The Daughter of Evil: Praeludium of Red is the third Light Novel in The Daughter of Evil Light Novel series of the Evillious Chronicles franchise, a part of the Story of Evil series within said franchise. It was written by the Japanese producer Akuno-P (mothy) and illustrated by Ichika (with the cover done by Yuurin), released 2011.
The story takes place years after Clôture of Yellow and Wiegenlied of Green, with Lucifenia made a territory of the increasingly imperialist Marlon and tensions rising between the kingdom and Beelzenia. The story centers on the now-more-grown Yukina Freezis as she sets out to investigate the truth behind the events of the last two novels and the Demons of Sin, meeting up with old friends and new along the way. The story also focuses on King Kyle, who seems to have become far crueler a king than in the last two novels…
This novel is the first that delves into the larger "conspiracy" of the Story of Evil as alluded to in the first two novels; it also makes several allusions to the story of Banica Conchita, the first half taking place in Beelzenia. It’s followed by the light novel Praefacio Of Blue. The website for the novel can be found here
(note, however, that it's all in Japanese) and is available on Amazon. An unofficial English translation can be found here.
The light novel provides examples of:
- Acquitted Too Late: While Allen was never actually guilty of the crimes he was executed for save for killing Leonhart (pretending to be his sister and everything), Kyle discovers he wasn't the one who killed Michaela and relates this to Germaine, who's stunned speechless for a moment. Unfortunately he assumes Allen lied to protect Germaine, who he thinks is the true murderer.
- Deuteragonist: Yukina is the main narrator of the novel, but Kyle gets a whole chapter dedicated to his own point of view.
- Drowning My Sorrows: Yukina finds Germaine nearly passed out drunk and rambling about Allen and Leonhart; it's clear that she's still suffering from Clôture.
- Happily Married: Sekka and Minage are revealed to have gotten married and had kids before the events of this novel.
- Hearing Voices: During his section, Kyle hears voices occasionally complaining of being bored. It's the Demon of Pride.
- Inferiority Superiority Complex: Kyle has grown a tragic example of this, where his insecurities about being his mother’s pawn and losing his dream as a painter allowed the Demon of Pride to inflate his ego into becoming a warmongering despot.
- Oblivious Guilt Slinging: Yukina in one scene states she believes Germaine because such an honorable hero would never hurt an innocent to fulfill her own goals. Germaine, having spent all of Clôture mindlessly seeking revenge rather than justice, is notably unsettled.
- Off with His Head!: Lily decapitates the undead emperor off-screen.
- Decapitation Presentation: She then rides into Beelzenia to present said head to the current emperor as a peace offering and a display of how badass she is.
- Right in Front of Me: Yukina makes several disparaging remarks about a "Commander Mouchet" to her new friend Lily, going off what the guards at Retasan's gate told her earlier that day. At the end of the meal, a soldier comes in and asks for the woman, Riliane Mouchet, to come with him. Cue a mortified apology from Yukina.
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: With the dead soldiers. The biggest problem they serve to Beelzenia is that they spring up near civilian locations and target non-combatants. When actually put up against the Beelzenian army they apparently fight as well as you'd expect of a rotting reanimated corpse, particularly in that, lacking brains, they have no war tactics at all.
- Timeskip: The novel takes place five years after Clôture of Yellow.
