Governance of Leona’s country is proving difficult for his older brother, Falena, with their father wishing for Leona to go to his brother’s aid. Speaking more bluntly, Leona says that Falena is going to run their kingdom into the ground.
We possibly get a hint of the situation during the Cloudcalling event: after Leona explains how precious water is in the country and how a lack of investment in infrastructure means people outside of the capital (like Ruggie) are living off of well water, Kifaji shows their visitors a water fountain that was commissioned by Falena in honor of the birth of his son.
This is in contrast to the development of the Scalding Sands, with Jamil explaining that merchant families like Kalim’s “adopted cutting-edge technologies to ensure everyone had access to water,” which is possibly one of the things that Leona believes his brother should be prioritizing.
Falena is ten years older than Leona and not yet king, serving as regent while their father is bedridden with an unspecified illness. When visiting his hometown during Cloudcalling Leona explains that tourists are not granted audiences with Falena and he will not be going to him: “Don’t think I can handle bathing in all his majesty, ya see.”
When Kifaji explains how bringing all the different demographics of the population together is a difficult task for the royal family, insinuating that Leona ought to be helping his struggling brother as their father wants, Leona replies, “Best thing I can do for my brother is not be here. It’s why I don’t come home. The country’s better off.”
Later Kifaji says, “I do wish you’d put those wits of yours to use for the sake of your country’s future,” with Leona replying, “This country already has a fine leader. What use do you have for a fangless weakling like me?”
On the subject of his older brother, Falena, Leona says, “he could focus on the kingdom’s affairs—you know his JOB,” but Falena instead insists on being “the caring big brother who’s nice to everybody.”
One example that Leona provides is Falena gifting him with an expensive traditional rug for his dorm room: “In the time he spends sending me gifts I don’t even want, he could be sending rugs to neighboring lands and bolstering our foreign relations.”
Falena seems to be focusing on preserving nature rather than investing in infrastructure like running water for the country’s citizens, while Leona’s vision might align more closer to that of his father. Leona explains, “The city began to develop under my father’s rule —while he was still in good health, anyway.”
Leona says that Falena also views spelldrive as “just a diversion for the masses,” and is “clueless” about the boost it would be for tourism if their country was able to win the world league.
During Leona’s overblot flashback we see how he would overhear attendants to the royal family gossiping about how they prefer the “bright and cheerful” Falena to Leona’s moodiness and frightening unique magic.
While the novels are not canon to the game, Leona’s overblot monologue is very different in the novel and highly recommended, including;
“Someday, someone will see me for who I am. I was so certain, and I worked so hard.”
“I knew thinking about it was pointless, but I couldn’t stop. And I started to hate myself for it.”
“When I realized that the plan to remove Malleus had failed, suddenly, I understood. That everything is pointless. That the future throne I desire does not exist. It didn’t bother me as much as I’d thought it would.”
“It’s not their expectations that scare me. I’m scared of myself. Of how pathetic I would be if their words inspired me, so that I am never able to give up hope.”
“I’m not strong, I’m not wise, and I’m not loved. Is this who I am?.”
“I hate knowing how insignificant and boring I am. People say I should try. What else can I do? I’ve already given it everything I have. Maybe what I should be striving for is the strength to give up. And that sounds like the most painful thing of all.”
Leona points out that Falena will become king even if he spends every day singing and napping and Falena does not deny it, instead telling Leona that he has the potential to help their country with his wisdom. Leona responds, “And maybe if this country selected its kings on the basis of intelligence, l’d be motivated to do something with that wisdom.”
When Malleus comments that Leona seems to be enjoying experiences at NRC that he could never have at home (much in the same way as Malleus himself) Leona responds, “At the very least, it’s more relaxing here than with my family.” He also says his country is better off without him going home, and he “can barely stand going home at all.”
Leona says he wishes he could skip out on visiting his family during winter break but “they’d give (him) no end of grief” if he did.
Malleus observes that Leona seems to enjoy life on campus more than he’d thought and Leona responds, “It’s got its pluses. No one from back home can hover over me when l’m on campus, so I can go wherever I please. And as long as I’m here, I can wear what I want.”
Ruggie says that Leona probably gives his family “a lot of grief by never getting in touch” and Leona responds, “They’re so annoying. How long’re they gonna hound my every step?” He says that for family Halloween celebrations he would “just throw a sheet on every year and go as a ghost,” and that they were “a royal pain.”
Leona says that his mother and the grand chamberlain would put up family pictures everywhere on days when they did not have any official business:
“I was glad I wouldn’t have to play along with their stupid self-gratification anymore once I left the palace, but now they keep pestering me to send them pictures every season. Something to put up in the private dining hall, something to put up in my father’s sickroom…I swear, there’s nothin’ more grating.”
Leona concedes to send home a photo of himself in his ceremonial robes and when Ruggie asks why he is actually doing what they want he says that it is his brother’s wife who asked him.
Leona says that, after hanging up on his nephew during a phone call, his sister-in-law called “to give (him) grief,” and when he lived at home she and Cheka “were always making some kind of racket. Never got a moment’s peace.”
Leona says he received messages and “a whole heap of presents” from his family for his birthday, offering to give them to the prefect as there is probably nothing he wants. Leona says, “The real trouble is the birthday present I got from my nephew Cheka. He was blowing up my phone all day when it was scheduled to be delivered. ‘Has it come yet?’ ‘Do you like it?’ That kinda thing,” so he hung up the phone.
Leona says that Cheka sends him presents like stuffed animals and picture books: “They’re such dumb, sweet presents, it actually brought a tear to my eye. Yeah, thanks kid…Sheesh.”
Cheka also calls Leona all day during Halloween for the purpose of saying, “Happy Halloween,” and Leona again hangs up the phone.
(He immediately excuses himself from the party, but we do not know if it was to call Cheka back, to get to a more private place in preparation for an angry call from his sister-in-law, or for another reason entirely.)
We meet Cheka in the main story when he escapes his attendants to visit Leona in the school’s infirmary, asking to be taught how to play spelldrive and “riding Housewarden Leona like a horse,” according to a shocked Jack.
Ruggie observes, “So THIS is why you never want to go home to visit your family!”
Leona will occasionally reference having to babysit at home and Cheka following him around, and when he see Cheka again during the Cloudcalling event, he physically clings to Leona.
Vil observes, “He pays no mind to Leona’s scary demeanor and simply keeps running around at his feet…What an innocent child. I can hardly believe they’re related.”
Cheka insists on playing a game with Leona, ignoring his refusal.
Cheka is the reason that Leona is now at NRC: Leona had already been taught everything that is offered at NRC before receiving his letter of acceptance and initially ignored it–
“But when Cheka was born, things…changed. The idea of staying at home was like gnawing on a bone long after the meat’d been stripped clean. So I came to school the year after I got the invitation.”
Leona has repeatedly stated that he “can’t stand” children but he seems adored by Cheka and popular with animals such as Grim and Zero.
Kifaji is introduced as “the grand chamberlain of the royal family” and seems to have been a large part of Leona’s childhood: when Kifaji asks how it is that Leona ended up “so horribly twisted” Leona responds, “probably ’cause some twisted chamberlain was always givin’ me a hard time.”
Kifaji reflects, “To think that cute little boy who threw tantrums when I beat him at chess would grow up to spit such poison from his mouth. Perhaps I was too hard on you after all.”
Leona says that, while Kifaji has always been a nag, he “makes a decent chess opponent.” When Kifaji calls Leona out on a strategy during the tournament of the Cloudcalling event Leona says, “In chess it’s perfectly legitimate to go for a draw.Seem to remember some dodderin’ fool teachin’ me that in my youth.”
Kifaji responds, “Was it a warm and kind chamberlain, perhaps? How lucky you were to have such a person in your life.”
It seems that Leona and Kifaji also play pool together, and Kifaji taught him everything he knows about flying (Leona: “Whether I wanted him to or not”).
While not mentioning Kifaji by name Leona says that, when he was a child, his caretakers would always try to sing him to sleep with “some preachy lullaby about the world bein’ a small place.”
During Cloudcalling Kifaji describes a candy that Leona seems to have liked since when he was a child.
Leona says that the Kifaji of his dream acting friendly weirds him out: “Normally you yell at me when I skip out on my duties and threaten all sorts of punishments. You’ve always been like that-rearing any prince into a proper model of royalty. Even the one not in direct line of succession.”
Leona and Kifaji spend a significant part of the Cloudcalling event bickering with one another, but when Kalim tells them they shouldn’t fight Lilia intervenes, observing, “They’ve been acting like this the whole time. They’re probably always like this.”
It is Kifaji who calls Leona home for the Cloudcalling event, threatening to go to NRC directly to fetch him with “all the other chamberlains” unless he complies.
Leona does not seem to appreciate Kifaji being “so hung up on those dusty old traditions.”
After Leona returns home Kifaji reminds him that one of his responsibilities as grand chamberlain is preventing predicaments that will cause Prince Falena hardships, asking Leona to avoid causing his brother “any undue trouble.”
Leona greets Kifaji upon his arrival by questioning his good timing, saying, “You mean you wanted to make sure l’d actually come back. Don’t trust me at all, do you,” and Kifaji responds, “I wonder in truth which of us it is who does not trust the other?”
Kifaji says he is shocked that Leona brought others with him to attend the festival as he hadn’t imagined that Leona was forming friendships with others at the school. (Vil: “Are we actually that good of friends with Leona?”)
Leona is not pleased by the revelation that Kifaji intends to attend to them the entire day, returning to the palace for the explicit purpose of getting a car that will not seat enough people to allow Kifaji to join them to Ivory Spring. (Kifaji: “I must say, that was rather clever.”)
During the Cloudcalling event it is revealed that Kifaji himself trained Cheka’s attendants for the tournament, to Leona’s surprise, and that Kifaji never informed him of a new rule allowing for athlete substations (Jack: “He’s really got it in for you…”)
Despite such setbacks Leona still manages to win the tournament, with Kifaji saying, “Such overwhelming strength…well done, Prince Leona. Ever since you were little, you’ve been surprising me at every turn. Sunset Savanna’s future should certainly be entertaining.”
Twisted Wonderland Reference Note 