Villains Are Destined to Die Volumes 6 and 7 Review
Noemi10 •
Penelope Eckhart somehow survived the hunting competition and the treason charges brought against her, but she cannot lower her guard just yet. Crown Prince Callisto seems to have taken a liking to her bravery… or foolishness, depending on who you ask, but Penelope is set on having Eckles as the male lead who will let her reach the end of the story. Everything seems to be progressing smoothly (mostly), but is Eckles really the best card she can use for her survival?
With Eckles’ affection rate going up, well above any of the other love interests, he sounds like a good bet. But why do the males in her life keep coming after her? Other than Callisto having some sort of enjoyment whenever he is with the duke’s daughter, the noble magician Winter also seems to circle back to Penelope. Whilst he cannot be by her side as a noble, he can certainly work with her as a magician and as the owner of a merchant guild, whom Penelope needs to create her slush fund. However, this also leads Penelope to accompany Winter and his magician apprentice, a child named Laon, to the border of the empire to involuntarily volunteer to feed war orphans. Although out of character for Penelope, this turns out to be a turning point for the story, as she discovers a secret hidden for centuries about sorcerers and the Laila people.
When Laon and a group of children with magical abilities are kidnapped, Penelope cannot turn a blind eye to the situation, even if it means putting her life in danger (and not only because she also hopes to increase Winter’s affection rate). This accident furthers the relationships with Callisto and Eckles, much to Penelope’s chagrin. Callisto’s affection rate increases—still not enough—and his misunderstanding of his own affections makes Penelope more miserable than she already is. On the other hand, Eckles starts to make his moves against and for Penelope, albeit Penelope might not agree with his motives. Is Eckles really the safest choice? Now it’s too late to change her love interest target, and with the earlier arrival of Ivonne, the woman who claims to be Duke Eckhart’s real daughter, Penelope cannot fall apart if she wants to stay alive…
As in the previous volumes, Penelope is making more efforts to survive, but she’s not getting the results she’s hoping for. The discovery of the truth about sorcerers and the people of Laila—‘people’ with the ability to possess and control other humans and who aim for the world’s destruction—is the key to save herself and the people whom she has reluctantly started to care about. Penelope falls right into the middle of this unknown war among the empire, sorcerers and Laila people. She might have found out who’s behind the followers of Laila and leading the charge against the empire, however everything is still a conjecture.
The love interests’ affection rates progress a lot in these two volumes, but none reach 100% just yet. Eckles is the closest one, but the more he acts, the more his affection seems to have turned into an obsession. As a reader, I was cheering for him when he was first introduced in the story, but the more I read, the more red flags he showed. An opposing character who initially showed red flags before turning them into green is Crown Prince Callisto. He doesn’t hesitate to save Penelope wherever she ends up, even if she would prefer not seeing him again, but he’s still too naïve about his feelings. His actions are only leading him to get further away from Penelope, who has finally understood that this is her new reality. Although she tries to be impassive and cold-hearted, people’s cold and disparaging reactions are starting to wear her down. And when she finally starts to have some hope in Callisto, she finally sees that he’s all talk as his affection rate doesn’t match his words. Is seeing the affection rate really a blessing as she originally thought or has it now become a curse?
The arrival of Ivonne also brings a new layer of anxiety for Penelope. The Duke and her brothers are confused and don’t really know how to react, especially as they don’t know for sure if the girl who claims to be Ivonne is the real deal.
What I liked the most about these volumes is the characters’ growth, especially Penelope’s as she starts to realise her feelings and processes the emotions she had been locking up since she woke up as Penelope Eckhart. Hopefully this will be good enough to allow her the survival she so desperately wants, and it seems that although the Duke’s real daughter is back (probably), there is still someone willing to stay by Penelope’s side.
Villains Are Destined to Die is written by Gwon Gyeoeul and started as a novel before being adapted into a manhwa with illustrations by SUOL. Ize Press publishes the series in the English language with translation by Ah Cho. Volumes 8 and 9 arealready out.
Our review copies were supplied by Ize Press.
