Part 3: A Criticism on Wilfred
Okay, Wilfred is an interesting character. I would go as far as to call him “a deconstruction on the paragon of a fantasy hero”.
He’s the heir to this duchy, who by the evil doing of others has been stripped away from the right of succession.
Despite it all, he’s hardworking and with natural talent, capable of overcoming all hurdles through putting his all into it. He’s nice, he’s kind, and has a positive outlook on life that makes him great to lead big teams and unite them under him. People around him look up to him, and believe in him. In fact, when he arrives at the Academy he realizes that, despite his duchy’s position, he’s able to fight side by side with powerful Greater Duchies. In any other story, he would be the hero.
But Ascendance of a Bookworm is not his story. And while he (and his retainers) sees him as this amazing heir that’s faced nothing but problems since a young age - everyone else sees him for what he truly is.
A spoiled kid, who never learned to become an archduke.
But this is only hinted at in Part3, and doesn’t implode on itself until (again) Part5.
You see, in Part 3, Rozemyne serves as a buffer to paint him in a much better light. She applies a lot of the logic we have from our world. “He’s a kid, he shouldn’t be dealing with so much work”, “he may be lazy but he’s well meaning and wants to become a better person”, “it’s unfair to compare him to me, an adult”, and “I would make the same mistakes he has, so his situation is unfortunate”.
Because of Rozemyne’s coddling, we see Wilfred as this kid who is trying. Who deserves the position because, for one, Rozemyne would be even worse than him at it, and he really, really wants it.
But this changes in Part 4, when we meet way more nobles around their ages, and critically: We know about Charlotte.
Charlotte is so important. People who justify and try to make excuses for Wilfred, have either not read in depth Charlotte’s chapters (which granted, the most powerful one of them “A New Step Forward” comes from the Side Story Collection), or have swallowed Rozemyne’s Kool-Aid when it comes to why Wilfred is being treated unfairly.
The truth is, from another noble’s perspective, we realize that Wilfred being given his title of heir is pretty much the definition of getting spoiled rotten. In any other duchy, HELL, even Ehrenfest before Sylvester, such a thing wouldn’t fly. The succession is a competition. If you think of it that way, and see how Wilfred is behaving - you realize how badly he’s losing. There’s no way that, as he was before Rozemyne, he could have become a decent archduke.
This could have changed, if at any point, Wilfred stopped perceiving himself as the legitimate heir who had his title stolen. Because that’s not what happened. He was meant to fight with his siblings for it. But because of pure luck, he was given it without even having to prove himself. When the people around him failed to train him, that title was temporarily removed. (Emphasis on temporarily because Sylvester had every Goddamn intention to keep Wilfred as the heir)
And we don’t really see him, ever, acknowledging his siblings as any sort of threat. While on paper, he has been stripped from the title, he never has to truly internalize it. It's shameful, yes. But Melchior is straight up too young. He knows Rozemyne won’t be given the title of archduchess, that Sylvester won’t ever allow it.
And something to note about: We know why: She’s a commoner.Sylvester will never let her be Aub for that simple fact - BUT
Wilfred does not know that. He should know that Rozemyne is the “best” candidate, from early on. That’s just a fact. But Sylvester purposely shields him from that harsh truth.
Objectively, Wilfred should know that it is only through luck and Sylvester BLATANT favoritism that Rozemyne isn’t a threat. But because he does not register until FUCKING PART 5, that he is fact, inferior to Rozemyne, he gets baited by Lestilaut. He almost loses Rozemyne, because of his own ego.
And with Charlotte, my poor girl, he doesn’t even registers her as a threat. When Charlotte straight up tells him “I would have beaten you, had I been granted the same privilege you have” aka, being born a man - Wilfred never understands this as a warning or even taunt. He still thinks he’s better than Charlotte. He still thinks that, were things leveled, he would have beaten her. And that couldn’t be further from the truth.
If you haven’t caught up on it yet, Wilfred is a blatant criticism of sexism and the patriarchy.
He has a privilege he does not recognize, and because of it, he acts he’s entitled to a position in power - that anywhere else, it would be UNTHINKABLE for him to have.
He’s literally surrounded by women three or four times more competent than him, yet for the simple fact that he’s a man, and Sylvester likes him more, those women will NEVER come to have the power they deserve.
AND, when he does come the realization that, perhaps, Rozemyne truly is a better suited candidate: he lashes out.
When Lestilaut points out she would be a better archduchess than him, his first instinct is to lash out (and quite aggressively I must add) at the heir of a GREATER duchy, who he does not even get along with! Again, Hannalore and Rozemyne are close friends but Lestilaut and Wilfred are NOT.
This is the society that constantly berated Rozemyne for showing a hint of emotion. She held back even as Royalty itself threatened her most beloved Ferdinand - and Wilfred cannot even handle taunts.
He only calms down when she straight up declines. Stating that she wants to be a first wife. Lesitalut retorts that she could very much be a Dunkelferg first wife.
This sort of snaps Wilfred out of a trance. But interestingly enough, the idea confronted is no longer “Rozemyne is better than me”, but “Rozemyne may actually be a good wife candidate”. Again, the fight isn’t centered, at that point, in who’s better suited to be archduke - because Rozemyne herself smashes apart that idea.
It gets shifted to Lestilaut informing Wilfred that Rozemyne is a coveted first wife candidate, that he’s not using properly. Which is a much easier truth to swallow.
He does not come to terms with “Rozemyne is better than me”, which she objectively is, but with “she’s actually a valuable fiance”.
Sylvester, on the other hand, was very quick to realize that Rozemyne was a valuable asset. Someone who he couldn’t let go of, and adopted because of how vital she was to improving the duchy. Again, while he does care for her, he’s aware that regardless of that - she’s worth it. If she causes him headaches, it’s worth it. If she causes a problem, it’s worth it. She’s running the temple, she’s running their new main export and economy, she is rising their ranks like nowhen before.
It took Wilfred, Lestilaut literally shouting it to his face, for him to realize this. To start seeing Rozemyne as valuable, instead of troublesome. And the moment he realizes, oh, maybe she’s more than competent enough - he’s forced to confront the truth: She’s a better candidate than him. And his current title is only uphold because he’s married to her.
His lashing out in Part 5 Volume 4 is a direct result of him having to confront that he’s a nepo-baby that was only given this position because he’s a man. And instead of owning it, or making sure that despite it all he’s still deserving of the position - he throws a tantrum.
When Charlotte realized that the odds were stacked against her favor, she cried, yes. But she had to maintain appearances. She continued to smile, she continued to support her brother, and worry for the other members of the family. She even had to support Sylvester, despite the fact his obvious favoritism was constantly hurting her.
When Wilfred realized that someone else was better than him, namely Rozemyne, he lashed out. I’m mostly keping up with the Translation Light Novels, so most of his internal turmoil isn’t being shown as of yet. We see it through Charlotte, Sylvester, Rozemyne and other retainers. But suffice to say, that while Rozemyne finds it simply a teenager being a teenager - everyone point out how incredibly damaging his little outburst is.
Unlike other kids, Wilfred is set to become the Aub, and while it’s been promised to him, he still has to work for it. And unlike other kids, such a tremendous amount of power, is not something to wield freely. He is not like any other kid, and cannot be measured in those terms - precisely because of the title he’s set to have. With great power comes great responsibility. If he were to be a commoner, yeah, he wouldn’t have to deal with this. He would be allowed to be just a kid. But if he’s set to become Aub, which he WANTS, he has to play the part. Act like a noble, respect the rules. Just like Rozemyne was forced to do, just like Charlotte trained all her life to do.
He has to learn to manage his emotions, his workload, etc, just like his sisters have. Neglecting to do so, is putting the brunt of his emotional labor unto them.
Here’s where PART 5 does its job wonderfully - because by this point, we’ve seen that the kids of greater duchies, have to work their asses off to support their duchy. Things like feelings, and desires are thrown out. You do not decide who you’ll marry, you do not decide if you become aub or not, you do not decide basically anything in your life. There’s a sacrifice to be made if you want power. You have a role to play, and you either stick to it to perfection, or you get the short end of the stick.
Charlotte has grown with this mentality, she understands it. She plays her role, and does her best to support her duchy.
Wilfred, does not.
He expects everyone to want him as an Aub because, thanks to Veronica, that’s everything he’s ever been promised.
Patriarchy is poisonous because it promises men power. And when capitalism tells them they can’t have it, their first instinct is to blame women.
Much like Wilfred has done, by blaming Rozemyne. For “not being a good enough fiancé” or “for trying to steal his rightful position”.
Wilfred is, unfortunately enough, an antithesis of one of Rozemyne’s core values. Meritocracy. He’s the definition of nepotism.
And if Wilfred represent the corruption of Meritocracy, Veronica represents the corruption of Family.
Veronica corrupts it in a very interesting way that almost parallels Rozemyne.
Veronica was the daughter of a first wife, who loved her husband. Said husband, however, only loved his second wife. This caused her mother great anguish, something she had to witness. She lost her older brother, then lost her mom during childbirth. Finally, her only baby brother was taken to the temple by the second wife she hated. This leaves her with an obsession to keep her blood related family safe, and a disdain for second wives.
In a way, having her family torn from her, and wanting to protect them even from afar, to the point or bending and breaking rules to do so - is very much a Rozemyne thing.
But while Veronica did it by ignoring most of Noble's ways and via corruption, Rozemyne is constantly kept in check from doing as much.
Wilfred is a direct result of the generation trauma Gabrielle imparted. Veronica grew obsessed with making sure her bloodline was better off - at the cost of the suffering of anyone who wasn’t.
She saw everyone as an enemy, someone to subdue. Because if she let them fester, maybe they would take her baby brother away. Maybe they would hurt her kids. Maybe she would lose her mother again.
Ironically, it was this unwillingness to let them grow that eventually rotted them. If she hadn’t let Bezewanst do whatever he wanted, Sylvester wouldn’t have told Ferdinand to get rid of him. If Wilfred had grown with the proper education, he wouldn’t have been as easily tricked.
Veronica and Wilfred also serve as a reminder to Rozemyne of what, even well intentioned, toxic love can do. It’s better presented when she refuses to meet Kamil, even when she absolutely could, because it isn’t safe to do as much.
To add, Rozemyne sees family entirely different from her, and Wilfred for this matter.
Family to Rozemyne isn’t something bound by blood. Her family doesn’t begin and end with that of the lower city. Her retainers from the temple, Cornellius, Charlotte, and most importantly, Ferdinand, are family to her. They deserve her unconditional protection. She cares and loves them.
Contrast it with Veronica who saw Florencia and Ferdinand as threats to her family. And said view of the world is translated to Wilfred.
He sees Detline as family. And after Ferdinand get married, he stops fully perceiving him as such. This is again, likely due to Veronica and her faction. We saw that during Rozemyne’s two year slumber he grows really close and reliant on Ferdinand.
But when the issue of worrying for either Detline or Ferdinand came up - he chose Detline.
Someone he knew almost nothing about, but has his blood and Veronica’s looks. Instead of Ferdinand, someone who supported him for more than three years.
What’s more, he stopped seeing Rozemyne as an ally in Part 5 Volume 4. He could never fully trust her because, again, she’s adopted. Yet, he did go to Charlotte for help, expecting her to help. Likely, because he sees her as actual family, and therefore in his side.
Rozemyne isn’t blood family. Therefore, expendable.
Veronica’s corruption reached him. He tainted one more of Rozemyne’s core values.
All this said, he’s not an irredeemable monster. If anything, the LNs make it clear that despite all this, he’s still a good kid, who given the time and training could become a good archduke.
(Again though, Charlotte wasn’t even offered “time and training”, she was dismissed from the title despite her qualifications for much less)
It’s actually made quite clear that he could be great. Instances of Part 4 shows just how he’s a really nice kid, capable of propping others up, conscious of his actions, asking for help when needed and a natural leader. In this case, his environment has corrupted him - yet he’s not beyond salvation.
He is not an irredeemable monster, since he’s had time to grow, change and better himself. I’m looking forward to how exactly they’ll handle his character in coming novels.
The same, however, cannot be said of Sisgwald.
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