Characters / Ascendance Of A Bookworm - Ehrenfest Archducal Family

Ascendance of a Bookworm Main Character Index
Myne | Ferdinand
Commoners and Temple Members | Nobles (Ehrenfest (Archducal Family))

WARNING: This section starts with the folder of a character whose long-term role in the story spoils the end of Part 2 (The Apprentice Shrine Maiden arc and Season 3 of the anime). Read at your own risk if you haven't gotten to that point in the story.

Archducal family

Sylvester

Sylvester

Debut: Part 2 (Volume 3)

Voiced by: Kosuke Toriumi (Japanese, Drama CD 1+), Kazuhiko Inoue (Japanese, Anime and Drama CD 3+), Mari Hino (Japanese, child voice Drama CD 8), Christopher Wehkamp (English, Anime)

A 26-year-old blue priest who travels with Ferdinand and Myne during the latter's first Spring Prayer. He enjoys doing as he pleases and teasing people, resulting in him being described by others as a walking headache. His interactions with those who already know him hint that he could be getting away with his behaviour due to being someone of fairly high status within the priesthood.

He's actually not only the archduke of Ehrenfest, but Ferdinand's older paternal half-brother who had to take up the mantle at an unusually young age because of their father's untimely death. He becomes Rozemyne's adoptive father right around the time his real identity is revealed.

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• Anti-Role Model: Karstedt tells Myne that he respresents what she must strive to never become.
• Beneath the Mask: While this is very much a way of life for the setting's nobility, this is especially blatant for him as the behavior that is expected from him while on archducal duties is radically different from the Manchild personality he displays while around family. As "Brother Sylvester", all he really does is swap the circumstances in which he uses each of his personality "settings".
• Beware the Silly Ones: Between his real status, the power (both magical and political) that comes with it and the parts of his real job he's actually willing to do, getting on his bad side is not recommended. The main drawback is that few people can nudge him into not being a goofball.
• Big Brother Instinct:
  • It should be noted that he never wanted Ferdinand to get hurt. His mother Veronica was aware of this, which is why she always abused Ferdinand while Sylvester was absent. When Sylvester realized that his mother was about to kill Ferdinand, he asked Ferdinand to flee to the temple, as he could not choose a side between his brother and his mother.
  • How far Sylvester is willing to go for Ferdinand can also be shown in the last volumes of Part 4, as he was ready to defy Aub Ahrensbach's wish for Ferdinand to come to Ahrensbach and marry Detlinde, even against the will of the zent himself.
  • As shown in the latter half of Part 5, Sylvester keeps refusing to give Ferdinand the order to kill Georgine, because he doesn't want Ferdinand to die. He accepts Rozemyne's wish to negotiate for better living conditions for Ferdinand in Ahrensbach, and although he cannot send any help to Ferdinand after learning of his poisoning (because he has to defend Ehrenfest), he allows Rozemyne to go and helps her communicate with Dunkelfelger and the royal family.
• Big Eater: He loves good food, especially Rozemyne's recipes, as they are new to him and very tasty. Fitting his childish personality, he doesn't particularly like vegetables, though Rozemyne fixes that habit with the right dressing.
• Birds of a Feather: There is a lot in common between the reforms he's trying to implement and what Rozemyne got used to during her life as Urano, resulting in their agendas converging quite often. It's to the point that when Rozemyne suggests something that isn't strictly status-based for the seating of a concert, Florencia assumes Rozemyne got the idea because Sylvester has rubbed off on her. In addition, by the time Part 3 rolls in, Rozemyne and Sylvester tie at first place for "person the most likely to give Ferdinand a headache" and consider each other the weirdest person they know.
• Born Lucky: In Part 5, Sylvester actually later gets the divine protection of the God of Fortune. He ends up defeating Georgine because of a lucky coincidence where he avoids her deadly attack and returns just in time when she thought he was dead.
• Brilliant, but Lazy: One of Sylvester's Fatal Flaws is his laziness. He can pull quite impressive political moves when he puts his mind to it and put a surprsing amount of effort into securing opportunities to have fun for himself. People around him wish he'd use the mind that allows him to do such things to do his real job as archduke from time to time instead of leaving the heavy lifting to his relatives and attendants.
• Broken Ace: Sylvester is charming, confident, strong, artistic, and well-respected, but deep inside is soft and struggles with The Chains of Commanding. He needs the assurance of his most trusted people that he is doing the right thing. According to Florencia's point of view chapter, Veronica's idea of being a Doting Parent didn't include giving Sylvester support when he needed it the most.
• …But He Sounds Handsome: During his stint as a blue priest, there are a few conversations during which he needs to speak of the archduke of Ehrenfest as if he were another person, both positively and negatively. This also inevitably results in him hearing things that nobody would have dared to say to his real identity's face.
• The Chains of Commanding: Sylvester quite understandably feels extremely bad after condemning his uncle and mother, and forcibly separating Myne from her family.
• The Chessmaster: At the end of Part 2, a chapter from his point of view makes it look like he calculated and planned the whole incident with Bindewald and Bezewanst with Ferdinand and Karstedt's help. That incident is what forced Myne's hand into accepting to be adopted early. In the end, his uncle and mother have been neutralized, Myne is now detached from her family and bound to his, and Myne is also grateful to Sylvester that she and her family are now safe. Everything not only worked out perfectly in Sylvester's favor, it resembles a plan Karstedt mentioned one volume earlier, where a hypothetical archduke would have someone kidnap Myne, then rescue her to make her feel indebted, or the kidnapper sells her to an archduke who would proclaim her to be his daughter all along.
  Sylvester: If you ignored how awful it felt to purposefully lead my mother into a trap and then rip apart a happy family, then sure, today was a pretty good day.
• Childhood Friends: Ferdinand and Karstedt being his Cloudcuckoolander's Minder tag team is the result of the three of them knowing each other for a very long time. They are actually his paternal half-brother and cousin respectively.
• Childish Older Sibling: Yes, you read correctly, he's older than Ferdinand, yet the Manchild of the two brothers.
• Chosen Conception Partner: Downplayed. Sylvester is Brunhilde's in a sense. A side story that happens during Rozemyne's second year at the Academy reveals that Brunhilde would likely be deposed as Groschel's heir, after her father's second wife gave birth to a son. Due to Brunhilde raising her mana levels to the point that she can't sense most archnobles anymore, she only had the choice to either marry someone from another duchy (which her mother was against), Sylvester, or Hartmut. However, Hartmut at that point already had Clarissa and she would not be able to stand his constant praise about Rozemyne. Sylvester was the only possible partner Brunhilde could ask to marry and have children with, which she does successfully in Part 5 Volume 4 after making clear that their marriage would benefit Sylvester politically too.
• Conflicting Loyalty:
  • During the entire civil war, Sylvester kept Ehrenfest out of the conflict and remained neutral. While one reason was the fact that his inauguration as aub happened in the middle of the war, the other reason was that his mother's wish to support Ahrensbach clashed with his wife and his sister, Constanze, who had ties to Frenbeltag.
  • He has family members in different factions. One of his major moves at the end of Part 2 involves defying this. Despite the fact that his mother and uncle consistently took advantage of the family relation to commit various crimes, Sylvester hesitated to make his move because the nobles that supported his rule actually supported his mother. Starting in Part 3 Volume 4, problems begin to arise after his older sister, Georgine, now the first wife of Ahrensbach's archduke, returns to Ehrenfest for a visit. As Sylvester has lost his mother's faction's support, the remnants of Veronica's supporters flock to Georgine, plotting to overthrow Sylvester and install Georgine as Ehrenfest's new aub.
• Confusion Fu: His gewinnen strategies are described as weird by Wilfried, whom he also advised to wait a little before trying to emulate them. He also still beats Ferdinand at the game with some frequency, though that frequency tends to become lower when the number of pieces used increases.
• Constantly Curious: Whenever he sees something he has never seen before, he continuously asks questions like a child. The mere act of asking turns out to be justified to an extent, because he may be able to change some of the things he asks about from his real job and a King Incognito period is in general a good opportunity to find out about things someone in his position would otherwise not be told about.
• Cool Big Bro: According to Rihyarda, Ferdinand entering the castle when they were little gave Sylvester extra motivation to be this, which positively influenced his willingness to study.
• Cover-Blowing Superpower: During his time as a blue priest, he uses his schtappe without a care in the world, but is always riding double on someone else's highbeast when he needs one. It later turns out that as the archduke of Ehrenfest, he's obligated to be the only person in the entire duchy riding a three-headed lion, so using his own highbeast as "Brother Sylvester" would have been a very bad idea.
• Doting Parent: Sylvester claims that he has no intention to spoil his children, but Rozemyne quickly finds out that he actually does this.
  • As Sylvester never wanted his children to experience the hardships he had to endure during the succession battle with his older sister, Sylvester immediately declared that Wilfried, his firstborn son from Florencia, would be his designated heir. Sylvester also left Wilfried's education to his mother, who picked a bunch of Yes-Men who had no interest in reprimanding Wilfried whenever he slacked off. Only after Veronica was imprisoned and Rozemyne and Rihyarda witness what was happening does Wilfried make progress.
  • Sylvester does spoil Rozemyne quite a lot actually. He doesn't mind letting her commoner family see her, as long as her cover isn't blown, and he allows her to go to the temple for longer periods of time to rest (after she complained that he gives her and Ferdinand too much work), instead of staying at the castle for socializing and bridal training. Rozemyne thinks part of the reason is to not make it appear like she is working harder than he does, but he genuinely shields her from things she would only find bothersome. Generally, Rozemyne thinks he treats her fairly and generously, which is why she is extremely angry when other duchies start badmouthing him for being a bad ruler.
• Everyone Has Standards: He may be a Manchild, but he's still one who grew up in the setting's noble society and is currently holding a position that comes with The Chains of Commanding, resulting in many of Rozemyne's antics being too much even for him.
• Extreme Doormat: Among other people Aub Dunkelfelger's first wife Sieglinde or Magdalena note that Sylvester doesn't act like an aub of a medial duchy in the single-digit ranks. He is too passive and obedient towards higher-ranked duchies and the Sovereignty. For instance, in Part 4 Volume 7 Aub Dunkelfelger challenges Rozemyne to a ditter match for the rights of a book. When Sylvester is called to negotiate with Dunkelfelger, he immediately offers to gift the manuscript and the rights to Dunkelfelger without any further protest or compensation, to the shock of Aub Dunkelfelger, who had no intention to bully a lower-ranked duchy; he just wanted to have an honest duel to settle matters.
• Fatal Flaw:
  • His softness, especially towards family. This extends to family that is actually dangerous to him. Veronica had him under her thumb for years and Georgine threatens his entire duchy. Both times, Sylvester could have ordered Ferdinand to eliminate them, but didn't (as that would have meant Ferdinand's guaranteed death), and Georgine later causes a war that leads to far more casualties than necessary.
  • Another flaw is his laziness. As is shown at the start of Part 4, he neglected to work on the papermaking and printing industry, instead giving all responsibility to Ferdinand and waiting for Rozemyne to wake up. The industries were meanwhile led by Justus (since Ferdinand was too busy), the Plantin Company, and Elvira. Despite Sylvester promoting it as an industry led by him, outsiders eventually becomes aware that it's mostly led by Rozemyne and Elvira. This consequently leads to the rulers of important provinces where the industries are established (Illgner, Haldenzel, Groschel, Leisegang, and Kirnberger) giving their support to Rozemyne instead of Wilfried.
• Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: Let's face it, he'd be the foolish sibling in regards to just about any other adult character. Being half-brothers with Ferdinand doesn't help his case very much.
• Friend to All Children: He is very friendly and acts like a Cool Big Bro to the orphans during his trip to the lower city's forest, despite supposedly being one of the feared blue priests. He even allows them to shorten his name to "Syl" because they have difficulty pronouncing it, and donates the animals he managed to kill to them as a divine gift.
• Happily Married: Sylvester loves Florencia above all. How he romanced her at the Royal Academy is legendary, and he has so far refused to take another wife.
• Henpecked Husband: He may be the archduke and able to whip every other noble into shape with words alone, but even he can't go against his wife's orders. It seems to run in the family, since Ferdinand mentions their father tended to overcompensate for how angry he made his wife by taking him into the main household.
• Hero with Bad Publicity:
  • Inside Ehrenfest, Sylvester is not regarded well by most nobles. Neutrals or Leisegang supporters think he was a Puppet King to his mother, while former Veronica supporters think he betrayed his own mother or is now controlled by his half-brother.
  • To other duchies, Sylvester is seen as a terrible ruler and Abusive Parent because he sent his own half-brother and his adopted daughter to the dreaded temple, loads them with endless work, and tasks them to set one crazy trend after another. Ferdinand and Rozemyne are regarded as exceptional archduke candidates, whose talents seem wasted and who are abused by their archduke. It doesn't help that Sylvester views Wilfried highly and wishes for him to be his heir, when there are two much better archduke candidates around. The other duchies are not aware that neither Ferdinand nor Rozemyne are interested in becoming aub, and the temple is a place where both of them can relax.
• Innocently Insensitive: Most of what Myne finds completely insensitive from him is based on limited knowledge. He just doesn't know any better.
  • While disguised as a blue priest, he wonders why there are so few young pre-baptism children in the orphanage. The reason for that is that the majority of them starved to death due to mismanagement and a lack of blue priests to send divine gifts, which angers Myne, as she thinks as a blue priest he should already know about the situation.
  • He has a tendency to demand unrealistic things without realizing it. His given deadlines are extremely short and he keeps delegating work to Ferdinand and Rozemyne in the belief that Ferdinand is bored. Rozemyne bluntly tells him that Ferdinand is just the kind of person who loyally does what he is asked to do without complaint and that if Sylvester keeps making Ferdinand do his work, he will one day just drop dead from overworking.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Ferdinand claims he has a good heart... hidden behind terrible "everything else".
  • This is confirmed when he lets go of the idea of trading the chefs Myne brought on a trip (who are technically Benno's and trained to work in a restaurant he'll be opening soon) for his own and donates the meat from a hunt to the orphanage.
  • He also is visibly angered and disgusted when Myne asks in Part 2 Volume 3, whether he wants to visit the orphanage to find a Sex Slave. When Myne points out that this is what blue priests normally do, he tells her that someone like him doesn't have a need for that.
  • While he can be very manipulative, he feels remorse at the end of Part 2 because he had to condemn his mother and uncle, and ripped Myne away from her loving family. The fact that he spared Myne's family, when more ruthless nobles probably would have gotten rid of any evidence of Rozemyne's former life, is proof that he is softer than others.
  • Especially starting in Part 5, Sylvester keeps taking a lot of flak for seemingly treating Rozemyne unfairly, as she easily outclasses Wilfried and should be made aub instead. This culminates in a conflict in Part 5 Volume 4, where the archducal family stops communicating with each other, which Rozemyne and Charlotte resolve by informing Sylvester that they are being played by the Leisegangs. Bonifatius in particular is surprised how much trust Rozemyne puts in Sylvester, which she partially explains is because Sylvester never thought about demoting her back to an archnoble or eliminating her, despite being a threat to his family's future rule.
• King Incognito: Myne spends his entire stint as a blue priest Locked Out of the Loop concerning his background. However, the reactions of the other characters around him during that time indicate that they know who he is, but aren't mentioning it around Myne because she's one of the masquerade's targets.
• Like Father, Like Son: It's not very obvious, but he shares many aspects with both of his parents.
  • Like his father, he brought a child with vast mana to his castle and raises her to support his designated heir and the duchy.
  • Like his mother, he prefers monogamous relationships and values family a lot. He also blatantly favors his son over his daughter and wishes for said son to be his heir, even if his daughter is actually a far more competent candidate.
• Magnetic Hero: As Ferdinand describes it, Sylvester has a certain charisma and brilliance that allows him to naturally make allies.
• Manchild:
  • He acts a lot like a grade-school age boy, to the point that Myne internally remarks that he'd be easier to handle if he actually were one.
  • There is also room for improvement when it comes to his emotional maturity, as Ferdinand and Florencia tend to go to Karstedt and Elvira respectively when they want to have an adult conversation due to considering Sylvester much less reliable for such things.
• The McCoy: Of the trio he forms with Ferdinand and Karstedt. His Manchild tendencies tend to manifest as a lack of adherence to rules in private and tendency to put a lot of work in finding opportunities to have fun. While just as ruthless as any other noble while doing his job, he can be soft to a fault when it comes to his own family members, even when they are blatantly making use of Screw the Rules, I Have Connections!.
• Parental Favoritism: He loves all his children, but there are indications that he favours Wilfried the most, probably because he is his first-born and his spitting image.
  • Sylvester never assigned Rihyarda or Ferdinand to Wilfried (but did so happily for Rozemyne), because he knows how harsh they can be to their charges. Rihyarda does get assigned to Wilfried later, but only after Rozemyne and Ferdinand tell Sylvester how bad Wilfried's situation is.
  • In Part 3 Volume 5, after Wilfried commits treason, he desperately tries to find a way to not punish Wilfried too harshly and keep his son as his potential heir. One of the reasons why he sends Rozemyne to the Academy in Part 4, despite having missed two years of education, is to let her support Wilfried and give him a one-year headstart against Charlotte. When Rozemyne starts gaining attention in the Royal Academy, he betroths Wilfried to her. While this is done to keep Rozemyne in Ehrenfest (and marrying her to Ferdinand is not an option), he does this fully aware that this will automatically lead to Charlotte and Melchior losing any hope to become his heir.
• Parental Hypocrisy: One of the biggest difficulties he has with parenting is being fully aware of the fact that the margin he has to not fall into this trope is extremely thin. Florencia's solution is to give him a few incentives to be a better example.
• Parental Neglect:
  • He leaves his son Wilfried's, education to his mother and the retainers she has chosen, as he does not want his son to grow up pressured by the harsh reality a noble has to face like he had to. As a result, Wilfried is extremely naive and complacent.
  • He actually treats his other children even worse. Charlotte receives even less attention from him than Wilfried, as he does not view her as his potential heir.
• Pen-Pushing President: Archdukes are expected to deal with a lot of paperwork, so he should be one. In Sylester's case, paperwork is by far the part of his duties that brings out the "lazy" part of his Brilliant, but Lazy personality the most. Just about anything he doesn't need to sign off on personally falls on his scholars or Ferdinand.
• Proud Beauty: He is described as an attractive young man and knows he's one.
  • At some point during his stint as a blue priest, he needs to reassure Myne that he's not asking to visit the orphanage to find a Sex Slave. He explains his lack of interest in that particular venture partly by boasting he has the assets needed, charm included, to easily find willing women in the Noble's Quarter.
  • In Part 3 Volume 5 he calls himself a "hot guy". Rozemyne is tempted to make a snide remark about his casual bragging, but decides to keep quiet.
• Puppet King:
  • The reason Cornelius was reluctant to serve one of his children when first introduced was that he viewed Sylvester as essentially being a puppet to his mother.
  • After Veronica's arrest, some of her allies want him off the throne because they are persuaded that his strings are being pulled by Ferdinand.
• Reasonable Authority Figure:
  • It's easy to miss because it happened prior to his debut, but he's the one who made the decision to implement Karstedt and Damuel's relatively light punishments and the solution that let the rest of Shikza's family avoid execution after their failure to protect Myne during the trombe extermination. He's also one of the people whose permission was necessary to allow Myne to be made a blue robe despite being a commoner and her temporarily considered adoption by Karstedt.
  • A positive side effect of his laziness is that he trusts Rozemyne to know what she is doing when it comes to developing and advertising the commodities Ehrenfest intends to sell to increase their standing in the country. In Part 4 Volume 3, at her suggestion, he invites commoners like Gustav, Benno, and other merchants to give their opinion on who and how much to trade with, which makes Gustav respect Sylvester a lot. As Rozemyne later learns, other potential marriage partners would not give her as much freedom, not even after she comes of age.
  • In Part 4 Volume 9, Sylvester learns of the bible's theft and the poisoning attempt on Rozemyne, which was orchestrated by Gloria Dahldolf, despite Viscount Dahldolf promising to never get involved with Rozemyne ever again. Sylvester is willing to forgive Viscount Dahldolf and his son Jeremias and spare them, if they help retrieve the bible and give their names to Sylvester, and even after Viscount Dahldolf reluctantly has to refuse to give his name (he already gave Veronica his name), he provides valuable information. Sylvester does not intend to make the ongoing mana crisis worse by mass executing a number of nobles, which is why he listens to Rozemyne and is willing to spare both the nobles who gave his mother their names and the orphaned children of the Veronica faction after the purge, provided they give their names to a member of the archducal family. However, he draws the line at the nobles who gave their names to Georgine.
• Reluctant Ruler: Sylvester would like to shirk responsibility whenever he can and tries to delegate work to instead just do what he wants. However, he will always fulfill his most important duties and bear The Chains of Commanding, no matter how tough it may be, which is why Ferdinand considers Sylvester a fine archduke and (almost) never refuses him.
• Rich in Dollars, Poor in Sense: A little of it seeps into his blue priest cover identity, but it becomes very prominent during his hunting trip in the commoner forest:
  • He gets his hands on poor commoner clothes and relatively tattered boots to use as a disguise, but thinks nothing of bringing his clearly expensive bow and keeping his ponytail bound in a hair accessory that is clearly made out of silver.
  • He turns out to have not brought any rope to hang his kills.
  • The orphans need to teach him how to wash his hands in a river.
  • The one person on the trip who knows who he really is scrambles to get a proper lunch prepared for Sylvester after noticing that he didn't think of this himself and that the lunch everyone else is having isn't going to work for him. That same person is also very grateful when one of the orphans takes the initiative of improvising a table for Sylvester.
• Secret-Keeper: His archduke position entitles him to knowledge about Myne's Past-Life Memories. He's a Secret Secret-Keeper during his time undercover. The very nature of his familial relationship with Rozemyne has knowledge of her commoner origins built into it.
• Selective Obliviousness: Sylvester's greatest weakness is that he is too soft and turns a blind eye on his family.
  • Sylvester has for years ignored his uncle, Bezewanst's, crimes, out of love for his mother. In his side chapter in Part 3 Volume 1, Cornelius expresses his refusal to serve a member of the archduke's family because his father, Karstedt, serves an aub who is essentially a puppet to his mother.
  • When their father was on the verge of death, he was sufficiently aware of the extent of his mother's hostility towards Ferdinand to be the one to advise the latter to move to the temple. In the present day, he is shown genuinely wondering how Ferdinand grew up to be so different from him.
  • Sylvester initially refuses to believe how incompetent and spoiled his son, Wilfried, is, thinking that everyone is exaggerating and that his son is just acting like he did in the past, so he would turn out just as fine. It takes the combined power of Florencia, Ferdinand, Rihyarda, and Rozemyne to convince him otherwise and regretfully face reality.
• Sex God: He is still very sexually active with Florencia. Which is why he gets the divine protection of the God of Sex in Part 5. His sexual activity actually causes problems in the middle of a phase where he needs a wife to socialize and deal with the Leisegangs, and he gets Florencia pregnant.
• Shared Family Quirks:
  • The few times he scolds Rozemyne, his methods are quite similar to Ferdinand's.
  • He also shares Ferdinand's tendency to massage his temple when the information he needs to process gives him a headache.
  • Both brothers also have a taste for good food, though Sylvester is much more proactive about seeking it out.
• Shipper with an Agenda: According to a chapter from Karstedt's point of view, Sylvester once said in jest that Ferdinand should marry Rozemyne. He's also prone to being more serious about things than he first lets on. While Sylvester wants to make full use of Rozemyne and bind her to his duchy, he is not particularly interested in her being archduchess (either as aub or by marrying his intended heir, Wilfried). He mistakenly believes that marrying her to Ferdinand is a safe bet to keep her away from becoming aub and also match two people whose mana level is similar. He later betroths Rozemyne to Wilfried, as Rozemyne could be taken away by another duchy and marrying her to Ferdinand would lead to Ferdinand being used by the Leisegang faction to oust Florencia's children. Betrothing Rozemyne to Wilfried on the other hand cements Wilfried's future as Sylvester's heir. When near the end of Part 5 he learns that Ferdinand intends to be together with Rozemyne, he supports them and gives them his blessing. Although earlier saddened that Ferdinand's last will in Part 5 Volume 7 reached Rozemyne and not him, he feels better that Ferdinand has found someone he loves.
• Sibling Rivalry:
  • With his older sister Georgine. She was supposed to become the aub of Ehrenfest, but got displaced from this position when Sylvester was deemed to be the better choice. Being only the third wife of another aub would be the end of their rivalry until she manages to displace her rivals and become the first wife of a more important duchy, with her own faction in Ehrenfest determined to remove Sylvester from the throne.
  • Also with Ferdinand, though a very positive one. Ferdinand's presence motivated Sylvester to stay ahead of his brilliant little brother, which made Sylvester grow even after he already won against Georgine.
  • Averted with his second older sister, Constanze, with whom he seemingly has such a good relationship that he can't bear to not help her out.
• Sickly Child Grew Up Strong: A story from Justus' point of view mentions that he was of poor health for the first three years of his life, then became a troublesome child as soon a he got better.
• Spanner in the Works:
  • He thwarts at least one attempt to kidnap Myne during her first Spring Prayer merely by accompanying her and Ferdinand and implicitly forcing Karstedt to come along as his bodyguard in the process. Buildings intended to house traveling priests have rooms for three blue priests at most. During their trip, the blue priest rooms are consistently occupied by Ferdinand, Karstedt and Sylvester, while Myne and Damuel are relegated to servant rooms. When kidnappers go into one of the nicer rooms of one such building expecting to find Myne in it, they find Karstedt instead. And let's not even get into the fact that the kidnappers were hoping to do the whole thing without the archduke of Ehrenfest becoming aware of it.
  • Zig-zagged when it comes to Ferdinand's charity concert. Initially, several people involved know all too well that it is the sort of event Sylvester may be strongly tempted to crash and deliberately upend for his own amusement, so measures are taken to hide its existence from him. Bad timing in opening the doors to evacuate one of the "casualties" and Sylvester passing by results in him finding out about it anyway. Rozemyne reins in his impulse to upend the concert by throwing in a Sylvester and Ferdinand duet at the last minute. Disaster seems to be averted until Sylvester turns out to have gotten his hands on the printed illustrations that were being sold as merchandise and shown them to Ferdinand.
• Took a Level in Badass:
  • At the start of Part 4, thanks to Rozemyne's mana compression method and the fact that his mana vessel is much bigger as an adult, Sylvester has overtaken Rozemyne in terms of mana capacity. As Rozemyne gets older, her capacity grows even further, though.
  • In Part 5, Sylvester redoes the divine protection ceremony. He obtains 21 protections from subordinate gods, even more than Bonifatius.
• Too Much Alike: The flip side of his Birds of a Feather situation with Rozemyne is that they sometimes get on each other's nerves because they also have character defects in common.
• Two Aliases, One Character: The author had a lot of fun using this on him:
  • There are mentions of the duchy's anonymous leader as early as Part 1 Volume 1. Some of those from Part 2 come from Ferdinand's own mouth and a chapter from his point of view.
  • The first chapter from Ferdinand's point of view mentions that he has an unnamed paternal half-brother and that the then-unnamed High Bishop is his step-uncle via his half-brother's mother, but never mentions any titles.
  • On top of this, he debuts as "Brother Sylvester".
• Unfit for Greatness: He has a good heart, but politically speaking, Sylvester isn't exactly the best leader Ehrenfest could have.
  • Sylvester is lazy, largely ignorant of what is going on around him, and has a very soft spot for his family. He is fully aware that he can't be as cold, calculating, and rational as Ferdinand, which is why he thinks Ferdinand would make a better archduke than him.
  • Due to his mother's influence, Sylvester was put in a bad position from the start, but he practically cut off his own solid base when he had her imprisoned and thus lost almost all support from her faction. While adopting Rozemyne, officially a Leisegang member without ties to Veronica, appeased the Leisegang faction temporarily, Sylvester's insistence to keep Wilfried as his heir (eventually by betrothing Rozemyne to Wilfried) was not well received. He also at one point considered Eckhart as a potential guard knight for Wilfried, which is a very foolish thought considering how much Eckhart already hated Veronica at the time.
  • Another problem is actually how happy he is with Florencia, that he is unwilling to take a second and third wife, when this could stabilize his rule. This somewhat is amended when Brunhilde is willing to become Sylvester's second wife.
• Wacky Parent, Serious Child: A zig-zagging case with Rozemyne, as he's one of the few members of the cast who can make her look like a level-headed person with some degree of common sense in the right circumstances. The two of them are just as likely to improvise staring contests or discuss how adorable Charlotte is in the middle of a professional meeting.

Florencia

Florencia

Debut: Part 3 (Volume 1)

Voiced by: Nodoka Hasegawa (Drama CD 1+), Sumire Morohoshi (Drama CD 8)

The archduchess of Ehrenfest, Sylvester's wife and Rozemyne's adoptive mother. She is two years older than Sylvester and an "older sister" type, which is very much needed considering who she's married to and how her oldest son is turning out.

Florencia is a daughter of the archducal house Frenbeltag, her older brother being its current aub and married to Sylvester's second older sister, Constanze. She leads, alongside Elvira, her own faction of noblewomen, which opposes that of her mother-in-law.

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• Birds of a Feather: She gets along with Ferdinand quite well, thanks to both of them being hated by Veronica.
• The Chessmaster: In Part 5 Volume 6, old Leisegang faction members enter the castle and start to protest against Rozemyne supposedly joining the temple in the Sovereignty as High Bishop, while badmouthing Wilfried heavily. They go to (a pregnant) Florencia at a time when Sylvester is absent, but Rozemyne and Count Leisegang defuse the situation. As Rozemyne later learns, Florencia and Leberecht planned this to happen to weaken the Leisegang faction. Florencia noticed that Barthold, the son of Georgine loyalists who has given his name to Wilfried, is actively trying to sabotage her son. She used Barthold to spread false rumors about Rozemyne in the hope that the Leisegangs would come and complain, giving her a reason to arrest and reprimand them. She also planned this to happen at a time when Rozemyne was supposed to have a leisurely tea party with her siblings. The plan goes awry because Hartmut noticed the Leisegangs coming and informed Rozemyne. Florencia also wanted to teach the Super Gullible Wilfried a lesson and subtly give him hints that Barthold is not as loyal as he appears.
• The Confidant: Florencia is this to Charlotte. In a side story that plays at the time of Part 4 Volume 4, she invites Charlotte to a private tea party where Charlotte opens up to her mother how frustrated she is that she lost the aub competition without ever getting the chance to prove herself, as Wilfried automatically gets Rozemyne's support by marrying her.
• Hero with Bad Publicity: In Part 5, outside of Ehrenfest, a lot of people think she is a Wicked Stepmother to Rozemyne. That's because Elvira writes a novel series about "Fernestine", a female archduke candidate with blue hair and golden eyes, who is abused by her Wicked Stepmother. Fernestine is actually a genderbent Ferdinand (and the stepmother is Veronica). Elvira wrote this novel to cope with her sadness after Ferdinand left Ehrenfest, but people like Hannelore think it's about Rozemyne being abused by Florencia, with her birth mother silently calling for help.
• Locked Out of the Loop: She is the only one among Rozemyne's guardians who is not aware of her commoner origins.
• Parenting the Husband: This comes with being married to Sylvester. It doesn't help that she's a couple years older than him. Upon introducing her to Rozemyne, Karstedt outright states that Florencia is one of the few people able to control Sylvester.
• Proper Lady: She's one of the people mentoring Rozemyne on how to act as a proper noblewoman.
• Secret Secret-Keeper: She knows how to exploit the trope, for sure. She turns out to have known about Sylvester's sneaky visits to the lower city for a while in Part 3 Volume 2, but to not have revealed it until she needed to practically blackmail him into actually being in his office more often to set a good example for their son. Rozemyne takes note of the fact that she withheld the information until she needed it to sway Sylvester instead of confronting him about or forbidding the activity as soon as she found out about it.
• Shipper with an Agenda: Florencia is seriously thinking about pairing off Wilfried with Rozemyne, if only to keep her son in check, much like she does with Sylvester but also because she sees how much he has improved under Rozemyne's wing. She specifically wants Rozemyne to support Wilfried.
• Silk Hiding Steel: Florencia is usually obedient, friendly and well-behaved, but when she admonishes Sylvester for allowing Wilfried to be raised and educated solely by his mother and her chosen retainers, and how that has damaged their son beyond repair, she does it while sporting a beautiful and serene smile.

Wilfried

Wilfried

Debut: Part 3 (Volume 1)

Voiced by: Natsumi Fujiwara (Drama CD 1+), Yuka Terasaki (Drama CD 3+)

The oldest of Sylvester and Florencia's children and the only one who has been baptized when Rozemyne is adopted into the family. He's basically a younger Sylvester with Florencia's hair color.

When Rozemyne first meets him, he has grown dangerously complacent between Sylvester's decision to give primogeniture a try and his caretakers, who include Veronica, spoiling him. Fixing the situation and making sure he doesn't relapse into it in the future winds up becoming one of Rozemyne's ongoing projects.

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• Always Second Best: Despite his performance at the Royal Academy, Wilfried has to suffer because he is constantly compared to Ferdinand and Rozemyne. Rozemyne thinks he would make a fine archduke eventually, but the Leisegang faction denying Wilfried their support because of Rozemyne puts a major dent in his confidence and makes him feel miserable. He also is not treated well as a fiancé by Rozemyne, as she is constantly more worried about Ferdinand than him (and openly shows it for everyone to see), which he finds extremely frustrating.
• Amicable Exes: If one can even call them exes, considering there was never a romantic spark between him and Rozemyne. They never worked out as betrothed, but once their engagement is annulled, they get back to their sibling relationship.
• Big Brother Instinct:
  • Seeing as Rozemyne is more mature and outclasses him in everything that is not physical exercise, he doesn't see himself as the older brother initially, but he starts maturing considerably after Charlotte gets abducted and Rozemyne is almost poisoned to death, forcing her to spend years in a deep slumber at the end of Part 3. After Rozemyne wakes up, he takes special care who approaches his siblings and shields Rozemyne from potential dangers.
  • In Part 3 Volume 5, after hearing from his grandmother how dangerous Rozemyne and Ferdinand apparently are, the first thing he does is trying to get his little sister, Charlotte, away from Rozemyne. Although misguided, his actions were motivated by concern for his sibling.
• Big Little Brother: A complex variation. Wilfried is in the age range relevant to the fact that Rozemyne is being passed off as being a year younger than she actually is. Rozemyne needs to treat him as someone who is a season older than her, but chronologically, he's three seasons younger than her. Wilfried is still the tallest of the two.
• Brilliant, but Lazy: He's eventually shown to be a fast learner with a good memory, but the "lazy" part was nurtured so much during his early life that the "brillant" part ended up being buried under it.
• Brutal Honesty: Downplayed. Children Are Innocent, and especially Wilfried is not educated in the more subtle euphemisms nobles use. This is a flaw of his, as this also makes him Super Gullible, but his sincerity is so rare, that Ferdinand praises him for this virtue.
• Character Development:
  • Wilfried starts out as a Royal Brat, but being confronted with the threat of being disinherited after spending a day in Rozemyne's shoes makes him put an effort in his studies. The events in Part 3 Volume 5 also affect him greatly, as not only does he lose his status as Sylvester's heir for committing treason after he was tricked, both Charlotte and Rozemyne are abducted and the latter is poisoned as well. Wilfried and Charlotte together decide to take Rozemyne's place in her absence. Especially Charlotte is impressed after seeing her brother start taking responsibility and knowing his limits, when before she described him as "kind but lazy".
  • After the events of Part 4 Volume 4, where his engagement to Rozemyne is announced, Wilfried once again becomes the heir apparent. However, over the course of the story up until Part 5 Volume 5, being denied the support he needs, while Rozemyne not only overshadows him but also treats Ferdinand much better than him and the fact that no one really asks for his opinion and he is pushed around, leads to him going through an angsty teen phase. Once the engagement is canceled and Wilfried gives up on becoming aub, as well as him proving his worth in the defense of Ehrenfest against Georgine, he calms down and matures.
• Cloudcuckoolander's Minder: He tries to be one to Rozemyne during their stay at the Royal Academy, but he is hopelessly overwhelmed by her actions. He repeatedly desperately asks Ferdinand for advice because he doesn't know how to handle her.
• Foil:
  • Detlinde is an archduke candidate who suffers from an inferiority complex, who has very weak social skills and is neglected by her parents, which is why she in turn neglects her studies. The difference between her and Wilfried is largely that Wilfried was favored and spoiled because he was male, is not malicious at all, and that he puts an effort in his studies once he becomes aware how bad he is at it.
  • Wilfried might have turned out like First Prince Sigiswald. Sigiswald shows a very arrogant and Innocently Insensitive behavior, and looks down on everyone, while believing that he naturally is entitled to become zent. He also has very poor social skills and is actually overshadowed by his younger siblings. At the end of Part 5, Wilfried eventually gives up on becoming aub, but Sigiswald still views himself as a royal, even after the royal family is dissolved and he is demoted to aub, while his younger brother and sister-in-law rule the country together.
• Horrible Judge of Character: One of Wilfried's greatest flaws is that he trusts the wrong people. He trusts his grandmother, Oswald, and later in Part 5 Barthold over the rest of his family and loyal retainers like Lamprecht and Alexis.
• Ignorant of Their Own Ignorance: Wilfried is not aware how spoiled he actually is, as his parents have no hand in raising him initially and none of his retainers reprimand him for his slothness. The one day he spends in Rozemyne's place as High Bishop in Part 3 Volume 2 gives him a much needed new angle that lets him realize how lazy and how far behind he is in his education as he gets humiliated by everyone in the temple. The cherry on top is when he returns home, where Ferdinand gives his report and recommends to Sylvester to disinherit Wilfried, meaning that his position as the future archduke is not as secure as he thought it would be.
• Inadequate Inheritor: Before Rozemyne sets up a new education program for him, he has grown so complacent that at age seven, he only knows part of the alphabet, can't do basic math and doesn't know a single song despite being expected to play one in public during the first winter after his baptism. While he acts friendly to Rozemyne during her baptism-turned-adoption, he turns out to be a Royal Brat, as well. He is treated as a grave criminal and has his status as the guaranteed next archduke removed after he visits his grandmother, a convicted criminal, without Sylvester's permission in Part 3 Volume 5.
• Innocent Bigot: The first chapter from his perspective reveals that Veronica and his retainers taught him that he's of higher status than Ferdinand because Ferdinand is a bastard and he isn't. As a result, he doesn't like seeing Ferdinand treated as being more important than he is and his response to Ferdinand not doing what he asks of him is to mentally blame it on Ferdinand being a bastard. However, right after doing the latter, he admits to be simply following Veronica's lead and to actually have no idea what the word "bastard" means. This is further evidenced by the fact that by the time this is revealed, he has welcomed a newly adopted sister without a second tought.
• It's Not You, It's Me: In the spin off that centers arround Hannelore and her love life, she tries to make him propose to her via the Dunkelfelger Method, Wilfried did not understand Hannelore's intetions at first and later has to reject her, not because he dislikes her, but as he is no longer aiming to be the next aub he is unsuitable for marriage to an archduke candidate of a higher ranking duchy such a Dunkelfelger
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Even during his Royal Brat period, he would frequently use his free time to visit his younger siblings. He also happily welcomed Rozemyne as his sister during her adoption, declaring her just as much his sister as Charlotte.
• Like Father, Unlike Son: Zig-Zagged. Appearance- and personality-wise he is very similar to Sylvester, but the crucial difference is that Sylvester doesn't use his status to shirk his duties, as is pointed out by Ferdinand and Rihyarda. On the other hand, both Sylvester and Wilfried were raised to become Puppet Kings to Veronica, and both are politically inept leaders.
• Locked Out of the Loop: Since Wilfried is too young and uneducated, unaware of nobility's subtlety, he is left out of most discussions and secrets. For instance, even after a year has passed since Veronica's imprisonment, he is left clueless and it's Rozemyne who accidentally spills the truth.
• Manipulative Bastard: When he and Rozemyne enter the Royal Academy, he tries to use her obsession with books to his advantage and make Rozemyne help better Ehrenfest's grades. He quickly realizes that he is in over his head and that once Rozemyne is baited with books, she cannot be stopped. Ferdinand and Cornelius even tell him later that using a few books as bait would have sufficed. Wilfried offered Rozemyne a library, the second-largest collection of books in the entire country.
• Never My Fault: Wilfried tends to blame others for actions that he is actually responsible for, although that is also due to being influenced by the wrong people. For instance, while it's true that between Part 4 Volume 2 and Volume 3 he had to accept a tea party invitation meant for Rozemyne, he actually had no obligation to accept any other invitations, but did so anyway because his head attendant wanted for Wilfried to socialize with other duchies to give him an advantage in the aub competition against Rozemyne and Charlotte. Wilfried nonetheless blames Rozemyne for causing him so much stress. A more extreme case is him blaming Rozemyne in Part 5 for not providing him with the political support of the Leisegangs or not caring about their engagement in general, instead spending time at the temple and treating his uncle, Ferdinand, much better than him.
• No Social Skills: Wilfried has ignored his noble education before Rozemyne entered his way, thinking it's unnecessary, which is why he does not understand noble euphemisms and frequently misspeaks and does things he shouldn't do. While Wilfried receives a more serious education from his retainers between Part 3 and Part 4, he still lacks tact and is not a good leader. Rozemyne is often criticized for her social blunders, but Wilfried's blunders are just as bad or worse.
  • In a side story that plays at the time of Part 3 Volume 5, Wilfried visits his siblings. Charlotte greets him with a noble's greeting that she practiced with her retainers, but Wilfried actually has no idea what it means. Oswald claims he doesn't need to learn it as the future archduke, because it's a greeting a person from a lower status uses for a higher-ranked person. Wilfried doesn't realize the flaw in this logic, as there are other higher-ranked duchies and royalty to which he has to bow down to.
  • As Rozemyne's retainers point out in Part 4 Volume 2, Wilfried is still the archduke candidate who the former Veronica faction would favor the most. Wilfried shunning their children not only deprives him of their parents' support, it makes him look really bad in the eyes of the other factions if Wilfried doesn't even treat the people that should naturally be on his side well. Eventually, nobles like Roderick, Matthias, and Laurenz instead swear loyalty to Rozemyne.
  • Brunhilde is also very angry at Wilfried when Hannelore sends out an invitation for a tea party to apologize for her brother's provocations against Ehrenfest. However, she accidentally doesn't address the letter to Rozemyne (who is back in Ehrenfest for the Dedication Ritual), which forces Wilfried, as the only remaining archduke candidate, to attend in her place. Since his retainers still haven't finished their courses, and he has no idea about tea parties or Ehrenfest's trends that Rozemyne is planning to introduce, he directly orders Brunhilde to prepare for the tea party and leaves everything to her and Rozemyne's other retainers. It's extremely rude of Wilfried to order Brunhilde around, the proper way would have been to send a letter to Rozemyne and ask her first, who then would have asked her retainers to assist him. Saying that his own retainers don't have any time to prepare because they still haven't finished their courses can also be interpreted as Wilfried calling them incompetent.
  • In the prologue of Part 5 Volume 5, Bonifatius has a private talk with Sylvester and advises him to pull Wilfried from the future aub position. Bonifatius' main concern is that Wilfried is terrible at hiding his feelings, which at his age is inexcusable.
• The Oath-Breaker: After the events of Part 5 Volume 2, Wilfried is viewed as this by almost every noble from Dunkelfelger. Wilfried was Tricked into Signing a contract by Lestilaut, which established the rules and conditions for the bride-stealing ditter that he set up. However, after Ehrenfest won, Wilfried refused to take Hannelore as his second wife as is stated in the contract, which is a major offense in the eyes of Dunkelfelger who value ditter and its rules above all. Wilfried never thought what he signed was a contract in the first place because Rozemyne told him that only contracts on parchment are legitimate and Lestilaut wrote the "contract" on plant paper. Furthermore, what most Dunkelfelger nobles don't know is that Lestilaut left out that the bride in the bride-stealing ditter, Rozemyne, never wanted this ditter to happen actually.
• Once Done, Never Forgotten: The Ivory Tower incident makes him a traitor who could have been locked in the tower or even executed. Wilfried was spared because Rozemyne and Sylvester found a lighter but still acceptable punishment for Wilfried, but he is permanently marked as an unsuitable archduke in the eyes of the Leisegang faction.
• Overshadowed by Awesome: Once he puts effort in his studies, he is actually performing fairly well. His harspiel play at his winter debut is adequate and his grades and achievements at the Royal Academy are above expectations. The only problem is that he is inevitably compared to Rozemyne. It is later noted that despite being an archduke candidate from a low-ranking middle duchy, thanks to learning Rozemyne's mana compression method, his mana is comparable to archduke candidates from greater duchies.
• Puppet King: One in the making. Veronica and his retainers have not raised him properly, and in terms of his noble education he is far behind Rozemyne and Charlotte, which makes him much easier to manipulate. Fanbooks and the later parts of Part 4 and 5 show that Wilfried is really just used as a tool by everyone; his grandmother, his parents, and the Leisegangs. His engagement with Rozemyne for instance mainly serves to keep her in the duchy, and the realization that no one really acknowledges him or asked what he really wants depresses and irritates him.
• Raised by Grandparents: Shortly after Wilfried's birth, his grandmother Veronica took him away from Florencia to raise him. Wilfried is thus closely associated with the Veronica faction, contrasting his siblings, who were raised by Florencia.
• Royal Brat: When Rozemyne first meets him, he has become extremely entitled due to having already been chosen to be Sylvester's heir, something that is usually done later in one's life after a fierce competition between the potential heirs. The situation resulted in the attendants intended to educate Wilfried having limited motivation to force him to attend the classes he doesn't like. On top of this, he was spoiled by his grandmother until very recently. The end result is a boy who gets extremely upset when he doesn't get what he wants and hates anyone who isn't a Yes-Man towards him, such as Rozemyne and Ferdinand. His Humble Pie moment is a direct result of him getting jealous of nice things Rozemyne has because she put work into getting them.
• Selective Obliviousness:
  • Partially because of his upbringing and partially because his parents didn't want to hurt his feelings, Wilfried doesn't realize that his grandmother Veronica treated the people around him very badly, like his own mother and sister. He explicitly avoids her faction later after some of them make him commit treason, but ignores the fact that his own grandmother fed him lies. Since she resembles and acts similarly to Veronica, he also doesn't notice what a terrible person Detlinde actually is.
  • Wilfried doesn't realize that his behavior unnecessarily aggravates the majority of the people around him. This has largely to do with his retainers, with the majority of them coming from his grandmother's faction, who all still act according to her wishes. Even after Charlotte blatantly points out how bad his retainers behave, he doesn't understand her because he has No Social Skills. In Part 4 Volume 9, a fed-up Charlotte suggests to Florencia to get rid of Oswald, but when Florencia asks Wilfried to fire Oswald, he refuses. She only forces the issue after the purge of the Veronica faction in Part 5, but Wilfried is afterwards badly influenced by Barthold, who is even worse.
• Sibling Rivalry:
  • There is no rivalry at the beginning between him and Rozemyne, since Rozemyne was brought into the family to support Ehrenfest and Wilfried already was Sylvester's heir apparent. However, this changes at the end of Part 3 after Wilfried commits treason accidentally and Sylvester is forced to revoke his status. In Part 4 he initially cooperates with Rozemyne, but despite Wilfried doing pretty well at the Academy, he increasingly gets frustrated over time for living in her shadow.
  • He loves Charlotte and Melchior, but after Part 3 they become his rivals as Sylvester's heir. Charlotte was raised by their mother and is much more competent than her brother.
• Strong Family Resemblance: It is often noted how much he looks like Sylvester. However, he inherited the hair color of his mother.
• Super Gullible:
  • As he is initially not exposed to the deceitful side of nobility, he is unwary of the danger his words can have. He thoughtlessly socializes with his aunt, Georgine, thinking that she is harmless as they are family, and as he spent a lot of time with his grandmother, Veronica, before she was imprisoned, he also deeply trusts her. Thus, he is very angry at Rozemyne and Ferdinand when his potential future retainers, children of Veronica's political faction, tell him that his grandmother was falsely imprisoned because of them. This leads to him entering the tower where his grandmother is imprisoned to talk to her, a chance she uses to fill his head with lies. Not only is he reprimanded for judging his adopted sister and uncle before hearing their side, visiting a criminal without his father's permission and protesting the archduke's decisions are serious acts of treason that get him his status as Sylvester's guaranteed heir removed.
  • Something that he apparently didn't learn after the Time Skip is that he is too easily influenced by the opinions of other people. For instance, in his eyes Rozemyne is an exemplary archduke candidate, but when Sylvester casually mentions that she's a problem child, he quickly changes his view of her. It's ironic that at the start of Part 4 Volume 4 Sylvester wants to privately discuss the possibility of Wilfried marrying Rozemyne, free from anyone's influence, only for Wilfried to be influenced by his father and then asking for more time to discuss the matter with his retainers.
  • A major cause for Wilfried's ill decisions is his trust in the wrong retainers. He largely trusts Oswald and later Barthold (who was forced to give his name to Wilfried), despite Florencia's warnings. Their advice negatively affects Wilfried's standing in the eyes of other nobles and is a major reason for his unpopularity, which is why some of Wilfried's other retainers like Alexis want to leave him.
• Took a Level in Cynic: Naive as he initially is, the events in Part 3 Volume 5 make him lose a big part of his innocence, as he is lied to by people that he thought of as family and friends. Charlotte's abduction and the attempted assassination on Rozemyne only make this worse. By the time he attends the Royal Academy, he has become much more distrustful of anyone that isn't in his circle.
• Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Downplayed. In his first year at the Academy, Wilfried proudly tells the music professors that the original songs they just heard from Rozemyne were composed by her. This gets her an invitation from the professors for a tea party in Part 4 Volume 2. To her surprise, not only is Eglantine of Klassenberg participating, Second Prince Anastasius butts in and invites himself to the party. This leads to Anastasius bullying her and involving her in his plans to court Eglantine. If Wilfried hadn't said anything, Rozemyne could have kept a relatively low profile and stayed away from the royal family, just as her guardians had intended.
• Unwitting Pawn: Since he does not understand the complex relationships between the political factions within Ehrenfest, he becomes an easy tool to manipulate.
  • At the end of Part 3 Volume 4, he quickly forgets the meaning of the euphemistic farewell he was taught earlier and gives Georgine an excuse to visit Ehrenfest again, something that Sylvester and Florencia wanted to prevent at all cost. In the epilogue of the same volume, Veronica's supporters plan to use him to dethrone Sylvester eventually and replace him with Georgine. By telling him half-truths and lies about Veronica's imprisonment and who is responsible for that, they sow seeds of discord within Sylvester's family.
  • Starting in Part 5, the noble children of the Georgine faction, whose parents were purged by Sylvester, are obligated to give their names to an archduke candidate. Barthold chooses Wilfried. However, he hates the archducal family and tries to stir trouble and dissension between Wilfried and his siblings. Wilfried mistakenly believes that someone who gave one's name can be relied on, and thus lets Barthold influence him, which frustrates Wilfried's other retainers like Lamprecht and Alexis. Florencia eventually catches on to that and subtly tries to tell Wilfried that Barthold is not as loyal as he seems.

Rozemyne

Rozemyne

Karstedt's daughter with Elvira, who was raised in the temple by her guardian Ferdinand. Right after her baptism, Sylvester announced that he would adopt her and dubbed her the Saint of Ehrenfest, due to her vast mana capacities, her merciful nature, and her innovative mind. She's only a season younger than the spring-born Wilfried, resulting in her being in the same year as him in future Royal Academy classes.

At least that is the official story to hide the fact that Rozemyne is actually the commoner-born Myne.

For more info about her, see her page.

Charlotte

Charlotte

Debut: Part 3 (Volume 1)

Voiced by: Konomi Kohara (Drama CD 1+), Kaede Hondo (Drama CD 3+)

Sylvester and Florencia's second child, who is one year younger than Wilfried and Rozemyne. Unlike with her brother, Florencia is responsible for her education.

Rozemyne first meets Charlotte near the end of the autumn preceding her winter baptism and immediately takes a liking to her cute little sister.

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• Big Little Sister: In Part 4, due to Rozemyne hibernating for two years in her jureve, she hasn't grown at all and Charlotte has grown taller than her big sister.
• Big Sister Instinct:
  • Inverted with Rozemyne. She loves her big sister and is aware of the responsibilities Rozemyne has to shoulder. Just as Rozemyne wants to protect Charlotte, Charlotte intends to protect Rozemyne and support her however she can.
  • Played straight with Melchior. Part 5 Volume 7 reveals that now that Wilfried will no longer be in the aub race, Charlotte wants to act as a transitional aub and work together with Brunhilde to curb the Leisegang faction's momentum so that they won't hostilely usurp Melchior's chances of becoming aub. Once Melchior is old enough, she plans to abdicate and leave the seat to him.
• Big Sister Worship: Charlotte has admired Rozemyne even before they ever talked to each other, thanks to Wilfried praising Rozemyne whenever he visited his siblings to play or read to them. At the end of Part 3, after Rozemyne saves Charlotte from a kidnapper, Charlotte is trying to fill her big sister's shoes in the years that Rozemyne was in a coma, which only makes her think that the title of Saint of Ehrenfest was, if anything, understating how amazing Rozemyne truly is.
• Break the Haughty: Downplayed. After Rozemyne begins her healing sleep, Charlotte tries to fill the shoes left by Rozemyne, believing herself to be much more capable for the task than Wilfried, only to be met with failure after failure and leaving her dejected by how even her big brother, a notorious lazy student, has surpassed her in all aspects.
• The Consigliere: To her mother Florencia. Due to how noble society works, Florencia cannot approach Wilfried directly and is lacking information about his activities at the Royal Academy. She confides her worries to Charlotte regularly, who informs her about how her older siblings are doing and advises her on how to help Wilfried. In Part 4 Volume 9, Charlotte notifies Florencia about Wilfried's retainers' abrasive behavior and indirectly recommends firing Oswald, as Charlotte is fed up with supporting Wilfried, against the advice her mother gave her a year before. Charlotte also recommends assigning more Leisegang retainers to Wilfried. However, since Wilfried refuses to do either of this, Florencia later relieves Oswald from his duties.
• The Cutie: Rozemyne views Charlotte as a cute angel, which is why she is even willing to postpone her plans to take the jureve potion, so she can act like a Cool Big Sis for Charlotte. She openly prioritizes Charlotte over Sylvester because of how overwhelmingly cute her little sister is, which he begrudgingly accepts because he agrees with her.
• Dude, Where's My Respect?: As is revealed in a side story that plays near the start of Part 4 Volume 4, Charlotte is incredibly frustrated that she is better than Wilfried, but despite his constant failures, he lucks out on becoming the next aub just because he is the right age and gender and can marry Rozemyne. Charlotte would wholeheartedly acknowledge that Rozemyne is the better candidate, but Wilfried winning because of the engagement feels unfair to her.
• Early-Bird Cameo: She and her younger brother Melchior come for mutual "good night" wishes with their parents during a family dinner in Part 3 Volume 1. Between them being young children, Rozemyne's own small size, and the dinner table's height, she never sees Charlotte's face until she properly meets her in Part 3 Volume 5.
• Mature Younger Sibling: Compared to Rozemyne and Wilfried, Charlotte comes off as the most calm and collected person once she enters the Royal Academy in the second half of Part 4.
• Regal Ringlets: Her hair is arranged into ringlets and she's an archduke's daughter.
• Sibling Rivalry:
  • She was specifically raised to rival Wilfried, even though he was chosen as Sylvester's heir before she was even born. Florencia is responsible for Charlotte's education, which is why she is far more competent than her older brother. As they grew up with different caretakers, she doesn't actually view Wilfried as her brother, at least not in the same way she views Melchior or even Rozemyne.
  • Averted with Rozemyne. Charlotte very early on recognizes that she will never beat Rozemyne as an archduke candidate. She is aware that Rozemyne has flaws, but compared to how much bolder and more innovative her big sister is, Charlotte freely admits that Rozemyne is the best choice for Ehrenfest.
• Sibling Yin-Yang:
  • Charlotte may not have Rozemyne's innovative mind, but in terms of social skills, she is far superior to both Rozemyne and Wilfried, as she has spent a lot of time with her mother participating in tea parties.
  • The way Charlotte views Rozemyne also differs from her siblings. In the later parts of Part 4 and Part 5, Wilfried views Rozemyne more and more negatively, while mostly being concerned about himself, which later puts him at odds with her. Melchior views Rozemyne in a too positive way and doesn't see her flaws. Charlotte on the other hand is aware of Rozemyne's flaws, but tries to compensate for them and support her sister as much as she can.
• The Social Expert: Charlotte is shown to be more socially aware of her words and can read people better than all of her siblings.
  • In the prologue of Part 4 Volume 9 Florencia asks how Charlotte would assess Detlinde. Wilfried said Detlinde is much like Veronica and Charlotte agrees, but they probably thought of Veronica for very different reasons.
  • In the same chapter, Charlotte also shows deep understanding of Rozemyne's personality, as she warns Florencia that Ferdinand leaving for Ahrensbach will hurt Rozemyne deeply, and taking her away from the temple and not letting her focus on the printing industry would rob her of her last zone of comfort.
  • Charlotte also correctly reads the Leisegangs' reaction to Wilfried's visit, which Wilfried notably doesn't.
• Spare to the Throne: Additional short stories reveal that Charlotte was the potential heir Florencia raised to challenge a Veronica-raised-Wilfried. Charlotte was likely the alternative candidate the Leisegang faction would have supported if Rozemyne hadn't joined the archducal family. After Wilfried gives up on becoming aub, Charlotte plans to temporarily succeed Sylvester as aub to keep a positive relationship with Rozemyne and discourage the Leisegangs from supporting any potential children Brunhilde will have with Sylvester until Melchior is old enough to take over.
• Strong Family Resemblance: Charlotte greatly resembles her mother, Florencia.

Melchior

Melchior

Debut: Part 3 (Volume 1)

Sylvester and Florencia's third child, who is five years younger than Rozemyne and Wilfried. Like Charlotte, Florencia is responsible for his upbringing. Melchior is initially too young to leave his estate, but he enters Rozemyne's life right before his baptism.

Among the book to which he was given access during his early childhood thanks to Rozemyne, he has a soft spot for those about the gods.

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• Big Sister Worship: Like Charlotte, Melchior already came to admire Rozemyne before he even met her after hearing stories about her. Thanks to Rozemyne, he loves books, especially about the gods.
• Children Are Innocent: Melchior is too young to have heard anything bad about the temple, especially since its reputation has changed drastically after Bezewanst was deposed and Rozemyne and Ferdinand have taken over. He is a big fan of the stories about the gods and admires the fact that his big sister and his uncle lead Ehrenfest's temple and can reproduce the divine instruments that he has read about.
• Curtains Match the Window: Inheriting blue-tinged purple hair from one parent and indigo eyes from the other results in him having a look almost indistiguishable from this trope.
• Early-Bird Cameo: Like Charlotte, Melchior visits his parents for "good night" wishes during a family dinner in Part 3 Volume 1. However, he only starts meeting Rozemyne around the time he turns seven and is baptized in Part 4 Volume 8.
• High Priest: In Part 5, he slowly takes over Rozemyne's duties as High Bishop, as she is set to leave Ehrenfest.
• Sibling Yin-Yang:
  • Melchior is much more motivated to study and help and is not as spoiled as Wilfried. This has likely to do with being raised by Florencia and Rozemyne's influence, as he was only 2 when she joined the archducal family.
  • Appearance-wise, he contrasts his siblings, who have inherited Florencia's blond hair, while he has inherited Sylvester's blue hair. Melchior's initial mana elements are also Darkness, Water, Fire, Wind, and Earth, which are exactly like Charlotte's, except she has a Light element instead of Darkness.
• Spare to the Throne: Among Sylvester's children, Melchior is the one who is the least seriously considered for becoming his heir. While Wilfried was chosen as heir from the start, Charlotte was specifically raised to rival Wilfried, and Rozemyne's adoption into the archducal family sparked the ambition of the Leisegang faction to make her the next aub. At the end of the series, he ends up being the most likely archduke candidate to succeed Sylvester, after Wilfried gives up wanting to be aub, while Rozemyne leaves Ehrenfest. Since he succeeds Rozemyne as High Bishop and is a devout believer of the gods, as well as the fact that the curriculum has changed before he can attend the Royal Academy, he has the highest potential of Sylvester's children to get a high-quality schtappe and even has the potential to become zent one day.
• Strong Family Resemblance: Melchior is said to resemble Florencia and has inherited his father's blue hair and his mother's blue eyes. Coincidentally, he and Rozemyne are stated to look like they could be biological siblings. On top of this, the hair color he inherited from Sylvester has crept towards being much closer to Rozemyne's by the time he's first depicted in full color.

Veronica

Veronica

Debut: Part 3 (Volume 4)

Voiced by: Kumiko Nakane (Drama CD 1), Akeno Watanabe (Drama CD 8)

The first wife of the previous Aub Ehrenfest, older sister to Bezewanst, and the mother of Georgine, Constanze, and Sylvester. After Ferdinand was brought to the castle, she constantly harassed him until Ferdinand fled to the temple. As the previous archduchess, and the mother of the next archduke, she gave Bezewanst political power and protected him from any punishment for his crimes, until she directly went against Sylvester's orders and committed treason, for which she was imprisoned in a tower.

Veronica is descended from the two archducal lines of Ahrensbach and Ehrenfest. She led her own political faction of nobles that directly opposed House Leisegang and their allies. Her faction lost the majority of their influence with her imprisonment.

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• Abusive Parents: As it turns out she ended up being a terrible parent to all of her children/grandchildren. Georgine grew up under an emotional and sometimes even physically abusive "training to be aub" disguised as "education", Constanze was apparently ignored if not outright neglected, Sylvester and Wilfried were spoiled rotten in a mix of "actual love" and desire for an obedient Puppet King, Charlotte was half-overlooked, half-disliked for how much she resembled Florencia, while Melchior was left be because of his young age.
• Big Sister Instinct: She protected her younger brother and gave him as many benefits as she could all of her life, she also tried to give him a life most similar to that of an archnoble he could possibly have within the temple. Her care for him does also come with a bit of Promotion to Parent as their mother died in childbirth.
• Cain and Abel:
  • She may have been a wonderful older sister for Bezewanst, but she harassed the rest of her half-siblings, tormenting their families and direct asociates, such as subjecting them to The Famine in the case of her sister who married the previous Giebe Haldenzel.
  • Later on the story does allude that she may have been on the opposite side with her older half-siblings being the aggressors in her childhood.
• The Caretaker: As she was an scholar with not only great knowledge in poisons but also medicine, she devoted herself to take care of Adelbert's health and in fact her care resulted in him living longer that he would naturally have.
• Clingy Jealous Girl: The previous Aub Ehrenfest never took a second wife because Veronica was a very possessive woman. This actually left a major impression on Sylvester who shuns an Exotic Extended Marriage and refuses to marry someone else, even if that would be a politically smart move and relieve Florencia of some stress due to overwork. This also factors into her hating Ferdinand's very existence.
• Create Your Own Villain: As the story develops it becomes quite clear that her hatred and tyranny towards the Leisegang family comes from how they treated her when she was young, especially after the death of her mother and her older brother.
• Educational Mama: Veronica made Goergine go through a spartan-like training and studying since she was but a toddler, her goal being making her daughter the most competent and educated archduke candidate, demanding nothing short of perfection from her young daughter to achieve.
• Familial Foe: She is the arch-enemy of the Leisegang faction and their allies. Given a few more years and she would have completely eliminated them if she hadn't made the mistake to commit treason.
• The Ghost: Despite Veronica's huge influence on many characters, Rozemyne never sees her. She first appears in a side chapter narrated by Florencia, when Georgine decides to pay her a visit.
• Gilded Cage: She is locked in an ivory tower reserved for traitors. While she is not allowed to see any visitors without Sylvester's explicit permission and she wears magic-sealing cuffs, she is still treated well by Sylvester and lives in a room befitting a noble like her.
• God Save Us from the Queen!: While the civil war that occured a few years before Rozemyne was adopted is one reason why Ehrenfest is in such dire straits, Veronica's reign is another reason. She has raised both Sylvester and Wilfried to be gullible and overly dependent on her and her faction, while cutting Sylvester off of competent retainers like Ferdinand and suppressing her political rivals by using her brother to distribute mana unevenly. The fact that Veronica wanted to make Shikza, a mednoble on the level of a laynoble, heir of Dahldolf over his more competent brother, because Shikza's mother has been a Yes-Man to her for years, is another indication that Veronica did whatever was necessary to keep herself in power for the rest of her life, regardless of the consequences.
• Hypocrite: Veronica claiming that Ferdinand is manipulating her son is rich coming from her, when she has manipulated Sylvester and Wilfried for years and raised them to become Puppet Kings to her.
• The Man Behind the Man: While Sylvester is officially the archduke, for years he was more of a Puppet King. Veronica kept her position as Ehrenfest's de facto first lady until her arrest, as her faction completely suppressed the Leisegang faction and the noblewomen led by Florencia and Elvira. One of the reasons why it was so hard for Sylvester to cut his mother off was that his entire political power came from her.
• Master Poisoner: Her favourite way of get rid of her enemies or even just a form to harass those she hated.
• My Beloved Smother: Veronica's love for Sylvester is extended to Wilfried, who greatly resembles his father. Shortly after Wilfried's birth, she took him away from Florencia to raise him, and picked the majority of his retainers. As a consequence, Wilfried was spoiled rotten. The damage is narrowly averted by Rozemyne after Veronica's imprisonment.
• Narcissist: Heavily implied to be one, a trait that she may have inherited from her mother, Gabriele. She actually only cares about herself and her rule, as she manipulates her own family to stay in power and suppresses or eliminates anyone that stands in her way. Any failures on her part are naturally the fault of other people (like her plan to blame Florencia and Wilfried's Leisegang retainers for his failed upbringing). invokedWord of God also notes that she once fired one of Wilfried's retainers, who was very similar to Rihyarda, because Wilfried started listening to that person more than Veronica. Sylvester was likely influenced by this, as he shows a tendency to do what is necessary to get what he wants, blames others for things he has at the very least a part in and is not used to being refused a request.
• Obnoxious In-Laws: Her Thicker Than Water attitude results in her being extremely hostile towards Florencia.
• The Paranoiac: Veronica is extremely distrustful of people that enter her family who don't share blood ties with her. She always believed that Ferdinand was brought into the archduke's family to replace her son, Sylvester, which is why she kept mistreating him. She can't seem to understand that she is imprisoned because of her own crimes. Even in prison, she insists that Ferdinand has manipulated her son. This paronia towards those she considers possible threats stems from her childhood after the deaths of her mother and older brother, as she strongly believes that the Leisegangs had something to do with their passings.
• Parental Favoritism: She doted on Sylvester, which contributed to him being chosen as heir and Georgine being sent to Ahrensbach as a third wife of its archduke.
• Strong Family Resemblance: It's remarked by many people that her daughter Georgine resembles her strongly. And Georgine's own daughter Detlinde could be considered an Identical Granddaughter to her grandmother.
• Thicker Than Water: She loves and protects people that share blood ties with her, but she in turn absolutely hates outsiders. Ferdinand and Florencia both had to suffer abuse from Veronica while she was still around, while Bezewanst managed to gain political power and got away with his crimes thanks to her protection. However, she only displays this trait to full-blooded family members that are related to her, as she doesn't look kindly at her half-siblings and their children; one indication of this is that Elvira, her main opponent, is also her niece via one of her half-siblings. As Charlotte would later reveal though, her grandmother didn't treat her with the same warmth and love she shared with Sylvester, Bezewanst and Wilfried. While this could be explained by Veronica's hate towards Florencia reflecting on how Charlotte looks exactly like her mother, it is interesting that Veronica's care seems reserved to only her close male relatives as she also is estranged from her oldest daughter.
• Wicked Stepmother:
  • After Ferdinand was brought to the castle to be raised as a support for Sylvester, Veronica got it in her head that Ferdinand would badly influence her son and take away his position as the future archduke, which is why she refused to adopt him and started to abuse him however she could. After her husband's premature death, the intensity of her abuse got to a point where Sylvester feared for Ferdinand's life and recommended to him to flee to the temple and declare that he has sworn off politics. Ferdinand only returns to noble society after Veronica's imprisonment.
  • Bezewanst's Perspective Flip chapter reveals Veronica had one of those herself. Bezewanst was the child in a Death by Childbirth and the woman who got promoted to first wife was a daughter to the previous Giebe Leisegang. This new first wife forced their father's hand into sending Bezewanst to the temple while he was still a baby.

Bonifatius

Bonifatius

Debut: Part 3 (Volume 3)

Voiced by: Unshō Ishizuka (Drama CD 1), Toshiyuki Morikawa (Drama CD 6+)

A 61-year-old retired archduke candidate and knight who is Karstedt's father, Rozemyne's grandfather, the older brother of the previous Aub Ehrenfest and Sylvester's paternal uncle. Whenever Sylvester and Florencia have to go to the Archduke Conference, Bonifatius temporarily becomes the acting archduke.

Bonifatius' first wife was a daughter of House Leisegang, making him a prominent member of the Leisegang faction. He is also the progenitor of House Linkberg, of which his son Karstedt is the heir.

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• Afraid of Their Own Strength: When he's not acting on impulse, he knows all too well that he may potentially kill Rozemyne if he's not careful. While his measures to control his real personality in her presence result in Rozemyne mistaking him for a much calmer person than he actually is, he freaks out when actually asked to carry a stamina-drained Rozemyne out of a room only members of the archducal family can enter.
• Birds of a Feather: He gets along well with Angelica, who is very similar to him.
• Boyfriend-Blocking Dad: He is a bit of this with Rozemyne. Notably, he has a lot of complaints about Rozemyne's betrothed, as no one is good enough for his granddaughter. This is the case for both Wilfried and Ferdinand.
• The Confidant: Elvira often went to Bonifatius to discuss family matters, as Karstedt is often away. That is why Bonifatius has extensive knowledge about the harassment Elvira had to endure from Rozemary's family.
• The Consigliere: As an archduke candidate who was once groomed to one day potentially rule the duchy, Bonifatius acts as an advisor to Sylvester, which is especially the case starting in Part 5 after Ferdinand left for Ahrensbach. Bonifatius acts much more like a typical noble and does not shrink away from using violence to protect what matters to him. For instance, upon learning in Part 5 Volume 7 that Georgine plans an invasion of Ehrenfest, he advises Sylvester to order Ferdinand to assassinate Georgine immediately. Sylvester refuses because that would mean Ferdinand's certain death.
• Doting Grandparent: Cornelius informs Rozemyne that Bonifatius actually absolutely adores his only granddaughter, which becomes obvious in his Perspective Flip chapter in Part 3 Volume 5. He keeps his distance because he is known to be rough and forceful, and he is warned that Rozemyne could collapse at any moment if he isn't careful. He would love nothing more than to spend time with her. Rozemyne being abducted at the end of Part 3 triggers his protective instincts and makes him recklessly charge forward to save her. While she is recovering from her injuries between Part 3 and 4, Bonifatius keeps annoying Ferdinand by sending ordonnanz messages every day to ask about Rozemyne's condition.
• Drill Sergeant Nasty: Cornelius seriously questions Angelica's sanity when she gladly agrees to be trained by Bonifatius. Bonifatius seems to treat his disciples very roughly according to Cornelius.
• Dumb Muscle: Though he is a strong knight, he admits that he is not particularly smart. When it comes to plans and schemes, he prefers to leave things to Ferdinand and Sylvester.
• Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: Him being the foolish sibling is one of the reasons his younger brother was the former archduke instead of him, or so we are made to believe at first...
• Gut Feeling: Instead of using his head, Bonifatius relies on his instincts. He usually is right, though.
  • At the end of Part 3 Volume 5, due to his extended knowledge as a former archduke candidate and his sixth sense, he suspects that Georgine leaked the secret passages at the Ehrenfest castle to her faction to kidnap Rozemyne. Sylvester takes Bonifatius' suspicions seriously and orders Ferdinand to investigate further. He also instinctively knows Viscount Gerlach was involved, though he can't exactly explain how.
  • At the start of Part 5, after storming Viscount Gerlach's mansion, while looking around Gerlach's destroyed workshop, he finds a torn silver cloth. He doesn't know why, but his gut tells him that it's suspicious.
  • Later in Part 5, Gerlach himself notes that this is a big part of what makes Bonifatius so dangerous; not only is he an almost unstoppable warrior, he can also sometimes see through elaborate plots and deceptions by pure intuition.
• Hot-Blooded: Rozemyne initially gets the wrong impression of him, because Karstedt and Elvira warned Bonifatius that if he doesn't treat Rozemyne delicately, he could kill her. Bonifatius is actually very passionate and competitive. Unfortunately, his hot-bloodedness makes him reckless and he doesn't use his head too often, instead relying on his instincts. This made him an unsuitable choice to become archduke, which is why his younger brother was chosen as heir.
• Hyper-Awareness: Bonifatius instinctively picks up on things that often turn out to be crucial hints. For instance, in Part 5 Volume 5, he notes that the silver cloth he found in Gerlach's mansion is suspicious because it was torn apart and not cut with a schtappe knife. When he later tries to do this, he realizes that the cloth has Anti-Magic properties, which is why using a schtappe to destroy it would have been futile.
• Innocent Bigot: Bonifatius has a major dislike for the temple. He doesn't think it's a place for Rozemyne to stay. In Part 5 Volume 4, he leads a splinter group of the Leisegang faction that aims to "save" Rozemyne and get her out of the temple.
• Living Legend: Bonifatius' feats are actually on par with Ferdinand's. He is widely known as one of Ehrenfest's strongest knights and being trained by him is an honor.
• Magic Enhancement: Bonifatius is one of the rarer nobles who are capable of enhancing their body parts with mana, due to his vast mana capacity. This gives him enhanced sight and his punches have the power to pulverize his opponents to Ludicrous Gibs. He decides to teach Angelica and later Rozemyne how to use enhancement as well.
• No Indoor Voice: Downplayed. Fitting his Hot-Blooded passionate nature, he shouts a lot, especially when it concerns his beloved granddaughter. His bellows are even rendered in all caps.
• Old Master: This man is over sixty years old, but his trained body is still in good shape and he is still one of the most powerful nobles in Ehrenfest. He later trains all of Sylvester's family's trustworthy guard knights.
• Parental Favoritism: Bonifatius clearly likes his only granddaughter, Rozemyne, more than his grandsons. He treats her delicately and holds back his Hot-Blooded nature when she is present, while he is very rough with his grandsons and mercilessly trains them.
• Remember the New Guy?: Downplayed. He is first mentioned in a side chapter narrated by Cornelius in Part 3 Volume 1 and later has a line in a side chapter in Part 3 Volume 3. In Part 3 Volume 4 Rozemyne mentions that she has already met and greeted him both at her baptism and during her first winter socializing.
• Retired Badass: Bonifatius is a former commander of the Knight's Order. He has stepped down from his work at the Knight's Order a long time ago, but he occasionally still helps Sylvester when needed.
• Secret-Keeper:
  • He knows of the origins of Ferdinand and the real relationship between Ferdinand and his younger brother Adelbert. He was with Adelbert, guarding him. That's why he knows about Ferdinand's origins and thus does not view him as part of his family.
  • In a bonus story for Part 5 Volume 7, Sylvester lets Bonifatius in on the secret path to the foundation and the importance of the temple, the High Bishop and the bible key. He is also told about Charlotte's plans to become a transitional aub and eventually pass on the position to Melchior, who recently has become Rozemyne's successor as High Bishop.
• Secret Secret-Keeper: Subverted. Since he was Elvira's Confidant in the past, he knows very well that Rozemyne isn't actually Elvira's daughter. However, he does believe she is Karstedt's daughter at least.
• Sibling Rivalry: Averted with his younger brother. Bonifatius had no problem of leaving the aub seat to his brother Adelbert and serve as his right hand, even though he was the eldest and the healthiest of the two.
• Shipper on Deck: He grows so fond of Angelica that he wishes for her to wed one of his grandsons so that she can become a member of his family... The intended grandson was Traugott, but after his resignation as Rozemyne's guard, Eckhart took his place instead.
• Spanner in the Works: The way Bonifatius acts, thinks, and attacks is so unpredictable that he is considered a dangerous element in anyone's plan. He foils Georgine's plans at least twice. At the end of Part 3 Volume 5, his quick reaction and explosiveness ends up saving Rozemyne's life, and he and a squad of knights storm Viscount Gerlach's mansion at the start of Part 5 that ends with Gerlach barely escaping to Ahrensbach. This is why Grausam sends part of his forces to Illgner first when the invasion of Ehrenfest begins. He does this to lure Bonifatius away from Gerlach.
• Wacky Parent, Serious Child: Karstedt often has to remind him to stay away from Rozemyne to avoid accidentally killing her. One of his few on-page interactions with Karstedt even consists of him getting scolded by him right after failing to do just that.
• When All You Have Is a Hammer…: Bonifatius' way to fix any problems is to use his overwhelming presence and strength. He doesn't seem to think that's an issue, but it's another reason why he is told by Elvira to stay away from Rozemyne, since it's considered a bad habit and inappropriate for someone in a high position.

Adelbert

Adelbert

Debut: Part 4 (Volume 9, flashback)

Adelbert was the sixth person to hold the title of Aub Ehrenfest, husband to Veronica and father to Georgine, Constanze, Sylvester and Ferdinand.

Despite being frail from birth, since his older brother renounced his claim for the title as he had no desire to lead Adalbert became the default heir.

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• Delicate and Sickly: His bad health was something he was born with and that would ultimately end up with him dying young.
• Henpecked Husband: He was very weak towards Veronica and enabled her actions, a great part of that attitude had to with the fact he was oblivious to the magnitude of her vitriol and retaliation towards those she saw as her foes and another part came with how he always saw her as someone he had to protect as she grew up under the harassment of the Leisegangs.
• Posthumous Character: He died some years before the story begins.
• Strong Family Resemblance: His son Sylvester takes after him the most.