"Choice of Intrigues", stat-wise

Choice of Games games Affairs of the Court
1

Sorry for crowding the site with yet another stupid question.
Here is what I wonder about. (Spoilers first the 1st and the 2nd game are welcome).
In the Choice of Romance there was a possibility to increase reputation through being discreet, increase subtlety on several occasions and to increase intelligence on one (that I know of) occasion. And, is you were to become the royal concubine (reputation suffered), there was a chance to choose what stat to increase (as I see it, as a compensation for the reputation drop). But if you manage to dispose of the Consort, there is no such possibility, and you proceed to the next part instantly.
I’ve only just started Choice of Intrigues with very high Subtlety, average Charm, above average intelligence and above average Reputation. I’m also on good terms with de Vega. And I already see that the character’s life is going to be difficult.

  • Does Charm play important role in keeping the ruler’s eye on you? It is interesting since there is always a possibility to have just 25% Charm in the 1st part (strange how the ruler still falls for you. “Anything that moves”, indeed).
  • Is magic stat vital (it is the lowest stat I have) to the plot?
  • Is keeping your opinion to yourself and being modest going to be as useful as it was previously, or do you have to be more open with your affections and dislikes?
2

If you’re especially un-charming, then you have other traits that make you worth noticing. Your intelligence, your skill with magic, or your ability to subtly inflame her desires (which is different from being charming). Being unladylike will make you a spectacle! (“Ladylike” is gender-neutral in this game.)

Actually, in my opinion subtlety is the most useful stat, though it’s also the stat that you have to really work to keep high.

So, to your questions:

  • It can, but there’s methods that don’t rely on charm.
  • No. It’s useful, however, particularly if you want a Life Mage child, and it can help keep you alive in Book 3. (No stat is actually vital, though being both uncharismatic and unsubtle would be likely to bite you in the bum rather hard.)
  • No, and also no. As either the Consort, or the monarch’s mistress, you have a different role in the court, and it’s perfectly okay to give advice and counsel on political matters in open court, when speaking to other nobles, and while cuddled up to the Monarch. That’s expected at this point. However, whether you work in the background or in the open is up to you (in fact, it’s entirely possible to say one thing in public while whispering another in back corridors).
3

@Ramidel, that helped a lot, thank you.