Aunt Margaret

Biodata

Feature	Details
Name	Countess Margaret von Strauss
Alias(es)	Aunt Margaret
Gender	Female
Affiliation	Strauss family; Royal Academy of Magic; traditional magic research faction
Occupation/Role	Top-tier Grand Archmage; head of the Royal Academy of Magic; Elisa Windsor's teacher and guardian
Status	Active
First Appearance	11

Background

Leon von Hohenzollern was sent to the Imperial Capital at a young age and raised under Margaret's guardianship. Elisa Windsor was likewise sent to study under her at age nine, making Margaret the central authority in both children's upbringing and magical education 10.

Her Count's mansion functions as both residence and arcane institution: its book-lined corridors, silent Magic Puppets, and magical atmosphere resemble a compact Magic Tower and library more than a conventional noble estate 11. She has built considerable influence through her position in the magical world, her Royal Academy leadership, research results, imperial stipends, and the Strauss family's industries 23.

Appearance

Margaret presents herself with severe, meticulously controlled elegance. Her aura is repeatedly associated with cold, stillness, and an oppressive magical presence.

• Long silver hair, sometimes pinned with an ice-blue jade hairpin or arranged in a formal bun 242 307.
• Ice-blue eyes noted for their penetrating, scrutinizing gaze 17 20.
• Frequently wears deep violet or dark purple mage robes and dresses; she also dresses in restrained dark gray casual attire when working privately 242 265 307.
• Her face retains the outline of striking youthful beauty despite magic seeming to have arrested the effects of age 265.
• Uses ancient gemstone jewelry with powerful magical fluctuations 242.

Personality

Margaret is calm, rational, and exceptionally difficult to read. She treats emotion as secondary to stability, power, and long-term calculation; even Leon's welfare is framed as a matter of supervision, risk management, and political value rather than unconditional familial affection 23 107 286.

Her mentorship is demanding but substantive. She recognizes potential quickly, funds opportunities that she considers worthwhile, and gives Elisa both magical instruction and political guidance. However, this care is inseparable from vigilance: she urges secrecy around the Oath of Starfrost, expects strength as the basis of self-determination, and closely monitors developments that could threaten her student or the existing order 92 94.

Margaret's commitment to traditional magic makes her hostile to Leon's steam-power program. She views technological change not merely as an academic disagreement, but as a danger to the Empire's social foundation, magical order, and political stability 238 266 323.

Abilities & Skills

Grand Archmage Magic

Margaret is regarded as one of the Empire's top Grand Archmages and a leading authority in traditional magical research 17 238.

• Detects subtle changes in Leon's spiritual power after a single night of meditation 20.
• Perceives the stellar energy, complex seal, and possible dormant consciousness within the Oath of Starfrost 50.
• Senses Elisa's High Mage breakthrough and recognizes that the bracelet has invoked the Power of Stars 91.
• Maintains magical vitality through a specialized morning drink made from rare magical-creature blood and herbs 242.

Arcane Scholarship

Margaret possesses extensive knowledge of ancient magic, magical artifacts, and historical civilizations.

• Identifies the Oath of Starfrost as a probable Star Dome Council inheritance artifact from the ancient Elf Empire 92.
• Explains that such artifacts can form symbiotic bonds with their hosts, grow alongside them, and guide comprehension of Star Law 92.
• Warns Elisa that the artifact could attract the Elf Empire, hidden continental forces, and ancient beings if exposed 92.
• Provides Elisa with methods for consolidating stellar magic power and spiritual power after her breakthrough 92.

Magical Research and Infrastructure

Margaret commands substantial research resources through her mansion, Magic Tower, and Academy position.

• Uses Magic Puppets for household service and library work 11 17.
• Monitors elemental and geodynamic fluctuations beneath the Imperial Capital, requesting reports on anomalies in the old city district 20.
• Oversees Elisa's advanced study and practical trials at the Mage Tower, including the Ice Puppet test 130 138.
• Reacts with alarm when the Oath of Starfrost absorbs residual power from Ice Puppets, recognizing its potentially predatory nature 138.

Political Judgment and Surveillance

Margaret gathers information efficiently and evaluates people as potential assets, liabilities, or destabilizing variables.

• Notices Leon's unusual magical development and places him in a Basic Magic Training Course as the condition for giving him 200 Gold Rolands 23.
• Interrogates Leon after Elisa's coming-of-age banquet, demonstrating awareness of both his public speech and the bracelet incident 73.
• Advises Elisa to preserve her engagement to Leon for political utility while observing his hidden potential and his connection to the bracelet 94.
• Uses threats of ending Leon's engagement and exposing him to hostile forces when he challenges the political and military order of the Northern Territory 287.

Relationships

• Leon von Hohenzollern — Her nephew and long-term ward in the Imperial Capital. Margaret alternates between investing in his potential, interrogating his conduct, and treating him as a dangerous variable requiring control 10 23 73 286.
• Elisa Windsor — Her niece, direct disciple, and most prized student. Margaret guides Elisa's magical growth, protects the secret of the Oath of Starfrost, and prepares her for political responsibility 40 92 94 238.
• Windsor family — Elisa's apprenticeship under Margaret also serves Windsor political interests by strengthening the family's connection to the Strauss household and the Hohenzollerns 40.
• Royal Academy of Magic — Margaret serves as its head and remains a dominant authority in traditional magical academia 23 238.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Leon's Magical Awakening

Margaret initially questions Leon's request to learn magic, challenging whether he possesses the elemental affinity, mental power, and focus required for the path. After Elisa identifies his weak all-attribute affinity, Margaret permits his initial training 17.

She later detects his unusually active spiritual power, but accepts the explanation that meditation practice caused the change while continuing to scrutinize him 20. When Leon needs funds for Elisa's ceremony, she gives him 200 Gold Rolands on the condition that he completes a three-month Basic Magic Training Course, turning financial aid into a test of his resolve 23.

The *Oath of Starfrost*

Margaret is among the first to recognize that Leon's presented bracelet is no ordinary family heirloom. At Elisa's coming-of-age ceremony, she senses its stellar energy, incomprehensible seal, and possible dormant consciousness 50.

After Elisa's High Mage breakthrough, Margaret concludes that the bracelet is likely an ancient Star Dome Council artifact designed to bond symbiotically with a compatible host. She orders Elisa to conceal its true nature and cautions against relying on external power at the expense of personal mastery 92.

Elisa's Political Rise

Elisa's advancement into a High Mage at eighteen transforms her from a gifted noblewoman into a strategic asset. Margaret explicitly outlines the political weight of Elisa's new status and supports retaining the engagement to Leon as a useful connection rather than dissolving it immediately 94.

As Elisa matures, she becomes Margaret's indispensable assistant and a prominent Great Mage within traditional magical academia 238.

Conflict Over Steam Power

Margaret opposes the Magic Steam Engine as a threat to the principles and hierarchy of magical civilization. She argues that steam cannot rival magic and warns Leon against challenging established rules 265 266.

When Leon defends steam power as a practical necessity for common people, Margaret warns that hope itself can be destructive 267. His later decision to pursue his inheritance claim and challenge Northern traditions leads her to threaten the dissolution of his engagement and his political destruction 287 288.

Notable Quotes

“Rather than that... I might as well kill you right now.” 288

“External objects are ultimately aids. Your own control over power and your understanding of laws are fundamental.” 92