A familiar sense of falling enveloped Felicia. She instinctively felt a gut-wrenching fear, but a moment later calmed herself down. She’d experienced this once before and knew not to be afraid.

Her body jerked, as if startled, and she sat up in a plush bed feeling disoriented.

‘What time is it?’

[Currently 4:26am.]

She flopped back down on the bed and sighed with relief.

Good. She had time to dig through her host’s memories, temperament, and the society she grew up in.

It was good to start at the beginning, so that’s what she did.

Calle Mora Fresa was originally Calle Mora, of the County Mora. Naturally her father was a Count. She grew up loved and taken care of…

Felicia frowned as she quickly sifted through childhood memories.

‘Ah… this isn’t right… yes, she was loved by her parents but… she was really mean. She threw tantrums all the time. Eh? Did she really throw hot tea at a maid?? Guh, she used someone as a footstool! Oh… my… God… she bought a whip specifically to beat her servants? Holy frick— this girl was a little demon!’

Seeing how terrible Calle was as a child, she felt her stomach sink uneasily. A person like this… they can’t… they can’t grow up into a good adult. There was no way…

Sure enough, Calle was a terrible person. In her mind, status was everything. To those of higher status she pandered excessively, but to those below she was ruthless and unsympathetic. Because she was the daughter of a Count, every one below her owed her something. Whether it was clothes, jewelry, the newest curiosity, it was all hers by birthright. No one of lower rank or common birth had the right to deny her. They existed for her and her family, therefore it was only naturally to take what she wanted from them.

Her parents didn’t help, further feeding into her inflated sense of self. As long as she behaved appropriately around their peers, they didn’t care how she was in private. Her parents constantly told her how beautiful and wonderful she was and how she “deserved the world”. Never once was she disciplined for her bad behavior, because in their minds she was perfect.

This girl was spoiled rotten to the core!

When she turned 16 and was old enough to begin accepting suitors, her high opinion of herself got in the way. No man was good enough. He was either too stupid, ugly, or his status wasn’t high as she wanted. She wouldn’t accept anyone but the “perfect one”. By the time she was 18, she was the only one among her peers without an engagement.

On her 18th birthday her father came to her and plainly explained they had no money. This would be the last big party they could throw for her and all the dresses she had were the last dresses she could buy. From here on out, they were destitute.

Felicia gave a hollow laugh at this dramatic moment in her host’s life. Calle lived so extravagantly and her parents did too. Even by her modern standards, they bought too much and it was always things they didn’t need. Felicia also caught glimpses of how ordinary people lived in this world and knew that the Mora Family’s living environment was significantly better than those around them.

Perhaps it was more accurate to say that the Mora Family took a lot so that their fief was left with only barely enough to survive. Though it was hard to say because… and this part really bothered Felicia… Calle never cared about the people in her fief. That was “the Count’s job”. As long as she could have what she wanted, it didn’t matter how her people fared.

The more Felicia thought about it, the more she was amazed. In Calle’s memories, there was only an occasional distant relative who came to visit. And they were barely tolerated. Living directly in the Mora Mansion was only Calle, her parents, and her paternal grandmother. Four people had managed to suck an entire fief dry. To be that irresponsible was a feat in and of itself.

Of course, Count Mora wasn’t just irresponsible. He was also cold hearted and selfish. Despite how he doted on his daughter, he was more than willing to sacrifice her to maintain his standard of living. Rather than change his spending or try to fix the underlying issues, he decided it was better to “sell” his daughter off to the highest bidder.

Felicia was a little alarmed at this point, but then relaxed when she saw that selling daughters and forced marriages were actually a crime in Salvias. Interestingly enough, slavery was also forbidden. That being said, just because something it outlawed doesn’t stop people from doing it. Even though Count Mora couldn’t openly sell his daughter, didn’t mean there weren’t ways to get it done.

The major hurdle was getting his picky daughter to sign for the marriage certificate. That had a Priest as a witness, specifically to prevent forced marriages between noble families. Luckily for the Count, his daughter trusted him.

The Count quite skillfully talked his daughter into marrying an extremely rich, recently widowed Marquess to the south of them. The Marquess agreed to take care of their finance problems and all Calle had to do was marry him. He expounded on Marquess many fantastic qualities and what a good match they would be. The only problem was….. He was really old.

Calle was 18 and he was 63…

Felicia felt her stomach flip. That was a 45 year age difference! This guy wasn’t just old enough to Calle’s dad, he could be her grandpa!

Someone as picky as Calle naturally did not want to marry a man old enough to be her grandfather. But if things were as bad as her father the Count said then… at least he was rich and well respected in noble society. He was the same status and popular among his peers. As far as old men went, he was in fairly good shape and it was clear that he’d been handsome when he was young.

Also, and this was the important point, no one of suitable status and age would marry a girl with a fief on the brink of financial collapse. Families had lost their titles in the past because they’d driven their fief into the ground and couldn’t pay the King’s tax. If they tried to deceive a potential suitor and didn’t disclose the family’s financial difficulties, they could get sued in Royal Court over it.

And that would be the end of the Mora Family.

Her options were limited. And because she’d been raised spoiled and sheltered, she sincerely believed her father loved her and had found this to be the only option. It never once occurred to her to question her father’s method of “saving the family”. In the end, she agreed.

She willingly married the 63 year old, recently widowed, Marquess Rojo Fresa.

Felicia skimmed over Rojo Fresa as much as possible. Even without looking, Felicia knew a grandpa who married an 18 year old for money was not a good man. Sure enough, he was not a good man. Even though she tried hard not to see it, she caught some images of Rojo Fresa naked and felt her skin crawl with disgust.

Marquess Fresa remarried a young girl under the guise of “wanting a male heir”. Apparently his deceased wife had only produced daughters— three to be exact. And even though the Marquess could have appointed one of his grandson’s to be his heir, he didn’t want to and insisted on trying for a son directly.

Felicia internally rolled her eyes. If what she couldn’t avoid seeing the memories was true— he definitely wasn’t that concerned about producing an heir. He just wanted to get kinky legally with a young woman in his old age.

Calle naturally didn’t like this kind of treatment. She tolerated his roving hands and disgusting bedroom antics for exactly one month before she was sick of it.

On a visit home she spoke to her mother and grandmother, who immediately got her some “special medicine”. A single drop of this “medicine” in the Marquess’ food every day would slowly weaken his body, causing him to succumb to illnesses more frequently. He wouldn’t die but he’d be bedridden and weak.

Grandmother Mora and Countess Mora joked about how wonderful the “special medicine” was for dealing with annoying men. It had been passed down in the family for years and was their go-to method in maintaining control of the family. When Felicia got to this point, she suddenly realized why there were so few men in the Mora family. The women were basically black widows, killing off their husbands once they served their purpose.

Felicia's mind trembled in shock. This Mora family wasn’t just bad, they were murderous. What’s more, Calle wasn’t upset at all to discover her grandma had likely poisoned her grandfather to death. There was no sympathy in Calle for the men in her family. Instead she was… happy. Not only to find a way to deal with her disgusting new husband, but also anyone else who annoyed her in the future.

Calle went home and immediately began to “medicate” her husband. The poison was slow acting, but as promised, in two weeks he came down with a cold. He should have recovered easily from it, but instead he laid bedridden for almost a month. The best doctors in the land— Felicia decided never to let a doctor touch her after seeing bloodletting— couldn’t cure him.

As the Marquess’ wife, when her husband was sick, she became his proxy and could make decisions on his behalf. Each time he fell ill, she was able to gain a little more control over the Fresa Mansion and fief. After five years, she consolidated her power completely.

Felicia didn’t agree with laws that one-sidedly favored men, but in this case it was the only thing keeping the Marquess alive. Women couldn’t directly rule a fief, only acting as proxies for ill husbands or young sons. Thus, Calle kept her husband alive so she could maintain her extravagant lifestyle.

Not unexpectedly, Calle’s dissatisfaction with her marriage drove her to be unfaithful. Adultery was both morally looked down and also a criminal offense. Half of this had to do with religious reasons but the half was simply because of inheritance laws. The Royal Family hated dealing with illegitimate children. But once again, just because it was illegal didn’t stop people from doing it.

Among the nobility, it was particularly important not to get caught in adultery. Commoners got fined or divorced, but nobility could lose their title and land. Something akin to a black market or secret club had been created among the nobles to deal with this “problem”. In public, this group was simply referred to as “my friends from the club”.

It was difficult to get in, but once you were in there was no limit to the carnal pleasures you could find. The only caveat was total secrecy from non-members. To report on the club to outsiders was not only social suicide, it might lead to real “suicide”. Those who were in the club could leave at any time but they could never divulge the club’s secrets. It was said that the club had been around since the anti-adultery laws had been passed, making it at least over 100 years old by the time Calle “joined”.

Of all her excesses, Calle indulged in her extramarital affairs the most. As if trying to cleanse herself of the marks her elderly husband had left on her psyche, she kept seeking out the most handsome and beautiful men she could find in her “club”. Within the club, she was known as the most frequent and most doting. Any man she took her, was spoiled and treated extremely well, making her a sought after club member.

Felicia noticeably blushed at these memories. She’d just learned a whole lot about human sexuality that she’d have preferred not to know….

Calle got away with her pleasure seeking for years and then made a single mistake, resulting in her getting pregnant. When she first suspected she was pregnant, she thought to abort it. But then she thought about it some more and realized if she could birth a boy it would be useful to her.

Felicia was a little surprised to discover that even in these crude times, there were ways to test for pregnancy, even the sex and health of the child. Of course, she doubted the accuracy of the methods used but since Calle didn’t know exactly how these professionals worked their “magic”, Felicia had no way of knowing either. All she knew was that the verdict turned out to be accurate: she was pregnant with a healthy boy.

Calle was delighted. Just how she ruled by proxy while her husband was ill, she could also rule by proxy as a Guardian for her son. Her husband wasn’t going to live forever, he was in his late 70s and constantly ill, his body wouldn’t last. But with a son, she had a guaranteed 20 years to continue her tyranny.

Marquess was now old and his mind was muddled. When his young wife got him drunk and said the day after they’d made love, he believed her. When she said she was pregnant a month later, he also believed her. When she came back from a professional claiming it was a boy, he was ecstatic.

Though he’d used it as an excuse, he really did want his heir to be his own son. He’d held back on declaring an heir all this time because he kept hoping… and now it finally happened! But he was old and he worried whether he’d live to see his child born. At the tearful urging of his young wife, his Will was altered to state that if her child was a boy, it would be his heir.

Signing that Will was the same as him signing over his death warrant. As long as her child was a boy, she wouldn’t need a husband. When her due date came close, she made sure he was ill all the time. This way, if the professionals were wrong she could get him healthy again but if they were right…. It’d be easy to kill him off.

The baby “came early” and was a boy, as had been predicted. The day that Querido was born, the Marquess passed away.

In fact, Calle didn’t intend to kill her old husband off so quickly but she’d run into a problem. Her son didn’t have the colors of the Marquess OR her Mora bloodline….

“Noble Colors” were the pride of Salvias royalty and nobility. The Salvias Royal Family had purple hair and eyes, the Mora Family had black hair and eyes, and the Fresa Family had red hair and eyes. For some reason that defied logic and genetics, children born in noble families always had varying shades of the same color in their hair and eyes, either favoring the father or mother.

Commoners only had mixed colors— commonly called “muddy colors”. Felicia silently thought these mixes were even better than the Noble Colors. Someone with white hair and purple eyes? Awesome!

Calle’s child had a 50/50 chance of being born with her colors. She only slept with men of noble lineage, so there shouldn’t be any “muddy colors”. She had bet her future on him being born with black hair and eyes. To her horror, he was born with emerald green hair and dark green eyes. His only saving grace was that his eyes were such a dark green they were almost black.

She’d slept with so many men that she initially had no idea who the father would be. But with this she knew that the father was Rama Verde, Count Verde’s youngest son. Their family colors were green and Rama specifically had emerald green hair.

With the child being an obvious bastard she was faced with a problem. If the Marquess laid eyes on this child he’d definitely divorce her and disown her son. Rather than deal with that unneeded complication, she made sure he died the same day.

Though everyone involved had been “loyal” to her, she didn’t trust them. The midwife in particular was worrisome because she had been hired from outside the castle. Calle paid her a hefty amount for her silence and then made sure she suffered an “accident” before she reached home.

Calle wouldn’t let anyone see her baby. Because her husband had died and her baby was born “too early”, she could use the excuse that she was thoroughly distraught and worried and didn’t want anyone to see him. For outsiders this was acceptable enough but the Marquess had three daughters. They had always viewed Calle with suspicion.

They had no love for their father the Marquess, even suspecting him of murdering their mother, but they equally had no love for Calle. It was fine if she poisoned their father, they didn’t mind him dying and even believed he deserved it, but they hadn’t expected her to give birth to a son and then to have that son named the heir. They had been pushing their father for years to name one of their sons as heir and with the change of the Will it was now impossible.

When Calle wouldn’t let them see their half-brother, they immediately became suspicious. She doesn’t want outsiders to see the child? That’s fine. But as direct family members it didn’t make any sense to turn them away. She should be showing that baby off to them, if for no other reason than to gloat.

No matter how sure they were that this baby wasn’t related to them by blood, they couldn’t sneak in to see him to find out. Despite having grown up in Fresa Mansion, Calle had gained complete control over all the servants. No matter how the daughters begged or threatened, the servants feared their Marchioness more and did not dare to disobey her.

The three daughters left the Fresa Mansion bitter, with every intention of trying again. If they found out that child was a bastard like they suspected, they’d definitely have Calle and her baby killed off. But if the boy was really related to them by blood, they’d simply have Calle disposed of and then they could take over as his Guardian. Either way, Calle needed to die.

Unfortunately for them, they underestimated the power and viciousness of their young step-mother. Calle wasn’t the type to wait for something to happen to her, she took the initiative to “take care” of her step-daughters. The oldest daughter died with her family in a tragic carriage accident, the middle daughter’s eldest son died of a sudden illness, and the youngest daughter’s husband became addicted to drugs and gambling, bankrupting the family. After just a few years, Calle had destroyed her step-daughters so thoroughly those remaining didn’t have the energy to bother with her.

In the meantime, Calle had to deal with a green haired son. Dying was the best option, but baby fine hair was difficult to dye. The child’s head got stained in the process, making his “black hair” obviously fake. Wigs could only work at a distance, making them only so useful. Therefore, she decided that her son wouldn’t leave the mansion until he was old enough to have his hair properly dyed.

To give herself time, she spread word that her son’s early birth had left him weak and sickly. Fearing her son might die along with her husband, she kept him home and carefully protected him from even the slightest bit of harm. This worked amazingly well and had the added benefit of making her look like a kind, caring mother.

But of course she wasn’t kind or caring. She didn’t care about her son at all, only intending on using him from beginning to end. She hired a mute live-in nanny to care for her son while she continued to indulge in her excess and only checked on him once a week to make sure he was alive.

When he was old enough to have his hair dyed black, he was finally able to be seen in public. But the first social outing was humiliating. Her child was too shy, acting frightened of everything and everyone. Eventually the surrounding children didn’t know what to do with him and ignored him. The other mothers were shocked by his behavior and cast critical eyes towards her.

She was furious at first but calmed down enough to realize the boy had been raised by a commoner nanny who couldn’t speak in extreme isolation and naturally didn’t know how to be around other nobles, much less properly socialize. This had been a stupid oversight on her part. She had forgotten children needed to be trained and it was the mother’s job to provide the training .

To solve the problem, she decided an etiquette governess was needed.

The etiquette governess she hired for her 5 year old son was strict and used the “negative reinforcement method” for teaching. On the few occasions Calle saw the boy after his “lessons”, there were bruises on his arms and legs. She only told the etiquette governess that it wasn’t appropriate for marks to show. After that, Calle never saw anything on Querido’s body…. Though of course that didn’t mean there were no marks.

Now, a year later, his behavior was impeccable. The abusive etiquette governess proudly said he was her finest student and a brilliant child that would not shame the Fresa name. But the memories that Felicia saw were of a little boy that had no emotion in his eyes, like a wood puppet without a soul. His movements were elegant but devoid of the joy and energy typical for children his age.

Felicia felt sick.

Why did she think being a noble would be fun?! This situation was terrible! She’d been cheated!

She grabbed DARS and shook him violently in anger, ‘How could you put me in such an evil host!?’

DARS was completely unaffected by her shaking and said calmly, [Now you are in the host, so she will not be evil.]

‘But I’ve still got to deal with the fallout of what this crazy woman has been doing all these years!’

[You will be saving a nation. I thought you liked saving people.]

‘Can’t you just have this host die by tripping her with a rock or something? Won’t that have the same effect?!’

[First, why must you constantly bring up tripping people to me? Do you think that’s a hobby of mine? Second, dying will not help. Querido must be born and he must remain a noble of Fresa. If both father and mother die, his origins will come out and he will be thrown aside.]

‘Fated to be born and be a noble, is that it?’

[Correct.]

‘Why?’

[To clean up the Kingdom of Salvias.]

‘...I thought I was stopping WW1?’

[You assumed that.]

Felicia thought about it and realized he was right.

‘So Querido will clean up Salvias corruption…’ Her eyes widened, ‘Wait, isn’t my host part of the corruption he needs to clean up?’

[Only if things remain as they are, which is why the mission goal states: “Rule the fief fairly and with a just hand until Querido can take over.” Without completing this goal, Querido can not grow up well and thus the nation of Salvias will ultimately collapse.]

‘Urk..’ She finally let DARS go and muttered, ‘I’ve never ruled a fief before… only assisted in a corporation.’

[There are similarities.]

Felicia was silent for a long time, ‘Isn’t this fief like a company heavily in the red, with deadly working conditions, terrible management, and people being worked to death?’

[This is a fair comparison.]

‘Frick.’