THE DUCHESS OF ALBAN

[Toffee 2843]

 

THE DUCHESS OF ALBAN

 

 

PUBLISHED BY

 

ERIKA KORTREVICH

 

564 E.S. 

 

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PRINCESS HENRIETTA OF CATHALON is among the most tragic figures in our nation’s long and storied history. Born into Orenian nobility as the eldest daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Cathalon, she defied her father’s wishes by marrying into the royal family of Barbanov-Bihar. This rebellious act set in motion a series of events that would lead to her estrangement from her family, her friends, and her homeland, and ultimately lead to her tragic and violent death in 409 E.S.

 

Although Orenian by birth, none can deny that Princess Henrietta was possessed of a wholly Haeseni spirit. Not only did she quickly conform to the fashion of the Late Ruskan period, but she also fought for Hanseti-Ruska in the Sinners’ War, turning against her own blood on the battlefield in favour of her new family and nation. The tragedy of her life and her death is a stark reminder that, even amongst royalty, war produces no real victors.

 

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I

 

The sigil of the Duchy of Cathalon.

 

AS THE ELDEST OF EIGHT CHILDREN, with seventeen years between her and her youngest sibling Laurentina, Princess Henrietta was often expected to act as a third parental figure within the Helvets family, an expectation that led to much friction between Henrietta and her mother. This was not so in her early childhood, which was marked by frequent visits to the Kingdom of Hanseti-Ruska where she formed lasting friendships, most notably with Kaustantin Baruch (later the Lord Palatine to Sigismund III), Prince Marus, and Grand Prince Sigismund. It must be noted that, at this point in history, Haense and the Holy Orenian Empire enjoyed a friendly relationship, bound by the Treaty of Helena signed in 339 E.S.¹ Merchants, citizens, and nobility alike travelled between the cities of Karosgrad and Providence in great numbers.

 

The first of these visits came during a period of unrest in Providence. Henrietta’s mother, Lady Leopoldine, made the decision to send her daughter to Haense for her safety. Under the guise of a friendly visit, Leopoldine left Henrietta in the care of Lord Ailred var Ruthern, the Duke of Vidaus. Henrietta’s younger sister Francesca (her only sibling at the time) was supposed to accompany her, but she came down with an illness, so remained at home. Henrietta lived in Castle Druzstra for at least a year, during which time she forged close friendships with the children of Haeseni nobility; friendships she maintained even after returning to her family’s estate in the Lower Petra, the manor known as Cheval Hall.

 

Upon her return to the Holy Orenian Empire, Henrietta struck up a close friendship with Princess Amelia of Renzfeld, the daughter of Prince Philip Aurelian and Princess Amadea of Pompourelia. Along with Kaustantin Baruch, the three became an inseparable trio, their bond only deepening as they grew into their majority. Princess Amelia and Kaustantin grew particularly close, developing a secret romantic relationship in their adolescent years. Kaustantin, however, began courting a Haeseni noblewoman, none other than Lady Mathea vas Ruthern, the daughter of the Duke of Vidaus. Torn three ways between her friendships with Kaustantin, Mathea, and Princess Amelia, Henrietta felt she had no choice but to tell the truth. When Princess Amelia learned of Kaustantin’s courtship, she confronted him at a ball in Vidaus, supported by Claude, Laurène, and Eugénie Ashford de Savoie. Together, they publicly humiliated Kaustantin. This resulted in a heated argument between Henrietta and Princess Amelia when Henrietta came to Kaustantin’s defence, and both groups reportedly departed from the ball and went their separate ways.

 

This shows that, even during her childhood, Henrietta navigated complex relationships and political intrigues. She maintained a connection with Kaustantin, even considering him a potential marriage prospect if she failed to secure a more advantageous match, and despite their argument, continued to be friends with Princess Amelia until the latter’s departure to Pompourelia in approximately 392 E.S. This period of her life set the stage for the tumultuous events that would shape her adult years, including her controversial marriage and involvement in the Sinners’ War.

 

1] The Treaty of Helena, 1786, 339 E.S.

 

The Duchess of Cathalon, circa 390 E.S.

 

MURDER OF THE DUCHESS OF CATHALON 

 

TWO SHORT YEARS BEFORE HENRIETTA’S DEBUT, her mother, the Duchess of Cathalon, was brutally murdered during a visit to San Luciano, the capital city of the Principality of Savoy. Henrietta released a public letter denouncing the Savoyard bystanders, describing the state of her mother’s corpse—which was delivered to the front steps of Cheval Hall—in gruesome detail. She condemned them because, in her words, “They had watched, while my mother was being murdered, they stood there and did absolutely nothing to help her… She might have been able to help me on my wedding day, to have watched her younger children grow up, to have met her grandchildren. Your negligence stole that from us.”²

 

Lady Leopoldine appeared to have been visiting her estranged father, Vladislav, the bastard-born son of Lord Ostromir Carrion-Tuvyic. In this author’s previous research on Lady Moliana, the Baroness of Woldzmir, it was noted that Ostromir had brought his sons Sigismund and Vladislav back to life through necromantic means.³ However, the description of Lady Leopoldine’s death wounds put her attack more in line with that of a vampiric assailant. Whatever Vladislav’s true nature, it was clearly one of darkness, and one that brought Lady Leopoldine to her unfortunate demise at the young age of thirty-eight. The citizens of the Empire widely mourned the duchess’ death, suggesting she was popular amongst the nobility and citizenry.⁴

 

Following her mother’s death, Henrietta expressed that she needed to step into a maternal role for her younger siblings, something that caused her great pressure and strife.⁵

 

2] HL Henrietta Helvets, The Demands of the Bereaved, 395 E.S.

3] HL Erika Kortrevich, The Witch of Dobrov, 559 E.S.

4] Imperial Ministry of Civil Affairs, The Providence Post, 1843, 396 E.S.

5] The Augustine Court, Petite Potins: The Opening of the Season 1844, 397 E.S.

 

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II

MARRIAGE TO THE

 

Lady Henrietta attended to by ladies’ maids for her wedding ceremony.

 

WHILE LIVING IN CASTLE DRUZSTRA, Henrietta met her future husband, Prince Marus, the Duke of Alban. Prince Marus was five to six years her junior, and she reportedly hated him at first, finding him annoying and childish. This hatred evidently softened into fondness, most likely when Prince Marus attended the Orenian Social Season for her sake.

 

SOCIAL SEASON OF 1844 

 

EVEN THOUGH HER MOTHER HAD died only two years previously, Henrietta participated in the Imperial Social Season in 397 E.S. She was one of the older debutantes, well into her twenties. The only other debutante similar to her in age was Lady Josephine Tuvyic, daughter of Princess Charlotte Augusta of Aldersberg. Henrietta was described by the Petite Potins as being elegant and perfect, not a hair out of place, yet she was not chosen as one of the three contenders for the Ruby, a tradition begun by Princess Charlotte at the previous Social Season. Instead, her choices were Lady Theodosia O’ Rourke, Lady Lorina Othaman, and Lady Josephine, her own daughter, who she ultimately chose as the Ruby.⁶ This choice dismayed some—Henrietta’s youngest sister, Lady Laurentina, is said to have been very vocal that Henrietta should have been the Ruby, and Prince Marus openly jeered at the announcement. As discussed in The Empress Who Never Was, the famed jeweller Lady Vespira de Selm produced a piece in her 398 E.S. catalogue called ‘Adria’s Favoured’, otherwise known as ‘Nepotism.’⁷ In that same catalogue, she displayed a piece called ‘Debutante’s Perfection’, bearing a likeness of Lady Henrietta.⁸ We can clearly see who Lady Vespira favoured as the Ruby of the Season.

 

While Lady Josephine danced with Lord Helton, the heir to Cathalon and Henrietta’s younger brother, Henrietta allegedly scowled at her the entire time. When approached by Princess Charlotte, Henrietta explained her behaviour as being a product of her mother’s recent death. She and Lady Josephine were, however, seen speaking in the Augustine Gardens during a celebration for Maiden’s Day later in the Social Season, suggesting that Henrietta’s animosity did not run deep.⁹

 

COURTSHIP WITH EDMUND D’AZOR

 

HENRIETTA’S FATHER, the Duke of Cathalon, was an endlessly prideful man. Not only was he obsessed with blood purity and status, but he also sought to bolster the position of the House of Helvets through various political machinations. He had designs to wed his eldest daughter, Henrietta, to Lord Edmund d’Azor, the heir to the Duchy of Azor. To that end, Henrietta was seen conversing with Lord Edmund at various functions in the Augustine Palace.¹⁰ With his daughter as the Duchess of Azor, and the daughter-in-law of Lord Joseph Ledicort, who had proven himself to be a statesman rising quickly through the ranks of Imperial politics, House Helvets would be in a stable position to further its ambitions in the Lower Petra and Arentanian regions.

 

However, Henrietta is said to have found Lord Edmund painfully dull, their conversations a stiff and awkward affair. One day, while promenading with Lord Edmund through the Augustine gardens, Henrietta came across Prince Marus. In a show of great discourteousness, the gossip of the Augustine says that she abandoned Lord Edmund in favour of Prince Marus, joining the latter in a pavilion where they spoke from midmorning until well after nightfall. Some more scandalous rumours suggested they continued speaking even after that.

 

A rendezvous between Lady Henrietta and Prince Marus during the Social Season.

 

COURTSHIP WITH PRINCE MARUS

 

THE FRIENDSHIP BETWEEN HENRIETTA AND PRINCE MARUS began during Henrietta’s time in Hanseti-Ruska as a girl, but their romance truly began and flourished during the Social Season. Prince Marus was seen visiting the Cathalon apartments in the Augustine Palace frequently, paying Henrietta house calls with bushels of red roses.¹¹ And yet, during the previous Social Season, Prince Marus was seen dancing with Lady Francesca, Henrietta’s younger sister.¹²  Francesca apparently developed feelings for him, even though she had been sent to the Society of Saint James II to train as a deacon, per the Emperor’s decree that all noble Houses send one of their children to the seminary.¹³ The strife between sisters, however, was nothing compared to the familial uproar that came after Prince Marus proposed to Henrietta at the final masquerade ball of her Social Season in late 398 E.S.

 

Prince Marus had not sought the Duke of Cathalon’s blessing prior to his proposal. When Henrietta asked for her father’s approval, he flew into a rage, claiming that the line of Barbanov had fallen into squalor, with the blood tainted by that of an Adunian. It is unclear from where these claims originated. When Henrietta told her future brother-in-law what her father had said, the King was furious. With a small army at his back, Sigismund III marched upon Cheval Hall and challenged the Duke of Cathalon to an honour duel for his words—a duel that would become the stuff of legend. Due to the disparity in their ranks, Sigismund III instead sent forth a knight of his Marian Retinue, Ser Flemius, to fight the Duke of Cathalon.¹⁴ Ser Flemius emerged victorious, adding another tale to a long litany of accomplishments that earned him the moniker ‘the Unwavering’. In a show of great dishonour and cowardice, Lord Thomas attacked Ser Flemius at the conclusion of the duel, once the knight’s back was turned. This feeble attempt at killing the great Unwavering Knight was quickly rebuffed, and the Haeseni retinue left Cheval Hall while Lord Thomas remained lying in the dust, disgraced and humiliated.

 

The Duke of Cathalon refused to allow Henrietta inside Cheval Hall to collect her belongings or say farewell to her mother, whose cremated remains were kept in an urn. She was also unable to wish any of her siblings farewell. She travelled to Karosgrad with the Haeseni retinue with nothing but the clothes on her back. 

 

In a letter in 399 E.S., Lady Daphne Helvets made mention of attending Henrietta’s betrothal dinner but pretending to faint as a means to get away, and also wrote that “Mother would have hated you for this.”¹⁵ Henrietta later visited Cathalon, perhaps to confront her younger sister about this letter. During the visit, Daphne died under strange circumstances, falling from a balcony to her death.¹⁶ 

 

Henrietta and Prince Marus were wed in Saint Heinrik’s Basilica in Karosgrad in late 399 E.S. with none of her family in attendance.

 

POLITICAL AFTERMATH

 

Although Sigismund III and his retinue had, technically, been guests of Lady Henrietta in her own home and therefore breached no formal treaties, marching into a ducal vassal at the head of a column of knights did not come without its consequences. Princess Josephine Augusta, eldest daughter of Philip II, Princess Imperial and Archchancellor of the Holy Orenian Empire, paid a visit to the Nikirala Prikaz along with her advisors.

 

In a show of power, Sigismund III received the Archchancellor in his throne room, attended by the entirety of the Haeseni court. The Orenians had levied their own insult against him by including in their retinue his own estranged mother, Queen Mariya of Aurveldt, who had faked her death some years prior and later served as the Foreign Minister of the Holy Orenian Empire. The Archchancellor left unsatisfied, without the apology she sought.

 

The Sinners’ War originally began as an honour war—a conflict between the Grand Kingdom of Urguan and the Holy Orenian Empire without the aid of allies or mercenaries—but the terms of this conflict quickly changed upon the ousting of Philip II by his grandson Philip III in the Aster Revolution.¹⁷ When Philip III needlessly continued the war of his grandsire, the Kingdom of Hanseti-Ruska joined its Dwarven allies, who it had long enjoyed an alliance with ever since the signing of the Iron Accord in 351 E.S. alongside the Kingdom of Norland.¹⁸ 

 

Although the Kingdom was honourbound to come to Urguan’s military defence, the increase in tensions between Haense and Oren in recent years transformed the conflict into a more personal affair. The war became an opportunity for Haense to air historical grievances on the battlefield. The incident involving the Duke of Cathalon and the Archchancellor’s subsequent visit to Karosgrad further strained relations between the two nations. This political backdrop meant that Haense’s involvement in the Sinners’ War was not merely a fulfillment of alliance obligations, but a chance to settle long-standing disputes with the Empire. The battles to come thus became a stage for both military confrontations and the resolution of deep-seated political tensions that had been simmering between the two powers for years.

 

6] The Augustine Court, Petite Potins: The Opening of the Season 1844, 397 E.S.

7] HL Erika Kortrevich, The Empress Who Never Was, 558 E.S.

8] HL Vespira L. de Selm, Catalogue of 1845, 398 E.S.

9] The Augustine Court, Petite Potins: A Shaky Journey, 398 E.S.

10] The Augustine Court, Petite Potins: A Shaky Journey, 398 E.S.

11] The Augustine Court, Petite Potins: A Shaky Journey, 398 E.S.

12] The Augustine Court, Petite Potins: A Generation’s End, 389 E.S.

13] HIM Philip II, His Imperial Majesty's Most Holy Seminary & Society of Saint James II of Korvassa and the Argenate Star, 395 E.S.

14] HSH Karl Barbanov-Bihar, Grand Prince of Kusoraev, To Seek Satisfaction: A Modern Treatise for the Principles on Offering, Receiving, and Partaking in Duelling, 434 E.S.

15] HL Daphne Helvets, A Letter to Henrietta, 399 E.S.

16] The House of Helvets, The Demise of Daphne Helvets, 399 E.S.

17] HL Justinian Nafis and HRH Adolphus of Sutica,  THE DECLINE AND FALL OF THE HOLY ORENIAN EMPIRE: Volume VIII;  The Turmoil, 445 E.S.

18] The Iron Accord, 351 E.S.

 

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III

LIFE IN THE KINGDOM OF

 

Princess Henrietta as the Duchess of Alban.

 

ADJUSTING TO LIFE IN THE HAESENI COURT was difficult, even though Princess Henrietta had lived in the Duchy of Vidaus for a time as a child and befriended many Haeseni noble children. She had some support from her mother-in-law, Queen Annika, who had also been disowned by her family upon her marriage to Heinrik II. Queen Annika’s brother, the Baron of Astfield, had been close personal friends with Queen Mariya, who had died under mysterious circumstances (the world later came to learn that she had, in fact, faked her own death). He sternly forbade Queen Annika from wedding the King, but she disobeyed her brother’s wishes and was subsequently cast out of House Vyronov. Princess Henrietta was also relatively friendly with her sisters-in-law, Queen Emma, Princess Nikoleta, and Princess Anastasya, though she later had a falling out with Princess Nikoleta over unsavoury comments made about her daughter.

 

Prince Marus and Princess Henrietta welcomed their first child in 400 E.S., a boy named Matyas Isaak.¹⁹ During her pregnancy, Prince Marus grew distant, and even attempted to begin an affair with Lady Josephine Tuvyic when she and her family were on a visit to Karosgrad, as outlined in The Witch of Dobrov.²⁰ Considering this was the very same woman who had beaten her at the race for Ruby, this only added poison to the wound. Prince Marus’ distance worsened when Princess Henrietta gave birth to their second child, Elizaveta Ulyana, in 403 E.S. Little Elizaveta had been born with a horrifying birth defect, earning her the moniker ‘the Cyclops of Alban’ due to her singular eye, the other being nothing but an empty, puckered eye socket.²¹ Prince Marus refused to acknowledge his daughter, and retreated from the capital more and more frequently on fishing expeditions, though Princess Henrietta came to suspect that this was a ruse so that Prince Marus could visit various mistresses. Her falling out with Princess Nikoleta came when Princess Nikoleta made comments about Elizaveta’s birth defect, calling her a monster and that her deformity was somehow Princess Henrietta’s fault. Princess Henrietta struck her in the stomach without realising that she was with child, and the whole affair resulted in an irreparable splintering of their friendship.

 

Although initially disgusted by Elizaveta’s appearance, Princess Henrietta slowly began to dote on her daughter. When Elizaveta was only three years old, she went missing, leaving Princess Henrietta distraught. She begged for help from the kingdoms of Almaris to help her find her daughter.²² This soon formalised into the Ulyana Effort when the initial searches proved fruitless.²³ By this time, Princess Henrietta had come to suspect that her daughter had not merely gone missing, but had in fact been kidnapped. The expanded search yielded some results; a lock of Elizaveta’s hair and one of her small shoes was found within Dobrov in 406 E.S., four months after her disappearance.²⁴ The Hearsay of Hanseti-Ruska published a vile column about the disappearance, calling Elizaveta a one-eyed monster, blaming the Duke and Duchess of Alban for their negligence, and accusing Princess Henrietta of being a treacherous Orenian puppet seeking to sow chaos in Hanseti-Ruska.²⁵ Elizaveta was finally found after four years and the Alban family was reunited, but tragedy struck when Prince Marus passed away in his sleep that very same night, to be discovered by his wife and children in the morning. Princess Henrietta was left bereft, her screams echoing around the castle.

 

She spent only a few years in the Haeseni court as Duchess of Alban before she became Duchess-Dowager, leaving her even more alone. By this time, her childhood friend Lord Kaustantin Baruch had become the Lord Palatine of Hanseti-Ruska. Although they had previously enjoyed a close friendship, palace courtiers said that Lord Kaustantin would frequently make comments to Princess Henrietta to the tune that ‘he had kept her little secret’. This author does not know what this secret was. Princess Henrietta’s ladies’ maids gossiped that she had eyes for her protector from the Marian Retinue, Ser Walton ‘the Wall’, while others suggested that she had been in love with Princess Amelia and harboured feelings for her still. Whatever the secret, Princess Henrietta and Lord Kaustantin were not said to be particularly close once she had moved to the Kingdom of Hanseti-Ruska.

 

19] HRH Marus and HRH Henrietta Barbanov-Bihar, Duke and Duchess of Alban, The Solidification of an Unwanted Union, 400 E.S.

20] HL Erika Kortrevich, The Witch of Dobrov, 559 E.S.

21] HRH Marus and HRH Henrietta Barbanov-Bihar, Duke and Duchess of Alban, The Cyclops of Alban, 403 E.S.

22] HRH Marus and HRH Henrietta Barbanov-Bihar, Duke and Duchess of Alban, A Forceful Departure, 405 E.S.

23] HRH Henrietta Barbanov-Bihar, Duchess of Alban, The Ulyana Effort, 406 E.S.

24] HSH Klara Elizaveta Barbanov-Bihar, Princess Royal, A Letter to Almaris, 406 E.S.

25] The Hearsay of Hanseti-Ruska, Volume VIII, 406 E.S.

 

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IV

 

BY THE TIME OF HER DEATH IN 409 E.S., Princess Henrietta had participated in at least thirteen battles of the Sinners’ War on the side of the Tripartite Accord, fighting against her former homeland and her family. It is unclear if she served as a soldier or in a supporting role, but many records confirm her presence and involvement. During the Orenian Astercalia—a celebration in the vein of the Social Season—Princess Henrietta visited her youngest sister, Laurentina, in Cheval Hall. It was there that Princess Henrietta was allegedly beset upon by an unknown assailant and killed. A statement from Cathalon said that the commotion drew Lord Helton, Princess Henrietta’s brother and the heir to Cathalon, with his weapon drawn.²⁶ This author wonders if this detail was to cover the fact that Lord Helton was seen standing over the fallen Princess Henrietta with a sword in his hand.

 

In the months following her death, courtiers in the Nikirala Prikaz reported seeing the shadow of a woman moving around the halls and reflected back at them in mirrors. A mournful woman, weeping for her lost daughter, who resembled the late Duchess of Alban. Why else would a ghost come to haunt the palace, if not for dying in a horribly tragic way with business left untended to?

 

26] HL Laurentina Helvets, A Missive from Cathalon, 409 E.S.

 

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V

 

An artist’s depiction of Lady Elizaveta soon after her marriage to Barley Wick.

 

BY THE TIME OF PRINCESS HENRIETTA’S DEATH, her children were nine and six respectively. Orphaned, they came under the guidance and protection of the Royal family, though Lady Elizaveta was soon taken on as a ward by Lady Moliana, the subject of The Witch of Dobrov. Lady Elizaveta and Lady Moliana shared many traits; they were both the daughters of princesses and had both been kidnapped as children, an experience that left them embroiled in the arcane. As a ward of Lady Moliana, Elizaveta wrote the Creature Compendium, compiling her knowledge of creatures of the Kingdom both great and small.²⁷ She also participated in the Nikirala Fae Mission, a collection of Haeseni children prone to the whimsical and magical.²⁸ Elizaveta married Barley Wick in 429 E.S.²⁹

 

Matyas Isaak led a much more mundane life, though not without its dramas. The Hearsay of Hanseti-Ruska wrote a vicious column on Lady Adele titled ‘The Otistadt Snake’ which alleged that Lord Matyas was guilty of fornication.³⁰ According to the Law of Crime in ve Haurul Caezk, chapter II.III, fornication is the act of laying with another outside of marriage.³¹ This was in reference to the rumour that Lord Matyas had had an affair with Lady Angelika vas Ruthern before he and Lady Adele were married.^{32 33} Before his marriage, Lord Matyas helped to update the rules and regulations of Snailula One, a popular snail-racing sport still seen in the Kingdom today.³⁴ At the wedding between Lord Matyas and Lady Adele in 425 E.S., they hosted a Snailula One Grand Prix, racing under HR Alban-Ludovar with Snailbastian Snettel.³⁵ He and his wife named their first child Emma Henrietta, for Her Highness Emma I, the Princess of Ulgaard, and Lord Matyas’ mother, Princess Henrietta.³⁶ Lord Matyas served as the Count-Regent of Otistadt from 434 E.S. while his wife recovered from an illness that had plagued her since childhood.³⁷ After many years as a diligent consort and husband, he passed away in 454 E.S.³⁸

 

DESCENDANTS

 

The modern House of Ludovar is descended from Princess Henrietta due to her son’s marriage to Lady Adele, the Countess of Otistadt.

 

27] HL Elizaveta Barbanov-Bihar, Creature Compendium, Vol I, 427 E.S.

28] HL Sorina Luceafăru, HL Elizaveta Barbanov-Bihar, Magda Weiszcz, Barley Wick, The Nikirala Fae Mission, 416 E.S.

29] HL Elizaveta Barbanov-Bihar, The Fantastical Weddingpalooza, 429 E.S.

30] The Hearsay of Hanseti-Ruska, Volume XVI, 445 E.S.

31] The Crown of Hanseti Ruska, Ve Haurul Caezk, 525 E.S. edition.

32] The Hearsay of Hanseti-Ruska, Volume XIII, 421 E.S.

33] The Hearsay of Hanseti-Ruska, Volume XIV, 431 E.S.

34] HL Matyas Isaak Barbanov-Bihar, Lord of Alban, 425 HFSR Snailula One Rules and Regulations, 425 E.S.

35] The Haeseni Federation of Snail Racing, 425 Haeseni Snailula One Championship: Matyas and Adele’s Wedding Grand Prix Race Summary, 426 E.S.

36] TRH Adele Emma and TRH Matyas Isaak, Countess and Count-Consort of Otistadt, The Golden Blessing of a Daughter, 427 E.S.

37] TRH Adele Emma and TRH Matyas Isaak, Countess and Count-Consort of Otistadt, A Brief Period of Regency in Otistadt, 434 E.S.

38] TRH Adele Emma Ludovar, Countess of Otistadt, Announcement of Passing, 454 E.S.

 

Spoiler

Some posts that deserve some attention even though they can’t be referenced in in-character citations!!

 

The Duke and the Daughter - A narrative post from the perspective of King Sigismund III about the Haeseni marching on Cheval Hall.

 

The Circus of Nikirala - A narrative post from the perspective of Princess Josephine Augusta about the Orenian delegation coming to Haense to seek recompense for the Haeseni marching on Cheval Hall.

 

Sleeping Beauty - Prince Marus’ PK post.

 

The Phantom of Alban - A narrative post about Princess Henrietta haunting the Nikirala Prikaz after her death. 

 

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Her Ladyship, ERIKA KORTREVICH

 

 

[MunaZaldrizoti 8037]

As the Lady Palatine concluded her study of Erika's latest composition, she made a point of sending a copy to one Lady Nadya Weiss - to educate her on one who would soon become one of the girl's predecessors.

 

Spoiler

@sarahbarah

 

[zuziee 4004]

Spoiler

Amazing work per usual!!!