Marial

Marial serves as lady-in-waiting to the young Empress Catherine, though "serves" undersells her bite. Once nobility herself before the crown ruined her family, she's sharp, weary, and openly contemptuous of court flattery. She dresses Catherine, mocks her naivety, and clearly wants out of servitude far more than she wants to be liked.

Phoebe Fox plays Marial with a deadpan so dry it's practically a weapon, turning what could be a stock lady-in-waiting into the show's funniest cynic. The writing lets her say the things everyone else is too polite or too frightened to say, and Fox's timing makes every put-down land like she's barely bothering.