Karstedt

Karstedt (カルステッド, Karusutetto) is the commander of the Knight's Order in Ehrenfest and Rozemyne’s noble father.

Karstedt and his first wife, Elvira, are also the parents of Eckhart, Lamprecht and Cornelius.

Karstedt is a somewhat stocky older man with reddish-brown hair. Due to his many years of training, he moves with precision, and Myne thinks that he has the "furiously intense air of a warrior".

A reliable and honorable man, Karstedt takes responsibility for his own actions and those of his subordinates. He stands firm on what he believes to be right and is not easily swayed. He also showed that he can be kind and affectionate, treating the commoner shrine maiden Myne like family as soon as her adoption was planned.

Karstedt was born as the son of Bonifatius, an archduke candidate of Ehrenfest. Because the Sixth Aub Ehrenfest's first children were all girls, and he didn't plan on taking a second wife, Karstedt and his brothers were also raised as archduke candidates. When Sylvester was born, Karstedt (roughly 11 years old) was removed from the line of succession and became an archnoble.

After his father Bonifatius retired as the commander of the Knight's Order, Karstedt became the next Knight Commander. He was on good terms with Ferdinand during the time he served as a knight, recognizing him as his family and his cousin despite pressure from Veronica to ostracize him. Even after Ferdinand gave up his status and entered the temple, Karstedt continued to treat him with respect as a higher-ranking noble.

Karstedt married three times. His first marriage was a political match with Elvira, an archnoble woman who created the Florencia faction and the younger sister of the Leisegang-aligned Giebe Haldenzel. They had three sons, Eckhart, Lamprecht, and Cornelius. His next marriage was to his second wife Trudeliede, an archnoble and a member of the Veronica faction. They had a son named Nikolaus.

Finally, Karstedt married his third wife Rozemary, a mednoble who had an abundance of mana. He loved her deeply and wanted to have a child with her. However, her family (including Viscount Joisontak) were troublemakers who began using her new status as an excuse to make demands on the family. When Trudeliede turned against Rozemary, Karstedt took his third wife's side. In turn, that forced Elvira to take Trudeliede's side to maintain balance in the household.

The entire family was strained by the conflict, which grew increasingly unpleasant as the years passed. In the end, Rozemary, who had a very poor consititution, died from the harassment and stress, deepening the gap between Karstedt and his other wives.

Karstedt was responsible to choose to knights to guard Myne during the trombe extermination. His subordinates failed and one of them even hurt Myne, which lead to a failure on his part. As punishment his pay got reduced and he had to pay half the price of Myne's new ceremonial clothes.

After Myne's memory searching, Ferdinand visits Karstedt's estate to return the magic tool. There he receives Ferdinand's report about his findings, while being amused and surprised by Ferdinand's attachment to Myne. Ferdinand wishes for Karstedt to adopt Myne and that as early as possible. Karstedt respects Ferdinand and deeply trust him, and so accepts his wish.

Karstedt visits the temple and speaks to Myne about the adoption. Due to Myne's emotional instability the meeting ended abruptly. He remained involved with Myne and investigated Wolf with Ferdinand.

Afterwards, Sylvester investigates Myne in the temple as undercover blue priest, he follows Sylvester as his bodyguard. On one night during their Spring Prayer travel, they spend their night with music and sword dancing, where Karstedt displays his skillful sword dance. They were attacked during their travels once, leading Karstedt to unleash a strong magical attack with his sword turning rainbow-coloury. With the Spring Prayer completed successsfully and finishing the investigation, Sylvester and Karstedt leave the temple.

Their roads cross not long after, at the time of the Archduke Conference. Sylvester and Karstedt returned to Ehrenfest using the Noble's Gate, and find themselves amidst a fight. In a matter of a few seconds they reacted and followed Myne's instructions. The fight ended following Sylvester's job to judge the situation. Having determined the criminals and called in the Knight's Order, they could finally dedicate their time to discuss Myne's adoption. While they wait for Myne's family to arrive at the temple, they talk about Myne's situation, her adoption, her made-up story and her new name. Karstedt would take in Myne as daughter between him and Rozemary, while baptising her as Rozemyne with him and Elvira as her parents.


 * While Karstedt can play the harspiel, his preferred instrument is the flute. He is said to be quite skilled.
 * His deceased mother was one of the only people who could guess when Karstedt was lying.