Reference Information: Knight of Many Layers

Refer back to the (original 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. As a shortnote, most characters remain mostly unchanged except for Lilian.
[AN: Added Esme's entry, now that her chapter's finally been released.]

Isekai Setting
The Bloodline Curse and its effects: Remains unchanged in this branch. See the (previous reference) for review.

Shadow Apparitions: The shadows of dead beings. Creating a shadow requires demonic magic and a corpse: the corpses is used to provide a 'shape' for the shadow, which is then animated by the magic. The fresher the corpse, the stronger its tie to its soul, and the stronger the soul's impression upon the corpse, the stronger the resulting shadow will become. These are the favored tools of Shadow Demons when they need expendable assets.

Shadow Demon: A type of demon with a vaporous, shadowy form. They revel in duplicity and intrigue, and so they are the best suited for espionage. They are greatly weakened by the light, and typically cannot act openly in the day as a result. Shadow Demons employ many, many tactics, and if one faces a Shadow Demon in a direct confrontation without first taking great pains to unravel its many plots... then it is likely the confrontation is merely a feint and diversion.

James Jordanson (AtC)
Age, Gender: 23 yr/old male.
Societal Status: Future King-Consort of the Kingdom of Armelia.
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, and resolved to be more discerning in its use after discovering some of the consequences of his actions thus far, less he trap himself in a... unfortunate situation.
• Due to his place of origin completely lacking in magic, he's much more sensitive - and susceptible - to it, for both good and ill.
• 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 transforming the Kingdom's Princess and King into whores, he has discovered some unforeseen side-effects within the Kingdom as a consequence and now finds himself in a somewhat precarious political position, with his 'cheat' item somewhat less omnipotent than he previously expected.

Now that he's been warned of the nobility's more malignant actors, encountered perhaps the most benign of these, and turned her into a draconic soldier loyal to the crown... James has resolved to learn more about the world and prepare himself better as he grasps how truly out of his depth he has become.

Arma Armelia (KML)
Age, Gender: 22 yr/old female.
Societal Status: Heir-Apparent to the Kingdom of Armelia.
Class: Princess-Whore
Opinion of James: The first man she's lain with: a man with excellent endurance and interesting ideas. She'd like to think their meeting was fated, and so is partial to him.
Innate Traits:

• 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.
• She doesn't think much of her subclass being 'Whore' - the transactional nature of it as a 'profession' is alien to her: in this Arma's world, the notion that a woman would drive away a partner by demanding he provide compensation before coupling is bizarre and offensive in and of itself.
• Consequently this Arma is... not particularly monogamous, as she sees marriage as an outdated and - given the situation with the nobility - even detrimental tradition. Still, she is willing to reserve herself if her partner wishes, as she does not believe the parents of a child should feud or part from one another.
• She has exceptional magical talent: 'freak of nature' levels, and is quite aware of it due to how easily everyone she's ever plied her talents upon has fallen under her sway. That said, she doesn't consider her flavor of magic to be something worth calling 'powerful' as 'it's just sex, after all,' and so she does not see any of the darker possibilities to this type of power.

Background Notes: When her subclass became 'Whore' during her coming-of-age rite instead of the traditional (and expected) 'Priestess' she had to research the word, to her mother's amusement. The clergy considered it a sign of the Kingdom's damnation, but did not raise much of a fuss over it due to the similar classes appearing sooner amongst older members of the nobility (such as Arma's mother). As for the nobility, an attempt was made at using it to defame Arma by framing her as a needy and selfish woman who would demand too much from a man to be satisfied, but this went nowhere.

Artelle Armelia (KML)
Age, Gender: 41 yr/old female
Societal Status: Queen-Regnant of the Kingdom of Armelia. Arma's mother.
Class: Slut-Queen.
Opinion of James: The auspicious father of her second child, and her dear daughter's first romantic interest: a naive young man with enticing endowment, who she should be careful to shepherd lest the vipers of the nobility eat him alive.
Innate Traits:

• As a previous target of the phone; Artelle 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.
• A born-slut: the revelation of her primary class during her coming-of-age came to no one's surprise.
• An exceptionally promiscuous and sexually open woman: the only principle and concern she holds is her family's continuation and safety. As a result, her only moderating factor with the departure of her husband is the consequences that may fall upon her daughter if she acts too recklessly.
• To the clergy's dismay, Arma takes after her a great deal.

Background Notes: The individual who would normally become Artram Armelia, born here as a woman due to the Bloodline Curse, and significantly different in personality and outlook due to reasons unknown. She presents a careless and laissez-faire front, but is actually quite politically savvy even if she'd much rather step away from the game entirely. Whatever queenly behavior she exhibits is entirely for the sake of Arma's well-being and happiness... but if she can have in the process of furthering her family's interests, so much the better.

Cheryl of Woodvale (KML)
Age, Gender: 20 yr/old female.
Societal Status: Arma's Handmaid, a Servant of House Armelia. Arma's unofficial bodyguard.
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 AtC.)
• Prone to daydreaming, bouts of forgetfulness, as well as the occasional mood-swing.
• Exceptionally self-conscious regarding the aforementioned point.
• For reasons she can't fathom, the castle's lesser nobility finds her unnerving and prefers to avoid her.
• Whenever Arma or her mother are unaccompanied by Lilian or a trusted knight, Cheryl is typically not far away. She only seems to leave the royals' presence when they are in the company of abundant security.

Background Notes: As a matter of course, she's always been the first on-call when Arma is the subject of duties. Cleaning her chambers, fetching tea, laundering her belongings, or simply keeping her company. As Arma's only positive relationship beyond her mother, the Princess once declared, "It seems we're the only two people in this castle to be honest with each other," but something about that sentiment makes Cheryl feel ill inside, although she can't place why: it's not like she remembers telling Arma any lies, after all.

'Lilian' (KML)
Age, Gender: 220 yr/old female.
Societal Status: Guardian of House Armelia, Dragon
Class: Noble-Dragon
Opinion of James: The man who can save the Royal Family's lineage - the most vital lynchpin of the Kingdom's Continuation - and the only hope she has to maintain her purpose and continue living. So long as he holds the royal family's affections, even if he can sire no further children, Lilian will devote herself to him utterly as if he were a born royal himself. This is her pride and her gratitude: she will let no debt go unpaid, even if it is unknown to the debtor.
Innate Traits:

• Humble, supportive, and eager to serve, Lilian's pride as a dragon seems to take second-seat to her pride as a servant of House Armelia. This is because she owes House Armelia her life after a previous king saved her from a demon-general assailing her home... and also because, due to her near-failure to protect that most sacred of places, she's no longer welcomed there regardless. She has therefore given everything to House Armelia, the only place her people permit her to exist.
• While often assuming a mostly-human form, Lilian is indeed a dragon, with all the natural advantages that implies. She is highly magical and capable of spellcraft, but she is also physically powerful, can see clearly in the dark, grasp her surroundings even without sight, and even breathe in the water if she'd like. Her very presence can be either unnaturally intimidating or inspiring, and, of course, she can exhale a potent blast of fire to reduce her foes to cinder if she chooses.
• One thing that Lilian cannot do, however, is fly. Due to a wound dealt by the demon-general she fought in her youth, Lilian has only one wing and can therefore 'merely' glide for long distances rather than truly fly. And this, only by grace of her magical nature.
• As a dragon, Lilian has a keen and eidetic memory: given a moment, she can recall anything she has ever seen or learned. She has therefore accumulated much information and many skills over the many human-generations she has been alive.
• As a Noble-Dragon, specifically, Lilian is particularly suited for facing demons. She is capable of temporarily suppressing their summoning and ability to escape via portal, or alternatively temporarily banishing them into a pocket-realm.

Background Notes: A good-natured and even-tempered woman who has devoted herself to House Armelia, Lilian is easily the royal family's most loyal and most potent asset. Over the 142 years she has served them, that boundary has ranged from 'powerful weapon' to 'trusted confidant,' with the royal family's generally-good nature leveraging it more toward the second option. However, Lilian contents herself either way: there are far worse callings than to devote oneself to the kingdom responsible for maintaining the demon-goddess' seal.

Within these last few decades, Lilian's closeness to the royal family has grown significantly more intimate due to the effects of the bloodline curse, leading her to frequently serve as a bedwarmer, partner, or even simply a release valve for the royal's frustrations. Consequently, she has added sexual expertise to her list of talents.

Esme Elene | Priestess' Shadow-Demon (KML)
Age, Gender: 52 yr/old female | -error-
Societal Status: Arch-Priestess of the Sacred Goddess | Demonic Infiltrator
Class: Arch-Priestess | Greater Shadow-Demon
Innate Traits:

• A saintly, benevolent woman with fervent faith and a strong will to protect her flock. | A shadow-demon purpose-built for infiltrating Castle Armelia and sowing chaos amongst the kingdom and royal family via interfering with their sacred rites and traditions: to that end it was granted specific spells with which to corrupt and replicate a Priestess' soul-pearl, and then seal her spirit within it so as to inhabit the newly-vacated body.
• Due to her high affinity for divine magic, she could extend her lifespan and youthen herself for several times the normal human lifespan, but has previously refrained. Shortly after Arma's coming of age ceremony, she allegedly changed her mind regarding this decision so as to keep her body strong in case of further demonic mischief. | This contradictory decision is, truthfully, the demon which has usurped Esme's body acting for its own benefit. By drawing forth the power of the Priestess' still-extent soul within the pearl, it is able to wield holy magic almost as adeptly as Esme herself. It can even provide genuine healing spells and blessings, although - as a demon - it will certainly twist these to its own purpose wherever it can get away with it.

Background Notes: Within the timeline of Knight of Many-Layers (as well as its parent and grand-parent timelines), the demon was able to trick and possess one of Esme's subordinate priestesses due to the bloodline curse rendering her resolve weaker and more prone to temptation. The trust of this subordinate was then used to create an opening to possess Esme herself, and the demon puppeted the vacant thrall of the subordinate afterward to disrupt Arma's coming-of-age ceremony via mixing the bloodline-cursed Priestess' blood into the various salves and mixtures used to produce the sacred circle.

This in turn magnified the curse's effects on Arma herself and guaranteed she had no chance of becoming a 'Sacred-Princess.' The demon then murdered those subordinates which participated in the ceremony and turned them into shades, which it kept in reserve within Esme's private chambers for a moment of opportunity.

Thereafter, the demon has patiently used Esme's authority over the kingdom's various rituals and ceremonies to further disrupt its politics and spread the roots of the bloodline curse further and more intensely.