Leip Barielle

Leip Barielle (ライプ・バーリエル) was a count and Priscilla Barielle's former husband and the Dragon Tablet's former administrator. He was a disgraced commander during the Demi-Human War who sought to gain control over the Kingdom of Lugunica after his failures in the civil war.

Later in life, Leip tried using the Royal Selection to make himself into Lugunica's de facto ruler by abusing Sphinx's powers and puppeteering Priscilla's actions during the selection; however, he was permanently incapacitated by Al after he revealed his true intentions to the knight. Leip eventually succumbed to his extreme trauma and died before the Royal Selection began.

Appearance
Leip was an older man with a honed build, slicked back hair, and a moustache. He wore clothes befitting that of nobility. Despite being close to seventy years old, Leip possessed an energetic body and ambition-filled eyes that reflected the age of someone who was in their fifties.

Personality
Leip was known to be a strict person to himself as well as to others and was considered to be a competent commander. He was also ambitious, as in an attempt to further his goals, he found Priscilla before the Royal Family died and kept Sphinx alive after taking her captive. Because of his self-centered personality, he was not very well liked among his vassals and citizens who struggled under his rulership until Priscilla came and won them over, similarly to how he was disliked by his subordinates as a commander in the Demi-Human War. He was a ruthless, cunning, and arrogant man who was almost always one step ahead of everyone in his goals of seizing the throne for himself by removing any thorns in his side.

History
During the Demi-Human War, Leip served as a successful commander on the battlefield. However, he was disliked by his subordinates for his cruelty. During the Battle of Aihiya Swamp, the Royal Army suffered catastrophic losses due to the enemy's magic circles. As the commander, the failure of the battle was pinned on Leip, and he was branded by some as a war criminal. Although he tried to restore his honor, not only did his actions of tyranny against his subordinates come back to haunt him, but he was also accused of murdering the previous commander, Crumère, leading to the denial of his protests.

By the time of the Battle at Lugunica Castle, Leip would be relegated to the role of a castle guard. After encountering three of the Zellgef Squadron's most notbale members—Bordeaux Zellgef, Grimm Fauzen, and Wilhelm van Astrea—he was initially apprehensive towards them and doubted their claim that the Demi-Human Alliance's leaders were about to attack the castle. Before he could reject the trio from entering the castle, Roswaal J Mathers arrived to join the three of them with Carol Remendis, and she forced Leip to step aside by floundering her rank over him. Soon encountering a few demi-humans who attempted to enter the building, Leip would accordingly chase them down to the underground sewers to finish them off. However, he encountered Sphinx in the sewers, and seizing an opportunity for him to take advantage of, he incapacitated her and took a necklace with a ring in her possession. Shortly afterwards, Leip would encounter Roswaal again, who was pursuing the escaping Witch, and lie about her death. After giving Roswaal the necklace and being left by himself, Leip would subsequently take Sphinx's body and keep her alive for his own ambition.

Many years later, Leip was entrusted by the Lugunican Royal Family to have the responsibility of administrating the Dragon Tablet. Using the information about the prophecy to his advantage, he searched for a candidate and found Priscilla. He had ambition to seize the throne in the Royal Selection through her, and for that reason, he married Priscilla prior to the official ceremony and attempted to introduce her as the first candidate until Crusch Karsten was discovered before her. Leip also rigged a tournament for her to find a knight to have in the selection. She was originally to choose from among the top four, not knowing that in reality the contest had been fixed and all of them were his pawns in order to be used control her unpredictable behavior. However, Priscilla picked a man named Aldebaran, who had made his way to the top four himself, botching part of Leip's machinations. After this event, he would review his plan to take over Priscilla's body with Sphinx.

As a way to rectify this sometime later, Leip brought Gilian Endymion to replace Al and to later use him in his plot to make Priscilla into a puppet after the opening ceremony of the selection. However, Schult objected to this idea, and Leip attempted to kill him as a result. Thanks to a change of heart, Al foiled Leip's plans and used his ability to break his mind in the end. Leip eventually died sometime before the beginning of the Royal Selection, and as a result, Priscilla assumed his authority and land.

Abilities
Magic User (魔法使い Maho Tsukai): Leip could use Fire Magic.
 * Goa (ゴーア): Leip could manifest a blaze of fire to incinerate foes.

Equipment: Leip had a short barrel shaped Meteor which amplified the power of his spells.

Trivia

 * Leip boasted that his war record in the Demi-Human War was equal to Bordeaux Zellgef's.