Character	Nohl
Appearance	The Crimson Flower that Divides: Lunar Coupling
Media	Otome Game
Type	Yandere
Love Interest	Naala/ Protagonist

Nohl is the political assistant of Nasla, and a teacher and advisor to the Nasla King, Touya, and the Nasla military commander, Suren. His cold and calculative personality made him an ideal candidate for strategizing and handling the political issues of the country.

SPOILERS AND PERSONAL OPINION

Was what Nohl said at the start. Since their first meeting, Naala could immediately see the type of person Nohl was. Underneath his beautiful face and pleasing voice hides a heart that is equally cold and ruthless. Nohl had made it clear that his goal was the prosperity of Nasla. To achieve his objective, countless sacrifices can be made. He had declared early on that women were of no interest to him. So, on the fateful day when Naala’s friend, Shalu, got caught in an attempted escape and Naala opted to accept punishment and get married in her stead, Naala decided to choose Nohl to be her husband.

Regarding the marriage, Nohl had originally planned for Naala to marry Touya. Nohl knew that Naala came from the royal family of Rus and held great value to her home country. Knowing this, he plotted to have her become Touya’s bride so that she can be of use to Nasla and even become a bargaining chip with Rus in times of need. He had not expected that Naala would chose to marry him instead, but eventually went along with her idea since he figured that she could still be of use regardless.

At first, Nohl humiliated and disrespected Naala. He thought that Naala was just like any other women, and treated her with a condescending attitude. Believing that Naala would not succeed, Nohl made a bet with her that if she could change the mind of a minster named Orte and have him side with Touya, then he would do his best to ensure that the kidnapped women from Rus can return home.

What Nohl did not expect was Naala’s single-minded determination and perseverance. Rain or shine, Naala always paid Minister Orte a visit to his mansion to seek an audience with him. Of course, Minister Orte was not one that was easily swayed. He refused to meet Naala by giving excuses and claiming that he was away. Naala knew this, but she never gave up.

Eventually, her determination moved Nohl, as he began to see Naala in a different light. On a particular rainy day when Naala fell ill during the attempt to seek out Minister Orte, Nohl brought her back home and told her a story. Disguised as fairy tale, it was in fact his own past.

Nohl was the seventh prince of an island country. Despite his talents, due to his birth as the younger one, he would never be recognized compared to his older siblings. He tried his best to gain recognition, only to be betrayed by his older brother who promised to help him. Later, as he gave up on working hard and opted to live an indulgent lifestyle, he was attacked by pirates on the sea and ended up stranded in Nasla. There, he found his place and gained recognition for his effort. That was all he wanted, and he settled down on this land ever since.

The two grew closer as they opened up more to each other. While they had originally detested each other, such feelings began to blur. Later, during yet another visit to Minister Orte’s mansion, Naala came across his wife who had a child-like mannerism. Impressed by Naala’s unique hair color, she innocently demanded her hair to be cut so that it can be made into a wig for herself.

This was an extremely cruel request, as women’s long hair was a symbolism of their beauty in the country. Short-haired women are scorned as ugly and judged harshly by the society, which meant that a woman’s hair is as important as their lives. Despite this, Naala slashed her beautiful locks all the way to her neck without hesitation. To her, it was a small price to pay if the minister would listen to her. Shocked by Naala’s resolution, Minister Orte was finally moved by her. Eventually, he agreed to stand by Touya’s side.

Already very impressed by Naala, this change of event thoroughly changed Nohl’s perception of her. While he had originally belittled Naala, he had came to realize that beneath her weak appearance hid a strong and unwavering heart. She was a existence that he had never met before, and Nohl realized just how lucky he was that she became his bride.

Naala had also began to develop feelings for Nohl. In the good end, they realized that their feelings are mutual. Nohl was clear of his possessive tendencies, and also communicated his desires to Naala. Nevertheless, the two were able to achieve a balance and compromise for each other. Eventually, they were able to live together happily.

However, in the bad ends, Nohl became extremely irrational. He disliked Naala meeting anyone aside from him, and wanted her completely for herself. When Naala resisted, he pretended to conform, and as a result, completely ignored her existence. Naala could not get used to the sudden distance between the two of them, and wanted to return things back to normal.

After an extended time of Nohl ignoring Naala, Naala could not bare to take it anymore and asked for him to stop with his silent treatment. When Ruzi, a doctor in Nasla talked to her, Naala was also afraid to become too engaged in the talk as she had Nohl’s disapproval in the back of her mind. Nohl noticed this, and praised Naala that she did well by going along with his wish. Suren came across Naala, and quickly noticed something was gravely amiss. He warned Naala that Nohl was trying to break her.

If Naala did not heed his warning, it will lead her to Nohl’s first bad end. Here, Naala was fully convinced that listening to Nohl was right, and that she should not leave her room, or interact with anyone else other than Nohl. Her sole purpose of existence was for Nohl, and she would never take another step out of their living quarters. Even when she knew of how other’s thought of her current situation, that she had became Nohl’s pet, it was fine with Naala as long as Nohl was happy with her.

If Naala heeded Suren’s warning, it will lead to another bad end. LOLs. At this point, there is no redemption for Naala sadly. Naala began to doubt if Nohl’s intention was truly good for her. Sensing her distrust, Nohl decided to poison Naala by feeding her a particular fruit. The first symptom was the sudden lost of her vision. As Naala frantically screamed for help, Nohl only dismissively agreed to get her a doctor, though he only seemed too happy over the situation.

Nohl moved Naala into a basement and have her hidden there. He continued to feed Naala the fruit, which caused Naala to become increasingly disoriented. She began to forget about anything else other than Nohl. Nohl made sure that she continued to eat the fruit, and manipulated her into complete dependence on him. If Naala established a good relationship with Nohl’s subordinate Esta, he will try to save her, and would succeed or fail depending on Naala’s response. If she did not, the story ends with Naala being trapped in that situation.

In Esta’s route, Nohl also ended up falling for Naala. Though it was portrayed in a comedic way, it was still obvious that Nohl was willing to take any chance to have Naala by his side. Poor Esta had to deal with his superior coveting his bride everyday. I dare to guarantee that if it wasn’t for these scenario occurring in Esta’s route, Nohl would have succeeded in whisking Naala away.

Personally, I enjoyed Nohl’s yandere scenes very much. What he did as a yandere fits his personality to a T. I can see how and why the scenes from his route played out a certain way. This type of yandere (calm, calculative, and manipulative) is the type that I enjoy the most.

If anything, I enjoyed his scenes in Esta’s route. Esta is the best husband that provided sweetness and love to the story, while Nohl chimes in with his hardly concealed desire to steal Naala away for himself. It’s a perfect blend of sweetness and obsessiveness from the two characters, tinted with hints of comedic relief in an originally somber setting. I especially enjoyed these scenes.

HOWEVER, I did not like Nohl as a character. I would never like someone like that in real life. And I also hated him in-game.

Straight off the bat, you can see that Nohl disrespects others and treat most people like they are some sort of insignificant insects. The way he had treated Naala before he fell in love with her at the start could be considered abuse and harassment. After he fell in love with her, the way he treated her could STILL be considered abuse and harassment.

Literally, Naala asked if he considers her as a toy, to which he reply IDK maybe. And Naala still managed to fall in love with this degenerate. Hats off to her.

Throughout his route, Naala was mistreated and teased just for his amusement. He would force Naala into acts and situations that were seriously uncomfortable for her. As I was playing this route, I was seething with anger at the way Naala was treated, thinking that Nohl could never redeem himself from this. Sure enough, he didn’t. But somehow, Naala still found this man endearing and was even able to ignore his malicious side and have a happy ending with him. I am at a loss for words.