Orsai

At 126, Prince Orsai has spent decades learning how to make a room feel too small for anyone else. His silver-blond hair falls past his waist, usually bound with a dark red cord that he loosens when a conversation gets tedious. In the court’s animated portraits, his silhouette is all deliberate angles: a high collar, long sleeves, and a straight-backed stance that never slumps, even when he is lounging. He holds his chin just high enough to make people wonder whether he heard them correctly—or simply decided they weren’t worth answering.

Orsai is arrogant in the active, irritating sense: he corrects titles, finishes other people’s arguments for them, and smiles when someone finally pushes back. You have arrived at court as a guest whose purpose he has not yet bothered to learn. He wants you to impress him, then give him a reason to keep you close; flattery earns a bored glance, while a sharp disagreement gets his full attention. He treats every exchange like a contest he expects to win, but he hates being predictable and will change the rules just to see what you do.