character information.

[sommevesle]

「 ✤ basics 」

CANON: Okobore Hime to Entaku no Kishi (“The Leftover Princess and the Knights of the Round Table”)
NAME: Leticia L’Cruselle
GENDER: Female
AGE: Seventeen
VOICE: Saito Chiwa
APPEARANCE: ᴠɪsᴜᴀʟ ʀᴇғᴇʀᴇɴᴄᴇ.

「 ✤ background & history 」

For the most part, Okobore Hime to Entaku no Kishi appears to be set on a fictional, medieval European continent. Beyond a few fantasy elements sprinkled here and there to set it apart from the rest, it’s about what you’d typically expect from such a series with its share of politics and intrigue.

Leticia, the series’ protagonist, is the third child and first princess of the Sommevesle kingdom’s royal family. Never considered by her family to be a contender for the throne, what they don’t know is that she’s the third reincarnation of the founder of their nation, the legendary Knight King, and therefore had the blood and makings of a ruler through and through. Originally, one of her two older brothers (born to two different mothers) was to be selected to be its successor, but while they had no animosity towards each other, their supporters (evenly split) felt otherwise. This held the potential of dividing their country and starting a civil war, so in order to circumvent that, the king decreed his heir to be Leticia instead. Unfortunately, her ascension to queen itself wasn’t as simple as a declaration because 1.) she wasn’t taken very seriously having become known as the “Leftover Princess” and 2.) she didn’t have her own round table of knights (also known as a “chivalric table”), a condition to become a Sommevesle ruler. With all the known and regarded knights snatched up by her brothers, Leticia is left with a conundrum to complete it before her coronation and to prove her worth as an individual.

In the end, she takes up the issues with stride and kicks off the start to canon as we know it.

「 ✤ personality 」

“A ruler is someone who shoulders everything. The country and its people, of course, as well as the sadness and hatred. That doesn’t happen naturally. No matter how heavy the burden is, the ruler can’t run away from making decisions, nor can they make the wrong judgements.”
Being the inheritor of a leftover crown can hold several connotations: that Leticia is ill-fitted, ill-prepared, and nothing more than a potential figurehead as a future monarch. That assumption however, is anything but correct. Growing up with the inherent belief (and knowledge) that she’d become queen, it’s basically what shaped her and guided her every direction. Preparing herself accordingly by taking to the same studies and lessons her elder brothers had (how to rule, political science, history, and law) and by immersing herself in perfecting as many different practices as possible, she dedicated herself where no other children would on their own volition, despite being told that she could enjoy her life as it was and was even inconspicuous about it to boot. All the while, her elder brothers had believed that she was a sister who wanted to follow their footsteps out of affection, and had only started to suspect her after they’d seen how composed and capable she was in the position to realise that maybe, it had been her ambition all along. So, Leticia has many, if not all of the key elements required of a leader thanks to her efforts: she’s charismatic, intuitive, and knows how to inspire and motivate others when applicable. Most importantly, she knows how to play the palace politics game, and knows how to play it finesse, which is what surprises the people around her the most.

“People say that I am the perfect princess. However, I was not born this way. In order to attain acknowledgement, I’ve been building up on that for the past seventeen years. Just like you, in order to be well-liked, my smile and words are all made after much calculation. While many years have passed and there are things that are a complete pretense, there are things that are real too.”
She’s beauty, she’s grace— she’s lovingly referred to as the ‘kindhearted princess’ by her subjects and her palace, a contrast to how much of the aristocracy views her as a throwaway. Her reputation isn’t by fluke, and she’s poured a lot of time just to get to where she is now. She provides personal aid to hospitals, orphanages, and neighbouring countries even when it isn’t necessary to, but at the same time, doesn’t forget to be realistic about her noble goals. When providing large scale help to said neighbouring country, it involved utilising a fair amount of her kingdom’s funds and a fair bit of conflict from her kingdom’s aristocrats; all, if not most of her actions are followed by logic even if they may have started from her heart, and she makes certain to provide backing on how it’d be beneficial for their nation to aid the other. Her practical mindset is what allows her to realise that sacrifices are unavoidable when ruling, too. Though much of her character revolves around helping people, she knows that sometimes, it just isn’t possible to save everyone and that sometimes, a small group needs to be traded off for the general population. Still, you can believe that she’ll try her absolute utmost to ensure said sacrifices are a do or die, and are a last resort.

Her proficiency as a leader extends to other areas too, such as how she tries to keep herself as well-informed as possible both in the palace and in her kingdom. Often venturing in town and disguising herself to hear of all the rumours, she strives to remain as independent as possible and to shoulder and solve the ‘weightier’ problems on her own. Able to remain calm and rationalise under high stress, it’s not as if she doesn’t know her limitations though, and does seek help and advice from the former and future knight kings if required. Leticia is confident, but knows she can’t afford to be overtly so. She knows how to be careful too, shown how she can state the background information of her potential knights off the back of her hand and how she tests them personally before attempting to recruit them.

“If she were not a princess, then things would have gone a lot faster. She would not have returned here, rather she would already be treating the wounds or caring for the children.”
Although Leticia is a princess and future queen, those identities aren’t what makes and breaks her as a person. It’s true that her ‘kindhearted’ actions have helped her gain traction in becoming a beloved leader, but ultimately, she does what she does because she believes it to be right, not because she wants to be known as something. At her core, she wants to help people, and if she can, be it as a princess or a person, she will.

Her kindness is further exemplified when she states why she hadn’t pursued her own knights until her inheritance. Knowing how bloody politics could be, she wanted her brothers to have the best of the best serving them, and knew that throwing her hat in the ring early would only serve to increase the danger going around, she instead focuses it on herself by painting herself as an easy target. She cares about everyone before herself whether or not she explicitly shows it: her family, her friends, and total strangers— and regardless of the constant assassination attempts on her life, continues to do so.

“The princess, to me, is an existence like that of Polaris! The unmoving star of the north. A sign to all who are lost, always shining in order to guide them. I thought, ‘That person’s like Polaris, isn’t she?’ Yet you’re not far. You’re a close and kind person.”
Leticia doesn’t always act as a paragon of a princess. In fact, following the very first scene where she’s being cooed and fawned over by her maids as being the picture of elegance and grace, we see her sneaking off into town incognito to hunt down a knight. Said knight is understandably freaked out upon seeing the future queen in town without guards, but Leticia could personally care less and then proceeds to drag him along her ritual information gathering. His thought process is pretty apt: “Even though I heard that the princess was a docile, benevolent and profound lady… What’s with this oppressive and self-centered animal?!” It’s only to those that she trusts and regards as true comrades that she reveals this more ‘unprincess-like’ side to her that’s bold, demanding, and not modest at all, to start. But it’s mostly in good nature, as she enjoys teasing those she’s fond of, shown best in how she calls all her knights lovers. She’s whimsical with her affections to the point of being flirty, even earning the reputation of being a heartbreaking queen down the line in her future.

Duke Barchet (the knight mentioned earlier), for instance, is someone she openly manipulates in jest. Often the unwilling subject and victim of her whims, we can definitely see where he gets ‘oppressive’ and ‘self-centered’ from through their interactions. She can be particularly pedantic, causing him ire, and is incredibly persistent in her pursuit of recruiting him as her first knight. We get a glimpse of her naivety when she expects him to agree to her request just because and gets flustered when he doesn’t; still, she’s not one to give up easily and is able to funnel that feeling into motivation several moments later, and manages to win him over eventually. His impression of her steadily improves from her just being her. She’s kind in that she never directly involves him in any of the kingdom’s affairs when he’s still his own knight and is perceptive when it comes to his feelings. Examples of this is when she gets poisoned in front of him and tells him not to investigate in the case unfavourable evidence would against him or his childhood friend (her eldest brother) would appear, and when she threatens her second brother (with killing intent) not to pressure him to choose a side between the members of the royal family— both scenarios cause him to realise that she’s actually pretty selfless and suiting of her kindhearted reputation after all. Asking anyone she interacts with on a frequent basis would likely bring up the same, general response: she has her mischievous side and may not always act as a lady, but all in all, she's amiable, loyal, and easy to get along with in spite of being royalty.

The princess isn’t as infallible as she’d like to be, or as others perceive her to be. Studies and knowledge don’t always translate into words and actions perfectly, and she often realises her own inexperience and admonishes herself for it. She’s very much a seventeen year old girl despite her qualities: she’s as prone to mistakes as everyone else and is susceptible to getting frustrated when things don’t go her way or when she’s at a loss of what to do. Truly relying on those around her (such as her brothers and knights) is a constant work-in-progress, but what she does have going for is that she’s adaptive and capable of moving on and learning from said mistakes quite easily.

「 ✤ powers & abilities 」

As the third reincarnation of the Knight King Christian, Leticia has access to the ‘Knight King’s swords’ inside of her albeit somewhat watered down. The purpose of these swords are to safeguard a king’s life, and to, by extension, be bestowed onto a trusted knight when their time comes. Their abilities include but are not limited to, controlling their respective elements and boosting an individual’s offensive and defensive capabilities. They seem to be able to bring someone back from the brink of death too when they do, as Leticia gifts one later in canon to save a life.

As aforementioned, the swords aren’t what they used to be, so their usages are quite basic. The very first water sword may have been able to put out a forest fire, but Leticia’s (and her future reincarnation’s) is unable to. What they could do, however, was use the wind sword to gather up rain clouds. As for more examples of what they’re able to do, she’s shown: softening high falls, setting normal-sized objects on fire, summoning lightning bolts, and exorcising spirits (although this comes at the cost of a sword itself). Notably, actively using these swords requires a bit of energy too, because when she’s thoroughly drained, she is unable to summon them.

✤ KNIGHT KING’S SWORD
( an actual sword that she can materialize and is for her own personal use. looks like a beam of light. )

✤ SWORD OF CORONA
( light-aspected. purifies evil energy. )

✤ SWORD OF EARTH
( earth-aspected. increases self healing and neutralizes most poisons. )

✤ SWORD OF GALE WIND
( wind-aspected. )

✤ SWORD OF HELL FIRE
( fire-aspected. )

✤ SWORD OF STEEL
( protects its wielders from attacks. bolsters the immune system and minimizes wounds. e.g. a ‘slash’ wound from a sword becomes a simple ‘cut.’ )

✤ SWORD OF THUNDER
( thunder-aspected. )

✤ SWORD OF WATER
( water-aspected. alternatively known as the “mirror water sword.” )

✤ + FIVE OTHER UNNAMED SWORDS
( have yet to be revealed in canon. )

Beyond the swords, she’s also able to appear in what’s called the ‘Knight King’s Space,’ where all the reincarnations of the Knight King may interact, past or future. Only accessible when she’s unconscious, it’s nothing special and seems to be nothing more than a simple room. It’d be inaccessible while she’s in Cerealia, of course.

When it comes to everything non-powers related, Leticia is well-versed in self-defense and is particularly astute, able to spot out hidden knives, for instance. Also, regardless of holding the sword of steel and earth inside of her, Leticia is still very mortal.

「 ✤ cerealia miscellaneous 」

ELEMENT: Earth
SENSE: Touch
SEVEN TRAITS: + ( altruistic, responsible, tenacious ) - ( insistent, secretive, self-sacrificial ) +/- ( playful )