The Wicked Princess and Her Twelve Eyes: The Legendary Villainess and Her Elite Assassins [end]

Official Synopsis: 

Betrayed and framed by the crown prince, one woman gets a second chance to avoid death and exact her revenge in this action fantasy light novel! From the author of Who Killed the Hero? and When the Monster Meat I Ate Led Me to the Throne.

Lady Serena was betrayed by the crown prince, framed for a crime she didn’t commit, and executed by poison. But instead of dying, she wakes up in the past with a second chance—and this time, she’s not playing nice. After all, the so-called “murder” she was accused of was just a little misunderstanding! Looking back, Serena realizes her downfall wasn’t due to poor scheming but a lack of competent underlings.

Determined to rewrite her fate, she recruits a group of desperate orphans and puts them through ruthless training, forging them into the most lethal, fanatically loyal elite force the kingdom has ever seen. Armed with her deadly entourage and sharp wit, Serena is ready to crush anyone who stands in her way. In this thrilling, cutthroat adventure, a morally flexible villainess seizes her second chance—not for redemption, but for revenge.

I’ve heard of this author from their now more famous work “Who Killed the Hero?”, but I’ve yet to read that particular novel. Since “Who Killed the Hero?” got such rave reviews, and this one got some pretty good reviews as well (for example, from A Case Suitable for Treatment), I was kind of interested and decided to check it out from my library. 

I would say it’s mainly a dark comedy about a villainess who barely manages to turn it around in their next try at their current life, kind of like Mia from Tearmoon Empire. Unlike Mia, whose true personality is more bratty than it is actively malicious, Serena Rosenberg is actually as wicked as you might expect a villainess from an otome noble-school dating sim game to be.  

Unsure of why she regressed, she plans to get her revenge for sure this time, by levelling up her powers and gathering minions to do her dirty deeds. 

Although Serena is legit evil, and her poor minions have to rise to the challenge of becoming competent squires by undergoing a Garp (from One Piece)-like approach to training, it never really felt that serious. The closest comparison I can give is how Ainz from Overlord is legit evil, and the floor guardians of Nazarick worship him and his decisions, to comedic effect. 

Serena’s squires aren’t as brainwashed as the Nazarick denizens (barely), and maybe that’s for the best. She would have had an easy time taking over the kingdom otherwise. It was also interesting to see her squires grow from their weaknesses and develop into truly competent individuals. 

There are several plot twists at the end, which I won’t spoil here. Overall, it’s a complete oneshot with no plot threads hanging, and is worth the short read.