduce someone and/or hook up the “targets” with someone else, seems to be completely asexual. And is, frankly, a lot better at being a sexy man than most of the men. Thus, as I said with the first book, you get a BL series that isn’t really.

Much to Elizabeth’s horror, her older brother Frederic has gotten a marriage proposal from a nearby kingdom. Unable to tolerate her big brother vanishing from her life, Elizabeth immediately decides to impersonate him and break up the match… and she’s supported by her father and Christopher, leading to her and Frederic having their first ever fight. Now she’s off to the west, along with Edward (who is delighted to finally get some time with the woman he loves), Christopher (ditto), and Lilia (ditto). When they get there, they find Princess Diana is a knockout, but seems somewhat inexperienced in the art of love. Meanwhile, her sister Marie, who is, according to Elizabeth, a classic tsundere. Can Elizabeth find the time to charm two princesses, convince them she’s a terrible choice for a husband, and not annoy everyone around her? Signs point to no on that last one, especially when Lilia reveals they may be in a spinoff manga plot.

The series continues to have one big, big, drawback, and unfortunately it’s Elizabeth herself. Generally speaking I tend to enjoy when a villainess is cheerful and oblivious (see Bakarina) or stoic and oblivious (many examples), but it’s hard when they’re an arrogant ass and oblivious. Yes, she’s putting on a persona, but I think everyone in the entire series, including Elizabeth herself, agree that it’s stopped being an act and become her. This did make it somewhat amusing then it’s actually Lilia who manages to sabotage the marriage talks, as she ends up turning Princess Diana into a BL fangirl, which ends up getting a little bit out of her control but she’s quick to take advantage of it by advocating for gay marriage for women as well. She’s snarky fun, and I enjoy when she’s in the book. As for Elizabeth, at least she is coming to appreciate that she does not understand anyone’s hearts. At all.

There’s at least three more volumes in Japan, and this plotline will continue into Book 5. Christ, though, Elizabeth is annoying.