"The Prince"

### Description

Have you seen the Prince? His eyes, like the most beautiful sapphires, are gentle and clear. His mind, like the most sophisticated instrument, is clever and sharp. His heart, like the purest gold, is bright and cool...

## Other Details

### Series

Mélodis Estate Investigation
Season 17 Essence 1
Nightingale's Singing

## Obtaining

### Obtained by

Season 17 Essence 1 (Formerly)
Memory Spheres - Previous Seasons (Currently)
A-Tier Unlock Card
Nightingale's Singing

### Cost

N/A

**"The Prince"** is an A-Tier Costume for the Postman, Victor Grantz. It was introduced in Season 17 Essence 1 which was related to the 3rd Anniversary Mélodis Estate Investigation Event.

## Appearance

### **Physical**

Victor's body looks like it's made out of wood with bronze mechanical joints. His arms, hands and face have black stain lines, as well as chipped in pieces of wood. At the base of his neck is a metal ring. The upper half of his torso is now gone. Instead, there is a metal frame outlining the shape of his body. Inside the metal frame is a spinning gear where his heart would be, and a large spring. His hair is a greyer blonde than usual. His eyes are both hexagonal bezel settings, though only the left eye has a blue gem in it.

### **Outfit**

His outfit is torn in various places. Victor wears a blue shirt with puffed out sleeves. The sleeves have gold stripes on them, and the stripes on the left sleeve are partially torn off. The collar of his shirt is gold, with a white neck wrap. The shirt is torn into half, with the bottom half secured in place with a brown belt at the waist. Hanging from the belt is a slightly open bag shaped like a treasure chest. He has on a pair of white puffy shorts and breeches, and black boots that reach up to his mid-thigh. The boots have a gold pattern at the top, and a buckle at the front, and his left boot is torn open at the knee. His hat is black, with gold markings on the brim, but the top half is made of metal and resembles a cage. Inside the cafe is a metal bird.

### **Item**

#### Letters

The letters are now in a black envelope with a gold edge.

#### Companion (Wick)

Wick now appears to be completely made out of metal. Their mouth is now in the shape of a rectangle, and their face is made out of a flat circle. On Wick's back is a bag shaped like a treasure chest, like the one Victor wears by his hip, and their collar is a piece of white puffy fabric with thin gold stripes. Their tail resembles a windup toy key, and in the center of their body is a coiled spring.

### **Special Effects**

His bag has a bright blue glow where it is open, and electricity sparks around his torso.

## Concept / Design Notes

### **Design Idea Plans**

The inspiration for "The Prince" is Oscar Wilde's "The Happy Prince", but the story is reversed. The greedy prince promised an unfinished transaction. He did not pay the trader the promised reward, so the trader took a part of his body she thinks which can be used as the equivalent of the promised reward. It inversely corresponds to the object taken by the swallow in "The Happy Prince", and the shape hopes to reflect the structure and mechanical sense of the prototype of the mechanical doll in the 19th century.

### **Design Idea Sketch**

We designed two sketches according to the requirements. Among them, the design of the structure of the chest cavity of the first plan to become a mechanical doll was good, and the overall color tone is also beautiful. But the top clothes style of the second plan is more beautiful. So we combined the two sketches, and after refining, "The Prince" was completed.

### **Showroom Interface Design**

"The Prince"'s pet dog rushed up to the stage lively, and when it ran, it didn't forget to turn its head to confirm whether the owner is following.

Due to too much action, the fragile parts were overwhelmed, the dog malfunctioned and fell to the ground. "The Prince" repaired him in few times.

The leaden heart of "The Prince" fell off, his limbs became uncontrollable, and the electric currents symbolizing the malfunction of "The Prince" keep emitting. The dog hurriedly took back the leaden heart that rolled aside, and the "The Prince" put it back into place with difficulty.

### **Model Details Description**

1. "The Prince"'s chest was empty, with only the working machinery left, and the leaden heart supported his body alone.
2. "The Prince"'s hat is shaped like a cage, which imprisoned a swallow in it, corresponding to the swallow in the fairy tale who chose to give up flying south in order not to leave The Happy Prince and froze to death beside his feet.
3. The wood on "The Prince" was old, leaving inerasable stains, and the metal brackets fell off and popped out.

### **Custom Lobby Model Design**

A blue electric current flows around the "The Prince", and the parts of the whole body look shaky because of their old age. It looks as if "The Prince" will lose his mobility due to a malfunction in the next second.

## Trivia

* In Mélodis Estate Investigation,**"The Prince"** and Rainmaker's murder was orchestrated by "Succubus".
* In the English essence trailers, he is voiced by Aleks Le.
* This costume is based on Oscar Wilde's "The Happy Prince".

## Gallery

* In-Game
* Official Art
* Additional Appearances

"The Prince" In-Game Model Front View."The Prince" In-Game Model Back View."The Prince" In-Game Model Left-Side View."The Prince" In-Game Model Right-Side View."The Prince" Entrance Showroom Animation."The Prince" Idle Showroom Animation."The Prince" Press Showroom Animation."The Prince" Wick."The Prince" Letters.

### Concept Art & Icons

"The Prince" Chinese Concept Art (Weibo)"The Prince" Global Concept Art (Twitter)Previous Designs of "The Prince" (Weibo)Concept Art for the Season 17 Essence 1 Poster (Artstation)Concept Art for the Season 17 Essence 1 Poster (Artstation)Concept Poster of Season 17 Essence 1 that Monstrous Bird was originally going to be appear in (Artstation)"The Prince" Costume Card Sprite (by @oletusproject)
### Promotional Art

"Will you listen to my story for a moment? Watch the flame of this candle for the tale will last as long as it burns... Many stories are born but the people behind them often overlooked... Tonight we enter the manor, let's spin a wonderful tale together" 3rd Anniversary Art. - Mélodis Estate Investigation Announcement Artwork (Twitter)(Artstation)A noble prince that once graced my land had a puppy he adored. The death of the puppy left him distraught. The prince sought out anyone who would revive his poor pet, and along came 3 mysterious souls... Each asking for a piece of the prince's charm... - The "Prince's" Tale Artwork (Twitter)Promotional Poster for the Mélodis Estate Investigation.(Artstation)Dear Detectives, are you pumped for our 3rd Anniversary?! Stay tune as we bring you exciting events this July!! Don't miss out!! - Official Artwork of Season 17 Essence 1 and Mélodis Estate Investigation Featuring "Succubus", **"The Prince"** and Rainmaker (Twitter)Promotional Poster for the Mélodis Estate InvestigationDecember 2021 BirthdaysThe Prince's TaleDecember 2022 Birthdays and Character Days (Weibo)"Whenever the Bronze Bell tolls, everyone would hand me their secret on a paper. It's a form of trust." - 2022 Birthday Art (Weibo)2022 Global Birthday Art (Twitter)December 2023 English Calendar (Twitter)
### Merchandise Art

Animate Chibi Merchandise (Animate)5th Anniversary Café Merchandise (Twitter)
### Videos

#### Storyboard & Concept Art

Season 17 Essence 1 Trailer Art by 光树映画 (LTree Animation)
#### Final Product

Identity V - 3rd Anniversary Trailer"Will you come listen to our tales of woe?... And be prepared to tell your story?" - Mélodis Estate Investigation Trailer (YouTube)Identity V - 3rd Anniversary Essense Background VideoSeason 17 Essence 1 Trailer (YouTube)IdentityV - Narrator-Postman - 3rd Anniversary

[Portrait] "Prince" (80 Pulls)"The Prince" in the Mélodis Estate Investigation Update of the In-Game App Store Promotional Pictures.
## References

1. ↑ "The Prince" Design Notes - Weibo
2. ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/CRARGzZFvH2/