I rather like the MC. She's complex. She says she just wants power. But she leaves her brother alive so she can gloat AND so he has a chance to kill her. The idea of crossing wits with him after he gets his own wilderness years(or probably less) excites her. She's also someone who genuinely values common people. Not that she doesn't look down on them, but her seeing the world as a struggle makes her mindful that it's a struggle all the way down - even the commonest serf is fighting for their better tomorrow sorta deal.
And i think these work because she is a villain. Because she's much less than moral. It fleshes her out really well, adds a lot of depth to both her as a character and how she understands herself(she's moderately self-aware)
And you get a sense that she's also somewhat adrift. When she wishes to understand why people play games for low stakes or find much enjoyment in silly hobbies, or tells her father she didn't ask to be born etc. It shows a certain level of detachment if anything. Yes she's ambitious and plotting but she's also kinda othered there. Or her enjoying the journey to her goal(the plots and games). It goes back to her sparing her brother - that's not the act of someone who just wants a crown. She is to some degree i suppose bored. She says nobles left their ambition in the womb. And she can't be bored like them, she can't leisurely enjoy her privilege in the boredom many nobles are probably accustomed to. She's bored yes, she says herself that she basically needs sex and that kinda plays into it. But she's not indulgently bored.
I'd say there's even something of a romantic hero in her refusal to fit in anywhere. Even her choice of where she's residing shows this tendency. More of a byron or lermontov than you'd suspect.
But not to yap too much.
I like the game a lot. I also liked that the player has to think too for some of these choices(who is lying about what with the 5 statements etc). It's probably something best optional but at least i felt i was actually brainstorming for a character who is supposed to be a master plotter.
Rather excited to see just how big of a crisis things devolve into.
