"Surely her favorite cousin could not have the same personality as that madman? The implications of sweet Charlotte sharing a personal connection with someone as wicked and unbalanced as Togami were distressing."
It's impossible to get the full truth about every character in a single playthrough in Long Live the Queen, so you're bound to have at least a few.
- As noted in the page quote, Charlotte may get one in-universe. She can inherit Togami's Lumen crystal. Elodie convinces herself it must have something to do with the dueling ritual because her dear cousin couldn't possibly have anything in common with a power-hungry mustache-twirling villain who wants to take over the world... right?
- And an alternate interpretation of that scene is that Togami isn't quite as evil as the narrative makes him out to be, and he's really only a Well-Intentioned Extremist out to conquer the world "for its own good," so to speak. The fact that you can talk him down through song and an appeal to his love of his family would seem to also support this.
- Or, Togami might be a Jerkass in general who's still capable of being a loving husband and father, something that can resonate with a sweet girl like Charlotte, unlike the prior owner of the other crystal Charlotte can try to bond with, who came to Elodie's attention because he murdered his wife.
- In any case, Togami says that a crystal's resonance can be changed. After the duel, his crystal is said to be tinged with pink. Pink is the color of Elodie's crystal. If Joslyn wins the duel, Togami's crystal is said to be tinged with blue, like Joslyn's crystal. It's very possible the duel in the carefully-warded circle did change the resonance of Togami's crystal to be closer to that of the Lumen who defeated him. Charlotte gets the crystal when it's tinged with pink. And the other Lumen crystal that Elodie can wrest from its former owner (namely, the crystal that belonged to the wife-strangler) was not gained in a duel the way Togami's was. Charlotte may or may not be able to bond with Togami's crystal alone, but she probably would be able to bond with a crystal that had a resonance similar to that of her favorite cousin.
- If Elodie deals with the woman who attempted to poison a noble in a way that angers the Earl of Io, Briony later writes that he continues to be furious about it. But if she punishes her the way he wanted (imprisoning or killing her without addressing her accusations), Briony's letter mentions he's still not satisfied, as he's been "acting strangely lately and shouting at shadows." There's no question that Kevan is emotionally unstable due to trauma in his youth, but some of his actions (and reactions) suggest he may also have paranoid schizophrenia in a world that doesn't have a modern concept of mental illness.
- Kevan's history with his stepfather. The game says he was "seduced", but his extreme and traumatized reactions (and his implied age at the time) would indicate he was being sexually abused. Based on his relationship with his sister, was he being forcibly abused, or did his stepfather take advantage of him by exploiting a budding fetish for incest?
- The Duchess of Lillah is a noblewoman of such influence and political power that she can threaten Elodie's reign just by prominently existing. Her family is so huge that almost every major interaction with Nova's nobility is at least indirectly connected to her, and gaining or losing her approval informs a number of events in the second half of the game. However, many events in her backstory may imply that despite her poise, Kevan actually gets his hot-blooded attitude from her. In one instance what Elodie's agents take as the Duchess preparing for rebellion can turn out, on further investigation by Sabine, to just be seething over losing custody of Adair.
- Speaking of Arisse and Kevan, was she a straight-up Mama Bear acting to protect Kevan from Jael even if he didn't think he needed protecting, or did her "horrified rejection" upon Thaddeus's discovery mean she blamed Kevan as well?
- Julianna states that her duty is to magic and Nova itself, not the mortal queens. That alone causes some people to question how helpful she is as a mentor to Elodie, but considering how tied the well-being of the country is to the queen's choices and abilities, some think that her attitude towards Elodie causes her to not serve Nova's interests as well as she thinks she does. Her statement about how "queens die, the magic must not" also makes a few people question her feelings towards recently-deceased Fidelia, who was supposed to have been her friend. However, a possible conversation in the 1.3 version suggests that Julianna blames herself for not preventing Fidelia's death, which may be why she has so much difficulty relating to Elodie.
- Is Talarist a generally decent, perhaps even slightly progressive, person by the standards of his position and are most of his less savory actions explainable by the dangerous political climate he lives in (for example, reacting to insults to avoid showing a sign of weakness or honestly needing heirs for his territory)? Or is he a fair-weather friend at best who only cares about himself and whose polite exterior hides a very ugly interior? Do both interpretations have elements of truth to them? The fact that the game doesn't reveal much about the political climate of his home country or whether or not he's behind Adair's death makes it harder to say for sure. Making it more complicated rather than easier is the fact that one of the game tips clearly says that a marriage with Talarist would be very favourable for everyone involved and that, even if he is only interested in getting power, an eventual marriage with Elodie does work out very positively for the two of them, suggesting he would warm up for her if he didn't already personally like her beforehand.
- Especially in Let's Plays and the comments of Let's Plays, it's not uncommon for Talarist's flattery of Elodie and his interest in marrying her to be interpreted as personal interest in the fourteen-year-old princess herself (and thus him being labelled a "pedophile"). Word of God says it's all about her title and not about Elodie
, but that quote is neither well-publicized nor in the game itself. It doesn't help that Elodie's father Joslyn asks Talarist if he has any idea of Elodie's age and seems disgusted at the idea of them having any physical contact (and tries to push Elodie in the direction of the more age-appropriate sons of the Duke of Kigal at the gala if Talarist isn't around). note - It's established pretty firmly that Talarist wants a spot in Nova's nobility for whatever reason, and although it's impossible to say for certain whether he gave the order himself, he's got agents in Nova to do his dirty work. It's also pretty clear that he's behind Adair's assassination, since that assassination won't happen if he's engaged to Elodie, even if she sends him to live with his grandfather.
- His first interaction with Elodie tends to imply a certain shrewdness on his part. The necklace he sends is a courting gift, but the letter that comes with it says that it's a gift to express condolences for Fidelia's death, and without the right Court Manners skills, Elodie takes that at face value and it cheers her up. It's easy to interpret that as a greedy swipe at her title using Elodie's grief as a trap.
- Especially in Let's Plays and the comments of Let's Plays, it's not uncommon for Talarist's flattery of Elodie and his interest in marrying her to be interpreted as personal interest in the fourteen-year-old princess herself (and thus him being labelled a "pedophile"). Word of God says it's all about her title and not about Elodie
- Does Alice only end up with a cruel Elodie because she's too scared of what will happen if she doesn't go along with what her queen wants, or she is just a shy, masochistic Nightmare Fetishist who's turned on by Elodie's cruelty and willingly enters into a relationship with her? Word of God seems to hint at the former, though some read it as the latter.
- Regarding Laurent, in the Words of God:Is he actively planning to have you killed? No. However... Laurent is an adult fully aware of the dangers and difficulties of politics. With everything that Lucille is up to, Laurent really ought to at least be suspicious. So either he's a complete idiot and doesn't notice anything, or he's choosing not to pay attention. That doesn't mean he's evil. He could be so love-struck that he really doesn't want to notice anything odd that his wife does. He could be so depressed by his sister's death that he doesn't care about anything anymore. His wife could be drugging or magicing him into doing her bidding. There's no way for Elodie to know.
- Adair's father Fabian, the elderly Earl of Titan. By default, if Elodie speaks with him at the gala, he's a kindly grandfatherly type who thanks her for thinking of him and the welfare of his son even if she utterly flubs her Court Manners check. If you dance with Adair beforehand, though, you're reminded that Adair's mother was a teenage girl a third of his age (and pressured into marrying so young by her father) as he reminisces about "training" her.
- He also creepily notes that if Elodie doesn't intend to marry Adair, as implied by her decision to dance with him, she should leave him in his stepmother's care; if he has no reason to think she'll marry Adair in the first place, he'll recommend another relative who, as Adair's guardian, won't have normally-forbidden levels of political power. In other words, if he sees the opportunity, he'll try to trick Elodie into a Morton's Fork: one option gives the Duchess of Lillah majority control over Nova's territories, the other puts a crown on his bloodline.
- Another possible factor in his desire to put Adair on the throne would be that Elath's line would receive security from marrying into the royal family. While Adair as king would secure a crown for Fabian's bloodline, Adair is the last of Elath's current line and, as seen as what happens to him if he's left with his grandfather and Elodie is not engaged to Talarist, the danger he's in is very real. While it's not explicit just how Fabian feels about the rumors of Sednan agents being behind the deaths of Adair's grandmother and aunt, somebody in Talasse understands the implications, because Talarist will always institute high tariffs on the border if Elodie and Adair become engaged.
- Whether or not he's suggesting another relative is up for debate. Elodie seems to think that he is, but he never actually says Adele would be an appropriate guardian. He says that Adair is as close to Arisse's younger children as siblings, and points out his favorite stepsister Adele as a specific example. Since she's a legal adult, Fabian may have been making a subtle suggestion in her direction, or he might have intended to use her and Adair's close relationship as further proof that staying under Arisse's guardianship was the best option for his son.
- He also creepily notes that if Elodie doesn't intend to marry Adair, as implied by her decision to dance with him, she should leave him in his stepmother's care; if he has no reason to think she'll marry Adair in the first place, he'll recommend another relative who, as Adair's guardian, won't have normally-forbidden levels of political power. In other words, if he sees the opportunity, he'll try to trick Elodie into a Morton's Fork: one option gives the Duchess of Lillah majority control over Nova's territories, the other puts a crown on his bloodline.
- Brin, the Duchess of Hellas, a lesbian with a string of relationships-gone-bad behind her, who still wears flowers in her hair and will openly object to being punished for causing an international incident unless Elodie can find a way to turn it to her advantage. The way the story plays out (and the backbiting nature of her brother backing her up) it suggests that her "challenging" nature is really just being an immature, spoiled brat, but it may also be that her aggression against Ixion was more of a way to gain a stronger power base without having to secure an advantageous marriage to a man.
- The Ambiguously Bi nature of Lucille and what that implies for her marriage. If Lucille is caught trying to kill Elodie and isn't killed herself, she almost always murders Laurent. Combined with her scoffing that Laurent has no backbone if Elodie accuses him of sending assassins, there's plenty of evidence that suggests that she married him for his title and possibly to produce a child, not out of any real feelings on her part.
