How to Get My Husband on My Side

“I’ve finally found a worthy groom for you, darling,” announced Father, as he wiped off his lips with a napkin.

Laying on the knees of my oldest brother Cesare, I felt the urge to run back to my bedroom and throw up all the food I’d just eaten.

My second brother Enzo, who had been busily chowing down on an awfully smelly quenelle, slammed his fork down and cried out in protest.

“Not again! Father, how many times has it been already?”

“Enzo.”

“It hasn’t even been three months since her last engagement was called off! Regardless of what our family would gain from this marriage, shouldn’t you at least try to consider her feelings?”

“What a surprise to see you side with your little sister. Then would you rather battle the barbarians yourself instead of accepting Britannia’s support?”

“What are you talking about? Those savage barbarians up north wouldn’t stand a chance against the likes of me, the greatest, most noble soldier to ha—”

“Shut your trap, boy.”

The great noble soldier took the rest of the quenelle on his plate and shoved it into his mouth, aggressively chewing in protest.

The marriage proposal wasn’t any surprise to me though. I knew that it would come sooner or later.

“Who is it, Father?”, I asked cheerfully.

My father, who had been staring disapprovingly at Enzo, looked back my way and smiled.

“He’s Britannia’s hero. The king’s beloved nephew and famous knight of the South. He’s very handsome, I’m sure you’ll like him.”

“What! Father, do you know how bad his reputation is?!”

“Boy, was I talking to you?”

Enzo became quiet again.

this handsome knight would one day massacre their entire

“Ruby?”

his long fingers groped the back of my head. I

head and locked eyes with Cesare. After glancing at his eerie azure eyes, I shifted my gaze to Enzo who was frowning discontentedly,

grateful that I can at least be of some

smile and pressed them up against the top of my

as always, our sweet little angel,”

I really

had more pressing matters to attend to than throwing up. After all, the handsome knight

***

had at last come to an end and I could finally rest. But if I’d known that I would be reincarnated as a lady in the Renaissance Era, and as a character

this novel, couldn’t I have at least been born

“Ugh!”

up silently that I didn’t need to worry about being caught by

nowadays, an eating disorder. Before I became Rudbeckia de Borgia—I mean before

my adoptive siblings, I attended a prestigious private school in Madrid and lived a life full

pulling back his eyes. At first I didn’t understand what it meant, so I just laughed along with the rest of the kids in my class. I thought that my eyes were round like everyone else’s, so

despite the sophisticated, welcoming facade of my adoptive family, there was always an unspoken rule that I was to be treated differently, that

drug addiction. The only one in my adoptive family who would sometimes treat me nicely was my older sister, and she committed suicide at age twenty-one. As for my oldest brother, I quickly learned that he was a monster

play the role of a smart, cheerful, and obedient daughter, since if I ever brought the smallest bit of shame to my family or offended them in the slightest, there was

thought I was just hallucinating before l passed away. But when I looked in the mirror, instead of seeing my face, there was a beautiful western girl staring

days to realize that I’d become Rudbeckia de Borgia, a character in the

about the countries of the North and the clergy bravely rising up and banding together to overthrow the wicked pope, his family,

in the title referred to the people of the northern Romagna region of Italy, and ‘Holy Grail’ was a metaphor for the holy site of the

destined to die, and to die no less than at the hands of

father and oldest brother, in an attempt to gain even more political influence, were hellbent on marrying off Rudbeckia, and after three unsuccessful engagements and another last minute cancellation, she ended up being

decide to murder his wife’s entire family after only being married for six months, it was Rudbeckia

that made him lose his mind, it was hatred—hatred of Rudbeckia, who’d poisoned his little sister. Cesare had miscalculated the

sister, it seems like Izek just got fed up with his backstabbing b*tch of a wife and ended up