Bardwin Cecil Ifrikia ( バルドウィン・シシル・イフリキア (バルド) , Barudouin Shishiru Ifurikia (Barudo)), or simply Bard, is Livius's uncle and the Prime Minister of the Sun Kingdom. After disappearing for a few years, he returns upon hearing that his nephew is engaged to be married.
Appearance[]
Bardwin is a handsome young man with long, loose blond hair and golden-brown eyes. In the manga, he is once called a "giant" and is stated to measure 1.80 meters.
Personality[]
Bard is very charismatic, known to cause an uproar amongst women wherever he arrives. He is also very well known as a flirt and a playboy. All these attributes, combined with his good looks, grant him the "ability to wrap people around his finger without breaking a sweat." He can play the lyre and is very good with a bow and arrow.
Despite his apparently carefree exterior, perceptive people (like Sheila and Nike) have pointed out that Bard's flamboyance is an act to cover up hidden motives: even Livius has trouble figuring him out at times. He finds court life suffocating sometimes, mostly behaving so outrageously because that is what people expect of him.
Bard tends to not take his duties as Prime Minister seriously and is often dismayed at the responsibilities that come with it. He often times abandons his responsibilities to cavort with women, much to Livius’ dismay. Despite his laziness, Bard has shown dedication to his country and Livius trusts him with handling the kingdom’s affairs when he is away.
Bard loves female attention and enjoys getting it wherever he can. He enjoys sleeping with women, and has also been known to do this when he is exceptionally worried.But until recently every time he tried to form a serious relationship with a woman they all ended tragically in a very unfortunate way.
History[]
Bardwin is the son of Leonidas II and his third queen. He is also Livius’s paternal uncle and the younger half-brother to Leonidas III.
Bardwin and Livius spent a lot of time together when Livius was very young, despite not getting along very well. The one thing they shared was a desire to protect Sheila, Livius's mother, so the two developed a somewhat trusting relationship based on mutual love of her.
When Sheila was assassinated, Bardwin saved Livius from the same fate and promised to himself that he would keep Livius safe. As the only way to accomplish that in his eyes was putting him on the throne and destroying his enemies from there, Bard agreed to relinquish his own, albeit more legitimate, claim to the throne to Livius and agrees to serve as Prime Minister. He joined Livius in both rebuilding the Sun Kingdom and conquering anyone that rose against him. When the Sun Kingdom had come close to conquering the world, Bard discovered that the pain of Sheila's death had returned, leaving him incapable of performing his duties once the Great War ended. That and Livius’ brutal method of ruling (including attacking allied countries for purely political reasons and forcing Bard to nearly rape Princess Ursula Rayluychaney in order to produce an heir for Livius) prompted him to resign as Prime Minister and disappeared to travel the world, hoping to find the joy that Sheila had had in the world and trusting that Livius's hatred would spur the young king to keep on living.
Three years later, when word reached him that Livius was engaged, Bard rushed back to the Sun Kingdom. Surprised by how taken both the populace and Livius were with princess Nike, he resolved to test her loyalty by attempting to seduce her. If Nike accepted him, Bard planned to have his way with her and then expose her as a manipulative power-grabber to have her removed: he was very relieved when Nike firmly rejected him, though this caused a misunderstanding with Livius who assumed Nike was being unfaithful upon catching the two in her room. Livius threw him in the dungeon and threatened to torture him as punishment.
Though he intended to leave again after making sure Nike was trustworthy, Nike took offense at the idea, telling him that he was simply avoiding his feelings and causing Livius more pain. After he and Livius made peace (through Nike's meddling), Bard resumed his role as Prime Minister and became one of Livius’ most trusted advisors. Although Livius trusts Bard in keeping the kingdom in order when he’s away, he is dismayed by Bard cavorting with women at court. Bard is one of the many people who gives Livius advice on how to cope with his past crimes when his paranoia began to affect how he treated Nike. Bard is often left in charge of the kingdom’s affairs when Livius is away and several times has covered for Livius from the Ministry of Priesthood. One example is when Livius leaves the kingdom to retrieve Cassandra in order to save Nike from dying following an assassination attempt. The priests wanted to annul the marriage and force Livius off the throne for bringing a witch into Ginitarix (a holy city to the Sun God) but Bard defended Livius’ actions, as the priests’ intents would have led to Nike’s death.
He is a notorious playboy and has affairs with [[Violetta]] and many other women throughout the series. These are purely sexual relationships, as Bard initially believes he can never love another woman after Sheila. Despite initially preferring to remain a bachelor and womanize, Bard develops feelings for Kara, Nike’s older sister, once she becomes a frequent aid to Nike and Livius following Nike being poisoned from an assassination attempt on Livius. Kara rejects Bard but this made Bard more interested as she was the only person besides Nike and Sheila who resisted him. After he confesses and asks her to be his fiancée, she finally reciprocates his affection. Six years later, they are happily married and have two children.
Relationships[]
Leonidas III[]
Though Bard was at court while Leonidas was the king, it seems the brothers were never very close. When Nike asks him about Leonidas, after Livius pretends not to hear her questions about his father, Bard says he didn't know the man well, and that he didn't really feel like an older brother.
Sheila[]
Sheila was the beloved concubine of Bard's older brother. He spent a lot of time around her and her son Livius, which led to Sheila knowing him very well: when he tells her that the court compares him to the sun, she finds the idea very funny and says he feels more like the moon to her, shining bright but with a hidden face. Bard is shocked by her perceptiveness, and confesses that the only place in court where he can breathe easily is with Sheila. It's clear that he was in love with Sheila, but Bard states that Sheila did not return his affections. He strove to keep her safe while she was alive, and worked hard to protect her son after her death. The pain of her death eventually led him to resign as Prime Minister.
Despite his many affairs with women, Bard confesses to Kara Lemercier that he has not forgotten about Sheila and doesn't want to, despite the many people constantly urging him to move on.
Livius I[]
Livius and Bard met when the former was very young, and never got along very well. Despite their difficult feelings for each other, Bard was one of the few people able to keep up with Livius intellectually, and the two sometimes spent time studying in each other's company. Mikia mentioned once that Bard and Livius were so far above the rest of their peers that they seemed to exist on a level of their own. They also trust each other.
As both of them loved Sheila (Livius as a son, Bard romantically), the two managed to get along in their mutual desire to protect her. However, Sheila's death reveals that Bard really does care about Livius himself: he agrees to work with him to dominate the world out of a desire to keep him safe, and gladly resigns his claim to the throne in order to make Livius the king. This was not only in accordance to Livius's wishes, as Bard believed that the safest place for his nephew was on the throne.
Once the pain of Sheila's death caught up with him, Bard abruptly resigned his post as Prime Minister and left Livius. He mistakenly believed that Livius didn't need him, and that his anger at the world alone would motivate him to stay alive. Despite this, he did not stop worrying about his nephew, and returned to the Sun Kingdom post haste when news of his engagement to Nike reached him. He risked Livius's wrath by flirting with Nike in order to test her, then gladly accepted the post of Prime Minister again once he and Livius reconciled.
While he is not above teasing Livius and egging him into arguments, Bard loves Livius and is fiercely loyal to him. Even though, as brother to the late king, he will forever hold a stronger claim to the throne than his nephew, Bard is content as Prime Minister and goes through all kinds of trouble to keep Livius on the throne.
Nike Lemercier[]
When news of Nike's engagement to his nephew reached Bard, he ended a long self-imposed exile to investigate her. He is shown following her around town, trying to figure her out. When Bard notices how close she's gotten to Livius, he decides to test her loyalty by trying to seduce her. When Nike refuses him at every turn and firmly rejects him when he corners her in an empty bedroom, Bard is relieved to see she is "the real thing". He becomes very friendly to Nike after this.
While Bard himself has stated that he could have fallen in love with Nike's personality, he is aware of how deep the feelings run between her and Livius. He is glad and even envious of their closeness. He often offers himself up as a confidante, even telling Nike she can "come to her older brother" with her problems, and is wary of people who may hurt her. In Sheila's absence, it seems he has extended his protectiveness over Nike as the most important person in Livius's life.
Kara Lemercier[]
Upon their first meeting, Bard was very surprised when Kara seemed immune to his flattery, remarking that only a relative of Nike could possibly resist him. At first, he unclear on how he feel about her after he was trapped in a maze with her for a whole night in Chapter 77-79 as he said that he have never met a girl like her as he always see women all the same except Sheila. But Kara was different, she was never fooled by his playboy game at and in Chapter 65, he said '' I feel like I've lost to her as a man''. Kara also told him its okay to not forget about Sheila when everyone told him to forget and move on.
She is one of the few people that Bard opened up his feelings to and after that night, Bard was wondering about how he views her but he is sure of one thing, after Kara saved him, when the Crown Prince of the Ocean kingdom, Memphis, came over to the Sun Kingdom to talk about the stone monuments around the world that are ancient relics to solve the mystery of rainfall, Memphis asked Kara to be his fiancé after meeting her for the very first time. Bard was annoyed and didn't want Kara near Memphis, to the point where he joined Kara and Memphis on a long trip to find the stone monuments just because he didn't want her to be away with him.
Bard eventually realizes his feelings for Kara and claim that Kara is the girl he truly loves. This was proven in chapter 117 when he said "with one droop of liquid the glass that has been collecting quietly began to over flow'', describing how his love for Kara is like. And by the end of chapter 117, Bard asked Kara to be his fiancé.
Six years later, it was shown the Bard is happily married to Kara and they have two daughters.
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Trivia[]
- Bardwin is heir presumptive to the throne, as Livius is too young to have children. Livius also has stated he would leave the throne to Bard if he dies. But his spot in the line of succession would expectedly drop once Livius and Nike have children.
- Bardwin has several factions who supported and still support him should he choose to rise to a higher power, although he himself is quite content to support Livius's reign.
- He has his own fan club
- He is a legendary flirt: even the thieves in the Forest of Wonder have heard of an "apparition" that seduces women in the royal palace at Ginitarix
- At fist he thought Kara was a cold hearted person later he discovered that she is not and now bard sees her as the girl he love.
- Bard used to think it was hard for him to talk to Kara because of her piercing eyes were he said "her eyes says that she'll listen to me how dangerous.
- Bard is said to be bad at cooking but even when he burns pastries, the taste is still good, as this is shown when he made a pie for Livius.