You got your wish, Evantails! I'm no longer a member of your "estemeed" family, so could you please leave me and my husband alone?!
Agnes Evantail (Evantree) has led a horrible life. Because her parents and brother are all fanatically obsessed with "tradition" as if they're permanently trapped in a society of 100 years ago, she was forced to wear her deceased grandmother's ill-fitting hand-me-downs, as the clothes judged "proper" by her parents are simply no longer made, due to safety, health, and legal reasons, but the Evantail family absolutely refuses to believe it, seeing themselves as the epitome of righteousness, and as long as they uphold their antiquated customs, the kingdom will come to its senses eventually. This leads Agnes to be the target of unending ridicule as the clothes are objectively hideous and her face is caked in so much make-up that she looks like a clown. But because she's a woman, it's her "duty" to seduce a "proper" man to marry into the family. Naturally, she fails. This can't be a result of the clothes and make-up, not to mention her parents' lack of diligence in setting up the marriage framework, oh no. It must be her fault because she's just too inept, or worse, openly defiant, because she actively did complain that the clothes she was forced to wear made her a target of ridicule, getting herself the name "Potato Lady" and complaining about the proper family traditions just won't do... So her father punches her in the face to beat the defiance out of her until she either lands herself a husband he approves of, or dies, and he frankly doesn't care which. It all comes to a head when her father and mother drag her into a carriage and then leave her at the royal ball to announce the crown princess's pending marriage, but the princess denounces her groom with easily disprovable accusations, openly proclaiming that she's pregnant by some other guy, and to kick the dog a bit more, orders her former fiancé to marry Agnes as a punishment to both. When Agnes's family finds out, she is punched so hard, her jaw is dislocated and she's summarily thrown out into the streets, in the middle of the night, with nothing but the very same ill-fitting clothes on her back. And then, her new husband, of all people, comes to her rescue, and they are shipped off to a monster-filled frontier in exile to start their new life, but even there, the locals are wary, because all the previous lords have been scum, and the couple have a bad rep due to the false accusation, and Agnes being the subject of vicious ridicule her whole life.Associated Tropes:
- Appeal to Tradition: To an insane degree. The Evantail family are all firmly convinced that their "proper" attire, outlawed 100 years ago, is the only proper clothing to wear, and force Agnes into her grandmother's ancient hand-me-downs, no matter if she's ridiculed, injured, or in extreme pain. And if she complains, she needs the defiance beaten out of her with a punch to the face.
- Blaming the Victim: The Evantail family, in its entirety, blames Agnes for failing to find herself married to the man they chose, and when the crown princess just summarily orders her and Duke Nazelbert wed as a lark, it must somehow be her fault, and that demands immediate disownment, exile, and being literally thrown out with nothing but the ill-fitting clothes on her back.
- Heel Realization: When Agnes and her husband are called back to the capital by the second prince, as he's rallying against his flighty, impulsive, and monumentally irresponsible sister in a bid for the crown, every last one of the male aristocrats present, all of whom loved to ridicule Agnes, kick themselves for blowing off such a beauty, but all the aristocrats, male and female, are aghast when they see Agnes' father run over and try to punch her in the face because she dares to not wear the "proper" traditional clothing of the Evantail family, that never fit right, is illegal, and she doesn't own anyway, since she was disowned and tossed out in the middle of the night, and how the guy keeps screaming and struggling to try and push his way past the "criminal" Agnes is married to, firmly convinced he's entitled to do it, as a legal guardian "disciplining his wayward charge" even after it's pointed out to him that he gave up all parental and guardianship rights the instant he threw her out. The aristocrats then turn their vitriol to where it belongs, the Evantail family, questioning the state of Evantail finances, since they apparently couldn't afford properly fitting clothes, and when the Evantails protest that there's nothing wrong with their finances, rake them over the coals for shoving Agnes into ill-fitting and illegal clothing, especially corsets that were outlawed 100 years ago due to women actually dying while wearing them.
- Hero with Bad Publicity: Thanks to the Crown Princess rebelling against her Arranged Marriage in order to be impregnated by a skirt chasing Bastard Bastard, she slanders her future husband, the son of a duke, and Agnes is just the target of ridicule thanks to being forced into ill-fitting clothes that are a century out of fashion.
- Honor-Related Abuse: Agnes' father is firmly convinced that the proper way to protect his family's dignity, in spite of all evidence that he's completely out of touch with reality, is to go and punch Agnes in the face, "to discipline his useless child into understanding the righteousness of tradition" and to stop wanting those "cheap" clothes the degenerates wear, even if said "degenerates" includes the royal family.
- A House Divided: Both the royal family and the family of the male lead are split in half, exactly, due to the impulsive and unjust actions of the crown princess in chapter 1.
- With the first prince unable to inherit or participate for reasons of poor health, the king and second prince are clearly aghast at the crown princess' actions and are desperately trying to hold the kingdom together, with the king clearly pushing for the second prince to take the crown instead. The queen, beyond all possible reason, sides with her daughter and lets not only the princess' unjust and impulsive behavior slide, but uses all her power and influence to support and shelter the princess' paramour, bastard son of a baron, Robyn, as the guy goes around screwing around on said princess and cuckolding every noble he can.
- The male lead's father and elder brother care only about the family name and station, siding in favor of the princess's unjust decree and declarations. The male lead's mother and younger brother support the male lead because the decree is extremely unjust and hold the first two to task.
- No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Duke Nazelbert, the male lead, stops and bends down to help Agnes after she tripped on her own ill-fitting dress, while everyone else just pointed and laughed at her. Agnes, in turn, bent down to help him up when the royal guard beat him to the ground for daring to protest the crown princess' ridiculous and easily disprovable accusations, and her public admission that she got herself pregnant by some other guy while they were still engaged, a guy she falsely accused the duke of bullying, harassing, and assaulting. Seeing this, the princess uses royal decree to order Agnes and the duke married to each other and then being exiled to a monster-filled frontier.
- Shotgun Wedding: Agnes and her husband, Duke Nazelbert, were wed at royal decree by a petulant princess who just wanted an excuse to marry the guy she cheated on her fiancé with, who in turn cheats on her and goes around cuckolding every man he can!
