Infamy & Edicts
Brencis does not sit still while you work. Infamy is how the regime keeps score, and Edicts are how it answers.
Penalties, not flavor text.
Each with their own anger level.
Aimed at one vassal each.
Infamy is standing, running the wrong way
Everything Coen does against the regime accumulates. Infamy is the measure of it, and the game tracks it in the Court menu alongside each vassal's anger.
Edicts are the regime's reply
As Infamy climbs, Brencis issues Edicts against Coen. There are nine, and they are penalties rather than atmosphere. The Court menu shows which are currently in force.
Reaching the top of the meter has its own achievement, Throne of Thorns. That is the reliable tell that maximum Infamy is a way to play the game rather than a mistake to avoid.
Where the pressure comes from
The 41 Court Activities are the lever. Each one raises a specific vassal's anger rather than a shared meter, so you choose which of Ambrus, Bakir and Xanthe you are actually pressuring.