Nicole Ascart

Nicol Ascart (二コル・アスカルト) is the fourth capturable character of the otome game Fortune Lover. He is the son of Dan Ascart and Radea Ascart, the older brother of Sophia Ascart and the childhood friend of Geordo and Alan.

Details regarding his story in the game are sparse since Katarina Claes never played his route. Not only this, but the main rival in his route is Sophia as he is quite overprotective of her.

Appearance
Nicol is a tall man with shoulder length black hair and eyes. He possesses stunning beauty, and is described to be as pretty as a doll. He usually wears a neutral and stoic expression in his face.

Personality
Nicol is a quiet man who generally keeps to himself. Ever since he was young, he refused to speak up and open his heart to others because he is aware that the other party would only see him for his handsome face. He prefers to keep a stoic expression all the time, to prevent people from misunderstanding his intentions. He would share words and smiles with only the people he is closest with, such as his family and friends.

Background
He’s the taciturn, expressionless son of the prime minister, and also a capture target. With black hair and eyes and a perfect doll-like face, he’s a handsome boy with a devilish charm that can even capture men as well as women with his unique atmosphere.

Just like the others, in the game settings, Nicol wasn’t supposed to have any contact with Katarina Claes at all, but after Katarina became friends with his sister by chance, he also started coming over to her house almost every day. He was taciturn and expressionless like usual, and only spoke up when he had to, but his devilish charm seems to be increasing in strength every year. Nicol did laugh at more things than he did before, that Katarina misunderstood as the smile’s a trap.

What’s more, it’s rumored that Nicol is very popular with women and men alike. Everyone will be seduced by him once he smiles at them. The damage has already spread to the Claes mansion, several maids have already fallen victim to him and lost themselves to him completely. Then again, Katarina misunderstood it and decided to defend Keith and Mary from his devilish charm and save them from such a fate.

It was later revealed that his emotionless face and quiet nature is a result of extreme trauma. From a young age, people of all genders and ages would tend to do absurd things, as well as assaulting him.

While on the outside he may look perfect, deep down Nicol is insecure but a sweet man. He struggles with waking up without oversleeping.

Fortune Lover
Nicol Ascart, the prime minister’s son, Alan, and Geordo’s childhood friend. He’s one year older than the heroine and is a taciturn senpai type of character.

Game Routes

 * If the heroine captures Nicol successfully, she will become friends with Sophia and gain her blessing to marry Nicol. The two will live happily ever after.
 * If the heroine fails to capture Nicol and gets the bad end–Nicol and Sophia isolate themselves from social interaction and will only find comfort and safety in each other's arms for the rest of their days.

Fortune Lover II
Nicol, in Fortune Lover II, returns as a capture target in the game. He begins to perform tasks in the Magic Ministry, which gives him an opportunity to pursue the protagonist.

Game Route
Throughout the game, while trying to gain the attention and affection of the capture targets, the heroine must also try to reveal the identity of the mysterious woman with dark magic that has been causing trouble in the Ministry


 * If the heroine and Nicol, the chosen capture target, reveal the identity of the mysterious figure, that person will then be arrested and the two will be able to live a happily ever after together
 * If the heroine fails to reveal the identity of the mysterious figure, she and the culprit will duel each other and both die. All the capture targets, including Nicol, will fall prey to dark magic.

Katarina Claes
In Fortune Lover, Katarina and Nicol did not interact with each other. They were not acquainted, as she did not care for anyone that isn't her fiancé.

In the present timeline, Katarina and Nicol are good friends. Katarina remains immune to Nicol's charm but is still swayed most of the time, Katarina often refers to Nicol as the devilish Earl. During their childhood, Katarina was the only person who acknowledged his family and told him how lucky he was to have them. Nicol realized that they were the words he had been waiting to hear for a long time. Nicol opened his heart to Katarina and then became one of her close childhood friends. Katarina is one of the only few people who can tolerate Nicol's beauty, albeit not all the time. In order to remove any awkward air between them, Katarina would often tell funny and interesting stories about things happening around her in order to converse with Nicol, which he would appreciate a lot because of his inability to start a conversation. He began to harbor feelings toward Katarina but refused to make any advances because it was 'forbidden' since Katarina is Geordo, Nicole's friend's, fiancée. Even after he had confessed his feelings for her in a hazed state, he insisted that Katarina must be made to believe that it was all just a dream, as he does not want to ruin his relationships and family name by pursuing an engaged woman.

Despite all his attempts to his his feelings and to forget Katarina, he is unable to, and is slowly gaining motivation to pursue her by Sophia, his mother and a lady he had met in a matchmaking event. His sister Sophia fully supports Nicol's relationship with Katarina, and would often act in his stead when it comes to revealing his desire for Katarina.

In Verge of Doom, Sophia originally only had Nicol as her only friend and ally in the Magic Academy, until she gained a friend through Katarina. Nicol does not seem wary of previous Katarina's personality and how it could affect Sophia, which is possibly due to a lack of interactions between them prior to attending the Magic Academy. He was taken by surprised by Katarina's sentiments of envy regarding the close familial bond of the Ascart Family, and in gratitude he wishes for her the best of luck in mending the bonds of her own family.

In Fortune Lover II, Nicol is among the cast who will partake in the identification of the mysterious figure with dark magic, who is revealed to be Katarina herself. Nicol would be involved in throwing Katarina in jail.

Sophia Ascart
In Fortune Lover, Sophia is the rival from Nicol's route who he dotes on and is very protective of. In the game, Nicol's protectiveness over Sophia makes her a rival for the heroine.

In the present story, since childhood, Nicol would try his best to protect Sophia from jealous aristocrats. He cares a lot about her and would often court her at parties. The two have an understanding, deep brother-sister relationship and support each other's ideals. Sophia respects her brother and is extremely proud of him. She also stated how he looked like the Earl from Sophia's romance novel. She respects him to the point of supporting Nicol's relationship with Katarina and would often brag to others about how Katarina would become 'her big sister'. She would be the main motivator of Nicol to confess to Katarina, and would often act on her own in his stead while he is away from her and all their friends.

In Verge of Doom, Sophia originally only had Nicol as her only friend and ally in the Magic Academy, until she gained a friend through Katarina. Nicol acts as her guardian during their reading sessions.

Geordo Stuart
He was childhood friends with Nicol, the son of the Prime Minister. He would often interact with Nicol due to the nature of their fathers' work. Geordo is one of his rivals for Katarina's affection, but this is a fact that he keeps to himself as he respects his friend too much to dare to pursue his fiancée.

Rafael
Rafael is Nicol's childhood friend and one of the first to notice Nicol's changing behavior upon meeting Katarina. Raphael is Nicol's closest friend during their stay in the Magic Academy, because he was the only member of their batch of student council members who did not faint at his beauty or fought aggressively for his attention. Being the last two members from their year that remained in the student council, they trust each other more than anyone else. The two are currently co-workers in the Magic Ministry, albeit not in the same department.

Unnamed Woman
The Unnamed Woman is one of the few female friends Nicol has and is comfortable with. In the light novel, the two first met in a marriage interview where the woman tells Nicol how Sophia would brag about her future sister-in-law Katarina. Eventually, the two started to get along and had a long conversation about Nicol's love life. Nicol admires her tenacity and dedication in what she loves and wants in life, and desires to be able to do the same when it comes to his own desires. The woman then suggested Nicol steals Katarina away from Geordo, which Nicol subconsciously agrees.

Wind Magic
Nicol's magical element is wind. As such, he is able to use rich wind magic, albeit not very powerful. In his Character Profile, it says that his magical power is rated a 4 on a 5-point scale.

Alluring Charm
In his Character Profile, it says that his special skill is knocking people senseless with his charming aura (he is not aware that he is capable of doing this though).

Intelligence
Nicol has a high intelligence. His intelligence is on similar levels with Raphael and Geordo, making them the smartest characters among the main cast.

Trivia
"I am not very good at small talk, and may be unable to entertain my partner. If possible, I would like her to initiate the conversation. I would also like for to forgive me even if my responses are bland."
 * His likes are studying on certain subjects and solitary breaks.
 * His dislikes are private conversations and often avoids them. He also unintentionally tends to talk to his friends as if they weren't close.
 * Nicol is weak to mornings.
 * When Nicol reaches adulthood, his father Earl Dan congratulates him with a fountain pen.
 * Dan notes that Nicol should use the pen to "get the rank he wants" and to "get the woman he wants".
 * Nicol's inability to express his emotions from the heart is the result of trauma.
 * After graduation, Nicol works in the Ministry of Magic, the same workplace as his friend Raphael. During work, Nicol would often visit Raphael and hand him gifts from Katarina and the student council while their friends were still in the Magic Academy.
 * He feels very uncomfortable when he is the center of attention.
 * When asked what he would want his marriage partner to do, he states that he would want her to initiate their conversation as he is incapable of entertaining in a talk.

- Nicol