Henrietta von Penrose, known as Annette, belongs to the Alba race and serves in the Republic of San Magnolia’s military Research Division. She focuses on advancing the Para-RAID neural communication technology, initially pioneered by her neuroscientist father, Josef von Penrose, whose breakthroughs shaped the Republic’s military doctrine. After his abrupt demise, she assumed his research mantle, balancing the pressure of his legacy with efforts to enhance the system’s efficacy.

Her childhood unfolded alongside Shinei Nouzen’s family as neighbors, forging deep interhousehold ties. This bond later fuels her private remorse, as she shoulders blame for their deportation—a result of the Alba-led regime’s persecution of the Colorata minority.

Intellectually precocious, she skipped grades with Vladilena Milizé, her lifelong confidante. Though paralleling Lena’s academic path, she pursued scientific research rather than combat roles, prioritizing security within the Republic’s volatile hierarchy. Her persistent urging for Lena to embrace research underscores her tactical survivalism amid systemic oppression.

As technical lieutenant leading Para-RAID development, she navigates the confluence of military innovation and ethical quandaries. Though removed from battlefields, her work sustains the Republic’s exploitation of the 86, entwining scientific ambition with complicity in their suffering. This duality intensifies through her bond with Lena, whom she consoles with empathy even as her guidance echoes her risk-averse ethos.

Beyond the lab, she crafts pastries—a gentle respite from her austere world. Her exchanges with Lena blend compassion with pragmatism, offering solace filtered through guarded realism. The specter of her father’s unfinished work and unresolved guilt over Shin’s displacement permeate her arc, their tensions deliberately preserved in canonical narratives.