It’s a great pleasure to meet you. My name is Harunadon. Thank you so much for reading If the Villainess and Villain Met and Fell in Love!
Since the full title of this book is so long, I call it VillVill for short. I got the idea for the book when I realized I might never have read a story where the hero and heroine are both Cinderellas.
When I look back at my scribbled notes, I see that I originally planned to tell the story from the perspective of a waiting maid and attendant whose respective mistress and master were said Cinderellas. At that stage, the main characters were named Sienna and Clifford, and they ultimately made their way into VillVill. I like the balance between aloof Sienna alongside Brigitte of the passionate Meidell family and sunny Clifford alongside the cool and composed Yuri.
Many spirits also feature in the book. At first, I thought of including only fairies, but strictly speaking, that would have limited my choices considerably, so I lost quite a bit of sleep over what term to use. Ultimately, I thought, why not jumble spirits and fairies together and call them all spirits in this universe? Why not make it one big party? After that, I was able to write without much hesitation. Although I have distinguished spirits from fairies in the book, I think you’ll do fine if you just think of them all as spirits.
I’ve included spirits that are said to have truly existed in some far-off land, thoroughly fantastical spirits, and everything in between. I hope you enjoy reading about spirits who show up whenever and wherever they please.
As for the illustrations, I can hardly believe that Yomi Sarachi was kind enough to do them. I still cannot express in words how happy and moved I felt the first time I saw the cover illustration…
When I saw the appealing illustration of lovely, noble Brigitte and cool, sarcastic Yuri, I truly felt that I was meeting my characters in person. Thank you so much.
To my editor, F, I promise to keep working hard. I hope that you will, too. Keep up the good fight!
Finally, allow me to express my heartfelt gratitude to everyone who supported this book in its serial form on the Shosetsuka ni Naro website, and to you for choosing to read it.
I hope you’ll stay tuned to see where love takes this awkward, impatient, irritable pair next. I look forward to seeing you in the next volume.