Elliott Howard

Elliott Howard is the eldest son of Count Howard, belonging to the Howard count family in the Kingdom of Ridill.

He is a third-year student at Serendia Academy and acts as the student council secretary.

He is a childhood friend of Felix Arc Ridill, the second prince, due to their families’ long-standing political alliance.

Elliott’s father is on good terms with Felix’s grandfather, and they belong to the same political faction at court.

Within Serendia Academy, Elliott is known for his drooping eyes, wavy brown hair, and easygoing smile that often hides his sharper, harsher judgments.

He is enrolled in an elective chess course, which he attends together with Benjamin, the son of a court musician.

Elliott appears cheerful, lighthearted, and even frivolous at first glance.

He has slightly drooping eyes and unruly brown hair, which enhances his impression as a laid-back noble youth.

Despite his bright demeanor, he is a thorough class supremacist.

He strongly dislikes commoners who “do not know their place” and encroach on what he considers the proper domain of the nobility.

He treats most people with outward warmth and politeness, but his underlying values are rigid and aristocrat-centered.

He cannot stand the idea of social boundaries being ignored, especially when commoners rise too far or too fast in noble society.

At the same time, Elliott is not simply a tyrant who abuses his status.

He believes deeply that “nobles have a duty to protect commoners” and expects nobles to fulfill their obligations rather than just flaunt power.

He is strict both with others and with himself.

His behavior often looks capricious or tsundere, but behind it is a twisted version of noblesse oblige that he tries, in his own way, to uphold.

Elliott’s worldview is shaped by a strong belief in the hierarchy between nobility and commoners.

To him, social classes exist for a reason, and crossing those boundaries carelessly leads only to tragedy.

He particularly hates commoners (or commoner-born nobles) who do not “understand their role” in society.

For example, he despised Cyril Ashley in their middle school years, because Cyril was a commoner adopted into a marquis family, and Elliott saw that as overstepping.

He also disliked the admission of Monica Everett, who appears shabby, timid, and completely out of place in an elite academy.

Her entry into the student council felt to him like an affront to the noble order of Serendia Academy.

On the other hand, Elliott is equally critical of nobles who abuse their power or shirk their responsibilities.

He dislikes excessive bullying of commoner students by noble students and finds such behavior distasteful and shameful.

However, his stance is complicated:

He thinks, “It is the commoner’s fault for coming to this academy in the first place,” so he does not actively help victims.

But when noble bullies are punished, he does not defend them or excuse their actions.

He does not have the almost fanatical sense of justice that someone like Cyril Ashley shows.

Instead, Elliott grumbles, complains, and looks down on people, yet still ends up trying to fulfill noblesse oblige in his own twisted, reluctant way.

Commoners who earnestly develop their talents and work hard can gradually win him over.

He will never admit he is softening, but his behavior becomes less harsh, conversations become more normal, and over time he acknowledges them as people worth dealing with.

Even then, he refuses to “step down” to their world.

He shows open disgust at the idea of strolling through bazaars or wandering around the lower town like a commoner.

Elliott’s harsh attitude toward commoners—and especially toward commoner-born nobles—comes from painful experiences in his past.

Two key events shaped his class supremacist beliefs.

The Tragedy of His Uncle

First, he had an uncle who cherished Elliott Howard (Elliott himself) and was a gentle, kind noble.

This uncle married a woman of common birth.

The uncle’s commoner wife betrayed him, embezzled his money, and financially destroyed him.

Driven to despair, the uncle hanged himself and took his own life.

The woman who caused this disaster did not even mourn her husband.

Instead, she took every valuable item she could carry and disappeared without a trace.

For Elliott, this became a searing example of how dangerous and untrustworthy an ambitious commoner could be when allowed into noble circles.

It left him with a deep distrust and bitterness toward commoner-born spouses and, by extension, upwardly mobile commoners in general.

The Ruined Commoner Retainer

The second event concerned a commoner retainer known to Elliott.

This retainer had remarkable talent and drew the attention of powerful nobles.

Instead of bringing success, that attention shattered his life.

He was exploited, used up, and ultimately ruined by the very nobles who claimed to value his abilities.

From this, Elliott “learned” a grim lesson:

No matter how great a commoner’s talent is, it will only be exploited by nobles and end in destruction.

These two stories hardened Elliott’s belief that the class system is both dangerous to commoners and essential for nobles.

He concluded that crossing the boundary between commoner and noble is more likely to bring misery than happiness.

Felix Arc Ridill

Elliott is a childhood friend of Felix Arc Ridill, the second prince of the Kingdom of Ridill.

Their families are closely connected politically, and Elliott grew up within the same faction as Felix’s grandfather.

Due to this closeness, Elliott is one of the very few people—apart from direct insiders—who knows about Felix’s body swap situation.

This places him in a uniquely informed position among the academy students.

Monica Everett

When Monica Everett joined the student council, Elliott was anything but pleased.

She looks like a poor, timid girl who seems completely unsuited to the refined environment of Serendia Academy.

Elliott initially sees Monica as a prime example of a commoner who does not belong.

He expects her to fail and treats her with skepticism and condescension.

However, his attitude begins to shift after he invites her to join the chess elective.

At first, his motive is simple and cruel: to crush her at chess and “teach her her place.”

Instead, Monica discovers a passion for chess and improves rapidly.

Elliott, who wanted to humiliate her, finds himself outmatched by her growing talent and has to admit, however grudgingly, that she is gifted.

This forces him to recognize Monica’s abilities, even if he never openly admits that he has “warmed up” to her.

His behavior toward her becomes less openly hostile and more like rough acknowledgment.

Cyril Ashley

Elliott’s attitude toward Cyril Ashley started from open contempt.

Cyril was a commoner adopted into a marquis family, which Elliott saw as crossing the line of social order.

In their middle school days, Elliott mocked Cyril for his origins and status.

To Elliott, Cyril symbolized a commoner stepping into a rank he should not possess.

Cyril, in contrast, is almost overly pure and justice-driven compared to Elliott’s twisted noblesse oblige.

Elliott does not share Cyril’s strict moralism, though he does occasionally end up acting in ways that help others, despite his complaints.

Over time, as with many who persistently work hard and display genuine talent, Elliott’s overt hostility tends to soften.

He may never say he respects Cyril out loud, but he begins to treat him less as a joke and more as a real person.

Benjamin

Elliott takes the chess elective together with Benjamin, the son of a palace musician.

The two share a comfortable, relaxed friendship.

Benjamin is obsessed with music to an almost comedic degree.

His eccentric and music-crazed behavior often drags Elliott into trouble or chaos.

Even so, Elliott acknowledges Benjamin as one of his most important friends.

Beneath the teasing and exasperation, the two enjoy a genuine bond.

Elliott appears in “Silent Witch”, particularly in the arc centered on Serendia Academy and the student council.

He adds tension and spice to the narrative through his class-based prejudices and sharp tongue.

The author has described him as a character “like dried squid that gets tastier the more you chew.”

In other words, he may not be instantly likable, but the more you see of him, the more his human complexity and charm stand out.

He brings a very human form of prejudice, loyalty, and twisted kindness to the story.

His growth, conflicts, and grudging acknowledgments of others’ worth make him one of the more down-to-earth and nuanced nobles in the series.