Villainess Reform Project

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.