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The Light Novel series is the source material for the adaptation of the Anime and Manga series. The information and terminology on the article will be based on the source material rather than the adaptions. |
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“
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Illgner’s future matters more than my reputation, does it not? | ”
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— Brigitte to Nadine in Part 3 Volume 2, Epilogue
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Brigitte (ブリギッテ, Burigitte) is a mednoble who served Rozemyne as a guard knight. She is the younger sister of the current Giebe Ilgner.
After retiring from service, Brigitte returned to her home province with her new husband. She now helps manage the paper industry in Illgner.
Appearance
Brigitte has dark red hair and amethyst eyes. She is tall[1] and muscular, with broader shoulders than most noblewomen[2]. Rozemyne thinks she has a sharp and refined expression[3].
Personality
She is deeply loyal to her family and her home province. She took on the job of serving Rozemyne as a way to help with her family's influence with the Aub, despite knowing that Rozemyne would be working in the temple and she may have to go to the lower city, both of which are looked down upon and despised by nobles.
History
Brigitte was born in the small rural province of Illgner as the daughter of the then-Giebe Illgner. She is the younger sister of Helfried.
While growing up she spent much time roaming around the fields and forests of her home, with some of the people of Illgner later saying that she was always more at home in the woods with a knife in hand than the etiquette course and outright calling her a tomboy[4].
She chose the Knight's Course in the Royal Academy because she believed that with her brother already being a scholar, she would be of more help to their homeland as a knight.
Brigitte's became engaged to Hassheit soon after her father died and Helfried became the next Giebe Illgner. However, Brigitte discovered that her fiancé and his family were plotting to have her brother eliminated after the wedding, so they could take over Illgner. Brigitte furiously cancelled the engagement of her own accord, without observing the proper protocols and manners expected. This brought much shame upon her and the entire province of Illgner, allowing Hassheit and his family to relentlessly mock and harass Brigitte at every opportunity. As a result, she was escorted by her brother during her graduation because she couldn't find another partner[5].
The scandal was bad enough that the majority of nobles in Illgner left the province, fostering a near self-sacrificial spirit in Brigitte, where she was ready to sacrifice her own happiness for the sake of her homeland. Her reputation was so maligned that she agreed to take on the task of serving as Rozemyne's guard knight even though it meant entering the temple and the lower city.
Retainers
Story
Brigitte begins serving Rozemyne as a knight when she is adopted by the archduke. Later, Rozemyne hears about Brigitte's family circumstances and thinks it's unfortunate that she has little hope of getting married. To help her show off her beauty, Rozemyne designs a new halter-top dress designed to suit Brigitte's well-built body type for the next Starbind Ceremony in hopes that she can find a new husband. The dress is part of Brigitte's reward for helping Angelica pass her studies from the Royal Academy.
As Rozemyne gathers ingredients for her jureve, Brigitte becomes closer with her other guard knight, Damuel. When the two of them next attend the Starbind Ceremony together, Brigitte is approached by her ex-fiancé Hassheit. He proposes to her mockingly, saying that she can't possibly hope to marry anyone else at this point. However, Damuel stands up for her and proposes himself, promising to raise his mana to the level expected of a mednoble. Brigitte interprets this offer as a kindhearted attempt to save her from humiliation, but to her surprise, Damuel later insists that he meant it and truly intends to propose.
Elvira invites Brigitte to her tea parties, which helps reduce some of the scorn other nobles show toward Brigitte. However, Elvira is unimpressed when Brigitte says she wants to go back to her Illgner once she is married, understanding that to mean that Rozemyne is secondary to Illgner.
Brigitte continues to help Rozemyne gather all the ingredients for her jureve, and later goes with Rozemyne to visit her home province of Illgner. She is delighted when Rozemyne says she intends to set up the paper-making industry there. However, Rozemyne warns her that the way the nobles and commoners interact in Illgner, with little to no formality, could cause trouble as more nobles visit the province. Brigitte thanks her for her warning and promises to help the citizens of Illgner prepare for the change.
While Rozemyne recovers from poisoning in her jureve, Brigitte and her other guard knights train under Bonifatius to improve their skills. As promised, Damuel works hard to increase his mana capacity and proposes to Brigitte at the next Starbind Ceremony. However, the two of them have very different expectations about what will happen after they marry. She expects to resign from service and return to Illgner, while Damuel expects to continue serving Rozemyne in the temple. Despite her brother specifically warning her of the possibility of Damuel being unwilling or unable to leave Rozemyne's service, Brigitte does not try to talk about this with Damuel and just let's events unfold as they would. As a result, Damuel ends up turning down the engagement with Brigitte[7]. Brigitte is well aware of Damuel originally being assigned to guard Lady Rozemyne as punishment and the affront that leaving her service would entail, so she hold no hard feelings toward him and feels responsible for the situation escalating to the point it had in the first place. At Lady Elvira's suggestion Brigitte resignes from Lady Rozemyne's service a few days later supposedly to concentrate entirely on finding a suitable husband before she turns twenty, though in all due likelyhood that Brigitte would put her own need to help Illgner above the needs of Rozemyne proofed her unsuitable to remain a guard knight for her daughter in Elvira's eyes[8].
To prevent Rozemyne from making rash decisions in order to support her knights' marriage, Elvira soon finds a suitable mednoble husband for Brigitte. After their marriage she returns to support the paper-making industry in Illgner, while Rozemyne remains asleep.
Magical Abilities
- Mana Attributes: Brigitte has elemental affinities for Earth and Fire[9].
Trivia
- Brigitte is one of the very few nobles who find Rozemyne's highbeast Lessy cute.
- Illgner is small, so it is not uncommon for nobles to eat and socialize with commoners[6]. Some commoners even know some embarrassing stories from Brigitte's past, like her habit of running into the mountains with a knife to hunt.
- Brigitte becomes suspicious about Rozemyne on one occasion, on a visit to Hasse, Rozemyne is being friendly with Gunther, a commoner guard captain. Rozemyne covers it up telling her she knew the rest of the family (Tuuli and Effa) due to them making clothes and hair ornaments for her.
- Brigitte being escorted by a relative of similar age (Helfried) during her graduation is uncommon because he can look like a fiancé to bystanders, which could deter prospective partners.
- The name Brigitte is derived from the Irish name Brighid, meaning 'the high one' or 'strength.' Brighid is a mythological Celtic goddess of fire and poetry.
References
- ↑ Ascendance of a Bookworm. Part 3 Volume 1. Chapter 10: Starbind Ceremony in the Noble’s Quarter
- ↑ Ascendance of a Bookworm. Part 3 Volume 1. Chapter 4: Adoption
- ↑ Ascendance of a Bookworm. Part 3 Volume 1. Chapter 7: How to Make Fluffy Bread
- ↑ Ascendance of a Bookworm. Part 3 Volume 4. Chapter 12: Heading to Illgner
- ↑ Ascendance of a Bookworm. Part 3 Volume 5. Two Marriages
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Ascendance of a Bookworm. Part 3 Volume 2. Epilogue
- ↑ Ascendance of a Bookworm. Part 3 Volume 5. Two Marriages
- ↑ Ascendance of a Bookworm. Part 3 Volume 5. The Laynoble Guard Knight
- ↑ Ascendance of a Bookworm. Part 3 Volume 4. Chapter 6: Angelica's Manablade