Chapter Three: Family

Previously: Lady of Roses

 

Mireille felt a sudden pain in her chest. "Computer... you're driving up my blood pressure, which is exactly what I didn't want."

 

The computer remained unyielding. "This game is designed to last a player decades. As such, there are multiple programmed conflicts over land and title. For players not focused on romance and relaxation, successfully navigating those conflicts is the goal."

 

Mireille blinked. She was fairly certain she'd just been insulted, but decided to let it slide.

 

"I am the wealthiest woman in Westervale. I am probably the wealthiest woman in this world."

 

"Correct."

 

"And yet I cannot simply cross this room right now to speak to a guest of my own choosing—at least, not without consequences."

 

"Correct."

 

"That is fucked, computer."

 

She closed her eyes and breathed deeply. "Am I to assume that Sir Adrian—and any man I'm likely to find attractive—will eventually be dragged into one of those conflicts?"

 

"Correct."

 

"So the best I can do is spend time with Adrian before he's summoned," she sighed. "But how can I do that with all these ridiculous rules preventing me?"

 

"The Thornmere family is legally common. Adrian is a knight, as his father was before him. Upon his father's death, Adrian became responsible for his sister Rowena, aged seventeen, and his mother Leonora de Valcera."

 

Mireille's eyes widened. "His family is poor?"

 

"Even so," the computer pointed out, "they straddle the line between classes. If Rowena can raise her social standing and acquire a sufficient dowry, she might attract a husband of higher rank."

 

Mireille blinked rapidly, trying to remember something from long ago. "I think I saw this in a period piece. Girls from lower status would serve a woman of higher status."

 

"And that association would, in turn, raise their own social status."

 

Mireille's heart leaped in her chest. "If I take Adrian's sister under my wing, he'll periodically have to come check on her...or something?"

 

"Adrian is very attached to his sister," the computer confirmed. "He will want to ensure she is well cared for."

 

She finally relaxed. Ancient history was not her strongest suit. She had no idea how people functioned a century ago, much less over a millennium ago. But it suddenly occurred that they did function somehow.

 

She was about to resume the game when she remembered. "Computer, does Adrian die in the war with Orvienne?"

 

"His fate is randomized. Sometimes he dies in battle, sometimes from illness, sometimes he lives a long healthy life."

 

Now Mireille was stressed all over again. "Is Orvienne by any chance near where I'm supposed to be from?"

 

"It's the duchy where you lived. Your hometown of Auremer is its largest city."

 

She squeezed her eyes closed. "Am I related to the Duke of Orvienne by any chance?"

 

"As with many nobles, you share a distant common ancestor, but the relation between you is negligible."

 

Mireille opened her eyes and nodded. She was about to resume the game, but stopped again. "What happens to Adrian's family if he dies?"

 

"His mother almost always dies from the shock. Otherwise, she goes to a convent. Rowena, however, has multiple fates. Sometimes she dies from plague, sometimes from war. 
When she lives, she has to work... sometimes in a tavern, sometimes for a weaver, and once in a while, she ends up in a brothel."

 

Mireille was appalled. "All because she doesn't have her brother to protect her?"

 

"Regardless of time period, family is extremely important for a person's survival," the computer pointed out. "And in this era, people relied on family more than anything else."

 

She suddenly stiffened. "What happened to my family after I took my father's money?"

 

"Your stepmother and her family have since seized your ancestral home and your father's shipping business. Your cousin, whom you grew up with, has been cast out."

 

Mireille didn't like that, even though her "cousin" was a hologram she hadn't met.

 

I may need him someday, she realized. "Computer, have bandits ‘randomly’ raid my ancestral home, and kill Isabeau and her relatives. When they're all dead, have the courts award my cousin the estate and the business."

 

"He will still need coin to get back on his feet... and clean the mess."

 

She sighed. "Then create an account at whatever bank is nearest to him, and credit it with... a thousand crowns. That should be enough, right?"

 

"Acknowledged."

 

"Save game and close." She was exhausted. "And send me some reading material about the current configuration. I clearly have no idea what's going on here."

 

***

She spent the late evening drowning in lore. Much to her surprise, The Barony of Westervale had a massive fandom. It was a fifteen-year-old game, and some people had saves dating all the way back to the beta launch.

 

Adrian was the obvious choice for most fans to play. Some even considered him the default protagonist of the game. Others liked to play as a modded version of the Baron or Adrian's sister. Some even played as Simon Rosemere.

 

Almost no one played as the Viscountess. Most fans saw her as spoiled, dumb, and useless except as an occasional bedmate. Some fans even wrote about marrying her and murdering her for her fortune.

 

At first it made her stomach turn. Then it made her strangely defiant.

 

She returned to game the next morning. There were several empty simulation chambers. This particular colony had a small population, as it was still a work in progress. Her cousins would be busy all day, as they were every day, leaving her to find her own amusement. And found it she had.

 

"Resume game."

 

"Have you ever been to Orvienne?" the Baron asked her immediately.

 

"I grew up in Auremer," Mireille replied confidently, even smiling. She was even trying a Valeronnese accent this time. It was raspy, and she had to pronounce her r's in the back of her throat. She also now replaced most of her th’s with z’s. "My father ran a shipping business before he died. My cousin Thibault recently took it over."

 

"What are you plans for life in Westervale?" Corwin inquired. He was not programmed to notice the switch.

 

"As you know, the Duke of Orvienne is an idiot, and will not win this war." According to the lore, the Valeronnese would win some conflicts in the future, but not this one. "So I suppose I came seeking solace and safety from the conflict."

 

"Wise choice," Corwin commended her. "My city is made brighter by your presence."

 

“If you will excuse me, my lord, I would like to greet those young ladies over there,” Mireille said, pointing. They were the ones she'd spied on earlier. "As I am new to town, I'd like to make more women friends."

 

The Baron looked in that direction. "Matilda Foxmere, Alys Hawkridge, and Adela Stoneleigh." He grinned. "Good choice."

 

Mireille suppressed the rising bile as she walked towards the women who were young enough to be the Baron's daughters.

 

"My ladies," she greeted cheerily.

 

"My lady!" they exclaimed enthusiastically, all of them bowing. Mireille decided then and there they'd all be best friends.

 

Fuck the fandom, she thought. The hell do they know?