The Villainess Is Adored by the Prince of the Neighbor Kingdom

The Villainess Is Adored by the Prince of the Neighbor Kingdom is a Japanese light novel series written by Puni-chan and illustrated by Akeno Naruse. It was originally posted as a web novel on the online publishing platform Shōsetsuka ni Narō beginning in March 2016. Enterbrain later began publishing it as a light novel under their B's Log Bunko imprint in October 2016 until June 2026, with all 15 volumes released as of June 2026. A manga adaptation illustrated by Hoshina began serialization on Enterbrain's B's Log Comic service in December 2017 and has been compiled into 18 volumes as of October 2026. A visual novel adaptation developed and published by Operahouse was released for Nintendo Switch and Steam in March 2024. An anime television series adaptation produced by Studio Deen aired from January to March 2026.

Plot

The series follows a Japanese woman who dies in an accident and is reincarnated as Tiararose Lapis Clementille, the antagonist of the otome game Lapis Lazuli Ring. Believing she is about to be exiled after falling out of favor with her fiancé Hartknights Lapis-Lazuli Lacmouth, she is saved when Aquasteed Marineforest, the prince of a neighboring country, takes her to be his fiancée.

Characters

The villainess of the otome game Lapis Lazuli Ring, who comes from a noble family. In her previous life, she was a Japanese girl who was a fan of otome games. After her death, she finds herself reincarnated in the world of Lapis Lazuli Ring.

The crown prince of the Kingdom of Marineforest, who is studying in the Kingdom of Lapis-Lazuli. He rescues Tiararose from her doomed engagement. Aquasteed is the main character of the sequel game that Tiararose never played, leaving his character shrouded in mystery.

The crown prince of the Kingdom of Lapis-Lazuli and Tiararose's fiancé. Although he was originally interested in her, he eventually became more interested in Akari instead. In the original game, this would culminate in a bad end for Tiararose.

A transfer student who was the original protagonist of Lapis Lazuli Ring. When Aquasteed came to Tiararose's rescue and proposed to her, Akari began acting out of character to protest the engagement. Akari is revealed to be like Tiararose, who lived a previous life and reincarnated into the world of Lapis Lazuli Ring.

The daughter of a duke in the kingdom of Marinforest, from a ducal family that oversees the oceans, and the heroine of the sequel game where Aquasteed comes from, originally intended to become his lover. She holds a strong connection with the fairies of the sea. Akari had to stop Icilla from acting on her suddenly realized feelings in the day of Tia and Aqua's wedding.

The King of the forest fairies who develops an obsessive crush on Tiararose. Though he does respect her boundaries when Tia becomes frustrated with him

The king of the sky fairies and the one who blessed Prince Aquasteed with his magic.

The female king of the sea fairies. She rules over them harshly. She sees Tiararose as a rival.

Media

Light novel

The series was originally posted as a web novel on the online publishing platform Shōsetsuka ni Narō beginning on March 17, 2016. Enterbrain later began publishing it as a light novel under their B's Log Bunko imprint on October 15, 2016, with 15 volumes released as of June 2025. The series ended at the 15th volume. Kadokawa released promotional videos on YouTube to promote the novels. A drama CD was released in December 2020 as part of the limited edition of the seventh volume.

A two-volume spin-off light novel series, titled Akuyaku Reijō wa Oshi ga Tōto Sugite Kyō mo Shiawase, was published under the same imprint from January 15, 2021, to March 15, 2022.

Volumes

Akuyaku Reijō wa Oshi ga Tōto Sugite Kyō mo Shiawase

Manga

A manga adaptation illustrated by Hoshina began serialization on Enterbrain's B's Log Comic service on December 5, 2017, and has been compiled into 18 volumes as of October 2026.

A manga adaptation of the Akuyaku Reijō wa Oshi ga Tōto Sugite Kyō mo Shiawase spin-off series illustrated by Ino Mamaru was serialized on the same service from January 5, 2021, to May 5, 2023. Its chapters were compiled into three volumes released from July 1, 2021, to June 1, 2023.

Volumes

Akuyaku Reijō wa Oshi ga Tōto Sugite Kyō mo Shiawase

Visual novel

A visual novel adaptation developed by Operahouse was released for Nintendo Switch and Steam on March 21, 2024.

Anime

An anime adaptation was announced on July 4, 2025. It was produced by Studio Deen and directed by Takayuki Hamana, with series composition by Yoshimi Narita, characters designed by Majiro, while music was composed by Satoshi Hono and Karin Nakano. It aired from January 11 to March 29, 2026 on Tokyo MX and other networks. The opening theme song is "Ai no Fanfare", while the ending theme song is "Mahō no Oto", both performed by Ayahi Takagaki and Yu Shirota. Crunchyroll is streaming the series.

Episodes

Reception

The series ranked seventh in the shōjo/josei category in BookLive's Digital Manga Annual Ranking for 2019. In 2024, it was reported that the series had sold over 5 million copies.