Robert Branche

Height
 Occupation
 Others
Amber (pet hedgehog)
Former painter to the Royal Court of Stein
Former tutor to King Byron Wagner

***"A lady really should refrain from visiting a man's chamber at this hour."***

**Robert Branche** is a mysterious court painter who is rumoured to have left his Wysterian homeland to wander the world for a spell.

## Background

When he was younger, Robert was a prince and eventually the king Bergenia. He was crowned at a young age and took the throne, shortly after which Bergenia fell into a war with a neighbouring nation, Alder.

Robert focused on the war more than he did his people and the state of his country, and as a result, the people eventually grew desperate for the war to end and revolted against him. He fled the country, which was destroyed after the revolt, before being annexed by Alder.

He ended up in Wysteria, where he became a tutor while studying to become an artist. He tutored the Princess Elect for some time, then disappeared without warning to go and paint in Stein.

He ended up being a painter for the Steiner Royal Court, and then applied to be Byron's personal tutor, until the latter became king.

Robert did not attend Byron's coronation ceremony and left Stein that day, wandering for a while before eventually returning to Wysteria, then ending up as the Wysterian Royal Court painter.

## Appearance

Robert has short, dirty blonde hair with kind, soft brown eyes. he is the only suitor in the English Midnight Cinderella to have more than one hairstyle; the second is seen in scenes about his past, and in his route.

**When in his normal clothes (see infobox image):**

Robert wears a long, forest-green coat which is shorter at the front (coming to his upper thighs at the highest point) and longer at the back (extending down to below his knees), with dark gold trimmings around the edges and on the sides in a square shape. The inside is a reddish shade, although when in light it appears to be fuchsia, but it’s difficult to tell which it is. A belt of some sort hags down at the back on the left side, and from this dangles a loop of some sort, with another bar-like attachment.

Under this, he wears a long, brown vest, then a white cravat which is tied in a bow-like knot. Furthermore, he has some sort of shirt or garments under this which is white and folded against itself, although it comes in two different lengths and isn’t consistent like a shirt or second vest would be. He then wears deep brown trousers and lighter brown boots, which come up to above his ankles and are secured with white ties around the ankle itself.

**When in his casual clothes (for when he’s alone in his studio etc., see image to the upper-right):**

He wears a simple white shirt with a strong necktie, which fastens together in a circular, gold clasp in the centre. He then wears the same trousers and boots as his normal clothes.

**When in his formal attire (see image to the right.):**

He wears a coat of the same design as his normal coat, but this one is mint green, with lighter, shinier gold trimmings around all of the edges, lapels and sides. An additional two decorations line the front, and the side ones come down with a pattern consisting of an arrow shape, followed by a diamond, then another arrow. This coat also has gold epaulettes.

Under this, he has a pale brown vest on, with then a white shirt under this. An emerald tie sits around his collar, fastened in a standard knot but then covered by an emerald stone, which sits just under the knot. Then, he wears the same trousers, but with brown shoes covered by them.

## Personality

Robert is unusually interested in the King of Stein, Byron Wagner. He even has a paintbrush with a Stein crest on top.

Robert’s personality is severely split in two as a result of his past (explained below). On a day-to-day basis, he is kind, caring, extremely supportive and tender in his mannerisms. He’s always prepared to help anyone if they need it, often acting as the go-to for advice in the palace, even though he doesn’t always appreciate this; at one point, he asks himself why he is “always the shoulder to cry on”. There are times, though, when he is genuinely happy to help the likes of the MC, and he only wishes for her to be happy, as well as Byron.

At the same time, Robert has a much darker, much less innocent side of him. He can be, when he’s in a bad mood or is confronted about his past, cold, defensive, surprisingly harsh and with some people aggressive. When he was younger, he was rather careless and wasn't very conscious of other people's feelings, or chose not to let them affect his decisions, as a result of his upbringing. In later life, though, he has matured and become much more considerate, although he at times can be bitter and dark.

When thinking about his past, he will often be sorrowful and stricken with guilt, but he will also berate himself and speak of himself lowly, being sarcastic or insulting. He thinks badly of himself for everything that he’s done, but struggles to fully face and confront his actions, and so spends more time running away from it instead.

Now, as a result of everything that’s happened, Robert is very driven to do as little damage to others as he can and to atone for things he’s done, and this is why he is so willing to help others. He wants to protect people and help them more than anything to distance himself from the man he used to be. While he takes a while to open up with the MC fully, once he does, he’s very honest with his feelings and admits to the things he’s done and felt. Despite his reserved nature, once he is with the MC, he’s quite verbally expressive about his feelings, and will often display his affection through small touches or occasional gifts.

## Trivia

* His color theme is green.
* His star sign is Virgo.
* Robert was featured in various collection or minor events despite not having his main route available at the time.
* He has recently been featured in his first story event, Destiny In Stein, as a full suitor with a route and endings, along with Albert, Byron and Nico.
* Robert has on several occasions shown to be rather bad at keeping his things, particularly his paintings, organised and tidy, and is not a morning person; he struggles to paint early on and tends to take a while to wake up properly.
* Robert, along with Nico, encourages the players while participating in Princess Lessons.
* In his route, you find out he owns a pygmy hedgehog, by the name of Amber.
* Robert ranked 9th in Top Ikemen Boyfriend 2017 with 53,276 votes.