character name: miss cleiona “cleo” bellos (formerly: lady cleiona bellos)
character faceclaim: sabrina carpenter
character age: 22
societal status: only surviving child of the late duke, corvin bellos; with no male heirs for the line’s continuation, the dukedom ceased
brief background information:
Her father, the Duke, refused to remarry after her mother, the Duchess, died giving birth to Cleiona. Her older sister had an established engagement with a Marquis in her season, just three years prior to Cleiona’s own presentation, but Emilia ended the engagement via a public announcement and a private threat issued to her father. Corvin chose not to force his daughter to continue the engagement, relying on his status as a Duke to protect Emilia and Cleiona’s reputations. Months later, Emilia fell ill with a mysterious illness and passed away just a few weeks after first displaying symptoms.
The family’s prospects then fell to Cleiona. Hoping to recover some of the Bellos’ upstanding reputation, Corvin initially arranged for Cleiona to enter a quick engagement to a family friend, Aron Lagaris, heir to an earldom. Corvin was unaware that Cleiona and Aron had actually slept together at a party the year prior and that Aron liked to lord the secret over Cleo’s head. Despite slogging through the weight of grief, she possessed a clear enough frame of mind to know she did not, under any circumstances, wish to marry Aron Lagaris. She demanded her father break off the engagement, but was denied her request.
Fate works in peculiar ways, though. A few short weeks later, Lady Cleiona Bellos found her father dead in his study. With no surviving male heirs, the Dukedom died with him. Orphaned and no longer the daughter of a Duke, Cleiona has been taken in as a ward of the Damora’s, a highly influential family in society. There is word that by taking on the late Duke’s daughter, the Earl Gaius Damora hopes to be granted the holdings and title of the late Duke. When Aron Lagaris approached Gaius about his engagement to Cleiona, Gaius informed him that it was to be broken. She feared that Aron would share that they had been intimately involved, but he shockingly kept it to himself. She’s relieved to no longer be engaged to the likes of him, but now faces the reality of needing to make an excellent match and quickly, so that no further scandals could ruin her reputation. In some way, perhaps she should be grateful for the level of horrific tragedy that has befallen her family in so short a time, as it plays upon the sympathies of many.
any pre-existing scandals: (public) 1. Her father refused to remarry after her mother died, leaving the Dukedom with no male heirs. 2. Her sister publicly ended an engagement with a Marquis just prior to her subsequent death. 3. Cleiona’s engagement to an Earl’s heir, arranged initially by her late father, has since been broken off by her new guardian, the Earl Gaius Damora. (private/unknown) 1. Her sister broke off the engagement to the Marquis because she was in love with a servant. 2. Cleiona is not a virgin; she and her former fiancé were drunk one night (prior to even being engaged) and slept together.
now presenting: lady cleiona bellos
