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

“Ruby?”

who had been stroking my head, called for me again. This time his long fingers groped the back of my head. I shuddered in revulsion. It felt like a cold snake slithering

gaze to Enzo who was frowning discontentedly, and then to Lady

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

and pressed them up against the top of my

as always, our sweet

really wanted

I had more pressing matters to attend to than throwing up. After all,

***

and as a character in a novel that I’d read long ago, and, to make matters worse, forced to survive in an environment that was just as vile as my previous life,

to be reincarnated as a character in this novel, couldn’t I have at least been

“Ugh!”

my eyes begin to water. I’d gotten good enough at throwing up silently that I didn’t need to worry about being caught by the maids, but,

was anorexia, or as people call it nowadays, an eating disorder. Before I became Rudbeckia de Borgia—I mean

knew nothing about the so-called ‘Korean Peninsula’ where I was born. Like my adoptive siblings, I attended a prestigious private school in

the kids around me was sometime around 4th grade, when a boy in my class laughed at me while 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

life at home, despite the sophisticated, welcoming facade 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

for me to 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

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

took me a few days to realize that I’d become Rudbeckia de Borgia, a character in the fantasy novel Sodom

vile, corrupt pope who abused his power to subjugate others. It was a story about

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 as for lucky

die, and to die no less than at the hands

brother, in an attempt to gain even more political influence, were hellbent on marrying off Rudbeckia, and after

his wife’s entire family after only being married for six

hatred—hatred of Rudbeckia, who’d poisoned his little sister.

killing his little sister, it seems like Izek just