Character list for The Duchess With An Empty Soul.
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Main Characters
Ivona Argentine
It's not logical to annul the engagement because I changed my mind. I have to get my Abusive Dad and Domestic Abuser to annul it instead.
The title character. After being abused and exploited by her father, her cousin, and her fiance, to whom she was sold, she winds up dying in despair, rage, and regret, but for reasons she doesn't know or understand, wakes up one year earlier and this time around is absolutely determined to not let them walk all over her again.
- Abusive Parents: Her mother was driven out of the home by violence, fleeing in the middle of the night for fear of her life. Her father is a completely shameless hedonist that not only loved to beat her up for the slightest inconvenience, but sold her to Gaspal so he could settle his debts and continue living the high life without a care, even being introduced to the audience engaging in Hookers and Blow.
- Action Girl: She is a war veteran and has no problems going into the thick of battle when necessary.
- Arranged Marriage: Her father sold her to Gaspal Guise to cover his debts and maintain his hedonistic lifestyle, full of Hookers and Blow.
- Battle Couple: She has no issue supporting Claude not only in the mundane aspects of married life, but on the battle-field, and plays Her Sorcerer to his sword perfectly.
- Because You Were Nice to Me: In the original time-line, she let Tristan and Gaspal walk all over her, sometimes literally, because they initially treated her kindly and sheltered her from her abusive father, to earn her trust, and then treated her like crap once she was in a situation where she could no longer escape. In the current time-line, she falls for Duke Claude Argentine, in spite of herself, because he dotes on her, showers her with luxury, and gives her genuine kindness.
- Beware the Nice Ones: She is a total sweetheart, but she's a powerful summoner, and very cunning.
- Brainy Brunette: Though her father and Gaspal delude themselves into seeing her only as a Brainless Beauty, she is actually highly intelligent with brown hair.
- Dark Horse Victory: She wasn't even taking the embroidery contest seriously, genuinely thinking her embroidery skills were sub-par. But because all the other women were copying Lady Celton, the crowd favorite, the princess was bored, until she came upon the handkerchief Ivona was working on, which completely ignored the flower motif to go with a mountain landscape featuring an eagle in the foreground. The fact that Her Highness picked Ivona's handkerchief stunned and surprised everyone, especially Ivona herself.
- Elemental Powers: Ivona's summons grant her various elemental powers. Arsla is water (and ice) and darkness, Haslat gives her wind magic, Charlotte controls plants and Lord Lucius presumably gives her fire powers.
- Endearingly Dorky: She spends her wedding night with Claude "indecently underdressed" but is so embarrassed that she wraps herself up in a bunch of blankets like a human burrito. Claude lies down beside her and goes to sleep. The next morning, Ivona and Claude wake up to find her arms wrapped around his waist. D'aww.
- Heroic RRoD: In the previous time-line, she was so desperate to earn Gaspal's affection that she performed all kinds of dangerous experiments so she could summon stronger and stronger divine beasts, and tore her own body to shreds in the process. The only one who realized something was wrong being Duke Argentine, but there was nothing he could do about it.
- Heroic Self-Deprecation: When she finds her mother's brooch on sale at the black-market auction house and Claude buys it for her, she goes into detail about her mother's abandonment, and can't be sure if she wants to meet her mother again. Rationally, she knows it's not her fault and her mother fled for fear of her life, but emotionally, she thinks it is, and she calls herself a terrible person for it.
- Lady of War: Ivona backed by her summons and experience is elegant and graceful in battle, able to take on monsters without losing her composure or poise.
- Marriage of Convenience: She draws up a contract to get Claude Argentine to marry her so she can escape the extremely toxic machinations of her father, cousin, and Domestic Abuser. Once they're actually married, she and Claude are Happily Married Sickening Sweethearts.
- Mundane Utility: Ivona will occasionally use her summons to make flowers bloom or create water for drinking.
- Parental Abandonment: For reasons that have yet to be revealed, when her mother fled the house in the middle of the night for her own safety, poor Ivona was left behind.
- Nice to the Waiter: The very first morning in the Argestine estate, she's given a tour by the head maid, Jeanne. During that tour, Ivona goes out of her way to greet and meet every single servant, praising their hard work and efforts, especially the head chef, whose dishes she raves about. Many of them cry Tears of Joy as a result, relieved that they're being praised, rather than dumped on as is the norm in noble society.
- Red Baron: "The Duchess with an Empty Soul."
- Set Right What Once Went Wrong: Her goal in the current time-line is to prepare herself to face the demon king and the summoners responsible for bringing it to the world on a much better footing than the previous time-line, and actually survive it, and that necessitates disowning her father, cousin, and former fiance.
- Sickening Sweethearts: She is so protective and supportive of Duke Claude Argentine and gets doted on so much that the fanbase tends to wind up in a diabetic coma, drooling sugar all over the floor.
- Strong Family Resemblance: In a flashback where Ivona and her mother were together admiring a fireworks show, Ivona's mother is the spitting image of Ivona in the present.
- Sword and Sorcerer: With her summoning magic, she serves as the sorcerer to Claude's sword.
- A Taste of Their Own Medicine: After waking up after having the last year of her life rewound, she makes her father, cousin, and abusive husband see what it's like to be on the receiving end of the abuse they heaped on her. They see her as having gone crazy as a result.
- True Blue Femininity: Her preferred color is blue when it comes to dresses and accessories, and she's a very effeminate woman.
- Wacky Marriage Proposal: Inverted. Most women who propose marriage to Claude run up to him and yell "I love you, please marry me!" or even "Please, just one night." and get turned down. Ivona walks up to him and says "I don't need love. I want a marriage with you based on mutual trust and self-interest" and lays out a contract. Ivona is the girl he winds up marrying and doting on.
- When She Smiles: Claude is madly in love with her smile and will go to extremes to see it.
- Workaholic: Ivona has a major flow in that she has a tendency to push herself too hard, often putting herself in grave danger and/or overusing her powers as a side effect. Gaspal exploited this flaw to push her to her limits, overworking her to death
Duke Claude Argentine
Is this going to be more of the same pattern?!
The lord of the Argentine house. He is introduced being a strong candidate for the throne, but wants no part of it. The primary reason he receives Ivona's marriage proposal positively is that she points out being married to her would be the best, and most polite, way to show his disinterest, and get all his "love-struck" suitors to leave him the hell alone. Once he agrees, he begins to dote on and shower Ivona with luxury to the point she's clearly uncomfortable, but has no frame of reference to why this is inappropriate. He investigates Ivona's background and is often enraged as to how she was abused and mistreated. He becomes very, very protective and possessive as a result.- Abusive Parents: His mother was a Troubled Abuser who repeatedly thrust him into the jaws of death, demanding that he be "accepted" by the holy sword, because her father hated her for being born a girl and pawned her off to the first guy who showed interest, so she would sire a son to "complete the prophecy" that the house would have a wielder of said sword. Never mind the fact that said husband was an abusive playboy and she underwent a psychotic break, believing siring said child was the only purpose to her existence.
- Appeal to Force: Since Priest Kerda's rebukes consisted only of one ad hominem attack after another and the priest himself completely refused to acknowledge the current situation, Claude's logical appeals, the fact the temple's counter-measures clearly weren't working while Ivona's cure is, and utterly refused to respect both Claude's ducal authority and the emperor's decree, Claude quickly reached the end of his rope and threw the holy sword into the wall right next to the idiot priest, hurling the priest's own tautology back at him and stating in Tranquil Fury with a heavy dose of sarcasm "For you, being stabbed with the holy sword must be an immense honor." It is only at this veiled threat the the priest's brain finally toggles to the "on" position, and he flees the area in terror.
- Battle Couple: When he and Ivona take to the battlefield, they complement each other perfectly.
- Birds of a Feather: Claude and Ivona may come from opposite ends of the wealth and lineage spectrum but their backgrounds are nearly identical, and their marital bond is very, very strong as a result.
- Commonality Connection: He quickly bonds to Ivona when he realizes they have eerily common backgrounds.
- Crazy Jealous Guy: He's very possessive of Ivona and gets threatening if he sees any other guy get close to her, regardless of the reason, and takes it as his own personal privilege to call her by name.
- Cruel to Be Kind: Until he met Ivona, he would rebuff all his "love-struck" followers coldly when they ran up and proposed marriage. The other knights in his retinue left a trail of broken hearts behind them as they accepted the confession, bedded the women, and then abandoned them, sadistically laughing at the women's distress.
- Dramatic Irony: He wants to tell Ivona about his muddled memories of the previous time-line but is scared of being rejected. Ivona wants to tell him about the Cosmic Retcon just as badly but is reluctant because she fears Claude would see her as insane.
- Endearingly Dorky: When he becomes Ivona's fiance and then husband, he goes out of his way to drown her in luxury, to the point that she's clearly very uncomfortable, and when she tells him that it's making her uncomfortable, thinks he's not making her opulent enough! But when push comes to shove, she clings to him like glue, in spite of herself, because he's sweet, sensitive, and kind.
- Every Scar Has a Story: The reason he's got a massive rugged scar on his chest is that he almost died because his mother forced him into a dungeon to "prove himself" to a holy sword.
- Marry for Love: The reason he coldly turned down a bunch of marriage candidates and accepted Ivona's proposal is that he doesn't want a fangirl, peerage, titles, or any of that crap. He wants a strong and equal partner to share the rest of his life with, so he ignores the huge social distance between himself and Ivona, since she showed him she wants him for him, not for what he can do for her, can see her ability to stand as her own individual and he has enough vague memories from the previous time-line to confirm Ivona is the partner he's been looking for.
- Misunderstood Loner with a Heart of Gold: He gained a reputation for being a cruel and cold loner because he would rebuff marriage proposals coldly. In truth, he was actually concerned about the well-being of the women involved and didn't want to be responsible for the life-time's worth of suffering their impulsiveness brought them, unlike the many other knights who accepted the proposals only to literally screw them over. He turns out to be a loving and doting husband to Ivona
- Not So Stoic: Beneath Claude's stoic quiet exterior is someone who is actually deeply emotional especially where Ivona is concerned. And especially when remembering some of his vague past memories how he lamented being unable to do anything to save Ivona despite knowing what was happening to her.
- Past-Life Memories: Claude has vague memories of the events prior to the Cosmic Retcon, most notably remembering what happened to Ivona and his laments how despite helping save the world, he was unable to do anything to help her, who was suffering right in front of him. It is implied to be one reason why he goes out of his way to dote on her when she becomes his fiance.
- The Perils of Being the Best: Because he's the wielder of the royal holy sword and is the best knight the kingdom has to offer, he's the constant butt of unpleasant rumors and jealousy, has to near constantly put himself in harms way to protect others, and even if there was nothing he could do to stop it, he'd be blamed by the masses if any event having large numbers of casualties just happens to occur anywhere near him. Ivona calls this "a miserable existence."
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: In chapter 65, after Gaspal, once again, blasts the area with hot air, bragging how he's so, so much "better" than Ivona and Claude, Claude tramples Gaspal's superiority complex to the ground and states that it's perplexing how Ivona was engaged to "a thing" that is clearly way, way beneath her, and insists that Gaspal stop calling Ivona by name.
- Rich in Dollars, Poor in Sense: His idea of trying to make Ivona happy is drowning her in luxury, to the point Ivona and the fanbase wonder how he manages to keep his estate afloat.
- Sickening Sweethearts: He and Ivona are so perfect for each other that even an industrial strength dose of insulin isn't enough to prevent the oncoming diabetic coma from seeing them interact.
- So Proud of You: In chapter 68, when the new local priest asks him if he's proud of Ivona's accomplishments, he happily beams with pride at his wife. The fact that he smiled stunned everyone present.
- Superpowered Evil Side: In the original time-line, he defeated the demon king's second in command in battle. Even with the full power of the holy sword and an army behind him, it was a close fight. In the current time-line, he winds up facing the guy alone, with the sword fighting him too, but just before the final blow is struck, he glares at the guy who immediately gets to his knees in reverence and goes away, then Claude turns his attention to Lucius, but Ivona gets to him before he launches his attack. Throwing the ball of dark energy away accidentally blows up a mountain.
- Sword and Sorcerer: He plays the sword to Ivona's sorcery.
- Tranquil Fury: He has yet to fly into an uncontrolled rage. When he gets angry, he goes eerily quiet and simmers, striking back with utmost precision.
- Troubled Backstory Flashback: Invoked. When he and Ivona go into a ruins, so she can get a much, much needed power-up, the dungeon's Secret Test of Character hits him with his abusive backstory as an all-senses illusion. Almost literally drowning in despair, Ivona's voice drags him back out.
- When He Smiles: It may be just a smirk, but when he smiled with pride at Ivona's accomplishment to finding an herbal cure for an artificially introduced plague, it stunned everyone in attendance, seeing as he's never smiled in public before.
Summons
Common To All
- Action Pet: They are all animals, faithful to Ivona, and can go into battle when needed.
- My Master, Right or Wrong: Ivona's word is law, end of story. It helps that she cares about them and loves them greatly.
- Ripple-Effect-Proof Memory: As hinted by others and revealed by Lucius - the summons live in a separate dimension and thus were unaffected by the time rewind
- Undying Loyalty: They are faithful to Ivona unto death and care about her well-being.
Arsla
Whee
The first of Ivona's on-screen summons.- Animal Eye Spy: What it sees, Ivona sees, should she desire it.
- Dark Is Not Evil: It's the summon of water and darkness and is a benevolent holy beast.
- An Ice Person: Fights with ice-based magic.
- Invisibility: What Arsla's shadow powers manifest as - it allows Ivona the ability to hide in darkness.
- Killer Rabbit: It's a cuddly rabbit that houses enough magical power to be a threat to all but the strongest monsters.
- Plausible Deniability: Ivona uses it to display a vision to her father, showcasing Gaspal and Tristan engaged in a tryst, to explain why she's suddenly hostile to Gaspal when previously she was desperately fawning over him, with the bonus of turning the three manipulative and abusive sots against each other.
Haslat
Grrr!
Among Ivona's strongest summons, this beast is a dog big enough for people to ride on and is shown, via flashback, biting monsters and demons to death.- Blow You Away: Haslat controls air and light magic. His attacks often comes in gusts of wind.
- Big Friendly Dog: It's big enough for Ivona to ride on, and as long as it's not attacked or given the order to attack is very friendly and playful.
- Canis Major: A dog big enough to ride on.
- Light Is Good: White fur, said to be strong with the light element magic, and completely benevolent.
- Sapient Steed: Haslat is Ivona's primary means of transportation
- Shipper on Deck: In chapter 40, it literally tries to push Claude and Ivona together while the two newlyweds are exploring a dungeon, and Ivona invited Claude to go to sleep beside her.
Charlotte
Meow!
A pink-furred winged cat-like creature that Ivona summons to get Duke Claude Argentine's attention as she was proposing marriage to him.- Cute Kitten: Invoked. As a cat-like creature, it does its best to look cute.
- Green Thumb: It can manipulate the growth of nearby plants, even grabbing some rapist wannabes and throwing them into a lake.
- Mundane Utility: Ivona uses Charlotte to make plants bloom and grow outside of battle.
- Something about a Rose: When first summoned on-screen, it manifests a bunch of white roses to get Claude's attention, showing that Ivona was serious about her marriage proposal and it wasn't an impulsive thing, like he's used to.
Lord Lukius
Ivona, it's been a long time.
Truly, humans are such bothersome creatures.
The first of Ivona's summons that can actually talk, he is very powerful and overprotective. He never liked Gaspal, and is initially suspicious of Claude, but becomes nicer to Ivona's husband once he realizes Claude is a man that actually cares for Ivona's well-being.- Boyfriend-Blocking Dad: Justified. He knows the hell Gaspal put Ivona through in the last timeline and doesn't want her to go through that again, so he's wary of Claude at first. He does warm up to Claude once he shows to him he loves and cares for Ivona.
- Parental Substitute: He looks after Ivona like a surrogate father.
- Playing with Fire: As expected of a phoenix king, he's a master of flames.
- Ripple-Effect-Proof Memory: He has fully intact memories of the previous timeline. The explanation for why that is remains vague, at best.
- Shapeshifter Baggage: In his normal size he has the size and weight of a house. When he's small enough to fit on her shoulder, he's light enough that he can do so without putting any burden on her.
- Sleepmode Size: His normal size rivals a house, but at Ivona's request looks like a rather plump sparrow that's small enough to ride on her shoulder.
- This Is Unforgivable!: He would have burned Gaspal and Tristan to ash for what they did to Ivona, but Ivona herself says that's too merciful and has her own plans.
Claude Argentine's staff
Stefan
Dear Lady, are you okay being among "one of my kind."
Claude's head butler and a demi-human in disguise. When he notices that Ivona has a very high magical talent and can spot the defensive magics and traps on Duke Argentine's "modest" mansion at the capital, he gets nervous and tests whether the two of them can get along. He is relieved when Ivona treats him with respect and kindness, despite his non-human heritage.- Allergic to Evil: When he and Ivona were near the scene of a demon-summoning ritual, he was visibly ill and suffering from tremors-nervosa. This immediately clued Ivona in that something was wrong.
- Battle Butler: The head butler and can kick ass when need be.
- Because You Were Nice to Me: He's loyal to Claude and Ivona because they treat him like a person, not with unbridled hatred like all other humans who realize he's a non-human.
- Curtains Match the Windows: His eyes and hair are the same shade of yellow.
- Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Dirty blonde and a good man who is very loyal to the Argentine house.
- Supernatural Gold Eyes: His yellow eyes are the only visual clue he can't disguise that marks him as non-human.
- Token Non-Human: Even though he's introduced in human disguise, he is the first of the demi-humans introduced to the audience.
- Undying Loyalty: Loyal to the Argentine house, especially Claude, unto death.
Sally
M-mistress Ivona?! Are you sure it's a good idea to keep Gaspal waiting?!
Formerly a maid in the Vouten house, she follows Ivona to the Argentine house upon the marriage between Claude and Ivona.- The Atoner: When she realizes Gaspal's true character, she puts herself in harms way to buy the time Ivona and Claude need to catch up to and arrest Gaspal.
- Exact Eavesdropping: She happens to chance upon Gaspal's tent just as he's bragging to Tristan how he's got her snookered. Justified by the fact that she was following Tristan in the first place, just to see what he and Gaspal were up to.
- Foreshadowing: There's a small hint early on as to where Sally's loyalties lie. When the maids are gossiping about Ivona's gifts, she doesn't stop them until they start talking about Gaspal
- Meido: She is Ivona's personal maid.
- The Mole: Which she failed at. Ivona catches her trying to spy on her and Claude for the Vouten house and Gaspal.
- Small Name, Big Ego: After Ivona and Claude are married, she acts as if the very fact that she's tended to Ivona for years means she gets to boss every one of the other servants around, and countermand Ivona's choices, even going so far as to rifle through and repack Ivona's luggage behind the latter's back. Ivona responds to the latter part with Tranquil Fury and the threat to send her packing, back to Vouten household, terrifying her.
- Unwitting Pawn: After a bit of Engineered Heroics, Gaspal tricks her into spying on Ivona. She wises up real quick when she overhears Gaspal himself brag about it inside his tent.
Jeanne
Lady Duchess, I am the head maid Jeanne. I will show you around the estate today.
The head maid at the Argentine main estate.- Meido: As the head maid, she definitely qualifies.
- Number Two: To Ivona once she wins her loyalty, Ivona trusts her to manage the household and the staff (including Sally)
- Secret Test of Character: When she meets Ivona, she's rather suspicious of the Duke's choice in wedding partner, since he married Ivona at breakneck speed. So she watched Ivona like a hawk for a full day and was repeatedly shocked that the lady treated the staff with respect, and it was genuine.
Feiran Argreten
Lady Argentine, I will pay back your kindess.
A boy rescued from the deprivations of the Geisten auction house under Adolph Vergeni.- Death Seeker: His suffering was so bad in the Geisten auction house that he begged for death when Ivona and Claude found him.
- Debt Detester: He swears to repay Ivona's kindness for treating his wounds and rescuing him from slavery under Adolph.
- Karmic Jackpot: The auction house that abused him was destroyed by Ivona and Claude, and the mysterious backers of said house was greatly inconvenienced by it. Ivona, who rescued him, was rewarded with the loyal services of possibly the best alchemist in the country.
- Language Barrier: Raised in a slave cell, he doesn't know much of the kingdom's language, proficient only in his native tongue.
- Sole Survivor: Of the Tigre Clan and of the slaves in the Geisten auction house.
Antagonists
Baron Gaspal Guise
Erm, what?!
Ivona's Domestic Abuser fiance and the king's nephew. Ivona was sold to him by her father so he can cover his debts and support his hedonistic lifestyle, supported by the Guise estate. In the original timeline, he abused and neglected Ivona, stealing the credit of her summoning magic to make himself a "hero" earning his seat as the crown prince, and then was caught having an adulterous tryst with Tristan. In the current timeline, he can't handle the fact that Ivona has seen through his self-proclaimed "benevolence" and isn't happily debasing herself to vie for his favor.- Ambition Is Evil: All his villainy is spurred by the fact that he sees himself as the most worthy candidate for the throne, and absolutely refuses to believe he's not regardless of who calls him out on it or even empirical evidence of his own incompetence. When the emperor himself brings him to task, denounces his credit-stealing, illness-faking, and that his failures would have caused many, many more casualties to the plague if Seherz didn't step up to the plate, Gaspal has the gall to see himself as the victim of some kind of conspiracy and Seherz as the Inadequate Inheritor instead.
- And Now You Must Marry Me: In Chapter 12, when Ivona is given the engagement ring that should have been rightfully hers the moment the king sanctioned her being a fiance with Gaspal; a ring which she knows Gaspal gave to Tristan instead behind her back, she shakes with rage, realizing that Gaspal would stomp over his lover if said "love" gets in the way of his ambitions, so she turns him down. In response, he grabs her by the hand and drags her to the royal pulpit where he declares that they're already legally married, because her father Collin already signed the marriage paperwork. Fortunately, Claude asked for Ivona's hand in marriage as a favor from the king, as a reward for a major act of heroism, which trumps the legal agreement between Gaspal and Collin, and then Ivona proclaims that the fiance status between Gaspal and her wasn't legit in the first place, selling Gaspal as "a fake fiance" to keep her out of the hands of unworthy suitors, in exchange for "helping" him be a better summoner.
- Domestic Abuser: He insults, humiliates, and beats up on Ivona every chance he gets and calls her "crazy" in the current timeline because she refuses to suck up to him.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: He originally wins Ivona over by treating her kindly, but once she was in a fiance relationship with him, the gloves came off and he began to abuse her, making her more and more desperate to earn his affection by pushing herself until she broke and died.
- Black Sheep: The rest of the royal family, especially the king, are all good and decent people. He's the only one with a raging superiority complex and an irrational need to abuse the people he sees beneath him.
- The Casanova: Tristan has an ability to charm and manipulate women aided by his social status and good looks. Ivona isn't the only woman he's ensnared.
- Cornered Rattlesnake: After he's shown everyone how utterly incompetent he truly is in the middle of a fight with monsters summoned by the demon king's army, he realizes he's got absolutely no hope of redeeming himself, so he torches the camp supplies to cover his escape, seeking to flee to the emperor and spin a cock and bull story about how he's the victim before Claude, who was put in charge, can report to the emperor first.
- Depraved Bisexual: He had sexual relations with Ivona to try siring an heir, but cheated on her with Tristan, another guy, and would marry Tristan if it was legally possible, genuinely smitten with the guy.
- Driven by Envy: The driving force behind all his villainy is a deep-seated loathing for Duke Argentine because the latter is actually competent and has earned merits by his own efforts.
- Engineered Heroics: He convinces Sally to be his spy and that Ivona's the problem in their relationship by coming to Sally's rescue as she was being accosted by thugs. As the thugs are walking away, ostensibly not wanting to tangle with nobility, he whispers to them "well done."
- Entitled Bastard: He has a habit of showing up unannounced and then expecting Ivona to drop everything to make herself ready for him. When Ivona wakes up, having her life rewound by a year, and he does this to her, she decides to make him see what he's like by taking her sweet, sweet time getting ready for him, and when he complains, throwing his favorite insults back at him, leaving him confused and enraged.
- "Fawlty Towers" Plot: "Fake it until you make it" might make for great song lyrics, but it is terrible career advice. People who continuously steal the credit from others will trip over themselves and be found out sooner or later. He ignored his wake-up call at the royal ball, so when an epidemic hits the kingdom and he suddenly finds himself being tasked with using his non-existent summoning magic to provide the cure, he proceeds to fake illness to buy time and excuse his incompetence, but even this fails him when the crown princess stops by his estate and finds Tristan answering all her cure and summon related questions instead of him.
- General Failure: Especially seen during the Expedition, where he pretty much just stands around while his knights die. In chapter 80, he literally uses one of his family's knights as a Meat Shield. His men have never liked him but put up with him for being the "Golden Summoner." This action cements their HATRED of him.
- Hate Sink: He's clearly written to be hated. He gains glory for himself by stealing the accomplishments of others, abuses the people he gets those accomplishments from, especially his fiance, Ivona, has a completely insufferable superiority complex, going into angry rants the moment someone dares to point out his flaws, and he's completely unfaithful, getting into a homosexual adulterous tryst with Ivona's own cousin, not caring a whit how his wife tore herself to shreds trying to be of use to him in the past time-line, and trying to cage her in the current time-line for "being too stupid to realize her once in a life-time opportunity to be his bitch!".
- He-Man Woman Hater: Despite being surrounded by women more competent and powerful than him, Gaspal looks down on and underestimates women only viewing them as disposable tools.
- Inadequate Inheritor: Which the emperor calls him out on. The emperor blasts him for his incompetence and declares that because of her accomplishments, Seherz is on the fast track to being the first empress, ever, while Gaspal himself has been stripped of his position and removed from the running.
- I Reject Your Reality: Anything and everything that doesn't agree with his self-proclaimed superiority is the mad utterings of a total idiot.
- Jerkass Has a Point: His angry rants at Tristan are not without merit. Tristan is the one who advised stealing Ivona's accomplishments, so he bears some responsibility for the fallout, and when Gaspal gave the order to try and smuggle curative herbs across the border, delaying action only made things worse by letting the plague spread and having to spend more on said herbs, since the demand spiked. What's more, it's Gaspal's money that's paying for said herbs since Tristan is a parasite who doesn't have his own wealth, but can only leech off others.
- Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: While Ivona was still with Gaspal, the Guise order of Knights put up with him because at least he'd get right into the thick of battle with them and cover their backs. Gaspal only did this to hide the fact that he was stealing Ivona's credit. The moment Ivona goes off with Claude, he shows the knights his true personality, shouting orders (and insults) from the back while they fight and die to protect him and then tops it all off by grabbing the closest knight to use as a shield when a monster comes for him. And he has the gall to be shocked when the knights look at him with nothing but contempt.
- Laser-Guided Karma: At the royal ball, after he tries to drive Ivona to despair by forcing her into marriage with himself, she names and shames him, exposing the fact that he's nowhere near as good a summoner as he boasts, and has been stealing her accomplishments. He has no choice but to fess up because if he doesn't, his homosexual adultery will also be exposed in a very, very homophobic society.
- Make It Look Like an Accident: Although it was very, very poorly executed, he tried to run over Claude with a carriage, intending to pass it off as an unfortunate accident. After Claude bisected the carriage, front to back, and let the innocent horses escape, he throws this ill-conceived plot right in Gaspal's face before breaking his arm to get his attention away from his delusions of grandeur before curbstomping his superiority complex to shreds, and then secretly heals the arm so Gaspal can't run and whine to his uncle emperor, with a cock and bull story that Claude is the one who attacked him.
- Masculine–Feminine Gay Couple: The masculine to Tristan's feminine.
- Narcissist: He is madly in love with himself, believes that the public should worship him as an unrivaled "genius" despite the fact that he has no talent in anything, simply because he's the king's nephew, and absolutely can't handle it when he's called out on his bad behavior, even when it's behavior he has called out on others.
- Poison and Cure Gambit: To secure a replacement "shadow" after Ivona's departure and Tristan's less than stellar results, he poisons the poor woman's father, while the man was in his employ, dangles the cure at her on the condition that she let him claim her summons as his own, and use the Voten forbidden summoning tome to boost her strength with a Deadly Upgrade, and once she agrees, he decides to prevent "cold-feet" by slipping brain-washing drugs into her meals. Ivona wrecks all of his machinations by curing the man and clearing the woman of her mind-addled state. The woman exposes Gaspal's incompetence in revenge.
- Psychological Projection: While he thinks himself completely innocent of it, the only reason he gets any pull at all is the fact that he's the king's nephew, and that he steals the accomplishments of others. So when someone outshines him, he happily presumes that someone is undeserving of his accolades and just lucked into it.
- Red Baron: "The golden summoner" due to his golden blonde hair, the fact that he dresses in gold-colored clothing, and the fact that he presents other people's summons as his own.
- Revenge Myopia: After putting Ivona through a lot of grief, including screwing around on her, he has the gall to demand vengeance when she so much as calls him out on his narcissisms.
- Sarcastic Confession: In chapter 63, he finally realizes that he's been caught red-handed faking his summoning prowess, so he angrily shouts at Ivona, in public, and right in front of Duke Claude Argentine, that he's got no ability as a summoner, at all, and dares her to report him to the emperor, to Tristan's blue-faced chagrin.
- Self-Serving Memory: Wearing bandages on his forehead, he screeches that Claude attacked his carriage for no reason, and crippled him by breaking his arm and a few ribs. Nobody believes him because not only did Claude heal his injuries with magic while he was unconscious, but Gaspal's credibility is already shot because all his lies and credit stealing were already exposed, so the knights that arrest him and drag him to the public dressing down by the emperor pay no heed to his protests, actively pointing out how if his injury claims were true, he couldn't even shout and struggle in the first place.
- Small Name, Big Ego: Granted he is the king's nephew, but he's only a Baron. The man he sees as an insolent upstart is Duke Argentine.
- Spoiled Brat: Deconstructed. Growing up, he was ostensibly praised for merely existing as the sole male heir of the Guise family. It all went to his head and he abused the family knights. He would train with an iron sword while they could only use wooden swords. If the knights training him still won the spar, even with such a glaring handicap, he would insult their chivalry. His parents never corrected him, so he grew up to believe he's a much better fighter than he really is. As an adult, he now thinks way, way too highly of himself, insulting everyone around him, and keeps tripping over his own ego, not understanding why everyone mocks his incompetence.
- Stealing the Credit: He is no summoner. In fact, he has no magical power at all. In the original time-line, he stole the credit for Ivona's summons to make himself a fabled "hero" and take the throne. In the current time-line, he takes the credit for Tristan's summons to preserve what little of his reputation remains as Ivona is married to Claude instead.
- Stupid Evil: All his vile acts are ultimately self-destructive, but as a victim of his own superiority complex, he utterly refuses to believe it, calling anyone and everyone who disagrees with his self-righteousness a moron.
- Unknown Rival: He wants to exceed and bury Claude's name in the eyes of the public. Claude does not know nor care.
- Unwitting Pawn: He's genuinely smitten with Tristan, and believes it's mutual, but Tristan is merely playing him to gain the crown's influence for revenge over his Evil Uncle and all of aristocratic society.
- Wants a Prize for Basic Decency: He thinks Ivona should be on her hands and knees, thanking him, because he gave her a cheap ring as a gift to prove his affection, after she begged for it.
Collin Vouten
It's all your fault! How dare you not cover my debts and support my hedonism!
Ivona's father.- Abusive Dad: During her childhood, he beat up on Ivona for any reason, real or imagined, and also subjects her to Financial Abuse in the present, striking her across the face if she so much as dares to complain.
- Domestic Abuse: When Ivona was very small, he drove Ivona's mother out of the house with life-threatening violence, forcing the poor woman to flee for her life. The reason Ivona was left behind has yet to be mentioned.
- Entitled Bastard: He honestly believes that Ivona is duty-bound to cover all his debts and support his hedonism.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Despite trying to slap Ivona across the face just seconds before for daring to offend Gaspal and cut off the funds for his hedonistic lifestyle, when Ivona shows him hard evidence that Gaspal is in an adulterous relationship with Tristan, he turns on both Gaspal and Tristan and calls them both out on it, even disowning Tristan for his part.
- Evil Uncle: He is one to Tristan, responsible for the collapse of Tristan's household and the boy's father drinking himself to death in despair.
- Hair-Trigger Temper: He flies into rages at the tiniest provocation, real or imagined.
- The Hedonist: All he cares about is his own pleasure. He stole his brother's title and inheritance, spends cash and valuables on hookers like it's going out of style, and eats luxurious meals far in excess of what he can afford, but if Ivona doesn't happily suck up to Gaspal to give him more and more money to pay for it all, she's a useless girl that serves no purpose.
- Hookers and Blow: He is introduced to the audience in a brothel, surrounding himself with prostitutes and indulging in luxurious wine. The only reason he realized something was wrong is that the valet told him that Gaspal had cut him off, instead of bringing the jewel he had ordered prepared for his oncoming tryst.
- Karma Houdini Warranty: Shortly before Claude walks Ivona down the aisle, he shows up one last time, insisting that it's his right to present the bride as her biological father. When Ivona emphatically refuses to let him anywhere near the wedding venue, he tries to smack her across the face; she makes him back down with a Death Glare. At that point, she disowns him, and walks away. Now he's got no options as his hedonistic lifestyle must come to a screeching halt, Gaspal has no reason to give him a single coin, and his creditors are still going to come after him for payment on his outstanding debts.
- Never My Fault: The fact that he repeatedly drives himself into debt with his hedonistic ways is never his fault, the blame must surely lie elsewhere.
- Wants a Prize for Basic Decency: He loves to paint Ivona as an Ungrateful Bitch whenever she calls him out on abusing her because he provided her with food, clothing, and shelter as she grew up.
Tristan Vouten
Ivona, you need to grow up and just bear with it.
Ivona's cousin.- Ambiguous Situation: In chapter 63, after Gaspal has angrily "confessed" how he's been deceiving the emperor by claiming to be a summoner when he's not, Tristan flips back hair from his ear in a manner that could be construed as trying to shamelessly flirt with Claude. Is it a nervous tic or was he really trying to flirt with a married man, right in front of his wife?
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: He pretends to be madly in love with Gaspal, but he's really only playing the guy like a fiddle. He also pretends to be kind to Ivona so he can exploit her.
- Depraved Homosexual: He's in a sexual relationship with Gaspal, another guy, and is an enabler for all the abuse Ivona's suffered.
- Did Not Think This Through: His plans to smuggle the herbs Gaspal needs to cover his lack of summoning ability were foiled by the fact that he decided to use carriages camouflaged by invisibility and inaudibility magic through a crowded city square, in broad daylight, nearly getting a couple of children run over and killed. Ivona and Claude, on a hot-springs vacation, happen to spot said carriages and trace them back to the source, the herb market and then Ivona finds him right at the center of the smugglers.
- Double Standard: Whenever Ivona's in trouble, he refuses to help saying he has to remain neutral, but when Ivona retaliates to the abuse of her father and fiance, suddenly he intervenes.
- Driven by Envy: The end of chapter 62 reveals that he pointedly turns a blind eye to the pitfalls of Ivona's life because he covets what he sees as her perks. He's pointedly envious of the fact that as a woman she can be married to a higher rank, he sees all the luxuries Collin surrounds himself with, and notices how much success Ivona's managed to earn with Duke Claude Argestine in a mutually beneficial commitment and deludes himself into thinking she somehow stole those things from him, just because she was born with a womb that can bear children while he wasn't.
- Driven to Villainy: His father, Collin's brother, had his inheritance stolen and his named ruined by Collin, and as a young child, he could do nothing but watch as his father drowned himself to death by booze in despair. He believes he has no other option for his survival and vengeance but riding Gaspal's coattails to gain access to the crown. Ivona's suffering is merely unfortunate collateral damage.
- Entitled Bastard: In chapter 63, his internal monologue reveals that he genuinely believes he is owed the fruits of Ivona's labors, even though he smirked and laughed as everyone else happily insulted her and put her down, not to mention he himself called her efforts to earn the affection of her father, her fiance, etc. "stupid."
- Even Evil Has Standards: When Gaspal comes to him, expecting to get solace and comfort for being humiliated in the royal court as a direct result of ambushing Ivona with a marriage decree that was signed behind her back, even Tristan himself can't help but call out how stupid, self-destructive, and ignorant that is. Rather than learn his lesson, Gaspal instead angrily threatens Tristan, seeing himself as the wronged party and Playing the Victim Card.
- Feeling Oppressed by Their Existence: He hates Ivona for the fact that she exists, and twists himself into pretzels to "justify" it by deluding himself into thinking that she's the one trying to steal everything from him and ruin his life, not the other way around.
- Freudian Excuse: Because Uncle Collin was born a few minutes before his unnamed father, his house was in abysmal poverty, due to Collin using his rights as first-born to strip everything away from his younger sibling to support his hedonism, leaving Tristan no choice but to suck up to Collin to survive. To escape Collin, he tried to curry favor with Duke Argentine, but since the duke doesn't respond to empty flattery, and Tristan was only one of many, he missed out. Then he saw Gaspal and immediately realized the latter's envy, so latched on and began feeding the narcissist's ego to manipulate him.
- Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse: Despite his horrid childhood, where he was forced to go suck up to his Evil Uncle to survive, he has no excuse for taking out his grudge on Ivona, who he saw was treated worse, stealing the fruits of her labor, and laughing at her when the noble lords and ladies mocked her for the fact that she was stuck with hand-me downs and left-overs as a result of her father's hedonistic lifestyle.
- Gold Digger: Gaspal isn't the only one he leeches from. He is on-screen shown schmoozing women for money too, and when he got caught, blamed Gaspal for it.
- Hate Sink: Whatever sympathy he got early in the story for the fact that his father was driven to poverty and to drink in despair by the actions of Collin Vouten completely evaporates when taking into account his current actions and his own flashbacks where he is treated kindly in the Vouten house, does not take his studies seriously, and blames Ivona for all his suffering and misfortune that he willingly brought unto himself by trying to screw her over in the first place, just to make himself feel superior to her.
- Hope Spot: In chapter 64, Claude stomps off after Gaspal for "a little chat" after the narcissist insulted his wife right in his face, leaving Ivona and Tristan together. At this point, Tristan approaches Ivona seeking to suck up to her and reproaches her "for being mean after all he's done for her." Ivona turns his own tricks on him, using cleverly worded lies and half-truths to make Tristan believe there's an opening at Claude's estate and highlighting that the abusive Gaspal is beneath him. Tristan visibly lights up as Ivona skulks away, pondering how she has now effectively driven a wedge between her two abusers and has no plans to ever welcome Tristan if he dares show his mug at the Argentine estate.
- Inferiority Superiority Complex: He's got a completely unjustified persecution complex, genuinely believes he's gone though a lot of hard work and struggle to climb the social ranks, only for Ivona to have everything he wants easily fall into her lap, and throws himself a pity party, saying how "unfair" it all is.
- Lack of Empathy: His ability to care for others died with his father.
- Laser-Guided Karma: In chapter 109, he uses the forbidden Vouten tome on summoning magic to give himself a power boost and resurrects the beasts the kingdom expedition force already struck down, wrecking his good looks he's so proud of, and the rest of his life-span, struggling to hold on for the rest of the night, both to get petty vengeance and to make himself remembered in the history books. Ivona retaliates by summoning Lucius, outshining him with incredible ease, resulting in him fading into obscurity, crying tears of despair.
- Masculine–Feminine Gay Couple: The feminine to Gaspal's masculine.
- Mistreatment-Induced Betrayal: In chapters 65 and 66, he's the one who reports Gaspal to the emperor, after being yelled at and insulted one time too often, being shouted down as inferior to Ivona, even though Gaspal himself calls Ivona all sorts of unpleasant terms like "that trash I threw away."
- Moral Myopia: He schemes to manipulates Gaspal to marry Ivona and steal her accomplishments so he can be the power behind the throne, engages in a homosexual and adulterous tryst with Gaspal to keep the manipulation going, turns a blind eye to all the abuse Ivona suffers from her father and Gaspal, but when everything goes to hell because Ivona dared to marry Claude Argentine and actually be happy, and princess Seherz notices how inept and incompetent Gaspal really is, making her strongly consider taking the throne herself, and then Gaspal starts being violent and abusive to him personally, it's Ivona and the princess that are trying to steal everything from him, denying him his happiness.
- Never My Fault: In chapter 63, his own flashbacks show him not taking his studies into summoning magic seriously, calling it "boring," he gave Ivona the idea to take up summoning magic as a lark because he was treated better while learning said magic while her existence made both her parents angry, and she struggled to learn said magic in spite of her father yelling at her for it, thus putting in more effort than he did, and when she inevitably got better results, he throws himself a pity party saying that "What's the point of doing all of this if you got everything so easily. It's so unfair... How pathetic my life is."
- Psychological Projection: Though he completely deludes himself into thinking he's innocent of it, since he's out to steal away everything from Ivona in Revenge by Proxy against his Evil Uncle, he sees Ivona's struggles and the fruits of her labor as stealing everything away from him, and trying to prove herself superior "despite being dumber and uglier than he is."
- Revenge Myopia: After Gaspal's fall, he runs to Ivona and tries to suck up to get in the good graces of the Argentine estate. As Ivona calls him out on everything he's done to her, from as petty as constantly ridiculing her as they grew up to enabling Colin and Gaspal's abuse, he has the gall to see himself as the wronged party and swear vengeance.
- Romantic Fake–Real Turn: While the early chapters showed that he was only manipulating Gaspal as a Meal Ticket so he could be the power behind the throne, chapter 62 reveals that he did indeed start to have feelings for Gaspal at some point.
- Selective Obliviousness: He completely turns a blind eye to all of Ivona's hardships so he can be self-righteously jealous of her accolades and accomplishments while throwing himself a pity party.
- Trans Tribulations: Deconstructed. Not only does he live in a society that doesn't even comprehend the concept of gender dysphoria, but he's got a raging case of Venus envy, frequently fantasizes (at least verbally) about actually being a woman, deeply resents being male, and completely ignores the glaring downsides of being female, like the fact that they have virtually no legal standing, can't choose their wedding partners, and have no means to flee abuse, focusing on what he sees as "perks," such as being a Gold Digger, and having the means to marry into a higher social strata, rather than having to earn it by merit.
- Villain Forgot to Level Grind: Because he focused on intrigue and manipulation over boosting his summoning magic prowess, he actually grew weaker over time. He launches a fool-hardy attack on the expedition force for petty vengeance only to be completely outshone by Ivona, looked at with disgust by the army, and fading into obscurity, forgotten.
The terrorist bomber
Protect them? Don't joke with me!
A no name anarchist who attempted to sabotage the fireworks display with explosive magic for reasons that remain unknown.- Never My Fault: He blames the people trying to stop his arson and terrorist attack for the fact that he put a knife to an innocent child's throat and repeatedly made threats against the child's life.
- No Name Given: His name is never mentioned, and now that he's blown himself up in chapter 11, there's no need to know.
- Nothing Personal: He had no grudge with any of the people at the festival, he just tried to blow the place up because it was "his job" and had the gall to be enraged that the fireworks he and his buddies were sabotaging were disarmed.
- Spiteful Suicide: After Claude Argentine beats him down, he casts explosive magic on himself, looking to ruin Claude's name and cause as many casualties as possible. Fortunately for everyone else present, Ivona uses Arsla to smother the explosion, making him the only casualty of his actions.
- Terrorists Without a Cause: He never mentions a reason why he had to blow up the festival square, aside from it "being his job" or what his group had to gain from all the casualties. He just got angry that he was thwarted and blew himself up to spite the man he thought responsible.
- Virtue Is Weakness: He calls Claude an idiot for dropping the royal holy sword in exchange for the life of the child hostage and then attacks Claude with an enchanted knife. Unfortunately for him, Claude didn't need the sword to thwart the attack and beat him down.
- Would Hurt a Child: He put an enchanted knife against a child's throat, used the child as a shield, and repeatedly made death threats against the child because someone was "interfering with his job" ie, trying to stop him from blowing up crowded festival grounds.
Adolph Vergeni
Come this way, sir. Since you've purchased so much for your lovely wife, perhaps you're interested in our "special items"?
The head auctioneer of the black-market Ginesti auction house.- Does This Remind You of Anything?: The auction house's "special item" is a bunch of eyes taken from an oppressed race and treated as jewels. Where have we seen that before?
- Greater-Scope Villain: It was his men that launched the terrorist attack near the start of the story, but even he doesn't know why his backers wanted it, and he was told that it's above his paygrade.
- He was also behind the attack on Ivona's carriage while she was inspecting Claude's fruit forest for the ingredients she needs to boost her mana capacity.
- The Hedonist: His Fatal Flaw. He is easily enticed by the prospect of money and his personal pleasure. It leads to his end when he tries to fleece Claude.
- Neck Lift: He is introduced getting lectured by his backers, dragged into the air by a magic circle around his neck.
- Slavery Is a Special Kind of Evil: He traded in enslaved Tigre Clan members, sold their eyes like jewelry, tortured the Sole Survivor for "training" and had a couple of human children locked away at his auction house, for untold reasons. The Tigre clan boy was the only one to be successfully rescued.
- Would Hurt a Child: In addition to the eyes of the Tigre Clan, he also had several small children enslaved and slapped with a death-curse, which he used as hostages to try and secure his escape. Although he and his men were killed before he could trigger the curse, his backers triggered the curse remotely from a great distance.
- You Have Failed Me: He is berated for failing in his assigned task, twice, once being the terrorist bombing and the other being the attack on Ivona.
The Temple
Bardran Famegreen
Divine spirits are not like people. Just as summoners are different from us...
A royal knight that has an intense hatred for summoners due to unstated reasons that go beyond bigotry.- Good Is Not Nice: He's rather ascerbic, but when push comes to shove, his top priority is helping the innocent and the downtrodden.
- I Owe You My Life: He comes to the realization that not all summoners are bad when Ivona saves his life while investigating the criminal "auction house."
- My Sister Is Off-Limits: Though she's his cousin, not sister, he warns Ivona not to draw the adorable little girl into the dangerous world of summoning magic.
- Noble Bigot: He does want to protect the weak and innocent people of the kingdom, but he has an intense hatred for summoners as a whole.
- Noodle Incident: Why does he hate summoners so much? It's not simple bigotry. He has some kind of personal, first-hand experience, and alludes to a murder committed by summoners disguising their identity through the use of summons.
- The Paladin: He's an official paladin of the temple.
- Red Is Heroic: Sports red hair and is a genuine hero.
- Spotting the Thread: Even though all the terrorists who targeted the fireworks festival were found dead in custody before they could be questioned, he recognized them as workers from "the auction house."
Priest Kerda
Duke Argentine, you are the wielder of the holy sword. How dare you turn your back on the temple! Can it be you've let yourself be seduced by that vile witch and led astray?!
A lower-ranked priest that gets a letter from Gaspal trying to use the temple's influence to undermine Ivona's efforts in fighting an epidemic purely to keep from being outshined. Rather than go to his superiors, Kerda takes it upon himself to go to Duke Argentine's home and rebuke both Claude and Ivona for "the blaspphemy" of distributing a cure for the disease without the temple's sanction, even though the cure is working and the temple's actions are already shown to be ineffective.- Ad Hominem: Rather than rebuff Claude's genuine assertions that the temple's counter-measures to the epidemic have proven ineffective, people are suffering and dying as the temple scrambles to find its own solution, and the situation is desperate enough to justify Ivona providing an alternate cure, he condemns Claude as a "heretic" for not blindly falling into lock-step with the temple's dogma and decries Ivona herself as a witch that led Claude astray. That last part rightly pissed off Claude.
- Belief Makes You Stupid: He must have had to trade in his brain to get his frock.
- Didn't Think This Through: After his ill-advised lecturing of Claude and insults towards Ivona, at what could be argued as the worst possible time, his superiors in the temple fire and excommunicate him, to try and mend relations with both the Panarma empire and the Argestine house.
- The Fundamentalist: He proclaims that the temple is infallible, and going against the temple's offical policy for any reason is blasphemous at best, heretical at worst.
- It's Probably Nothing: When he reads Gaspal's letter, he immediately has suspicions regarding the latter's motives and intentions but prioritizes sanctioning Claude and Ivona for daring to actually fight the epidemic themselves rather than sit back and wait for the temple to get its act together.
- Know-Nothing Know-It-All: He has no clue how the temple's "statues of purification" work, why they're ineffective in dealing with the epidemic, and hasn't the faintest clue regarding the cure Ivona researched, or the nature of the epidemic, yet he storms into Claude's mansion and starts barking orders and condemnation because Claude and Ivona are handling the epidemic in a way the temple has yet to investigate.
- Lawful Stupid: He'd rather let people die in huge numbers rather than let a "witch's brew" be distributed in the empire because "only god can decide who lives or dies."
- Right for the Wrong Reasons: He may have gone to Duke Argentine's home to lecture him for the "blasphemy" of using an herbal cure to fight the plague strangling the kingdom, but he is right to check up on the duke since there is something seriously wrong. Not only is the holy sword starting to reject Claude, but chapter 63 has Ivona worried because Claude is acting as if something is speaking by borrowing his voice, and their romp through the ruins in the Argentine estate did, in fact, have them make contact with some kind of powerful entity with a less than pleasant history.
- Tautological Templar: Because the temple's belief in god is noble, the temple's actions are noble, no exceptions, and going against the temple's mandate, for any reason, is an unforgiveable sin.
- Too Dumb to Live: He goes to Duke Argentine's home, alone, to berate a Duke and slander his wife to his face, in his territory, and refused to back down when Claude calls him out on how he doesn't have a leg to stand on, especially since Claude is armed, he knows Claude is armed, and Claude has the legal right to respond with force, including deadly force if need be, to any slander against his house. How, just how, did he expect that to go well? Was he expecting god to suddenly descend and intervene or something?
Grand Priest Benedict
I do not promise the impossible
The regional "pope" of the church.- Admiring the Abomination: He's trying to summon the demon king for unknown reasons.
- Ambiguous Situation: He speaks as if he either remembers or actually lived a previous time-line and is annoyed that events don't match what he remembers.
- Early-Bird Cameo: He's first seen from behind in chapter 53. He is revealed properly in chapter 114.
- Exact Words: He promises Tristan healing and secrecy in regards to his dealings with Gaspal in return for secrecy regarding his own dealings. By agreeing, Tristan lost his ability to speak and write, perhaps permanently.
- Feeling Oppressed by Their Existence: Yvona's very existence enrages him. It doesn't help that she keeps foiling his plans unknowingly.
- For Your Own Good: He passes off his cruel treatment of Tristan by telling the guy it's for his sake.
- Good Powers, Bad People: He has powerful healing magic, but uses it to secure leonine contracts and bait and switch gambits.
- Greater-Scope Villain: He's responsible for all the nastiness in the story.
- Leonine Contract: How he manages to entrap Tristan. He promises to cure the backlash from the forbidden texts, but at a very steep price. Considering the backlash is fatal, Tristan agrees, but even then the price tends up being even greater than advertised.
- Light Is Not Good: As the Grand Priest, he specializes in light magic and healing, but he's despicable.
- Walking Spoiler: Good luck speaking about this character without revealing the biggest twist of the story.
Argentine house
Racheal Argentine
Don't be lazy! Be accepted by that damn sword already!
Claude's mother.- Awful Wedded Life: Her marriage was not a happy one. Because of her father's obsession with fulfilling a prophecy that his bloodline would give birth to the holy sword wielder that would save the world, she was forced to marry a man named Gerald who was inferior to her in everything, except for swordsmanship and had a wild personality without any ducal dignity. He made up for his inferiority complex by abusing her. When she protested her treatment, her father just told her "all women have it like that. Be patient, once your son is born, he'll come to his senses." This, of course, never came to pass.
- Despair Event Horizon: Trapped in a marriage with an abusive husband with no recourse, options, or means of escape, she began to wonder why the hell she should be alive.
- Gilded Cage: As can be seen, she is surrounded by luxury, but she can't enjoy it. She's trapped in a family of male abusers, including her father and her husband. It's a miracle Claude has any semblance of sanity.
- Post Humous Character: Long time dead by the time she's introduced.
- Troubled Abuser: Because of the pressure her father put on her to sire the "hero who would save the world" as a result of a hundred-years-old prophecy and her husband who would abuse her to vent his feelings of inferiority, she turned and took out her frustrations on Claude, her son, pushing him harder and harder to try and earn the respect of that damn piece of metal called a holy sword.
Gerald Argentine
Do you think anyone would marry you if it wasn't for your family name, huh?!
Rachel's husband, chosen only for his proficiency with a sword. He's wild and inferior to her in every way and abused her to vent his feelings of inferiority.- Domestic Abuse: He abused Rachel purely to drive away his feelings of inferiority to the woman he was forced to marry.
- The Ghost: He is never shown in the story. His only appearance is a rough sketch like a diary that details his actions.
- Inferiority Superiority Complex: He abused Rachel to make himself feel superior because he knew he's actually inferior.
- Karmic Death: He loved to abuse Rachel to make himself feel better. When his son turned six, a random monster killed him while he was out hunting.
- Posthumous Character: By the time he's mentioned, he's long dead.
- Took the Wife's Name: It's implied he married into the Argentine house because his wife Rachel kept her maiden name and her son Claude is also an Argentine.
Roussef Argentine
All women are like that! Be patient. Once his son is born, he'll come to his senses!
Rachel's father. Going by a 100-year old prophecy, he proclaims that he will sire the wielder of the holy sword who will save the world. He abandons his first wife who was barren and remarries, but that woman died in childbirth, giving him a daughter. Focusing all his hate on the dead woman, he raises his daughter to believe her only purpose in life is to sire a son who can wield said sword. To facilitate this, he chooses for her Gerald, the man with the best swordsmanship of all the available candidates. When Gerald starts to abuse her to vent his feelings of inferiority, he pooh-poohs Rachel's suffering and treats her as if she's insane for not being willing to persevere through it to give him that heir he wants so badly.- Abusive Dad: He's both emotionally abusive to Rachel and an enabler for Gerald's abuse towards her.
- The Ghost: His actions are never on-screen. Just like with Gerald, he's only referrenced by a rough sketch, in a diary showcasing his actions.
- It's All About Me: He doesn't give a crap about his wives, children, grandchildren, in-laws, etc. All he cares about is his own personal legacy and authority. He pushes so hard for an heir to wield the holy sword, not because the world is at risk from an unspecified threat, but because he would be inconvenienced if the prophecy he boasted of doesn't come to pass.
- Posthumous Character: By the time he's mentioned, he is long dead.
- Stupid Evil: Rather than remarry, get a concubine, or even a mistress, he abuses his daughter and forces her into a marriage with a brute who abused her to vent his feelings of inferiority. It's amazing Claude was born at all.
Viscount Benier
Duchess! We're in the north! How could there be any bugs here?!
One of the sub-houses of the Argentine estate. He is introduced when Claude is hosting an emergency meeting to deal with a pandemic hitting the empire. He is initially very dismissive of Ivona' presence, both because she's a woman and a commoner, but changes his opinion quickly once he sees that her contributions to the discussion are valid, and shows gratitude when Ivona's proposed treatment shows immediate results.- Ad Hominem: He first decries Ivona's input because the source is both a woman and a commoner until Claude points out that Ivona's research comes from his own library.
- Jerkass Realization: He happily eats crow when Ivona's plan proves effective at easing the suffering of the people in his territory caused by an epidemic.
- Straw Misogynist: Like most of the aristocrats of the empire, he's very patriarcal, but he at least has the decency to apologize when Ivona's propsals prove effective, and shows gratitude when the people of his territory wind up benefiting from the cure she provides them.
Others
Morgane
Duke Argentine, could you repeat that? Did you say 'all of them?!
The owner of a new and not-well known boutique that Ivona stumbles upon as she's looking to buy a dress for the yearly festival and then the royal ball. While the rest of the boutiques stared down their noses at "the upstart commoner," she's the only one who gave Ivona a fair shake. When Ivona returns with Claude in tow, looking to expand her wardrobe, the duke notes her interest and buys up every single dress on display.- Enlightened Self-Interest: It only makes sense from a customer service perspective to offer customers a fair deal on their first visit, if you run a new establishment, especially in a setting where the only advertising is word of mouth. So Ivona returns with a duke in tow promoting the business, and the fact that he buys out the entire inventory is bound to make waves.
- Honest Corporate Executive: She's an honest and fair merchant, selling Ivona a classy yet humble dress that Ivona wears for days until she's Claude's fiance and returns for others.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Because she treated Ivona kindly, she gets a major windfall from Claude on a return visit, as Claude buys every single dress on display, so Ivona can wear whatever she likes, whenever she likes.
Princess Seherz Nohael Parama
Gaspal, why is Tristan answering all my questions? That is very strange. It's almost as if he's the summoner, not you.
The crown princess.- Cultural Rebel: Although the empire's well-being is of primary importance to her, that doesn't mean she's just going to always quietly go along with the empire's patriarchal culture without complaint. Ivona thinks she might just become the country's first empress when her father starts recognizing her potential, and is looking forward to it.
- Good Is Not Dumb: She is actually quite intelligent and sees through Gaspal's credit stealing antics with ease.
- Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Blonde and a good, kind woman who treasures her kingdom's subjects.
- Obfuscating Stupidity: How she manipulates Gaspal, who believes she's just a sheltered princess. She acts dumb while calling him out on his lies and expertly maneuvers him into a no win situation proving to her he's been taking credit for other people's work.
- Pimped-Out Dress: Her normal attire as the crown princess.
- Princess Classic: As intelligent as she is, the kingdom rules only allow her to prance around and look pretty most of the time. However, after her contributions to countering the plague in the kingdom and seeing how unworthy Gaspal is, her father starts to seriously consider making Seherz the next ruler instead.
- Royals Who Actually Do Something: When a plague hits the kingdom, she takes to the front lines and offers her help, personally. Though she contracts the disease and collapses, the moment she's well again, she goes and investigates her cousin, Gaspal, who is falling behind on providing the needed cure, claiming sickness. She quickly picks up on the fact that he's faking the illness and his summoning abilities when Tristan answers all her summon and cure related questions instead.
- Silk Hiding Steel: An elegant and weak princess who nevertheless hide a core of steel and the wits to be an empress.
Marquis Julia Celton
Just what does Duke Argentine see in that commoner summoner anyway?! I've been groomed to be the perfect bride most of my life and as a Marquis, I'm clearly a better match!
One of many noble suitors looking to take Claude's hand in marriage, purely for the sake of politics. She takes an immediate dislike to Ivona as a result of Ivona becoming Claude's fiance.- An Aesop: After being rescued by Ivona's magic from a rape attempt, she realizes that there's more to being a woman than simply being "the perfect bride" and begins to ponder that maybe there's something she can do to carve her own mark on the world, rather than trying to simply live in some man's shadow. She later goes on to help the princess distribute the cure to the plague and eventually decides to attend an academy overseas to expand her horizons and worth as an individual.
- Attempted Rape: When Princess Parama's birthday party is over, as she's bemoaning how Claude has chosen Ivona over herself, one of the male, presumably drunk, retainers corners her, pins her down and makes very explicit demands for sex, and fear for the loss of her noble reputation keeps her from fighting him off. Fortunately, Ivona, of all people, comes to her rescue, tossing the yahoo into the nearby lake to cool his head, using plant and vine manipulation.
- Beat Them at Their Own Game: On the wrong end. She was certain that her best skill, embroidery, would blow Ivona out of the water. Ivona shockingly beat her without even actually trying, and this shattered her delusions of grandeur.
- Chekhov's Skill: Julia's status as the head of high society makes her an effective leader and she can organize nobles during a crisis, allowing her to help with the plague.
- Crippling Overspecialization: She's mastered all sorts of bridal and maiden courtly etiquette, like embroidery, table manners, and so on, but when she's dragged to the ground by a drunk letch who tries to rape her, she has nothing to fall back on to deal with it. After getting rescued by Ivona, she begins to realize how limited she truly is, which leads to her assissting the princess when a plague hits the kingdom and later going overseas to attend an academy.
- Freudian Excuse: She spent her whole life being groomed to be "the perfect wife" and her entire identity revolved around being the marriage candidate for the highest rank of noble she can find. When she's passed over for a commoner with little, if any, knowledge in the way of noble etiquette, it's a complete anathema to her existence.
- Heel–Face Turn: She was introduced being highly antagonistic to Ivona, but after her epiphany, she's shown doing works of charity, and when an epidemic appears in the kingdom, teams up with the princess to help distribute the cure
- Ignored Enemy: Ivona pointedly ignores all her attempts at slander, malicious gossip, and insult. Compared to the crap Ivona's had to endure from Gaspal, Tristan, and her own father, she finds Julia's antics "cute."
- Jerkass Realization: After being rescued by Ivona, she comes to realize that her assessment of Ivona was completely wrong, and she was being antagonistic for no good reason.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: She may be a vicious slandering gossip, but deep down, she is a good and kind woman who would devote her all to her husband and family.
- Put on a Bus: In chapter 68, Ivona hears that she's gone to an unstated academy overseas so she can contribute something to society without having to latch on to some man purely to sire his kids.
- Unknown Rival: All her attempts to demean Ivona are motivated by trying to take Claude for herself. Ivona simply does not care about it.
Lillian Famegreen
Wow! So cute! Can I be a summoner too, Miss Ivona?!
A little girl Ivona meets at the princess's birthday party who takes an immediate liking to her.- Cheerful Child: Happy and upbeat.
- Children Are Innocent: Not a trace of malice in her body.
- Fangirl: She adores and almost idolizes Ivona, seeking the duchess out for etiquette training, especially embroidery, and wants to learn to be a summoner.
- One Degree of Separation: She's Badran's younger cousin (sister).
- Pink Means Feminine: Wears pink and is an absolute cutie.
