
I like Iris more than Ashley right from the start. Ashley's like a innocent and fragile princess. She doesn't know how to clean, she doesn't know how to cook, she's clumsy and too demure. ¯_( ° ʖ ° )_/¯
I mean, sure it's not her fault and all that, but it's rubbing off me. Most importantly, her attitude and characteristics doesn't help them at all. She's even more likely to cause trouble. (٥↼_↼)
Iris on the other hand, is more real. She's aware of the value and importance of appearance, but she doesn't dwell on it. She pines for beauty sometimes, but most of the times, she's just being herself, not minding others or pretending to be something she's not. ᕙ(@°▽°@)ᕗ

The Neurchwanstein household is one of the wealthiest, strongest, and most influential household in the empire (kingdom?) and is in a close relationship with the royal family due to the late marquis (shuri's late husband) and current emperor being friends. Then there is the church, which is also influential, has many believers, and has the backing of the the people, and is against the nobility and royalty. But, due to the Neurchwanstein playing a big part, they can't do much to topple the nobles and spark a civil war.
Now, this incident led to sparking a possible rift between the two families, giving way to the church to gain an advantage. But let's forget about that for now, what's important is JEREMY!
So, he punched THE crown prince and is in jail. Due to the overwhelming evidence, he could be punished, or worse, loose a hand. Therefore, to stop this from happening, Shuri, the marchioness and the current head of the Neurchwanstein family, plans to appeal a divorce to make Jeremy the head of the house, however, this would be difficult because of it needing a proper trial, WHICH, would come AFTER Jeremy's trial, so it won't do. She then thought of an emergency measure, she would make it so that she's unqualified to be a marchioness, this being that the couple (Shuri and the late marquis) did not plan and made no effort on having a proper family (a.k.a having kids). If this happens, there would be no choice but to make Jeremy the head of the house, exempting him from having his hands cut off. They can't have the head of the Neurchwanstein household to be a cripple!
Now, her words aren't enough to prove her claims that they didn't make an effort to have kids. This claim is ridiculous and demeaning for a lady in the first place, with her talking about her private life and all. So, she needs an evidence and witness. She found a private letter with the late marchioness' (the original wife) brother, so Jeremy's uncle on the mother side, which family is equal to Nora's in standing. She sent a request for audience but was denied so she swallowed her pride and came to Lucretia (late marquis' sister) which she literally threw out of her house before, for a favor. What that is, I don't know.
Am I getting it straight? Goodness, this whole politics thing is making me dizzy. ( ̄∇ ̄")
Every single one of the hero party (excluding the dragon girl, at least she's got some sense). The magician is a prideful, overly coddled little princess who can't take critisism, the warrior is an uptight little girl weilding a sword that thinks she's so strong just because she trained with a sword since she's little and she's a child of an excellent swordsman. The 'hero' is the f*cking worst of the bunch. She's a hypocritical bitch that spouts being a hero, saving everyone, and feels like the title 'hero' would be the answer to EVERY DAMN THING. She feels entitled to everything for being 'the brave one' and it's f*cking annoying. She always stresses being the hero as if she's going to be instantly op, DISGUSTING. She's so weak yet act so strong, and despises being told the truth that SHE IS A F*CKING NEWBIE THAT KNOWS NOTHING. SHE CAN'T EVEN DEFEAT THE WEAKEST OF MONSTERS AND SHE THINK SHE CAN STAND UP AGAINST THE DEMON LORD. LITTLE GIRL, DO YOU THINK YOU'RE OFF TO FIGHT A SCARECROW OR SOMETHING? YOU'RE OFF TO FIGHT THE DEMON LORD, AN EXISTENCE THAT A SQUAD OF MORE EXPERIENCED AND MUCH MORE STRONGER PEOPLE THAN YOU CAN'T DEFEAT! GROW UP YOU F*UCKING EGOTISTICAL, HYPOCRITICAL, BRAINDEAD MONKEY!
Maybe she just feels pressured and she feels she has to save everyone because she's a hero
Not really. She feels entitled to a new and state of the art equipment just because she's 'the hero'. She thinks she can defeat everything just because she's supposed to be a hero. Above all, SHE WON'T EVEN COMPROMISE!
What, is she supposed to fall at the feet of the priest who has no issues if her companions have to sacrifice themselves for her? Ares pretty much ruined his first impression with that off-handed statement and he's been consistently condescending, never explaining things clearly to the hero. He's never tried to understand what the hero is going through, or what her companions' hangups are. They're a means to an end, no more. She's stressing about being the hero and winning because the alternative is to fall to despair at the thought of the imminent death of her and her companions. She didn't ask to be summoned, and with Ares constantly babying her she doesn't know the full extent of what she's dealing with.
And if the hero who is supposed to kill the demon king can't get state of the art equipment, who should? She's in a hostile, unfamiliar environment where everyone's hiding information from her - yeah, I wouldn't trust Ares either with that limited information. He's shady as hell.