Riméa

Riméa (リメエア) is a character introduced in Toaru Majutsu no Index. She is the eldest daughter of Queen Regnant Elizard, likely making her the heir to the throne of the United Kingdom.

Cool and aloof, she is scarce of trusting anyone out of concern of being betrayed. During the events of the British Halloween, when her younger sister Carissa tried to usurp control of the United Kingdom with the Curtana and the Knights of England, she is behind the scenes trying to find the reason for Carissa's action.

Of the three princess, she possesses the trait of "intellect".

Appearance
Riméa appears as a beautiful slender woman in her early 30s that has long black hair that reaches up to her shoulders, unlike her other siblings, who have blond hair. The narrative suggests that she might purposely be dying her hair black.

She is mostly depicted as wearing a long blue dress, which unlike her sister's and mother's, had a skirt that did not spread out but stuck to the lines of her legs. She has a monocle over her eye. With this look, she gives off a demeanor of being intellectual and cool-headed, as well as having an odd but graceful impression.

Personality
She is very cautious in nature, and doesn't trust anyone that knows she's a princess. Examples include the fact that she keeps pets for the sole purpose of tasting food to check if it is poisoned. In fact Riméa can't show warmth to someone else unless they are ignorant about her true identity. So great is hear concern that she has her own detached private room in Windsor Castle that she arranged as she saw fit. This mistrustful nature of hers allowed her to become independent.

She however trust people more if they don't know her identity, as she believes they hold no malice. That is why she often sneaks out of the palace and into the city.

In spite of this, she has a quirky side as well, not unlike her mother, as she is willing to participate in a group photo of Touma, her sisters, and her mother despite the urgency of their meeting.

Background
Elizard pointed out that from the three princess, she was the one who had developed the highest self-reliance and independence gained under her own power out of the three sisters. However the Queen also pointed out that it was sad that such qualities were rooted in mistrust.

Prior to the outbreak of the British Halloween, Riméa was likely already suspicious of Carissa's movements in Edinburgh, and had become acquainted with people there to act as spies for her while not revealing her true identity as the a princess of the United Kingdom.

British Royal Family Arc
Riméa first appears in Buckingham Palace for a meeting with Queen Regnant Elizard, her two sisters, Carissa and Villian, and the Knight Leader regarding the magical bombing of the Eurotunnel, with Kanzaki Kaori as Laura Stuart's substitute, along with Index and her manager Kamijou Touma.

She points out to her mother, after Elizard allayed Touma's concerns of destroying Curtana Second with his right hand, that the method in recreating another Curtana has been lost, and making a third or fourth one will not be easy. Knight Leader says that he or his men could've gone to escort her to Buckingham Palace, to which Riméa shows her distrustful nature to them. Carissa later arrives and sneers at her demeanor, telling her that she should get over it and die already. They are then joined by the Villian. As all of the girls have gathered, Elizard suggests they move to another room where their conversation isn't recorded and not wait for the other participants or "specialists" in order to allow them to talk without reservations, much to Kaori and the Knight Leader's chagrin, though Carissa agrees. With the representatives of the three factions that control the United Kingdom have gathered, Riméa says that in the end the country is a kingdom, and as such it is Elizard, the monarch, who has final say on matters. After Carissa discovers Touma's role in the meeting thanks to Elizard's persuasion, they later move to another to start the meeting proper. As the Eurotunnel bombing meeting in Buckingham Palace begins, she is the most vocal of the group along with her mother and her sister Carissa.

Riméa chooses not to follow her sisters to investigate the Eurotunnel bombing with Index. Due to her absence the younger sisters discuss Riméa's quirk with her distrustfulness before moving to the topic regarding the Eurotunnel bombing.

British Halloween
With the coup going on, Riméa likely hidden herself in either London or a nearby city, apparently not joining her sisters to the Eurotunnel because she sensed danger. From there, she listening in on the knights' transmissions, and discovers that her mother and the Archbishop Laura Stuart have freed themselves from being captured by them. Wanting to meet with her, Riméa figures out the most likely route her mother will take to get London. She later arrives at the spot where the Anglican Church forces gathered for their last supper, and typical of her, tested the food they left behind for poison on her pet dog.

As predicted, Elizard and the Archbishop later stop by at the spot. Riméa goes up to her, saying that she has been waiting for her. Elizard asks her what she wants as she knows that she wouldn't join forces with her easily and that she would most likely just defeat her to take away the Curtana Second for her own use. Riméa admits that she had thought of that, but says she would rather use her intellect in order to play a smarter role. Elizard points out that she has spiritual items around as well as a claymore mine hidden, and asks her to disable it as it would be dangerous for cars.

Riméa feeds the horse that Elizard used, which Elizard notes that Riméa truly only show her true face around those who have no political power or interests. Riméa comments on how she doesn't trust anyone who knows who she is, but wants to trust those who treat her kindly despite not knowing who she is. Elizard comments that her daughters' personalities are in the extreme. Riméa notes that it is because Elizard did not interfere when they were growing up, to which Elizard replies that if she didn't then the three of them wouldn't be independent and would have relied on her. Riméa says that Elizard interfered 10 years ago to punish the politicians that wanted to use Villian, but Elizard says that there are some actions a parent must take.

The discussion shifts to Carissa's coup. Riméa believes that Carissa is trying to expand the effective area of the Curtana Original by conquering Europe, noting that it would be a disaster. Elizard adds that Carissa could easily just have knights protect the United Kingdom while Carissa attacks Europe on her own as she would be unstoppable as no human magic would be able to harm if she fully released Curtana Original's power. Riméa wonders if that truly is all Carissa wants to do, saying that she has a normal person act as a spy for New Light's base in Edinburgh and has to wait for more answers.

Elizard then asks where Riméa got her food, to which she says that the Anglican Church forces had a last supper there just moments ago and left their cooking tools and equipment. Riméa notes that she has her pet dog taste them for poison, and calls out to it. She later finds her dog growling at Sphynx, and notes on how she was always interested in Asian cats as she picks it up. Elizard wonders where the Anglican Church forces are going, to which Riméa says that they are heading towards the center of London. Realizing that everyone is heading towards London and getting left behind, Elizard mounts the horse again, not full and rested after Riméa giving it food. Elizard also grabbed Laura with one hand and had her up onto the back of the horse. With them prepared to disembark, Elizards asks Laura on the preparations of the flag of the Union Jack spiritual item. Laura states that it is probably halfway done. It was mixed in with the normal displays in the British Museum, so not many people would have realized it was a spiritual item. Laura says that it should be usable if Charles Conder did what he was supposed to do. Hearing that a normal worker did the preparation under the knight's noses, Elizard has her respect for him. Before heading off to London, she mentions that the force going there are fools without a single trump card and nothing at their disposal but their fighting spirit and their guts, mentioning that she should not be blamed if they die. Riméa comments that Elizard sounds rather happy when she said that.

She later arrives in London apparently on her own. At the height of the battle of Buckingham Palace, Riméa observes the battle from afar when she is contacted by her spy from Edinburgh. There is a tomb in Edinburgh fit enough for a king of an entire culture, confirming her suspicion regarding Carissa that she is carrying the weight of the entire country on her own shoulders and that she is willing to become a tyrant in order to save it from its enemies and from the danger that Curtana Original's power possess. She then uses a communication spell to contact not only the knights, who have now regained consciousness after being "punished" by Carissa, but those at Buckingham Palace as well to tell them of Carissa's true plans. She then pleads with them to take up arms to save Carissa not as the second princess but as a woman as she believes Carissa can be saved if there are people who are willing to fight for her. The Knight Leader is just behind Riméa during her announcement, deciding to take up his sword to save Carissa as well despite being depowered after the Overloading of the Curtana Original. Riméa is aware that he was behind him but doesn't turn to face him. As she doesn't turn her back to anyone she doesn't trust, this action of hers represent her having trust on the Knight Leader, which she notes as her growing up as well.

After much struggle, and with the participation of her own mother and the people of London, Carissa is later defeated and Curtana Original is destroyed.

Abilities
She is capable of using magic, making use of a mass communication spell to announce to the people at Buckingham Palace and to people farther away from it Carissa's true motivations for starting the coup. She is also thinks she is capable of wielding the Curtana Second if she chooses.

Design evolution
Riméa's design remains static throughout the series. Haimura did not need to design her to be moe, as such her design is much more subdued to show the "liveliness" of those who were acting as main characters in the volume she was introduced. According to Haimura, Riméa would look like she would fit in with the 13 Court Guard Units, most likely referring to Nanao Ise.

Quotes

 * (To Knight Leader, from Index Volume 17): "Oh, no, no. I can’t have others accompanying me. That just adds to the risk of being stabbed in the back. I have no intention of putting my trust in those who know me."
 * (To Elizard, from Index Volume 18): "Of course, mother. I do not intend to give my trust to anyone that knows who I am. I want to trust those who treat me kindly despite not knowing I am a princess."
 * To the knights regarding Carissa, ibid): “I cannot force you to take action. You have families, friends, and lovers that you must protect as well as the country. I will not deny you the option to flee if you want to make sure they do not have to mourn for you... But if any of you pity my sister Carissa, if any of you knights wish to save her not as the second princess but as a mere woman, then will you take up your swords now? She is most likely a woman who can be saved by just that. This is not about the amount of power you can wield. She will be saved just by knowing that there are people truly willing to fight for her."