I really like the villainous noble girl trope (reincarnated, reborn, original soul, whatever) but it's almost always paired with a romance-heavy plot and I'm sick of it. Does anyone have recs that includes a villainous MC who has no interest in or doesn't deal with a romance plot? I would accept light romance at this point or even a novel that doesn't feature it as the main focus. Thanks in advance.
Shini Yasui Koshaku Reijo to Shichi-nin no Kikoshi While there are hints of romance, mostly from 2 guys towards the MC, the story is heavily focused more on mystery/action/adventure. Especially because the MC herself has traumatic experience regarding love so she really rejects romance.
Running Away From The Hero (remake)'s MC is running from romance at full speed. But he's not a girl. While Lady Cultivator isn't a villainess noble girl story, I'm enjoying its takes on xianxia romance.
The only one that comes to mind for me is Slow Prison Life which, IMO, is kinda the epitome of Villainess without romance stories
Shini Yasui Kōshaku Reijō... -- primarily Adventure with some mystery, there's hints of possibly romance later on, but it's taking the back seat. Setting wise, it's an interesting case where the villainess is a great item user. In terms of precognition, the MC played some scenarios of the game but not all of them, and each involves a mysterious event where the villainess usually ends up dead as the mook #1 to die in a mystery novel. Kenkyo, Kenjitsu o Motto ni... -- my favourite villainess novel. Primarily comedy, with the poor fortunes of our MC's romance played for laughs. It's a modern world setting.
honestly that depends on your conditions of a villainous noble if you want otome game specifically where the girl is the reincarnation that narrows it down to The Villainess Will Crush Her Destruction End Through Modern Firepower Villainess VS Zombies I'm Not a Villainess!! Just Because I Can Control Darkness Doesn't Mean I'm a Bad Person!( this one has few chapters might have romance later not sure) Headless Villainess and a couple of other's but I can't think of them off the top of my head if you want something similar without it being labeled i would suggest It's Not Easy to Be a Man After Travelling to the Future (she has to live as a man to get her inheritance so no romance yet but she has the arrogant vibe that is similar to noble girls) if that fails I suggest just looking at series finder with the requirements you want villainess noble girls are one of the tags and you can set it to exclude the romance genre
Some titles that come to mind: "Common Sense of the Duke's Daughter" - Iris throws herself into improving her dukedom, it's all about business and politics and what romance there is is subtle and very much secondary to the plot. "I'm Not The Demon Lord! Just Because I Can Use Dark Magic Doesn't Make Me A Bad Person!" - Claudia is trying to be a Good Girl and a Good Friend and is so focused on improving herself that she is not only oblivious to love, she actively rejects suitors. Also "Level 99 Villainous Daughter" - Yumelia is focused on fighting and improving herself as a warrior and romance isn't even on her radar. The problem is that with this genre, our MCs and the target audience are normally teenage girls, and your average teenage girl considers romance a Very Important Thing.
https://www.novelupdates.com/series...-villainess-but-why-did-it-turn-out-this-way/ Its a war genre It may seem boring at the start but wait till the first war starts MC is a badass but not OP
Delicate mother of a villain. The MC transmigrated from future zombie apocalypse. Her cheat item is that the more junk food she ate, the more beautiful she will become. And there's no romance whatsoever in it. Only fluff when the mc take care of his son. The novel is not that long and you can mtl it without frying your brain as it's pretty readable.
https://www.novelupdates.com/series/low-iq-supporting-female-waiting-for-death-online/ highly recommend, there is no ML, MC is villainous, she have to act like villain