"…I have to live on if I want the boss to hold me in his arms."
- Daughter Dearest to Olivia (Spy Classroom Volume 2)[1]
“Daughter Dearest (愛娘 Manamusume), alias Grete, is one of the main protagonists introduced in the Spy Classroom series. She is the strategist for Lamplight[3] and a member of the Intel squad.
Appearance[]
Grete's a girl with a characteristic, glossy red-haired bob cut. Her body is tall and slender, with a sort of ephemeral fragility not unlike a glass sculpture.
Grete wears a mask to hide her scars that cover half of her face. The scars are a shade of black so vile it inspires disgust into all who saw it.[4].
Her maid clothing is a frilly black dress with a white apron, white maid crown, white tights and black mary jane shoes.
Personality[]
Grete has a calm, ladylike personality paired with a bright, tactical mind.
Grete is also an androphobe in a very literal sense, fearing and disliking men to the point were talking to men other than Klaus makes her stomach hurt. [5][6]Her androphobia comes from the verbal abuse she received from her dad and older brother who would frequently degrade her for her appearance and manners. This abuse causing her to feel insecure about her appearance. Grete believes that she’s gone her entire life without once ever being loved. [7]
After Grete joined Lamplight, she developed an infatuation with Klaus after he saw her birthmarked face and told her that she was beautiful. Since then, Grete developed an unbreakable romantic devotion towards Klaus.
Grete is self-conscious, downplaying her own strength and abilities to her teammates. Grete believes it comes from her desire to repay Klaus. Grete is self-aware of how her infatuation boarders on dependance or obsession, and respects Klaus as an autonomous person, one who has the freedom to not reciprocate her feelings. Grete does not follow Klaus specifically to gain his affection. (Though that is a goal of hers), but to do right by the man who returned her affection, even if her love is unrequited. [8]
Plot[]
Prior to Joining Lamplight[]
Grete’s father was a politician who represented the center left of the Din Republic and allied with Uwe and his left-wing radicals. He has three sons and one daughter, Grete. [9]Grete’s scars, which would develop to cover half of her face, prevented her from fitting in in high society. Her father forced her to enroll at a spy academy when she was 13,[10] telling the public she was recovering from a disease. Effectively abandoning her for good. Grete did almost perfectly on her written exams, but any exam required her to interact with people, particularly men. [9]
Skills[]
Disguises[]
Grete's biggest strength, she has shown to be able to disguise as anyone she has seen to the point of being indistinguishable in term of appearance, being able to craft masks perfectly even if not delicately done.
Planning[]
As shown in chapter 1 of volume 2, Grete has the capacity to come up with elaborate plans in as little as two seconds.[11] Grete has an uncanny ability to predict how plans and situations would go and create measures to give her plans the greatest advantage. [12] She knows how to take her teammates strengths and assign them to locations as well as consider team synergy.
Voice mimicking[]
Grete can replicate voices perfectly from pitch to tone[13]
Scars[]
Grete was born with black scars that would cover half of her face. While she covers the scars with a mask, she will take it off to deal an unforgettable mental blow to all who gaze upon them.[4]
Relationships[]
Klaus[]
Grete treats Klaus with undying and romantic devotion, these feelings going as far back as Lamplight’s first mission.[14] Grete will often misinterpret innocent remarks from Klaus as seemingly sexual or romantic. To Grete, Klaus is the only man she can stand to be around who doesn't make her feel ill, as he was the first male authority figure in her life to not demean her. Even knowing Klaus does not feel the same way she does about her; she still holds an intense infatuation towards him regardless.
It is also implied it Volume 4 that the nature of Grete's affection towards Klaus may even surpass romantic infatuation. Something about Grete's desire for Klaus being powerful enough to turn Grete, a former academy washout into a brilliant spy.[8]
Daughter Dearest's father[]
Grete’s father was part of her developing androphobia, he cast her out of the family and the world of politics for the scars on her face that she was born with. He’d micromanaged her and insulted her appearance.
Dreamspeaker[]
Grete looks up to Thea when it comes to dealing with relationships, more specifically, Klaus. Whenever Thea's stories started to get sexual, Grete would diligently take notes.[15]
Olivia[]
Grete was noted by Thea to have a habit of losing her cool around Olivia.[16] The two share a bitter rivalry, stemming from the differences between their teachers. However, Grete does show some sympathy towards Olivia when Roland is killed and brings back a memento for her. She is somber when, she talks about how the Din Republic will dispose of Olivia and how it would be the last time they see her.
Catchphrase[]
"I'm code name Daughter Dearest--now let's fill this time with laughter and tears" - Daughter Dearest
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- The name Manamusume means "My Beloved Daughter, Favorite Daughter" (愛娘).
References[]
- ↑ volume 2 page 164
- ↑ コードネーム《愛娘》（CV：伊藤美来）「スパイ教室」ヒロインPV【ファンタジア文庫】
- ↑ SSC 1 page 1
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Spy Classroom Volume 2, Page 166
- ↑ volume 2 page 73
- ↑ volume 2 page103-104
- ↑ volume 2 page 169
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Vol 4 page 130
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 volume 2 page 119-120
- ↑ volume 2 page 169
- ↑ Volume 2 page 40
- ↑ Vol 4 page 110
- ↑ volume 2 page 140
- ↑ Example page 18 volume 2
- ↑ Vol 4 page 140
- ↑ Light Novel Volume SS 02: The Spy Teacher Who Loved Me