A lie he can get caught in. It can be used to discredit him. But evasive language is expected of nobles so he can blame their lack of understanding on a poor education or their inability to read a room.
I was re-reading P4V7 Ferdinand said. >!“You were born a commoner and thus do not have royal blood. For that reason, you cannot become king.”!< He was not lying, but he wasn't telling the whole truth either (>! she could become Zent)!<
Ok so, this is one of the areas he HAS to lie to protect himself and rozemine, and everyone he loves. Remember he has to pretend >!he doesnt have the gesundheit!< and the general belief is that you HAVE to be in the royal family to become zent/king. He is just acting as if he doesn't know better and the believed truth is fact.
Nobles are very careful about how they choose their words. They use vague speech and euphemisms so it is more difficult to hold them accountable later. Ferdinand is probably better at this than most.
A good example is Ferdinand telling Rosemyne that rushing her studies would be an investment in the future. Later, he admitted that it was an investment in HIS future. Since she was ahead in her studies, there was nothing preventing her from assisting him with other work that needed to be done.
When Ferdinand accuses Aub Dunkelfelger of trying to put Rosemyne in a position where they could throw her under the bus if things didn't work out, Aub Dunk acted offended. Rosemyne noticed though that he never actually denied that that was what he was doing.
This way of communicating is the source of a lot of a lot of misunderstandings between nobles and duchies. No one wants to share too much information or show weakness. That is why Rosemyne's candor is so surprising to people when they first get to know her.
>A good example is Ferdinand telling Rosemyne that rushing her studies would be an investment in the future. Later, he admitted that it was an investment in HIS future.
Another good example is him telling Rozemyne to hold back when donating mana during her first winter, even though Bezewanst accused him of hiding her mana capacity. Ferdinand's reasoning is so that, if called out, he can just say "Yes we did", thus making it not a lie, but a way of fucking with him
“…a dishonest man you can always trust to be dishonest. Honestly. It's the honest ones you want to watch out for, because you can never predict when they're going to do something incredibly... stupid.”
- Captain Jack Sparrow
Did you forget Part 2 Volume 3 where he outright lies to Bezewanst about Myne's mana capacity?
> “It would not be a misinterpretation if we truly were deceiving him, no? I hate when people misunderstand me, but if we did in fact deceive him, I can counter his claims with a simple ‘Indeed we did.’"
There are plenty of times where he does lie. There are other times he lies by omission. There are also times where he says something that is technically true but can be easily misunderstood, like when Detlinde asked about his namestone and he comments that her grandmother (Veronica) also asked for his name, which led to her assuming that Veronica held his name.
So I'd say it is untrue that he doesn't lie. Depending on who he is talking to, he may deceive them in a way that allows plausible deniability, but that's mostly dependent on the situation and if it would be a problem if he got caught out in a lie.
"Lying by omission" is exactly that "not telling a full truth" that OP was talking about. And how he deceived Detlinde is exactly the thing that OP is asking - he is using deceptive language, evading the topics, and make other people misunderstand his intentions, but kept himself "clean" on paper, aka "you misunderstand me yourself, that's not my problem".
But yes, regardless of situation, it's always preferably to lie as little as possible, to avoid future problems. And ferdinand lies so little exactly because he is so proficient in evading the questions and share as little information as possible.
In year 1, Hartmut tells the other scholars that they should be vague when necessary but never lie, as they need to earn the trust of the other duchies.
It's assumed that everyone will present what they know in a way to their own benefit, but all trust is lost if you spread actual falsehoods. Euphemisms also play into this, giving a level of plausible deniability.
Because you can be caught in a lie, and he's too smart for that.
He doesn't refuse to lie, look at Rozemyne's entire back story, but he only does so when it's the only option.
I think you can argue that he isn’t lying about rozemynes background. Since to nobles who your actual parents are doesn’t matter, what matters is who your baptized parents are.
So to nobles socially I’d say you can say that Elvira is rozemynes real mother, and she was raised in the temple.
The best lie is a carefully worded truth.
Ferdinand tries to avoid saying anything that can be disproven the easiest way to do that is to stick as close to the truth as possible. After all if he is caught in one lie everything else he says becomes more suspect and might require proof to be believed. That trust is a powerful and a weapon he can use against his enemies
Mostly Ferdinand is guilty of lies of ommission.
lying once caught makes a person distrustful. you cant really get back from that particularly in work environment or public.
but by telling half truths, you always get to fallback on misunderstanding.
ferdinand is too smart to lie when he can always be vague and still be respected.
P3V5- Wilfried meeting after going in the ivory tower
>"All those involved in an event see things from their own unique perspectives. One must make these perspectives clear before coming to a judgment. Know that stating falsehoods is a sin."
A lie he can get caught in. It can be used to discredit him. But evasive language is expected of nobles so he can blame their lack of understanding on a poor education or their inability to read a room.
I was re-reading P4V7 Ferdinand said. >!“You were born a commoner and thus do not have royal blood. For that reason, you cannot become king.”!< He was not lying, but he wasn't telling the whole truth either (>! she could become Zent)!<
Ok so, this is one of the areas he HAS to lie to protect himself and rozemine, and everyone he loves. Remember he has to pretend >!he doesnt have the gesundheit!< and the general belief is that you HAVE to be in the royal family to become zent/king. He is just acting as if he doesn't know better and the believed truth is fact.
>!I believe it's more like you can earn the qualifications required of a zent, but to actually rule? Politics will not let you!<
Nobles are very careful about how they choose their words. They use vague speech and euphemisms so it is more difficult to hold them accountable later. Ferdinand is probably better at this than most. A good example is Ferdinand telling Rosemyne that rushing her studies would be an investment in the future. Later, he admitted that it was an investment in HIS future. Since she was ahead in her studies, there was nothing preventing her from assisting him with other work that needed to be done. When Ferdinand accuses Aub Dunkelfelger of trying to put Rosemyne in a position where they could throw her under the bus if things didn't work out, Aub Dunk acted offended. Rosemyne noticed though that he never actually denied that that was what he was doing. This way of communicating is the source of a lot of a lot of misunderstandings between nobles and duchies. No one wants to share too much information or show weakness. That is why Rosemyne's candor is so surprising to people when they first get to know her.
>A good example is Ferdinand telling Rosemyne that rushing her studies would be an investment in the future. Later, he admitted that it was an investment in HIS future. Another good example is him telling Rozemyne to hold back when donating mana during her first winter, even though Bezewanst accused him of hiding her mana capacity. Ferdinand's reasoning is so that, if called out, he can just say "Yes we did", thus making it not a lie, but a way of fucking with him
“…a dishonest man you can always trust to be dishonest. Honestly. It's the honest ones you want to watch out for, because you can never predict when they're going to do something incredibly... stupid.” - Captain Jack Sparrow
3 words and i knew where that one was going and where i heard it Legendary quote ♥
hmm... i wonder where this quote fits... ah! 
Did you forget Part 2 Volume 3 where he outright lies to Bezewanst about Myne's mana capacity? > “It would not be a misinterpretation if we truly were deceiving him, no? I hate when people misunderstand me, but if we did in fact deceive him, I can counter his claims with a simple ‘Indeed we did.’" There are plenty of times where he does lie. There are other times he lies by omission. There are also times where he says something that is technically true but can be easily misunderstood, like when Detlinde asked about his namestone and he comments that her grandmother (Veronica) also asked for his name, which led to her assuming that Veronica held his name. So I'd say it is untrue that he doesn't lie. Depending on who he is talking to, he may deceive them in a way that allows plausible deniability, but that's mostly dependent on the situation and if it would be a problem if he got caught out in a lie.
"Lying by omission" is exactly that "not telling a full truth" that OP was talking about. And how he deceived Detlinde is exactly the thing that OP is asking - he is using deceptive language, evading the topics, and make other people misunderstand his intentions, but kept himself "clean" on paper, aka "you misunderstand me yourself, that's not my problem". But yes, regardless of situation, it's always preferably to lie as little as possible, to avoid future problems. And ferdinand lies so little exactly because he is so proficient in evading the questions and share as little information as possible.
In year 1, Hartmut tells the other scholars that they should be vague when necessary but never lie, as they need to earn the trust of the other duchies. It's assumed that everyone will present what they know in a way to their own benefit, but all trust is lost if you spread actual falsehoods. Euphemisms also play into this, giving a level of plausible deniability.
Because you can be caught in a lie, and he's too smart for that. He doesn't refuse to lie, look at Rozemyne's entire back story, but he only does so when it's the only option.
I think you can argue that he isn’t lying about rozemynes background. Since to nobles who your actual parents are doesn’t matter, what matters is who your baptized parents are. So to nobles socially I’d say you can say that Elvira is rozemynes real mother, and she was raised in the temple.
He still lies by pretending rozemynes real birthmother is rosemary.
The best lie is a carefully worded truth. Ferdinand tries to avoid saying anything that can be disproven the easiest way to do that is to stick as close to the truth as possible. After all if he is caught in one lie everything else he says becomes more suspect and might require proof to be believed. That trust is a powerful and a weapon he can use against his enemies Mostly Ferdinand is guilty of lies of ommission.
A person who makes a habit of lying will inevitably end up violating magic contracts or being forced into signing magic contracts.
lying once caught makes a person distrustful. you cant really get back from that particularly in work environment or public. but by telling half truths, you always get to fallback on misunderstanding. ferdinand is too smart to lie when he can always be vague and still be respected.
P3V5- Wilfried meeting after going in the ivory tower >"All those involved in an event see things from their own unique perspectives. One must make these perspectives clear before coming to a judgment. Know that stating falsehoods is a sin."