Fourier Lugunica ramble (with excerpts from Ex 1)
Fourier is, much like all the members of the Lugunican royal family, somewhat airheaded but charming in nature. The Lugunican royals are all genuine and good people, but not particularly skilled stewards―which is pretty much the exact description the LN uses across all the side content I've read recently including Ex 1, 2, and 3.
In his normal state, he's prone to being incredibly impulsive and needy. He rolls up to the Karsten estate at random to bother them with whatever he's fixated on at any given moment and is very good-natured about the teasing he is subject to―not being particularly aware of the depths of Ferris's wit, but always rolling with whatever punches he does see. Fourier's obviously a bit pampered considering how he whines about the cold to the degree that he never goes anywhere without his fancy red coat, but he's not totally adverse to hardship or pain seeing how readily and regularly he challenges Crusch to duels for years of their youth despite never really standing a chance.
Generally, he does not concern himself with his own status, and readily waves it off in pursuit of whatever he's fixated on because he's just that kinda silly goofy guy. At the same time though, he's keenly aware of his status as the fourth prince, and while he does know the kind of effect he can have on people―as seen in how he stalls for time when Crusch is fighting the rabbits by distracting the people at her party with improvised songs and sword demonstrations―Fourier is not one to care for the fact that he's royalty in any ambitious or grand sense. However, as seen in Ferris's unusual appointment as a royal knight, he does know when it can be used to get what he wants/thinks is right and necessary.
Further, Fourier is very much one for bravado and putting on a brave face. He wants to be strong and look cool, especially for Crusch, and in all matters Fourier is one to throw himself headfirst into situations with a high degree of overconfidence. It's actually noted as being part of his charm, the fact that he so readily pretends that he's better than he is and is princely, while also not really caring for being seen as princely and competent, which ends up making those times where he's princely and competent all the more impactful to the people he interacts with.
(here we see Fourier and Ferris discussing after the duel with Crusch to make her wear a dress, for a more relaxed example of Fourier being both overconfident and not caring for how he appears which Ferris takes advantage of to tease him)
(this one is of Crusch talking to Fourier about Ferris's family history that he pretends to already know about and lies to Crusch about blatantly to save face, only to prove himself unknowingly in her eyes in the next breath)
(and this one is Julius talking to him later in Ex 1 for a more serious example of how Fourier views other's views of him)
Ultimately, Fourier is a bit of a walking contradiction. He's oh! so jolly yet still respectable and competent when the need arises. He doesn't care for status yet walks around with overconfidence. He's keenly aware of social dynamics at times when it counts, yet often blunders his way through conversations in a way that's disarmingly absent-minded.
It's a contradiction explained by the fact that Fourier is one of a rare few of his family to be a "master of the blood" as Miklotov puts it, or the Lion King's Blessing as the fandom has come to call it. He's able to just… intuit things, a lot of the time. He knows what moves to play to win at games, knows answers to obscure questions his tutor asks without knowing why, is able to only ever show up to the Karsten estate when Crusch and Ferris aren't too busy to see and hang out with him, and of course is able to coordinate several royal knights to rescue Crusch from Ferris's dad while also setting Reinhard as insurance for stopping Miles (a spy he doesn't know exists, just has a hunch exists based on pretty much no evidence at all) from escaping back to Vollachia all without ever knowing the full scope of his own machinations.
I think the most iconic moment of Fourier is this:
In one move, Fourier pushes Crusch to accept her dual roles of being a Lady and being the martial heir to house Karsten, thrusts Ferris into knightship in a way that doesn't leave him insecure or gives him any room for doubt, and saves Crusch's dad's life from the rabbits―only to after Crusch and Ferris leave, tell a servant Crusch tied up that he has no idea what's going on and that they should probably figure that out.
Fourier is effortlessly foundational to Crusch and Ferris's entire worldviews, and he doesn't even know how or why he just follows his instincts and garners their total respect and admiration. He's humble in an unspoken way that leaves his dramatic overconfidence as endearing instead of irritating. He's a royal with once in a generation blood, yet all he cares for is to see the buds in the garden that are those he holds dear in his life bloom into their own.
The only time he ever really cares for his station, is because Crusch is a little obsessed with the legacy of the Lion King, and Fourier wants that attention on himself (all the while not knowing that he already has it). He makes giving his everything feel like nothing yet still everything―which is all the more tragic, all the more foundational for Crusch going forward, because that very essence of Fourier is exemplified in his death where his very memory is but a footnote in a wider chapter of the nation's history. Everything to Crusch and Ferris, but nothing to a nation in mourning.
This is why, after finishing Ex 1, I have gained an appreciation for Crusch who I'd thought as a very boring character having only experienced her presence in the main series. For years now, I've always looked down upon that short-sighted selfish goal of hers to break the covenant with the dragon, just because she can't get over Fourier's death. But it's deeply understandable if you come to know Fourier, and see it from Crusch's perspective.
Crusch started with this chip on her shoulder regarding needing to be worthy of inheriting this mantle of the lion, and then by the end of the novel she inherits this impossible dream of Fourier's too―where he pictures this future together with Ferris and Crusch as he dies in her arms, not even able to finish telling her that he loves her before he goes.
Fourier was her Lion King, he always was, and in his absence, given this singular opportunity through her candidacy and in the context of the seemingly callous attitude of the Sage Council and the gathered nobles… to me, it just feels so earned that she would despise the Dragon, whose mere promise of protection overshadows the deaths of so many royals who were amazing in their own rights.
Ultimately, Crusch's ire does come from misplaced grief, but it's one I can't help but respect now. The path Ferris and Crusch walk is not one that is kind to either of them, but it is one that is quite fitting. One that is lonely by necessity, because even though Fourier told Ferris to rely on his friend Julius, he was unable to finish telling Crusch his full feelings for her, leaving Crusch with an impossible dream and shoes she can't fill even with Ferris at her side.
So basically, all of this is to say that my favorite ferret man Ferrier Lugunica haunts the narrative and after reading Ex 1 he lives in my head as rent free as he does in Crusch and Ferris's.
