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.

of them had any idea that this handsome knight would one day massacre their entire family. Oh poor, wretched creatures

“Ruby?”

hesitate for a moment, Cesare, who had been stroking my head, called for me again. This time his long fingers groped

raised my head and locked eyes with Cesare. After glancing at his eerie azure eyes, I shifted my gaze to Enzo who was frowning discontentedly, and then to Lady Julia and my father beside her, both

I’m grateful that I can at least be of some service to you with this

lips into a rare gentle smile and pressed

sweet

really wanted

up. After all, the handsome knight of the

***

Era, and as a character in a novel that I’d read long ago, and, to make matters worse,

going to be reincarnated as a character in this

“Ugh!”

feel my stomach tense up and my eyes begin to water. I’d gotten good enough at throwing up silently that I didn’t need to worry about being

old and new life was anorexia, or as people call it nowadays, an eating disorder. Before I became Rudbeckia de Borgia—I mean before I died—I was an adopted daughter of an upper-class

Peninsula’ where I was born. Like my adoptive siblings, I attended a prestigious private school in Madrid and lived a life full of ballet

laughed at me while pulling back his eyes. At first I didn’t understand what it meant, so I just laughed

grew numb to the racism that I faced at school, but as for my life at home, despite the sophisticated, welcoming facade of my

of my adoptive parents had a separate lover, and my second brother, who was a rising tennis star, was publicly exposed for his promiscuous private life and drug addiction. The only one in my adoptive family who would sometimes treat me nicely was my older sister, and

since if I ever brought the smallest bit of shame to my family or offended them in the slightest, there was hell

just hallucinating before l passed away. But when I looked in the mirror, instead of seeing my

that I’d become Rudbeckia de Borgia, a character in the fantasy novel Sodom and the Holy Grail I used to

pope who abused his power to subjugate others. It was a story about the countries of the North and the clergy bravely rising up and banding together to overthrow the wicked pope, his

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 Vatican City. And

no less than at the

were hellbent on marrying off Rudbeckia, and after three unsuccessful engagements and another last minute cancellation, she ended up being

to why someone as noble and austere as Izek would lose his mind and decide to murder his wife’s entire family after only being married for six months, it was

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

more than being mad about Rudbeckia killing his little sister, it seems like Izek just got fed up with his