Afterword
THERE ARE A LOT OF LIGHT NOVELS IN THE villainess genre these days, and it’s one of the ones that I love. In a nutshell, this story is about a wicked princess who’s fated to be executed, but she gets another chance at her life and forms a different personality that allows her to live a prosperous second life. And, well, duh, she knows the future. Of course she’ll be successful in her second life.
If I were allowed to redo my life and I knew the results, I’d bet my entire fortune on horse races, stocks, and FX trading and live a luxurious life of leisure. But those are obvious choices, and it was difficult for me to write a novel with that premise. So, I decided to use a special character known as a villainess. The important aspect of this tale is to make the wicked main character into a good person. This transformation in personality would need to be expertly handled as the story goes along. That’s when I had some thoughts.
Just because a bad person goes through their life a second time, it doesn’t mean it’ll make them good. They’ll still be bad.
And if they go through their life again, wouldn’t they be mentally more mature than their peers?
There should be a grave cost for one to redo their life.
How did this person become wicked anyway?
I integrated all these factors to create a coherent story, and thus The Wicked Princess and Her Twelve Eyes was born. The webnovel version ended with Another Ending, but it didn’t make for an enjoyable finish. And so, I added an epilogue for this book. I felt that it might be a little trite and didn’t add it to the webnovel version. I wonder which one is better? I’d love to know!
This volume included dogs—fitting for my pen name, “Daken” or “Fallen Dogs.” But truth be told, I’m really not fond of dogs. They ignore the dog lovers who want their attention and rush straight for me. When I was a kid, that made me so scared, and I would flee just like the main character of a popular anime series that has a blue cat robot. Those dogs chased me around!
While I ran, I felt something hit the heels of my shoes. I was so scared that I couldn’t even turn back! Ultimately, I never knew what hit my heels. When I became an adult, there was a time when I stood on the sidewalk and waited for the light to turn green. Just then, I heard these concerning rustles behind me. Confused, I turned around and saw two dogs ready to pounce on me. Their owner hastily tried to hold them back. That’s right, those rustles were the sounds of the dogs kicking the ground with all their might to try to rush at me. When the light turned green, I ran full speed ahead.
Many of Serena’s encounters with dogs actually come from real experiences that I had. I’m so glad that I was able to use those terrifying events to write a novel. In any case, obviously, I’ve never had a pet dog, and I can’t even touch them. So, my portrayal of those dogs might not be totally realistic. Please forgive me.