Morning is here.
　Charlotte hears the faint sound of birds and jumps to her feet.

"What the ......?

　She woke up from her bunk and looked around.
　It was a small room. It was a small, dusty room with a lot of wooden boxes piled on top of each other. There was only one window near the ceiling. Beyond the bars, the sky was blue.

　Charlotte looked up vaguely at the window.
　The thin blanket she was wearing was covered with holes. The blanket she was wearing had holes in it, and Charlotte was also clad in a tattered nightgown.

　This is a storage room away from the main residence of the Dukes of Evans.
　This was the whole world Charlotte had been given.

　A normal morning.
　Nothing out of the ordinary.
　And yet .......

"Something ......

　I felt like I was having a strange dream.
　I went somewhere other than here and did something with someone. I don't remember anything else.
　The only thing I remember is a warm ...... and strange feeling deep in my chest.

　Charlotte put her hand on her chest and tried to remember the dream. But the memory never came back, only a stabbing pain in her chest.

　Eventually, the bell rang: .......

"Oh no, ......!

　Charlotte hurriedly began to prepare herself.
　Not a minute, not a second, could be wasted today. She changed into a shabby set of clothes that was little more than a nightgown and rushed out of the house.



　Charlotte's mother was one of the maids in the Evans family.
　At that time, the head of the family had a real wife. However, she was sickly and remained mostly bedridden, and of course she could not hope to have children.

　Then, the head of the family had his way with one of the maids. It is a common story in all ages.
　The story changes a little when the maid realizes that she is pregnant and disappears without saying anything to the head of the family.

　She gave birth to Charlotte in a country town far from the royal capital of the Kingdom of Neils. And so she raised her by herself.
　Mother and child, it was not a wealthy life, but it was a quiet and peaceful one.

　It continued until Charlotte was seven years old.
　The day after her mother died of an epidemic, an envoy from the duke's household came to Charlotte.



"Oh, good morning, sir.
"......

　As soon as Charlotte entered the main house through the back door, she bowed deeply.
　There was a kitchen with a number of cooks and maids working busily.

　However, none of them paid any attention to Charlotte. Of course, no greetings came back to her.
　Their faces were covered with a black shroud and their expressions were completely unreadable.

　Nevertheless, Charlotte kept her head down and quickly made her way to a small table in the corner of the kitchen. There, breakfast for Charlotte was prepared as usual.
　Today's menu consisted of bread, roast beef and consommé soup. At first glance, it looked fancy, but it was the leftovers from last night.
　The bread was completely hard, and the vegetables were shriveled. The soup was lukewarm.

"...... Thank you.

　Charlotte began to eat them quickly.

　.......
　There was a lot of scornful laughter and stares coming from everywhere. There's no way I can taste it.
　Counting the grains on the table to keep from looking up, Charlotte just continued to eat as if she were working.