#its not where Catherine is from because thats further north and probably further west. Sevaria is a middle eastern area.

[isaacathom]

Mathilda is basically never mentioned by the royal family, and only occasionally brought up when questions of succession come into play in the media, like when they run stories about the ailing King and how his second daughter Sofia came to be the heir apparent (or presumptive im not totally sure whether the King in this scenario has the power to dictate an heir? if he can then shes presumptive, if he cant shes apparent). thats basically it. Mathilda, in the eyes of many, simply isnt there! which does on some level justify Cecilia’s lack of real knowledge about her, because after her death at age 12 (or 13 maybe idk i feel like making her 13 would be cliche and dumb on some level even if that adds up) it just. zip lips. nada zip.

the unspoken idea is that maybe if the dragon threat is resolved that the royal family will bring up Mathilda. Sofia certainly would. shes probably dedicate victory to her sister. or if Sofia takes the throne (regardless of the dragon state at that time) she would mention Mathilda as part of a publicity thing, acknowledging her role in her childhood and being a huge part of the reason she is where she is today. Sofia would absolutely do that.

that, or if they actually SPECIFICALLY kill the dragon that killed her (which is difficult to verify given just how long its been? its been... hmmn.. 15 years? thereabout? sofias around 23 i think) theyd absolutely bring her up then. thats basically it though. Mathilda’s just like.. shhhh dont bring it up. ESPECIALLY around the King, jesus christ, really bad mood. i like to imagine that at some point either during the time in which they hadnt found her yet, someone asked the King what he thought and he just absolutely spaced out immediately and had to be gently escorted away by his entourage or the Queen or some such. and ofc, its the digital age, bitch, someone filmed that and it immediately became the grievous crime, to mention Mathilda in the Kings presence. and when her body was found, ho boy, amplify that sucker, you do noooooooootttttt mention her to him. the queen feels similarly, of course, as does most of the immediate royal family, but the effect lessens the further down you go. like, the toddlers? barely remember Mathilda. not a huge deal for them. they only feel because their family feels, and its more than likely that they themselves have triggered the Kings flashbacks by accident when enquiring about this lost sister of theirs. so. yknow. its a carry on down thing, i guess.

the only way her death could play an immediate role in the narrative, beyond an aforementioned scene with Aria and Cecilia in which Cecilia learns some fucking royal history, is if like..... dragons could talk..... and taunted Sofia about Mathilda’s death. which wouldnt be..... specifically out of line. i like the idea of talking dragons. they are intelligent, after all! theyd speak quite old english, dating back to when they were nearly made endangered, and theyd have some specific terms for stuff they dont know, like guns! the fuck would dragons call a gun? sure as shit aint a boom stick. portable dragon? this would require linguistic research and deciding on a specific time period for the dragons to be emulating. but its be absolutely plausible for a dragon to recognise Sofia and to taunt her about Mathilda. seems a bit too melodramatic, even for me, unless the idea is that ALL the big dragons know about it? wouldnt be unreasonable either, since the attack on the castle was many dragons strong! its quite possible that many of them saw Mathilda and, knowing who she was and who Sofia is, recognise the connection. the problem is they probably dont know her name. the taunt would be quite vague. like ‘young princess, armed with [gun], couldnt save your sister’ or smth, im a really shitty writer.

i could.... roll with that, i think. still be a bit cliche to have a big bad (as talking dragons would be a LATE development, like way later yo) be personally connected to Sofia, though that could dramatically increase diplomatic tensions, since the goal one discovering dragons could talk would be to try and broker peace. shits complex. idk. i havent really thought of any plot developments past the attack of Cecilia’s estate in the 4th(ish) segment. like after that its probably just a mobilisation of troops to enact revenge on dragons in general (cause they kill the specific dragon who, remember, was avenging their child who the ladies killed in segment 3)

shits wild, yo