Louise de la Vallière

Louise Françoise le Blanc de la Vallière (ルイズ・フランソワーズ・ル・ブラン・ド・ラ・ヴァリエール, Ruizu Furansowāzu ru Buran do ra Variēru) is a sophomore void mage at Tristain Academy of Magic, where she was infamously known as "Louise the Zero" because of her consistency in casting failures while performing magic. She was able to summon a human familiar spirit, Saito Hiraga. When Henrietta de Tristain adopted Louise as her sister, she became the heir presumptive to the throne of Tristain, becoming the kingdom's crown princess.

Years later, Louise married Saito and became known as Louise Françoise le Blanc de Hiraga de Ornielle (ルイーズ·フランソワーズ·ル·ブラン·ド·平賀·デ·オルニユェール, Ruizu Furansowāzu ru Buran do Hiraga do Oruniērū).

Background
Louise is the third and youngest daughter of Sandorion de la Vallière and Karin de la Vallière. She always argues with her eldest sister, Eléonore, but is very attached to her older sister, Cattleya. She was adopted by her childhood friend, Princess, and later Queen of Tristain, Henrietta de Tristain, making her the Crown Princess to the throne of the kingdom. At one point in her life, Louise encounters Viscount Wardes, her erstwhile fiancé, on a boat, who promises her to converse with her father whom she presumably had a disagreement with.

In the Tristain Academy of Magic, Louise is a sophomore and a rival of Kirche von Zerbst, as their families are rivals as well. She is infamous amongst the students, plebeians, and even the staff due to her consistent failure in casting spells and performing magic in general, earning her the moniker "Louise the Zero". On the day of the Familiar Spirit Summoning Exam, Louise inadvertently summons a human from another world named Saito Hiraga, whom many consider as a plebeian, further augmenting her negative image in the Academy. Initially and most of the time, Louise treats Saito poorly and harshly similar to a dog, but she later comes to realize his importance and even comes to feel love for him, which he reciprocates. Because of Saito's gradual fame in the Academy especially to ladies, Louise — as someone who is initially cold towards him because of his low status, usually used as an excuse for her aristocratic rank — becomes jealous and often beats him up in anger for his lecherous behaviour behind his master's back.

Appearance
Louise has long, curly, pink hair that reaches her back and complementary pink eyes. She noticeably resembles her sister Cattleya, as Saito once commented that Louise might look like Cattleya when she grows up. Compared to the other females from her Academy, Louise has a small bust, which is considerably a running gag in the series often used to be the focus of comparison when Saito allegedly cheats on other girls because of their larger bust. As a student in the Academy, her uniform consists of a white long-sleeved blouse underneath a long, black cloak that reaches her feet, pinned into a spherical, bronze clasp like the rest of the Academy students. She also wears a short, black, pleated skirt and a pair of black thigh stockings with black, low-heeled Mary Jane shoes. As a mage, she is shown to carry her wand with her at all times.

During their mission ordered by Henrietta, Louise and Saito head out in a village, wherein Louise dressed as a plebeian. Her outfit remains simple, consisting of a brown dress, brown cap, sandals, and a silver, circular necklace. During the same day, Louise unexpectedly works at the Charming Fairy Inn (albeit temporarily) and was required to wear the tavern's signature look, which included a short, white, bustier-esque maid attire with skirt tied with a black ribbon at the back; ruffled headband; white, lace choker with black accents; white ankle socks; black flats; and white arm warmers. On her upper left thigh is a thick lace band, which she used to fasten her wand underneath her skirt. When she won the Tip Race, she wears the bustier that is similar to her maid outfit, but is mostly black in colour. She wore long, black stockings and black sandals.

Personality
Upon summoning Saito, Louise hates it so much, that it came from herself that she wanted a familiar spirit like a griffin or something. Some examples on how Louise expresses her "hate" towards Saito is by beating him up with her magic and by striking him with a whip. However, as the series succeeds, her love for Saito gets deeper and more intense.

As the two were childhood friends, Henrietta and Louise get along well. When Henrietta orders Louise commands, Louise accepts it enthusiastically, without doubts. Louise is also called by her first two names by Henrietta.

Coming from herself, Kirche "cannot lose to a Vallière" like Louise. With this, Louise hated Kirche, and Kirche hated Louise, too. When Louise bought Saito a sword for "protecting" himself from Kirche in the third episode of the first season, Kirche cannot accept it, and also bought Saito a sword. When Louise sees Saito with other women especially Kirche, Louise quickly gets jealous and envious.

Entrance Ceremony
Beginning her sophomore year at the Tristain Academy of Magic, Louise prepares for class under Professor Chevreuse. When the latter successfully turned pebbles into brass, she asks Louise to demonstrate the same spell. The class protests, but she continues to perform it, only managing an explosion. Despite this, she does not get any punishment. The night before the familiar spirit summoning exam, she confidently assures Kirche von Zerbst and Montmorency de Montmorency that she shall summon a divine familiar spirit unlike theirs. She would later regret this during the night. On the day of the exam, Louise summons a human from another world as the students laughs at her for summoning a peasant. Louise seeks permission from Professor Colbert if she could redo the ritual, but he tells her to complete the contract instead. As she kisses him, runes on his left hand appear, which read Gandálfr.

That night, Louise spends the night with her familiar, complaining at the incomprehensible noise that he keeps blabbering. She recalls a spell that might silence him, but, instead, she casts a spell that enabled them to understand each other. Later, Saito flees from her room and Louise chases after him, enlisting the help of Guiche and Kirche along the way, in which they succeeded.

The Plebeian Familiar Spirit
Saito tries to convince Louise that he came from another world, but Louise does not believe him. As a noble, she gives him various orders from then on. The next day, Louise and Saito head to the Alvíss Dining Hall for breakfast. When finished, they encounter Kirche and her familiar Flame, who teases Louise about the loyalty of her familiar who would not "run away". Angrily, she orders Saito to fetch her some tea.

Later, Louise finds out that her familiar has picked a fight with Guiche. Louise attempts to convince Saito to yield from the battle, as plebeians cannot stand a chance versus nobles, but Saito dismisses the thought. She pleads to Guiche to stop the battle, but to no avail. Guiche begins the battle and summons a brass golem that heavily punches Saito on the stomach. She further convinces Saito to stop the battle, but he continues to fight despite her orders. With Saito wounded all over, Guiche offers him a sword should he continue the fight; he activates the power of Gandálfr and easily bisects the valkyrie, much to Louise's and the others' surprise. Guiche summons multiple valkyries, but Saito just defeats them easily, resulting to his victory. Saito collapses as Louise catches him; she takes care of him after the fight, evidence of her weariness.

Following Saito's recovery, Louise brings him a pile of laundry that he was unable to wash for three days. He becomes pissed, but thanks Louise for watching over him. However, Louise claims that she is merely doing her responsibility as a master of taking care of her familiar. She later attends class with Chevreuse together with Saito. After he learns why she is codenamed as "Louise the Zero", Saito teases her master; much to her exasperation, she punishes him by taking away his meals. At night, Louise catches Kirche seducing Saito, ordering the latter to come back with her to the room for his punishment. As she starts hitting him with her riding crop, Saito halts her and asks if she became jealous of Kirche, only for Louise to hit him in his groin. From then, she forbids him to date Kirche in particular, as her family and Kirche's family are archrivals. Soon after, Saito explains how he actually and involuntarily got dragged into Kirche's room by her familiar. As the night progresses, Louise decides to sleep and lets Saito sleep in the room to avoid any more incidents (especially with Kirche) to happen.

Void Day
In order to protect himself, Louise and Saito go to the sword shop to buy a befitting sword. As she does not have enough gold coins with her, Louise ends up buying a cheap sword instead of her initial grander choice for Saito. Back at the Academy, Louise and Kirche exchange insults and words, finally deciding to hold a duel. However, Tabitha levitates their wands, preventing them from dueling indoors. They opt to have Saito decide which sword he wishes to take, to which he chooses both. The two decide to hold a duel, but a mysterious voice suddenly calls them "stupid women" to stop. The two ladies stare gravely at Saito, but Tabitha informs them of the sword that just talked. The sword is indeed confirmed to be an Intelligent Sword, a sword with its own wisdom. Saito becomes amused at the sword and chooses it over Kirche's sword. The sword introduces himself as Derflinger; Louise laments on why she keeps getting the strange things.

Post-Void Day
The next night, Louise catches Kirche attempting to seduce Saito once again and fetches Saito back to their room. The following morning, Louise leaves Saito behind with the other familiars. After class, once Saito knew about Siesta's departure, Louise and Derflinger brief Saito about Count Mott and his cocky personality; and the possibility for him requesting Siesta to become his mistress, respectively, worrying Saito more. At the dining hall, with Saito nowhere to be found, Louise and Kirche (who are looking for him) are informed by Guiche that he possibly went to Mott's manor. Louise sets off to find him; along the way, she encounters him and takes him back to the Academy. Though pitying Siesta's situation, she encourages Saito to give up on the maid. In her sleep, Kirche and Tabitha wakes Louise and informs her of her familiar's departure. In the middle of Saito's and Mott's duel, Louise arrives and causes an explosion before an ice arrow hits Saito. In the end, the students express their apology to Mott and try to talk their way out, but Kirche offers the Count her family heirloom to him. Back at the Academy stable, Saito thanks Louise, but the latter is pondering on what punishment she is going to give him for his misdemeanor.

Fouquet Strikes
Louise prepares Saito for the upcoming Familiar Exhibition, but becomes hopeless at him. She recalls his swordsmanship skills, but he refuses because of his inability to do so during his duel with Mott. Running out of ideas, Louise goes to class and orders him to think of something to exhibit. Later, Princess Henrietta arrives at the Academy, welcomed by the students and staff. That night, Saito continues practicing with his swordsmanship; suddenly, they are visited by the princess in disguise. She notices Saito and notes his bravery for standing up to the likes of Count Mott, stating her desire to meet him as well. Henrietta assures Louise that, despite the stir it had caused in the Palace, there will be no punishment. As she leaves and witnesses Louise's and Saito's "master-servant" relationship, she notes how freedom indeed is the best treasure.

As the Familiar Exhibition commences, Louise orders Saito to take a mere bow, forbidding him to do anything unnecessary. After she introduces him, Saito wields Derflinger, but only makes the audience laugh at his consistent failure. He tries to make up for this, but Louise finally drags him out, humiliated and annoyed. Along the way, they come face to face with Fouquet and her golem. Saito asks Louise to flee, but Louise attempts to set it on fire, though only managing an explosion. This causes the building to crack, leading Fouquet to have her golem punch it. As the building collapses, the rest of the students are alerted. Fouquet eventually manages to steal the Staff of Destruction and flees the scene.

Osmond checks the Vault and sees a message from Fouquet, claiming victory in her robbery. Outside, the students become wary of the incident; Henrietta arrives and becomes relieved to see Louise and Saito safe. She leaves the Academy to report the incident at the Palace. Saito asks Louise why she did not escape; Louise answers that a mage who forsakes her familiar is not a real mage.

The next day at the Academy, Kirche feeds Saito some fruits, irritating Louise. As they talk about the incident regarding Fouquet, Colbert calls for Louise and Tabitha to come to the headmaster's office, though Kirche and Saito tag along as well. Longuevuille briefs them on their gathered information about the thief and shows them a sketch of Fouquet, further confirmed by Louise and Tabitha. Amidst suggestions to seek help from the Palace, Osmond decides to take the matters at hand, asking help from his fellow mages who wish to take the mission in catching the thief. Not one from them are up for the challenge, except for Louise and, later, Kirche and Tabitha. Longuevuille volunteers to go with them as their guide.

As they head out in their mission, Longuevuille explains how some mages are not necessarily nobles, as some have been demoted to peasants, just like her case. Kirche asks her how she lost her rank, but Louise stops her "rude" behaviour. Eventually, Kirche gives Saito the shiny sword she had purchased for him. Later, they stop near a shack that is believed to be Fouquet's hideout. Upon preliminary inspection, there seems to be no traps, so they head inside to further check. Louise leaves herself behind to guard outside, while Longuevuille would scout the surrounding area. Inside, Saito and Kirche do not find anything, though Tabitha discovers the Staff of Destruction. Just then, a golem attacks them; Tabitha and Kirche attack it, but fail to take it down. Tabitha summons Sylphid; Louise tries to attack it from behind, but to no avail. Standing firm with her principles as a noble, Louise disregards Saito's protests for her to flee. As the golem launches an attack, Saito saves Louise and slaps her, snapping her out of her previous tantrum. Kirche and Tabitha ride Sylphid and take Louise out of the scene, with Saito fighting the golem. Using the sword given by Kirche, Saito attacks the golem, but the sword breaks. Derflinger advises Saito to use him, despite the latter's initial worry that he might break, too. As he draws Derflinger, Saito feels the same sensation and strength that he felt during his duel with Guiche. Despite cutting through the golem easily, the monster regenerates itself; Louise takes the Staff of Destruction, but does not know how to maneouver it. Saito recognises it as a rocket launcher and uses it on the golem, defeating it. Longuevuille arrives and takes the Staff, revealing herself to be Fouquet all along. Fouquet points the Staff to them, but Saito thrusts the back of Derflinger on to her, knowing that the rocket launcher is a single-use weapon.

Back at the Academy, Osmond reports that Fouquet has been taken into custody and that the Staff of Destruction is secured in the Academy Vault. He tells them at the three of them (minus Saito) are guests of honour in the banquet later at night. Saito stays behind to talk to Osmond and Colbert about the Staff of Destruction -- a rocket launcher that came from his world into Halkeginia. Osmond explains an incident from thirty years ago, where a mysterious man once saved his life from a dragon using the Staff of Destruction. Later, at the night, the banquet commences, but Saito becomes frustrated that he almost had the answer to find his way back home. As Louise arrives, she asks Saito to have a dance with her. They have a dance, with Derflinger remarking how a familiar and a master are dancing together.

Aftermath
At the Palace, Princess Henrietta offers Louise knighthood, but the latter declines this. As compensation, Henrietta thanks Louise and Saito for their effort in capturing Fouquet. Later, she asks the two to go undercover in the village to investigate the goings-on around in discreet, especially with various rumours revolving the oppression of nobles on plebeians.

Academy Summer Vacation
As part of their cover, Louise purchases some clothes for her mission and attempts to buy a horse or a place for them to stay. Realizing that they were only given a moderate amount of money, Louise ends up gambling — and losing — all their money in the casino in hopes of augmenting it. Desperate and hopeless, they are encountered by Scarron, owner of the Charming Fairy Inn. He invites them to the place to stay in the condition that Louise, for her beautiful appearance, works as a waitress in the tavern.

At the inn, Louise is introduced by Scarron to the rest of the waitresses as Saito meets Jessica and enlists his help to clean the dishes. Scarron commences the annual tip race, where the fairy (waitress) who earns the most tip in total gets to wear the Charming Fairy bustier that may help the winner earn more. Louise sees this as an opportunity to increase their money.

By night, Louise is having difficulty in serving commoners aside from having to wear a humiliating costume as uniform. After work, Saito calms a ranting Louise, reminding her that everything is part of the mission. The next day, Louise continues to struggle with her service. Meanwhile, Saito learns that Jessica is the daughter of Scarron. Louise takes a break; she sees Saito conversing with Jessica, suspecting him to be lechering the woman. She throws a bottle at his head, rendering him unconscious. Jessica tends to him and suspects that Louise is not Saito's sister, a cover they have employed in the mission. Saito attempts to prove her wrong, making her more interested in him. As she makes advances at him, Louise bursts the door open and catches them; Saito quickly acts out of the situation, only to earn a kick in the groin.

Louise resumes her work, but becomes hopeless that she would not win the tip race, let alone earn a tip. Just then, a rounded man named Chelenne enters and forces the other customers to exit the place. Jessica explains to Saito that the levy collector puts a huge levy on them should they not entertain him; no waitress wants to serve him as he does not place any tips at all. However, Louise comes up to serve him, thinking that she might earn a huge tip from a noble such as him. As Chelenne insults her small bust, Louise kicks him in the face. Saito comes to her aid, but realizes he left his sword in the attic. Fortunately, Louise has kept her wand with her and manages an explosion. As Louise reveals the warrant issued by Henrietta, Chelenne yields and offers Louise a huge amount of money before fleeing with his men.

Louise earns the respect of her fellow waitresses and Scarron subtly orders everyone to keep the occurrence a secret among themselves. Because of the huge amount of money given by Chelenne, Louise wins the tip race. With their cover blown, Saito decides that it would be best to leave the tavern. Meanwhile, Louise wears the Charming Fairy bustier to show Saito; the latter remarks it to be "très bien" ("very good" in French).

Louise and Saito return to the Academy and see Kirche and Tabitha about to depart to Gallia (Tabitha's hometown) for the summer holiday. In their room, Louise angrily orders Saito to clean her clothes. At night, Louise looks for her familiar, only to become devastated after seeing Saito together with Siesta in a bath. Montmorency proposes a toast with Guiche; as he is about to drink, an angry Louise grabs his drink, much to Montmorency's dismay. Saito heads back to their room; as Louise reprimands him, the potion starts to take effect, immediately confessing her love for Saito. Montmorency comes to their room, anxiously confirming that the potion had taken effect.

Under the effects of the love potion, Louise continues to be kind and lovestruck to Saito. Montmorency explains that Louise has mistakenly drunk a love potion supposedly for Guiche. Upon hearing this, Guiche becomes flattered that she would go that far for him. Saito demands Montmorency to bring Louise back to normal, but she shrugs this off, as the potion's effect would wear off from about a month.

Later, Saito and Louise are greeted by Siesta; the lovestruck Louise repeatedly hits Saito for his apparent two-timing, while Siesta begrudgingly and silently shakes with emotion. Siesta, sarcastically wearing a fake smile, and Louise leave Saito behind. Saito heads back to their room, only to find Louise scantily clad. He tells her that she's acting strange due to a love potion, but she does not believe him. With the situation getting out of hand, Saito goes to Montmorency and blackmails her into reverting Louise back to normal if she does not want to get apprehended by authorities for making illegal potions; Montmorency reluctantly agrees.

The next day, Saito, Louise, Montmorency, and Guiche, go to Lake Lagdorian to meet with the Spirit of Water. Along the way, the area near the lake is heavily flooded; Montmorency deduces that the Spirit of Water is upset. At sunset, Montmorency commands Robin to contact the Spirit of Water. Later, the Spirit emerges; Derflinger exclaims that he quite recalls the Spirit himself. Montmorency introduces herself and asks for a piece from the Spirit, but they decline. Saito begs the Spirit to offer them the Spirit Tear in exchange for anything they wish him to do. The Spirit asks them to fend off attackers, which Saito promises to defeat.

At night, the group waits for the attackers. When hooded figures arrive, Guiche and Saito engage them in battle, but the enemies overpower them. Louise steps in to save Saito and manages an explosion; the hooded figures are actually Kirche and Tabitha, who are in the middle of a mission to defeat the Spirit of Water. The whole group then goes back to the Spirit of Water to ask the reason behind its anger. The Spirit tells them that their possession — the Ring of Andvari — was stolen by someone called Cromwell, leading them to overflow the water in search of it; Saito promises to find and return it. The Spirit believes him, recognising him as Gandálfr who once kept an oath to the Spirit in the past, hence offering them the Spirit Tear.

Though reverted back to normal, Louise recalls her memories while being lovestruck. Embarrassed, she starts whipping Saito; just then, Henrietta arrives in their room.

Journey to Albion
Louise was forced to marry her fiancé, Jean-Jacques Wardes. She was controlled during her marriage to him at Albion when she was supposed to give a letter to the Prince from Princess Henrietta. With the Prince officiating the wedding, Saito broke into the church to stop the almost-finished ceremony to save Louise. The spell was broken, but the Prince was stabbed to death by Wardes, revealing that his allegiance lies to Reconquista and that his mission is to steal the letter.

Louise and Tiffania with Saito were fetched by Julio Chesaré to Romalia to gather all Void users and familiar spirits. In Romalia, the four were welcomed by Queen Henrietta and later by the Pope himself. It is revealed that the other Void user is the Pope and his familiar is Julio who is a Windálfr. Louise and Tiffania with other three women were assigned to be the priestesses of the Pope.

After some time in the afternoon after the ceremony, Louise's headdress was retrieved, implying that she had been kidnapped. Henrietta hypothesized that she might have been past Aquileia's border already. After Louise awakes after being paralyzed by Jeanette, she found out that she was kidnapped by the Gensō Siblings ordered by King Joseph de Gallia.

Louise's efforts in fighting the Ancient Dragon were not effective because her familiar spirit was away. When Saito returns to Halkeginia, he was of great help to Louise. Using the power of Gandálfr and Lifdrasir, they were able to partially defeat the Dragon, and was utterly defeated by Louise's Explosion.

After defeating the Ancient Dragon, Saito proposes to Louise in front of the others to marry him, to which Louise agrees. Louise and Saito marry at the Church wherein she was known as Louise Françoise le Blanc de Hiraga de Ornielle. Afterwards, Louise opened the portal (Louise probably performed World Door) all the way to Japan to live in their new home.

Trivia

 * Louise's religion is Brimirist.[citation needed]
 * Louise is named after Louise Françoise de La Vallière, Duchess of La Vallière and Vaujours, who was a French noblewoman and mistress to Louis XIV of France from 1661 to 1667.
 * Louise has a record of 27 wins, 25 losses, and 2 ties with fights against Henrietta.
 * In early Hindu texts, the symbol Śūnyatā was used to represent "zero". The meaning of "śūnya" is "void" — plays on words regarding Louise being a "zero" who is a void user.
 * Her favorite food is cookberry pie.
 * Her hobby is knitting and she has a special skill in horseback riding.
 * She dislikes frogs and Kirche, previously.

Quotes

 * (Summon servant incantation) "My servant that exists somewhere in the universe! My divine, beautiful, and powerful familiar! I wish and assert from the bottom of my heart, answer my guidance!"
 * (Contract servant incantation) "My name is Louise Françoise le Blanc de la Vallière. Pentagon that rules the five powers, bless this individual, and make him my familiar!"
 * (To Saito) "You're my familiar, understand? That means, whatever your master orders you to do, you should nicely obey like a good dog."
 * (To Saito) "A mage who forsakes their familiar is not a real mage."
 * (To Saito) "You don't call someone a noble because they use magic! You call someone a noble who never shows her back to the enemy!"