Lucrezia de Dormentaire

Lady Lucrezia de Dormentaire is a member of the wealthy and powerful House Dormentaire of Spain. In 1711, she fakes her own death, publically detaching herself from her family and the rest of the European aristocrat scene.

She becomes a complete immortal after 1711, and is still alive as of 2003.

Appearance
Lucrezia is lauded by those she meets as exquisitely beautiful, slim with smooth skin and blonde hair.

In 1711, she wears a thin opulent dress that accentuates her curves and exposes her legs as opposed to the fashionable hoop skirt and corset of the 18th century. The dress was custom made for the Dormentaire family, and looks similar to a Chinese qipao -- a style that would not come into fashion until a few centuries later. She owns a peacock-feather fan.

She smells faintly like peaches.

Personality
Lucrezia is highly self-motivated, pursuing whatever catches her fancy or is advantageous to her own interests. In spite of her privileged position, Lucrezia has no interest in politics or warfare.

She is unshakably confident in her own decisions, never second-guessing herself or thinking that she might be in the wrong (as evident in her 1711 debate with Carla in the harbor).

Lucrezia is openly sexual and extremely flirtatious with a sultry air, consorting with both men and women equally. Those who encounter her usually find her incredibly alluring and charismatic. She is prone to teasing her companions, delighting in their reactions.

In the original Japanese, she often uses -chan - when addressing others. Fan-translators have adapted this habit in their English versions as terms of endearment, including "sweetheart," "dear," and "darling."

Taking all that into consideration, it probably would not be too much of a stretch to call Lucrezia a narcissist, or even a narcissistic hedonist.

Pre-1710
Lucrezia is described as "perhaps in her mid-twenties" in 1711, so it is possible she was born in the late 1680s.

Lucrezia's brother Gardi Dormentaire is killed around 1700 by Monica Campanella after he attempted to rape her (Monica).

At some point, Lucrezia introduces Victor Talbot to her bodyguard, Carla Alvarez Santonia. Victor is rather rude towards Carla's appearance and the idea of a woman serving as a bodyguard, and Carla 'trounces' him. Lucrezia takes great delight in mocking him.

At an equally unspecified time, Huey Laforet (according to Szilard) sneaks into Lucrezia's bedchambers and proposes an exchange: his counterfeiting methods in exchange for the support of the Dormentaire's alchemy workshop. Huey is also highly skilled with incendiaries and explosives, two weak areas in the Dormentaire population. Lucrezia instructs Szilard to keep quiet on the deal, since she wants to see Victor's surprised face herself.

1710: Crack Flag
Lucrezia (unnamed in the scene) strolls the grounds of the Dormentaire estate's gardens with Carla. Her face is covered with a veil. She has received contact from their Dormentaire spy in Lotto Valentino, who has determined that Gardi's killer might be living in that city. At Carla's questioning, Lucrezia says that the Dormentaire family wants to keep this incident out of the public eye, which is why they are planning on sending a delegation of Dormentaire soldiers down to the city. Lucrezia would like Carla to lead the group. Carla is taken aback, and Lucrezia vaguely says that it's best to send a woman up against the Clown Count of Lotto Valentino. She assures Carla not to worry. Carla, as stoic as ever, confirms that she will contact the spy and either arrest or 'take care' of the killer.

Lucrezia titters, exclaiming "My goodness, Carla dear. Don't be such a silly thing!" and says that the killer is just a pretext for their real mission, and that if Carla does find the killer she shouldn't make a move. At Carla's confusion, Lucrezia laughs, and says that there are "all kinds of nasty rumors" floating around the city - rumors of immortality, drugs, and false gold. Giggling, she brings up Szilard Quates - an alchemist that laughs at the idea of immortality but is fairly curious about the counterfeit gold. He claims that if he can just figure out the right formula he will be able to recreate it perfectly.

Carla asks if Lucrezia wants her to find the formula, and Lucrezia takes a moment to flatter her ("I love how you're so quick to catch on...") before asking "now, you know how greedy our family is, right?" At Carla's silence, Lucrezia again 'compliments' her ("Oh, you're such a good girl, Carla. I like that about you") and announces unabashedly that she wants them all. Immortality, drugs, false gold...and isn't it such a shame that House Dormentaire can't control all of them?

With a vain smile, Lucrezia refers to her spy, who had described Lotto Valentino like a city in a "glass box made by the alchemists." Lucrezia would very much like it if Carla would smash that box into bits - no matter how many years it might take.

1711: Whitesmile
Lucrezia orders Victor Talbot and Szilard Quates (both of whom are alchemists sponsored by the Dormentaires) to visit Lotto Valentino and investigate the counterfeit gold infecting the town, as well as the local alchemic research concerning immortality.

At some point, Lucrezia boards a Dormentaire ship and sets sail for Lotto Valentino. Her cabin is jaw-droppingly decadent, even when compared to the rest of the lavishly decorated ship. Surrounded by guards and servants (men and women of all ages), Lucrezia in her ever-seductive manner purrs that everything is all so exciting, and she can't wait to see the looks on Carla's and Victor's faces as they confront those "poor, poor rebellious little things" in the city. Addressing the others in the room, Lucrezia announces that based on the reports she's read, the thing she loves most about Lotto Valentino is its toilets. At her servants' bewilderment, Lucrezia impishly explains that Lotto Valentino's sewer system is amazing, allowing even the public facilities and commoners the privilege of running water. The only other time she's heard of a backwater town equipped with perfect sewage facilities was the hometown of famed artist Strassburg, although she can't remember its name. Clearly the Lotto Valentino alchemists are no slouches. Indeed, they're "such clever little sweethearts."

She continues to hold a one-sided conversation about trivial matters, only ceasing her chatter after checking the time. They have about an hour until arrival, and Lucrezia repeats that she really can't wait to see Carla's and Victor's faces.

Lucrezia proceeds to fake her own death, making it so that the Dormentaire ship explodes in full view of multitudes of people at the harbor. Donning different makeup and clothes, she spends the next few days hiding out in the city. During those few days, she complains about not being able to go see Carla since her bodyguard anywhere, and how she can't seem to locate Victor anywhere.

In the harbor, soon after the Advena Avis departs (with Victor aboard it), Lucrezia stands on the rooftops alongside The Mask Makers, dressed in their trademark clothing as they watch Carla and her soldiers down on the docks. Leaping lightly down from the roof, Lucrezia removes her mask and reveals herself to Carla, giggling at the 'adorable' expression on her face and the characteristic stony expressions of her companions (Carla's eyes are filled with tears). On the rooftops, the other Mask Makers also remove their masks, and Carla recognizes some of them as fellow bodyguards. Looking around, Lucrezia mentions that she'd been so looking forward to seeing Victor's face too, and asks where he has gone.

Faced with a dazed Carla, Lucrezia fills her bodyguard in on what really happened, and Carla, wiping her tears away, grows indignant. Lucrezia pouts ("Oooh, don't get mad, Carla! You're going to hurt my feelings, sweetheart!") as Carla berates her, asking if she'd even stopped to consider the amount of collateral damage and injuries she must have caused with her plans. Lucrezia protests; after all, in Victor's letters to her he always spoke of the local contemptuously, so of course she thought she ought to give them just a teensy little scare. Carla points out that children or innocent foreigners could have been caught up in the blast, and that of the injured the Dormentaire soldiers outnumber the locals. Did Lucrezia have any idea as to how anxious the fleeing alchemists were?

Lucrezia smiles brightly and says that the alchemists were one of House Dormentaire's plans. Lotto Valentino was built for the alchemists, so House Dormentaire decided that although it would take over the alchemists' research, they'd assist the alchemists themselves in their flight from the city before other noble houses or countries got to them. Carla knows full well that all the explosions around the city and the ship and the injured body count are all rather tame by House Dormentaire's standards, so why does she look so mad?

Carla, her voice even louder than before, argues that pillaging a city is not tame in the slightest. Carla will do anything to get a hold of whatever "Milady" desires, but she states that there was no need for Lucrezia to go this far and turn herself into a villain while deceiving herself (Carla) in the process. She'd been so worried...

They hear a few low explosions from the city, which Lucrezia finds strange since the fortress was supposed to be their last target. Carla uses them as an example of how things do not always go to Lucrezia's plans, continuing to lecture her as the city burns.

Lucrezia orders the alchemists under her employ to obtain the Grand Panacea for her. Szilard ignores her, Victor (who is still bitter at her deception) sends her a snarky letter but not the elixir. Fermet only sends her a sample several years later, but by then Lucrezia is already immortal thanks to Huey and Elmer C. Albatross, both of whom each sent her half of their portions of the elixir. Realizing that even just one sip granted one immortality, Lucrezia claimed Huey's portion for herself and had others of her entourage drink Elmer's portion. including Niki and the father of Maiza and Gretto Avaro.

In 2003 (in Whitesmile's epilogue), Lucrezia and Niki walk down a street on the American East coast. A young man accidentally bumps into Niki, who stares vacantly off into the distance. Lucrezia apologizes while the man gapes at her bandages, explaining that Niki has been 'out of it' ever since her 'accident.' After the young man walks away, Lucrezia turns to look at a nearby parked FBI vehicle. Inside the car, Victor Talbot is bawling out his subordinate Inspector Jessica Sullivan so loudly that his voices carries to the outside.

Lucrezia "exchange[s] a lustful glance with the world," thinking that things are going to become exciting -- especially since Fermet is up to something potentially interesting. She takes Niki's hand and giggles as they walk right past the car, telling Victor to do his best and that she'll give him a compliment if he makes things fun. Victor, of course, cannot hear her, and he doesn't notice his beloved Lucrezia walk by since he is too preoccupied with bawling out Jessica.

Trivia

 * When Lucrezia talks about Lotto Valentino's sewage system, she brings up "Strassburg's hometown." This is a reference to an island called Growerth, the setting of one of Ryohgo Narita's other light novel series, Vamp!. In that series, Carnald Strassburg is the town's only real celebrated talent, famous even in Europe.
 * Since Gardi is described as the 'eldest son' of House Dormentaire, it is possible that he and Lucrezia have at least one other brother. However, the kanji used to describe him could also be read as "only son."
 * Lucrezia faked her death in front of multitudes of people in a very eye-catching way (exploding her Dormentaire ship), so it's clear she wanted to be dead to the public eye. However that doesn't necessarily mean she has cut off all contact with the Dormentaire family.