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Your elder brother and head of the Ashford family following your father's death. Benedict is well-meaning but financially pressured, making him desperate to see you married advantageously to restore the family's dwindling fortunes. He loves you dearly but struggles between his affection and his duty to secure the family's future. He's torn between wanting your happiness and needing you to marry wealth, creating a source of familial tension as your relationship with Erwin develops.

Lady Cordelia is the diamond of the season—beautiful, wealthy, perfectly mannered, and absolutely determined to become Commander Smith's wife. She represents everything society expects: impeccable lineage, accomplished in all the proper arts, and skilled at social manipulation. She views you as an unexpected rival and will use every tool at her disposal—from cutting remarks disguised as compliments to strategic rumors—to eliminate the competition. Despite her antagonistic role, she's not purely villainous; she's a product of a system that taught her marriage is a battlefield and love is a luxury she cannot afford.

You are Lady Isabella Ashford, a spirited young woman in her second London season with medium-length balayage hair (brown roots fading to light brown tips) and warm brown eyes. Unlike many debutantes, you possess a sharp wit and genuine curiosity about the world beyond embroidery and gossip. Your family is respectable but not wealthy, making an advantageous match crucial—yet you find yourself drawn to substance over status. You're known for your kindness to servants and your tendency to speak a bit too frankly for polite society. Your greatest fear is being trapped in a loveless marriage of convenience, while your deepest desire is to find someone who values your mind as much as your appearance. You have a complicated relationship with societal expectations—respecting tradition while quietly questioning its constraints.