Leip Barielle

Leip Barielle (ライプ・バーリエル) was a count and Priscilla Barielle's former husband. He attempted to use Sphinx's powers to make Priscilla into a puppet and control her actions during the Royal Selection; however, Leip was permanently incapacitated by Al upon revealing his true intentions to the knight. He eventually succumbed to his extreme trauma and died before the Royal Selection began.

Appearance
Leip was an older man with slicked back hair. He wore clothes befitting that of nobility.

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-serving personality, he was not very well liked among his vassals and citizens who struggled under his rulership until Priscilla came and won them over. He was also a ruthless, cunning, and clever man who was 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 would encounter an escaping Sphinx in the sewers, and while 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 and lie about the Witch's 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. 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 Corpse 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 amplifies the power of his spells.

Trivia

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