Asterope Franz

"I don’t care who Lady Aria is. It doesn’t matter if she’s the horribly wicked woman you make her out to be. No, it may be a good thing if she’s willing to deal with women like you and survive."

- Asterope Franz to Mielle Roscente (chapter 249)

Crown Prince , also known by his alias Asher, is a main character of the series The Villainess Turns the Hourglass. He is the current Crown Prince of the Empire as well as the love interest of Aria Roscente.

About
Asterope is introduced as a man who, despite his high noble origins, appears rather unrefined and carries out important missions either by himself or with the help of his closest aides. This is suggested to have originated from the political influence of the Aristocratic Party, which has led his upbringing to be oriented towards a struggle for power. In the initial line of events, a series of mistakes diminished his remaining influence, and he was forced to enter a political marriage with Isis Frederick, one of the Aristocratic Party’s key figures, who ultimately ended up serving as the true regent of the Empire. Thanks to Aria’s guidance, however, he manages to avoid becoming politically irrelevant, regaining the former power of the Imperial family.

Appearance
Asher is described as an exceptionally tall young man with short black hair and highly handsome facial features. He has an angled face, pale skin and ears that redden when embarrassed. Although Asher’s build is rather slender overall, he has very wide shoulders. Most prominently, his eyes have a distinct blue color which is commonly remarked upon in the novel.

Asher’s attire is highly variable throughout the series, depending on the situation:


 * When first introduced, he is seen wearing a cloak of uniform dark color with a blue brooch and a tight black tunic with small white stripes and a white belt around the waist region underneath. He also appears to be wearing black hoses and blue boots.
 * In official ceremonies, however, Asher is dressed much more extravagantly, wearing a white tunic with various golden accessories, white gloves, black boots, and a long golden cloak when first shown attending a formal event.
 * Over the course of the series, Asher is shown in various different outfits on formal occasions, many of them designed to go along with Aria Roscente's attire.

It is shown that Asher is quite knowledgeable about fashion (among other things, designing Aria’s wedding dress himself) and puts great care into his clothing choices.

Personality
When first introduced, Asher appears as a rather frank and cold man. On public occasions, he is seen behaving in a calm and inviting manner; however, he is shown to lose his composure quite quickly, walking up to Aria Roscente, grabbing her arm, and speaking to her quite informally upon hearing her remark foreshadowing the end of the casino under Viscount Lupré. He is presented as being quite stoic and rather exclusively oriented towards power. Asher is also extremely ruthless and calculating, showing no hesitation to kill or harm others for political reasons and even showing little regard for the well-being of his subordinates, such as Lane Pinonua. This side appears to originate from his upbringing as a Crown Prince under constant pressure from the Aristocratic Fraction.

After getting to know Aria, he behaves in quite a different way. Initially merely interested in recruiting her as an ally due to her sharp intellect, he begins to display sincere affection towards her, pursuing her quite openly and becoming jealous extremely easily; he even expressed anger that he would not be able to execute Oscar Frederick with the rest of the Aristocratic Fraction, knowing of Aria’s past interest in him. He is shown to be quite naive with regards to romance and very easily flustered, with most romantic advances coming from the much more experienced Aria. Upon hearing about her past, he has even stated that he does not mind her wicked behavior and is happy to assist her in her plans to get revenge on Mielle Roscente and the Count’s family.

History
Asher coincidentally meets Aria Roscente near the casino, whose owner, Viscount Lupré, has been involved in a human trafficking scandal that is soon to be exposed. Knowing the future, Aria advises a shop owner to sell an auction ticket, catching Asher’s attention. The two of them encounter each other a few more times, with Asher initially believing her to be Mielle Roscente because he didn’t know her first name (only knowing her to be of the Roscente family), but this misunderstanding is slowly cleared up over the course of the story. Initially wanting to recruit her due to her intelligence, he finally ends up falling for her. Following Aria’s decision to go public with her business ventures, the two of them become a couple; their romantic development forms a central part of the second half of the series’ plot.

In the end, Asher manages to destroy the Aristocratic Party with the help of Lohan Croa by having all prominent members executed for treason. He ends up marrying Aria, with her becoming the Crown Princess of the Empire. Aside from Aria, Asher is the only person in the series known to have special powers, being able to move through space at extremely high speeds; this ability is said to have awakened when the Aristocrats attempted to have him assassinated as a child. He is also the only one to know about Aria’s past (aside from Mielle, who finds out about it the day before her execution).

Trivia
The name Asterope means "lightning" in Ancient Greek.

Asterope or Sterope was the name of a Hesperid (nymphs of the evening) in Greek mythology who was part of the 7 Pleiades.


 * The Pleiades is also the name of an open star cluster in the constellation Taurus.

Like in Aria's case, Asher falls asleep for a whole day in cases where he uses his ability too much. Unlike Aria, though, Asher is able to wake up thanks to external stimuli like shaking him like it is done in chapter 261 of the novel.