Keep It On The Me

Rulership is Groove's younger son and Teio's stepbrother. She plays a role as Teio's counsel, though Rudolf occasionally comes to her if she's in need of a more theoretical and analytical mind to lay down bricks that will lead towards policy implementation.

Rura's detail orientation is a nice complement to Rudolf's more grandiose ideas, similar to Groove. However, because of her usual disposition, she's considered to be a laughingstock among nobility both in and outside the court. Her uncanny ability to play the fool means most people underestimate her, but the family does take her insights to heart.

She'd serve as an advisor to Teio, who's pretty impulsive but also adaptable. The combination of theory and practice (and a bit of luck) makes them unpredictable to the old aristocrats. None of the old elite think much of Rura to consider her a genuine obstacle against their own agendas.

Additionally, even though Rura is so far down the line of succession, Rudolf making it so that her stepchildren are still eligible for the throne gives wiggle room for Aruvu's son Duramente to have decent claim, especially for those who are dissidents of Teio installing Kitasan.

I think Fenomeno is neat

Kris S was a wanderer and basically had no permanent residence due to the nature of her job. She was basically hired muscle for Ramonu until the latter pointed her toward the Symbolis.

Around this time, Rudolf's standing with the old nobles was becoming precarious, and it was suggested she and the family have extra protection, just in case. Sirius typically takes care of any brewing unrest that Rudolf doesn't catch, but Kris S starts off shadowing them as a bodyguard.

I don't have Ayabe so I can't really vouch for Top Road in-game (at least until she's released in global), but I personally liked her already in RTTT. In my opinion, she gets overlooked due to Ayabe and Opera O stealing most of the attention.

For what it's worth, I think season 2 of the mainline anime does a way better job characterizing Teio and McQueen compared to the game. So if Topro feels a little surface-level, I'd probably chalk it up to her being a side character in someone else's career for now. Neither game!Teio or game!McQueen hold a candle to their animated counterparts, but it's also important to take both game and expanded material into account when having a read on a character.

In RTTT, I think Topro's story has a similar, albeit understated, current of not feeling deserving of anything bc she can't adequately "pay back" the love she's been given. It seems to me that she has a certain way of viewing that kind of support as a transactional thing, and can't really internalize the concept of it being unconditional, if she has nothing to show for it. It makes her feel like an imposter in a way that's like "the uma these people are cheering for is wearing my skin". I don't know if that makes sense, sorry. It does kind of foil Ayabe's own self-hate over her own life--a life she felt she stole from her sister.

Full disclosure is that I was partly inspired by Crooked's "Regency Wants" and Tex's "Imperial Romance" fanfics, because the fact that their monikers (and Teio's) are Emperor and Empress (and Monarch) works too damn perfectly for any setting that has nobility.

For me, they met while Rudolf was still getting over the last vestiges of mourning after the passing of Tsuyoshi's dam. By this point, Rudolf had lost two mates after being rejected/dumped by the first.

Groove is a noble (divorced with two foals) who's always been quite opinionated and has strong convictions, which drew Rudolf in because none of her previous mates were at all interested in government work and administration. Groove wasn't even actively looking into marrying again, much less the Emperor, but she did get a closer look at who Rudolf is as a person beneath the mantle.

I had to sit on this question for a bit because my first thought was "no", she doesn't seem like someone who'd enjoy having such a political position.

My boring answer is that I'm fine with how they're both the same height, but Groove's ears make her look slightly taller than Rudolf at first glance--