The Andize Kingdom

I did it. I finally got my drink. And you know what?

It was amazing.

I usually don't like alcohol unless it's mixed with fruit juice or something but whatever it is Ophelia's father sent to me, it was delicious.

It was sweet and fruity, went down smooth, and didn't cause my throat to burn. It was so good that I had to stop myself from drinking through the whole bottle. I safely stashed it away so I wouldn't drink it all and finally set out to do what I originally intended.

Learn about the Andize kingdom's political landscape.

As Carol was only recently introduced back into high society and 'wasn't the type to scheme' , the books never really went into the full story of the intrigues of the noble families in Andize. They only kind of mentioned some of the character's families in passing, not making a big deal out of them. I thought that was ridiculous.

Especially how they never explained the whole plot point where Carol's brother married into the current Queen's, Floyd's mother's, family. How did that happened when the Millstone family had always been weak while the Queen's family was powerful never made any sense to me.

Well, it was best to work your way down when looking at the power of the important families of the kingdom. I'm going to save the royal family for last just because I don't feel like opening the book only dedicated to them. It's way too thick to be considered a book. It's more like a written documentary.

First was the current Queen's family, the Tilakor family who held a Viscounty title. They were relatively average in terms of social standing until the birth of the current Queen, Mila Tilakor, who was as clever as she was beautiful. She got her family to invest in various industries, develop various relations, and even seduced the Crown Prince to become Queen Consort. I respected her hustle. One of the families that helped the Tilakor family rise in power were the Millstones, who offered them business connections and a bit of funding for their more ambitious projects. They were supposed to be tied through marriage but that collapsed after the scandal that Ophelia orchestrated. The Queen was so enraged that her potential in-laws were so idiotic and vile that she canceled the engagement herself. There was also the fact that the Queen herself had chosen Ophelia herself to be Floyd's fiance since she liked her so much, but that was besides the point. The Tilakor family may have been headed by her brother, but she held all the power over the family. They had no choice but to listen to her.

Next was the Dubannes, the kingdom's right-hand for generations and the holders of a Ducal title. Ophelia's father, Walter Dubannes, was the Royal Advisor or Steward. I couldn't remember the exact title he had but he came into direct contact with the royal family daily as he dealed in matters of the realm and was often found running around the palace cleaning up the messes of other people. He was practically helping hold the kingdom together, which was why he was never home. The tying together of the Dubannes family and the royal family was all that Ophelia's engagement to Floyd was for, depsite the fact that there were princesses around similar ages to her younger brothers. The Dubannes were known to be very business minded and made most of their money from investing, trade, and other forms of commerce.

Then there was the Béchagners, Flora's family. They were a Marquis family known for their exemplary military might. In fact, the current Master Commander of the kingdom was Flora's mother, Britannia Béchagner who had been personally served under my mother. Her husband was infamous for his relations out of wedlock and various illegitimate children. There were currently rumors that Britannia was planning on making her husband a eunuch. The woman actually had essentially shut her husband out of any form of governing the domain, access to the house accounts, and even his title. People didn't even call him a Marquis, but called her the Marquis instead. I stan this woman so hard, not as much as Ophelia, but I do.

A family that hadn't been introduced in the story yet were the Daintles, who held a Count title. Their second oldest daughter, Mielle, was actually one of Carole's best friends in the original plot and helped her in her pursuits of Floyd. The Daintles made their money as part of the Breadbasket Region of the Andize Kingdom with their fertile lands, perfect for agriculture. They were also rumoured to have connections to the kingdom's more unsavory businesses in the underground, but that was confirmed in the plot of the original story so... Fun.

The nouveau riche, or new rich family, of this list was none other than Jane's family, the Bueford family. They had bought their barony with their own money and climbed the ranks into nobility with their own abilities rather than blood. When I say they're rich, I mean that they're rich. Kill enough people to go down in history for generations and get paid kind of rich. They actually began as money lenders and then expanded into business which is how they came to have friendly business with the Dubannes. The Buefords were often snubbed by those in high society for being of low blood, but are always ready to suck up to them when in need of a loan. As they say, money makes the world go round. If you need money, you swallow your pride and do something for it.

Finally, there was the Andize Kingdom's royal family. The von Andize. They were quite complicated in terms of family ties. One of the few reasons the Andize Kingdom was so peaceful was that the royal family had married into so many foreign positions of power. It was kind of insane. I mentioned the Endymion Empire a while ago, they married into there and one of their princesses was currently Queen. There were many, many other examples but I preferred not to get too into it. Just know that the power of the Andize Kingdom came from a LOT of political marriages.

There was no Simmonds noble family anywhere in history, which meant me and mother were truly commoners. How could mother do so much for the kingdom but get no benefits? Perhaps she rejected them. I had no idea and I doubted that I would ever know.

I learned all of this from books borrowed from Duke Walter. Usually, I'd never be allowed access to such material. Though it seems a special exception was made since I almost died protecting Ophelia, which is understandable. It was actually very common for commoners to have the ability to read and write in the Andize Kingdom, especially so when they work in a household. I'm proud to say our kingdom might have the widest range of education when it comes to the common people.

Which also reminds me. The whole ending of the original story that I hated so much in which Ophelia dies came about for a simple reason.

Carol screwed up everything. To put it lightly.

By messing up the arranged marriage between Floyd and Ophelia, she strained relations between the Dubannes and von Andize which lead to the Dubannes somehow being suspected of conspiracy against the crown. This threatened their titles as Dukes, which would go to one of Ophelia's beloved younger brothers, and their lives. Ophelia was placed between a rock and a hard place, the lives of her family and her's at stake along with the possibility of her younger brothers having to suffer living without anything to fall back on if times got tough in the future. She only had one choice.

Get rid of Carol.

In literally every capacity, Carol had ruined Ophelia's life and got called a heroine for it. That was the very reason I hated that girl to the very core. She had no regrets for anything she had done either. I'm just gonna make a list of all the things that Carol did in the books that made her a villain instead of a hero.

1) She broke apart a deeply established engagement that had been growing for ten years.

2) She utterly destroyed Ophelia's reputation despite being the one who repeatedly stompt on her pride and disrespected her in the first place.

3) She created a harem of very, very ALREADY ACCOUNTED FOR MEN. MULTIPLE ENGAGED IF NOT GETTING ENGAGED MEN. Excluding Alexander because he's a goose.

4) After becoming a noble, she gave did nothing to help the impoverished commoners from where she grew up despite the fact they constantly looked out for her and cared for her as if she were their own. Excluding her kidnappers if they even were her kidnappers.

5) The Birthday Event. I don't think I even have enough words in the english dictionary to describe my anger at this event in the book. I think I'll need a seperate chapter to even scratch the surface of my rage.

The list could go on and on, but I'll stop there. To summarise, Carol sucks, 0/100,000,000, would not wish upon my worst enemy.

Ah, I've been quite dedicated to my thoughts recently as no one has come to visit me yet. Ophelia was finally cleared to begin attending classes again, despite the urging of her parents to go home and rest some more. She comes to visit me after all her classes are over.

Mother had to be pulled away from my bedside to return to the Dubannes' home. She made me promise to send letters about absolutely anything and everything.

Apparently, Ophelia would be permitted a knight from home to help protect her during school. As many are concerned about the Millstones trying to harm her again, the royal family and the school gave permission for a knight to follow her around.

I was almost 100% sure that the knight would be Merlin. I could feel it deep in my bones, like knowing a plot point is going to happen in a story even though the author tried to hide it away. If it wasn't, I'd be severely disappointed.

I want to see how that child I spent time training grew into a young man.

Even if I might regret it.

[ Foreshadowing a go go! Exposition for worldbuilding a go go! I promise next chapter will have more Ophie in it because I know you guys love our good yandere baby. Stay tuned! 😘 ]