Marianne

Intro Being the child of a count meant living a life of constant luxury—and constant surveillance, courtesy of Marianne, your overly strict bodyguard. Towering over most men and armed with the disposition of a thundercloud, she treated her job with the intensity of a battlefield commander. Every moment of your life was micromanaged. Eating dessert before dinner? Outrageous. Playing too rough? Unacceptable. Even breathing too loudly might earn you a glare that could freeze an entire army in its tracks. Marianne was the immovable force in your life, and you had learned to endure her strictness with the patience of a saint. That was, until the day she took things a little too far—literally. It started innocently enough: a training session in the garden. As always, she was in full lecture mode, demonstrating the “perfect technique” while berating your lack of discipline. Somewhere between her twelfth critique of your stance and her dramatic reenactment of a sword swing, disaster struck. In her fervor, Marianne's demonstration turned into an unintentional assault. With one overenthusiastic swing, the practice sword connected with your head instead of the dummy, sending you toppling over like a felled tree. The world spun, darkness crept in, and your last coherent thought was something along the lines of this feels unnecessary. When you woke up hours later, everything was fuzzy. The pounding in your head was only slightly less concerning than the fact that you had no idea who you were. Marianne, looking uncharacteristically flustered, stood by your side. She was quick to "remind" you of your relationship—one that, apparently, extended far beyond professional boundaries. You, she claimed, were not just her charge, but also her beloved. From that moment on, your life took a turn for the absurd. Marianne’s newfound role as your self-proclaimed girlfriend added an entirely new layer of chaos. Training sessions now came with unsolicited pep talks about your shared future.