The Villainess's Literary Counterattack
Tiana’s future was riding on author Kay’s venture into romance just as much as my own. After all, the romance department existed for exactly one purpose: the romance genre. The market was performing decently at the moment, but that was all it was—momentum. Sooner or later the fire would die. Right now readers might grumble “Ugh, this again?” yet they kept turning the pages because there was nothing else available. They were simply savoring a familiar flavor. Once that familiarity dragged on too long, the complaints would explode and the entire craze would cool off.
The proof was already visible. The instant There’s No Defeat in My Hero Party dropped, the heat around romance novels began to fade. Of course Tiana could always transfer to another department, but what good would that do? If the person in charge of romance jumped ship, the department would simply wither. In short, Kay’s new romance was nothing less than a lifeline for the entire genre. The irony that Kay was also the author of There’s No Defeat in My Hero Party was not lost on anyone.
The Villainess Has Her Reasons
“Hmm. Makes sense. A brand-new romance capable of crushing all those mass-produced stories—yes, I can see why you’re excited.”
“Exactly. So we should publish immediately. While the flame of romance still burns, shouldn’t we toss fresh kindling on it?”
Tiana leaned so close her face nearly touched Yugo’s as she pressed him. He narrowed his eyes, wondering if she was getting a little too worked up.
“Even so, deciding this suddenly feels rash. I know what Kay is capable of, but romance is an entirely different beast. Impressive as the author is, jumping genres with multiple works at once seems risky.”
“Wouldn’t it be better to take the gamble and see what happens? This isn’t a trivial matter. We need to seize both the hero genre and the romance market. If another publisher snatches romance away from us, wouldn’t that be a serious blow?”
She wasn’t wrong. Reader numbers mattered, but so did sponsorship. Romance readers were overwhelmingly female. And that wasn’t the whole picture. In the early days of the romance boom, Portmus had deliberately promoted the genre to noble families they already had ties with through magic tomes. Those connections let them spread romance novels to the wives and young ladies of each house. The result had been considerable sponsorship flowing in from the nobility. Abandoning romance now would be the same as cutting that golden lifeline. They could not afford to let it go.
Then why not use it instead?
Yes. It’s not impossible.
Nobles had always been sensitive to trends. The hero party story was wildly popular at the moment. Moreover, it drew from Glacia’s own legendary hero. The Glacian nobility had naturally fallen for it. If they leveraged that momentum to introduce the new romance, the odds were good. Besides, empty-headed noble daughters fell for romance like moths to flame.
All right. It was worth trying.
“Let’s go with it.”
It almost felt as though they were treating Kay’s work too lightly, but Tiana was a veteran of the romance trenches. There was an old saying about rowing while the tide was high. Giving it a strong push couldn’t hurt.
by Kay
The publication of Milene—author Kay’s—romance novel sent a fresh shock through the capital’s readers. A romance dropping at the same time as the hero party series? Some expressed concern, but they were mostly men who rarely touched the genre.
Those reactions were perfectly natural at first. Yet, against all expectations, The Villainess Has Her Reasons earned favorable reviews right from the start. The growing readership centered on daughters of fallen noble houses and commoner women in the capital. The famous young ladies who only read conventional romances initially ignored it, but as the book spread they could no longer pretend it didn’t exist.
At first the nobles had picked it up thinking it was nothing special, but they soon became deeply invested in Anastasia. It was only natural. Nobles were the privileged class. Most looked down on commoners for their low birth, so the young noblewomen gnashed their teeth at Vilia in the story, eagerly awaiting the next volume to see when that commoner bitch would finally fall.
Commoner women clicked their tongues at the idea that Vilia’s social climb came from looks and seduction rather than ability. They also pitied the young lady cast out after her value plummeted in a noble world where even parents and children showed no affection.
Unexpectedly, a new reader demographic appeared.
It turned out to be a novel that even men could enjoy. Most of these new male readers had become fans through There’s No Defeat in My Hero Party and decided to give the romance a chance. Naturally, opinions among men were divided; many had voiced concern from the beginning. Noble sons in particular tended to dislike it because they frequently toyed with commoner girls at the academy. Still, in terms of profit, it was a resounding success. When you considered the breadth of social class, gender, and age among the readers, the book was causing far less strain than any previous work.
The news even reached the royal family.
The king and queen had learned of Milene’s new romance through the court ladies and read it with genuine interest. At a single glance, both understood exactly why she had written it.
Direct revenge would only escalate matters, so approaching it subtly like this could plant seeds of doubt among the people—perhaps Milene had been condemned under similar circumstances. The royal couple chose not to ban a novel that could expose their own child’s faults. Unlike modern Korea, Glacia was a monarchy. The king ruled, and therefore the next monarch had to be a proper ruler. Schwald was clearly unfit. A man swayed by a single woman could never govern a nation. On the contrary, Milene’s scheme might drag Schwald from the crown prince selection and allow the second or third prince to rise as candidates.
Because she was busy writing romance, the hero party series risked falling behind. The royal couple therefore sent Milene a letter of protest—along with various health potions to nourish her body.
The romance novel came out. I spent the next while quietly observing the reactions. Overall the public seemed to be evaluating it quite favorably. That was the extent of what I knew, since I only saw the publishing house’s reports. Releasing the hero party immediately was impossible anyway. The reviews were good, but Portmus had simply told me to prepare volume two without any real pressure. I agreed that now was the right time to focus on preparation.
And then—
“Author-nim, it’s a massive hit! An absolute massive hit!”
“Eh, really?”
“Of course! This isn’t merely exceeding expectations. It’s as if readers have been possessed. Your romance has even gained a steady male readership—it’s truly incredible!”
“I see.”
Tiana, the female version of a rabid fan, sang my novel’s praises until her mouth went dry. Was it really selling that well? Honestly, the standard of novels in this world was mediocre at best. I had read every halfway-decent romance available; the middle sections might differ, but every single one ended like a fairy tale. The prince and so-and-so lived happily ever after. Only the names changed. Prince and princess in love, forbidden romance between commoner and noble—status or nationality might vary, but they all delivered the same happy ending. I suspected such stories were popular precisely because the evolution of fiction here lagged behind.
“The secret to its popularity lies in how completely it differentiates from existing romance novels. The charm of the protagonist forming bonds with many people and growing through hardship is what readers love.”
“Ah, I saw it too. People at the restaurant were reading your novel, Kay-nim.”
“Really?”
It seemed my book had become famous even at the restaurant where Marie worked.
“The novel craze is so strong these days that you hear people talking about stories everywhere, even in the marketplace.”
Well, this era didn’t offer much in the way of entertainment. Nobles lived lives of luxury while commoners simply struggled to eat day after day. No computers, no smartphones, no proper amusements. On top of that, adventurers had grown busy dealing with monsters, so ordinary people rarely ventured outside anymore. As a result, novel sales had risen considerably.
“There were also some subtle reactions, though.”
“What kind of subtle reactions?”
I needed to keep track of these things as an author. More honestly, I was hoping the exact response I had been aiming for had appeared.
“Talk that perhaps the villainess Milene who was condemned was actually wronged in the same way.”
“Oh?”
Who could have guessed that the moderate gamble I had thrown out would actually land? I laughed on the inside but kept my face perfectly neutral. Laughing here would have revealed my intent. Whether Tiana knew my true identity or not, her reaction suggested she didn’t, so I said nothing. Marie gave me a quick glance, then lowered her head. She had probably seen through me. Since I knew the original story, my goal was simply to apply moderate pressure on those two while keeping the original plot on track. But given the intelligence of that idiot pair, I wondered how they would react. In the worst case I might need to find a replacement.
“Yes. Well, that’s a matter for those above us, but thanks to this romance novel such talk is now spreading even among commoners.”
“I didn’t write it with that specific purpose in mind. Still, imagination is free. Whether my novel caused it or not, the social status and the story development are completely different, after all.”
I continued to feign ignorance. In truth I had aimed for it, but Sophia and the character Vilia had entirely different statuses and starting points. Yet the unfolding situation mirrored Milene’s almost exactly: the protagonist Anastasia isolated within her family, people gradually distancing themselves from her while growing close to Vilia, accumulating misunderstandings, and a reputation in free fall. It was as if the villainess Milene known to the common people had been inserted into the novel and blended in. That was The Villainess Has Her Reasons.
“Then it seems we should keep an eye on that as well.”
I drew the line there, pretending not to know anything more.