By Kei Yose and Ruria Miyuki. Released in Japan as “Akuyaku Reijou wa Shaberimasen” by Overlap Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Adam.

I always find it very interesting when J-Novel Club puts a villainess title in their “main” imprint rather than in the romance-oriented J-Novel Heart line. The implication is that the romance is not the point in this series, and that’s certainly true in this first volume, where our pre-teen villainess does her best to try to avoid becoming the official fiancee to the crown prince. But more to the point, this is one of those villainess series that runs entirely on politics and intrigue, and that places it squarely in the main line of books. Liliana has assassins try to kill her over and over again in this book, and she’s only six years old for most of it. The kingdom is being torn apart and a coup may be imminent. There’s an aggressive mage running around simply starting chaos on behalf of someone unseen. Then again, give the sheer OP capabilities of Liliana, maybe everyone is right to worry.

I need you to bear with me while I write the next sentence, because I promise this book was really good. Liliana Clarke wakes up from a week-long fever to find that she now remembers her past life from Japan, and also that this is the world of an otome game where she is the villainess. (You can’t be too surprised, given the title and the genre.) She also finds that she can’t speak anymore, due to the illness… or due to a curse. This is not good news, because magic here requires spoken incantations. She can’t even call for help in case assassins attack her. Which, given that her dad is one of the biggest power brokers in the country, is a problem. Fortunately Liliana already knows that most magic is not “ironclad rules” put “power of imagination” Which means she has no need for speaking. Also, she can do literally almost anything.

It’s a rare villainess book that has almost no humor at all. What’s more, while her life is truly terrible, Liliana does have allies in her corner (including the crown prince – she may want to break off their engagement, but not if he has anything to say about it). This is important, because danger lurks around every corner here. Possibly the most chilling moment in the book is when, after a monster stampede that destroyed a town and killed dozens, which she managed to stop but passed out from mana loss, her father happens to be passing my in the aftermath and murmurs “what, still alive?”. Fortunately, Liliana really is OP, and her allies are fun, especially mage Petra (who may treat Liliana too casually but knows her stuff) and mercenaries Gildo and Olga (whho marvel at the fact that she’s not like those other nobles). By the end of the book she’s regained her voice but decides to hide it to fool her enemies. It’s a good plan, especially as the apple-eating bad guy who doesn’t have a name but certainly has a mission to wipe her out continues to hang around.

The webnovel has finished for this, and there are five volumes so far in Japan, so we’ve barely gotten started. What’s more, this was 380 pages, so it’s a beefy book. I felt rewarded, though. Thrilling stuff.