Reference Information: If Only I Could Love

After much delay, and many spiraling branches drawing my attention away... here is an overview of what's going on behind the curtains in this deeply unfortunate timeline. No seriously, this is probably the darkest timeline so far, in my opinion... but light shines brightest in darkness, no?

Refer back to the (previous reference) information for a basic overview of the setting's baseline, and to cross-reference for differences if you'd like. This post is about this specific branch of the timeline.

James Jordanson (IfOnlyICouldLove)

Age, Gender: 23 yr/old male.
Societal Status: The False Heiress' Illicit Lover
Class: -error-
Innate Traits:

• His magic phone will tend to find its way back to him, so long as he's himself.
• He's discovered his magic phone can only be used once per subject, but had little time to reflect on this subject due to the imminent distraction of being in Arma Armelia's inherently seductive presence.
• Due to his place of origin completely lacking in magic, he's much more sensitive - and susceptible - to it, for both good and ill... considering this, it's a testament to his character and determination how well he's resisted Arma's accidental "persuasion." Or perhaps it is simply helped by the girl's remaining desire for a human lover, rather than the one she believes a succubus deserves and should want.
• He has some stair-related trauma after nearly falling to his **** pre-isekai.

Background Notes: A man from modern Earth who abruptly found himself in this fantasy world. He was studying at Paidshow University (see: Exit: Take a Selfie) and a classmate of Paul Matthews. Thus, he was 'studying' about lewd streamers and online entertainment from a school filled with expert women specialized in titillating their viewers. Consequently, the man is... probably even hornier and more ignorant than the average young college male.

After using his magic phone to remake the Kingdom's Princess in the image of one of his erotic fantasies, he has found himself unable to step back despite the mounting consequences he has discovered to both her well-being and the kingdom as a whole. Worse, his presence in proximity to Arma has collapsed a delicate house of cards this timeline was managing barely to hold together, the fallout of which has yet to be seen in full.

Arma Armelia (IfOnlyICouldLove)
Age, Gender: 22 yr/old female.
Societal Status: Heir-Apparent to the Kingdom of Armelia.
Class: Succubus-Princess

Opinion of James: The first man to love her as a man should. The first to enter the castle since the King's dismissal of all men besides himself from its halls. Arma has great attachment to him, and she would call it love if a succubus such as herself were worthy of that beautiful emotion. She would be wrong to do so this early based off such a simple infatuation, but the potential for such a thing is there. After bonding with James and experiencing sensation as only a succubus can for the first time in her life... Arma will not allow herself to part from James, and is exceptionally conscious of his opinion of her. Even if it's "natural" for a succubus to move on to another man without attachment, and it's "natural" to be scorned for doing so... she doesn't want that, in her heart of hearts. She wants to be loved like a princess - not a demon. Like a normal, innocent woman.

• As a previous target of the phone; Arma is immune to its effects, and any non-situational aspects of her Prompt will remain unchanged regardless of what James does with the phone. If he's in another room and changes the location, she will remain at the same relative distance. If she's in the same room, this will remain the case even if the room changes, but she will not notice in either case. She cannot be directly or indirectly changed by the phone, even if the resulting change is simply a matter of her relative proximity to James.
• Innately kind and good-natured. A somewhat naive romantic who thinks the best in people. Even as a Succubus, she retains a tragically innocent belief in the goodwill of those around her. Tragic, not because she is a succubus but because her normally unharnessed magical abilities have, due to her nature as a demon, been tapped into intuitively without control or inhibition.
• Due to her ability to read minds mixing with her general goodwill, Arma has come to believe the various rumors and hearsay the castle's folk speak under their breath to be fact. With her father indisposed and no one to notice this assumption, it was allowed to fester long enough for the girl's ability to express emotion to manifest... thus causing an echo-chamber effect where Arma hears something, trusts it, and then reflects that opinion back onto everyone nearby as amongst all these humans there is no one to teach her how to moderate her abilities. This is why she has such a twisted outlook in her internal monologue, and why James' thoughts and feelings toward her are censored in realtime to match up with her own self-description.
• Ironically, the entire castle is under her thrall at this point due to long exposure... and in their thralldom, they treat Arma the way they have unknowingly taught her she should be treated - as an untrustworthy and near-alien creature without capacity for - or worthiness of empathy. (This is what her comment about humans 'having pink eyes' was alluding to: it is a visual sign which only she can see, indicating the hold her magic has over someone. Of course, no one has explained that, so she just thinks humans have pink eyes... except Cheryl, sometimes, but Cheryl is clearly some kind of special human and weird in general, to Arma.)

Background Notes: The demon which would normally interfere with Arma's coming-of-age ceremony instead attempted to interfere with her very birth so as to prevent the girl from having a chance to serve her destiny at all. Artram slew it before it could achieve its goal of murdering his wife, but it managed to afflict the woman with a curse in its final moments. Consequently, Arma was born as a succubus instead of a human girl. Artram raised her regardless, defying the church's will to cast her out. It is a decision he did not regret, even when the girl's mother died later, supposedly due to complications caused from birthing a demon. However, while Artram's love for his family is endless, his people's trust in the demon child certainly was not. He shielded her for as long as he could, but eventually fell ill and was bedridden, inhibiting his ability to do so. This has led us to the present.

Artram Armelia (IfOnlyICouldLove)
Age, Gender: 41 yr/old male
Societal Status: Presumed-Ruler of the Kingdom of Armelia. Arma's father.
Class: King.
Innate Traits:

• Fundamentally concerned with, by, or for his daughter in almost every timeline.
• Very strongly tied to his class.
• Arma takes after him a great deal.
• Was bonded to Arma - without her knowledge - prior to James' appearance and inadvertent "seduction" of her. A bond which was severed upon the Princess' transferring it to James... resulting in the King's unfortunately-timed **** as Arma absorbed all his remaining vitality and magic into herself as a true demonic succubus is meant to function.

Background Notes: Presents a stern and unyielding front: A big softie inside, particularly towards his daughter but also towards his staff. However, due to the earlier problems Arma has suffered, alongside the earlier loss of his wife... Well, everything he has done was with Arma's well-being in mind. Chiefly: As a succubus, Arma feeds upon human vitality to sustain herself. When bonded to a partner, however, she may go indefinitely without feeding - although it is still pleasurable and enhances her powers -so long as that partner is hale and healthy.

Thus, Artram discretely made a bound contract with Arma so as to prevent her from needing to steal others' life-****. However, according to the arch-priestess this contract was not good for his longterm health. He eventually fell ill and became unresponsive, a fact which was kept from Arma by the castle's staff at the behest of the Priestess. It was, "coincidentally", at this time that the Princess' powers began to manifest in full, leading to the consequences therein. Ultimately, this bond has led to Artram's **** upon Arma unknowingly severing it and transferring it to James... thus sparking a match in a castle laden with oil.

Cheryl of Woodvale (IfOnlyICouldLove)
Age, Gender: 20 yr/old female.
Societal Status: Arma's Handmaid and childhood playmate, a Servant of House Armelia.
Class: Maid
Innate? Traits:

• (A plot-point for the author to choose or opt out of: the phone may find targeting Cheryl to be somewhat difficult in the midst of one of her "mood swings.")
• Prone to daydreaming, bouts of forgetfulness, as well as the occasional mood-swing wherein she acts unnaturally dismissive of Arma's attractiveness and peculiarly scornful of her treatment by the castle's staff.... This does not make her a popular woman outside the Princess' preference for 'playing' with her over any other. Indeed, that preference only makes Cheryl less popular, though she could care less while in the midst of said 'mood-swing.'
• Exceptionally self-conscious regarding the aforementioned point. Due to how widely Arma has unknowingly cast her net, Cheryl is even distressed by these occurrences which might normally be called a blessing.
• Even outside of her 'mood-swings' she is shockingly resistant to magic, a fact that has gone unnoticed due to her place in society. As a result, her opinion of Arma has not been overtly twisted by the girl's unfortunate circumstance.
• Of course, given Cheryl is just as under Arma's thrall as everyone else, while her resistance protects her general morals to the extent that their interactions remain positively inclined... the maid is equally stirred to lust and base desire as any other who spends much time with the succubus.

Background Notes: Of the various children Artram attempted to introduce Arma to before he "fell ill," Cheryl was the only one to not treat her with suspicion and thus - naturally - was assigned as Arma's personal handmaid and playmate so that the girl could have at least one positive relationship outside of Arma herself. This has resulted in her ostracization by the majority of the castle after Arma's powers began reorienting the beliefs of those around her to fit the succubus' twisted self-esteem. It should be an unenviable position, but those under Arma's thrall envy it regardless due to the closeness it brings them to the succubus they're paradoxically drawn to.

For Cheryl's part... she just wishes sometimes she and Arma could run off and hide somewhere but, despite the general mood of the castle, Arma is the heir. Cheryl understands this: Artram impressed it upon her personally. Therefore, Cheryl labors to make Arma's stay in the castle as pleasant as a woman's should be, despite her nature as a succubus... even if - unbeknownst to Cheryl - Artram himself may rather have had the two eloped somewhere far away, given the way things have gone.

Lilian Paran (IfOnlyICouldLove)

Age, Gender: 22 yr/old female.
Societal Status: Lesser Noble; Guest of the Royal Castle
Class: Noblewoman

Innate Traits:

• An exceptionally talented learner: She is normally one of Armelia's most reliable retainers.
• However, as she has been under Arma's thrall since coming to the castle a few years ago, Lilian's keen mind and adherence to duties have fallen to the wayside, instead becoming bent by an obsession with the supposed-Princess, as is only 'right and proper' for a guest of the noble castle.
• Ironically, her poor social awareness and ability to read the room result in her not necessarily treating Arma poorly, so much as struggling very ignorantly to draw her attention. As Arma's thralls, seemingly the entire castle is obsessed with the succubus already so this... doesn't really make Lilian stand out at all, particularly since she's too awkward to foster sweet affection like Cheryl has. Instead Lilian tries to barter the only thing she knows: political usefulness... which Arma is even less interested in than a woman's clinginess. At least the latter would give her company, no?
• Due to her lack of hostility, even if Lilian can't quite grasp the entirety of what she wants from the Princess, it could be said that Lilian is one of few allies Arma has within the castle... if the succubus would ever bother to take note of her.

Background Notes: A well-meaning but particularly tactless woman. Cold and focused on her duty to the kingdom, she dismissed the claims which would deprive Arma of inheritance once it was proven she was truly the man's daughter. As Arma is not a bastard, she is therefore a legal heir, and it should be that simple regardless of all this nonsense about taint and demonic blood the nobility seem to label the girl with to make her out to be some... thing, other than Artram's rightful child.

She entered the castle to investigate the King's illness due to suspicion of poison and subterfuge, only to fall under Arma's thrall after seeking time to interview the princess regarding the subject and eventually cease caring about such political matters entirely in favor of courting the Princess' attention.

Besides, she failed to find any proof of such a thing in two years of investigation regardless, so it was clearly a waste of time right? Pursuing the Princess' affection is clearly a much worthier endeavor, given it will make her family more beholden to the royal family and tighten the yoke with which the Princess could pull them. It would make them - and her - more useful to the Princess, so when the Princess surely needs to call on someone someday, it would be Lilian to answer.

[AN Editor's Note: Forgot to change Arma's class.]
[AN Editor's Note: Added a detail I forgot to Arma's final innate trait.]