A Handbook for Villainesses

In the shadow of a merciless crown, Laviore Rea Bailey plays a perilous role: the false saint, a hollow figurehead propped up by the cruel Prince Sidar. On the appointed day when her royal master intends to barter her existence to the devil in a unholy offering, Laviore makes a final, desperate choice. She lifts a goblet of poison to her lips, choosing her own end over the grotesque fate that awaits her. Yet death does not claim her—instead, she awakens ten years in the past, her memories of betrayal and ruin seared into her consciousness. Armed with the bitter clarity of hindsight, Laviore is determined to unravel the web of her former sins. Her first and most critical mission is to rescue Damian Rhode Drake, a slave she once cruelly branded a spy, leading to his ruin. She knows that saving him is not merely an act of redemption but the linchpin of altering the catastrophic future she left behind. As she deliberately inserts herself into his fate, the brooding, mysterious Damian proves to be far more than the pawn she remembered. His quiet strength and hidden depths stir something unfamiliar within her guarded heart. But affection is a dangerous gamble for a woman schooled in manipulation. Every tender glance toward Damian is shadowed by the ghost of the heartless puppet she used to be. Can a former villainess, so adept at deceit and cruelty, truly rewrite her nature and grasp a future free of bloodshed? Or will the dark instincts of her past resurface, dooming her second chance before it can truly begin?