The Black Rose
Keith Harcourt, the older twin brother of Francis, is the Black Rose. He is also Nadja's Starry-Eyed Knight who rescued her from Rosso and Bianco at the Applefield Orphanage. Keith is estranged from his family, having disappeared shortly after he finished his schooling. He has a similar belief as Francis, that everyone should be treated equally, however his methods of realizing that ideal are very different from his brother's. While Francis travles around, engaging in Noblesse Oblige by giving donations to orphanages and charities, Keith uses his persona of the Black Rose to take wealth away from the greedy and lazy upper class and gives it away to the poor.
While Francis always saw the happy and sunny side of their mother, Keith knew there was something not right. He saw the reality of how his mother was trapped in her life as the wife of a Duke, never able to travel freely. He saw her arguments with their father. His mother's kaleidoscope was the symbol of her desire to see the world, and she spent much time looking at life through it until her death at a young age. Keith admires Nadja's carefree spirit and open nature, and gives Nadja the Kaleidoscope.
Keith is very set in his beliefs, in spite of Nadja's pleading for him to stop stealing. He is very much a loner, yet he feels compelled to help Nadja when she is in trouble. He realizes very early on who she is in terms of her family connections, and warns her to guard her brooch carefully. His desire to help her is so great that at one point he endures torture for her sake.
The existence of Keith throws Nadja into a confused state. All this time she has been in love with her Starry-Eyed Knight, believing him to be Francis Harcourt. She spent many pleasant hours in Francis's company, and they are attracted to each other. Yet Francis is not her Starry-Eyed Knight... that was Keith... and the time she spent with him was even more precious to her. Nadja can't reconcile the fact that there is more than one Francis. Which one does she really love? Does she really know either of them very well? Who will Nadja pick?