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“
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I’ll do my best not to waste the opportunity given to me. Thank you, Ferd — No, thank you, Uncle. | ”
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— Wilfried to Ferdinand in Part 3 Volume 5, Chapter 9: Wilfried’s Punishment
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Wilfried (ヴィルフリート Virufuriito) is the first-born child of Sylvester and Florencia and an archduke candidate of Ehrenfest. He is the older brother of Charlotte and Melchior, and the adoptive older brother of Rozemyne.
Appearance
Wilfried has dark green eyes and light gold hair that tends to stick up in the front. Other than the colour of his hair, he bears a strong resemblance to his father, Sylvester.[4]
Personality
As a child, Wilfried has a kind heart, but is irresponsible and childish. Although he is expected to become the next Aub Ehrenfest, he does not take his responsibilities seriously and often runs away from his retainers and tutors. In spite of his poor work ethic, he has a good memory and is a fast learner.
After his carefree attitude almost costs him his position as an archduke candidate, Wilfried’s attitude changes dramatically and he begins to take his studies seriously. The lesson is later reinforced when he loses the right of succession and is forced to take on some of his adoptive sister Rozemyne’s responsibilities.
Having become more mature, Wilfried now works hard to keep up with the expectations of his position. While he’s often exasperated by Rozemyne’s antics, he sees it as his responsibility to watch out for her and ensure that she acts in the best interests of Ehrenfest.
Wilfried is very earnest and trusting towards people, a trait that Ferdinand regarded as his precious virtue.[5] On a flip side, he is also gullible and has a poor judge of character, like when he doesn't realize that the actions and advices by his retainers are causing him to needlessly antagonize other nobles and archduke candidates, making him unpopular.
History
Wilfried was born as the first-born son of Sylvester, the archduke of Ehrenfest, and his first wife Florencia. Although most duchies operate on a meritocratic system to decide the best candidate for the next archduke, Sylvester changed the method of succession. Because he didn't want his own children to be driven apart by the fight for the archduke title like he and his oldest sister Georgine were, Sylvester decreed Wilfried as his successor the moment it was clear he had the necessary mana capacity for the position.
Determined to raise the next Aub, Sylvester's mother Veronica used her influence to take custody of Wilfried and raised him away from his mother, Florencia. As a result, Wilfried rarely saw his mother except during meals, and he felt a strong familial affection for Veronica, his grandmother.
Although Veronica claimed she would raise Wilfried properly, she gave him a free rein. He grew up spoiled and irresponsible, often ran away from his lessons, and soon fell behind in his studies as a result. His retainers were reluctant to reprimand him because they feared losing their position as servants to the next archduke. Even after he was baptized at age seven, Wilfried had trouble reading, was unable to do simple math, and could not play the harspiel, all important skills that noble children are expected to learn.
However, his parents were slow to realize the severity of Wilfried’s situation, since Veronica had reduced their contact with their son to a minimum.
Upon Veronica's imprisonment Wilfried was told that his grandmother had fallen ill and had been moved to a far away place to recover. To justify why he could not visit her he was told that it was to make sure he didn't catch the illness from her.[6]
Story
See Story Tab
Retainers
Attendants
Isidore - One of Wilfried's apprentice attendant in the royal academy.
Guard Knights
Alexis - One of Wilfried's archknights. The son of Giebe Kirnberger and his Second Wife.
Lamprecht - One of Wilfried's longest-serving guard knights and a second cousin, being a son of Karstedt.
Gregor - One of Wilfried's apprentice archknights at the royal academy, the same age as him.[7]
Scholars
Ignaz - One of Wilfried's apprentice scholars at the royal academy.
Thorsten - One of Wilfried's adult Scholars.[8]
Barthold - One of Wilfried's apprentice scholars at the royal academy who joined his retinue as a name-sworn in year three.
Former Retainers
Oswald - Wilfried's former head attendant. Following the purge of the former Veronica faction, Oswald presumably resigned of his own volition to not give the Leisegangs an opening to exploit against his now former lord,[9] but in truth it was an order from Aub Ehrenfest, with the lie serving both to protect Wilfried from the truth and allow Oswald a more graceful end to his service than being fired.
Linhardt - Attendant dismissed after the Ivory Tower debacle, for failing to watch over Wilfried.
Skills and Abilities
Magical
- Gewinnen: Wilfried is decently skilled in playing Gewinnen, able to match Ortwin from Drewanchel.
- Highbeast: As per family tradition, Wilfried's highbeast takes the shape of a winged lion.
- Mana Affinities: Wilfried has six elemental affinities. His strongest affinity is water, which makes his mana appear pale green.
- Schtappe: Wilfried styled his schtappe to have a grip looking like a lion's head with the shaft coming out of the maw. He also added a crest that is currently quite popular at the Royal Academy. His schtappe only has these ornamentations in its basic wand-shape, but does not carry over when he transforms it into a specialized tool like messer.[10]
- Divine Protections: Wilfried managed to gain the protection of twelve gods during his ritual, including six from the primary gods corresponding to his birth elements.[1]
Non-Magical
- Combat: As a male archduke candidate, Wilfried receives a certain level of knight training, good enough for him to participate in the battle against a ternisbefallen.
- Leadership: Wilfried is able to motivate and excite people around him to work toward a common goal, particularly males.
Trivia
- As a child, his free time began at fifth bell and continued until dinner time. That changed once Rozemyne's studying schedule for him was put in place.
- During his free time he visited his unbaptized siblings or practiced his swordplay if he was allowed.
- When Wilfried was performing Spring Prayer on behalf of Rozemyne for the first time, he wore her old ceremonial robe made during her time as a blue shrine maiden because there's no other robes of the right size available. Wilfried disliked the feminine design and ordered a new robe soon after.
- Wilfried's gewinnen pieces are green, the colour of his birth season.[11]
- If Wilfried were to have been disowned, he would have lost his status as the archduke’s son and faced relegation to the temple, signifying his departure from nobility. This would have resulted in his exclusion from the Royal Academy. Publicly defying Sylvester in Veronica’s honor could have led to either a mild punishment, such as being sent to the Ivory Tower, or a more severe consequence, such as execution alongside Veronica.[12]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Ascendance of a Bookworm Light Novel. Part 5 Volume 1. Chapter 6: Music and Everyone’s Rituals
- ↑ Ascendance of a Bookworm Light Novel. Part 5 Volume 9. Florencia — At the Ivory Tower
- ↑ Ascendance of a Bookworm Light Novel. Part 5 Volume 2. Epilogue
- ↑ Ascendance of a Bookworm Light Novel. Part 3 Volume 1. Chapter 4: Adoption
- ↑ Ascendance of a Bookworm Light Novel. Part 3 Volume 5. Chapter 9: Wilfried's Punishment
- ↑ Ascendance of a Bookworm. Short Story Collection 1. Chapter 12: Wilfried — Time with My Siblings
- ↑ Ascendance of a Bookworm. Royal Academy Stories - First Year. Chapter 7: Wilfried - Tea Parties for Girls
- ↑ Ascendance of a Bookworm Light Novel. Part 5 Volume 3. Chapter 13: Farewells and the Coming-of-Age Ceremony
- ↑ Ascendance of a Bookworm Light Novel. Part 5 Volume 4. Chapter 8: Changing Surroundings and the Feast Celebrating Spring
- ↑ Ascendance of a Bookworm Light Novel. Part 4 Volume 4. Chapter 14: Left at Home
- ↑ Ascendance of a Bookworm. Royal Academy Stories - First Year. Chapter 11: Wilfried - Male Socializing
- ↑ Ascendance of a Bookworm: Fanbook 2. Q&A with Miya Kazuki.