Tertius

Four stiff spikes rise from Tertius's straight blond hair, forming a silhouette that faintly suggests a crown and quietly signals his royal lineage. His eyes are a pale blue and his grooming immaculate. At school he dresses in Eden's standard boys' uniform, pairing it with black shoes and socks patterned in diamonds and vertical striping.

Brought up to embody chivalry and princely dignity, Tertius works hard to project the image of a strong, dependable future leader. The calm confidence he shows classmates is largely theater; underneath, he frightens easily and spirals into overthinking. His courteous manners have nonetheless won him admirers among the girls in his year.

His greatest quirk is a tendency to inflate trivial incidents into affairs of state. A classroom slight becomes, in his imagination, a test of Septevia's honor before Ostania, and he reacts with dramatic declarations that baffle everyone around him. He backs down just as quickly once a misunderstanding clears, apologizing sincerely and even inventing a legendary Septevian jewel as a reward for Anya, then interpreting her skepticism as tactful kindness.

Born the third of Septevia's princes, Tertius endured strict swordsmanship lessons from his steward, who pushed him to become a leader capable of standing before great powers without flinching. He began his first year at Eden Academy under foreign dignitary status, and a weak Science grade after finals dropped him into the Class F science group for the second term.

There he meets Anya Forger. When a stray booger flicked from Freddy's finger lands on his face and the boy keeps grabbing at it without explanation, Tertius convinces himself he is being hazed, escalates the moment into a matter of national pride, and issues a terrified challenge. Anya's intervention, and a flower poke that unknowingly removes the offending speck, dissolves the standoff. Won over by what he takes for her selfless discretion, he befriends her and Freddy, walking with her to class, showing off a Northern Gull pen from home, and inviting her to visit Septevia over the next break.

Later, rumors of the Devil Ritual among Eden's Seven Great Secrets pull him into exploring the forbidden old schoolhouse with Anya's group. He spends the expedition on the edge of panic, screaming when Bill Watkins appears without warning, and that night he is too rattled even to visit the bathroom alone. His reflexes are surprisingly quick when startled, and he excels at Classical Language, earning Class A placement, though his marks remain inconsistent across subjects.