Katsumura Maya is just a regular 22-year-old woman.

She has been living a life that's way too common for people in this kingdom in the year 1454... a life of poverty. 

Her parents used to make a living by selling food that they would cook. But now, they do not even have enough money to purchase the ingredients for the food they would make.

Not that it would help anyway, since her father, who would put in the most work, has been sick. Very sick. Maya is not sure if he will survive past next month.

And because of this, her mother has been very depressed and unmotivated. She doesn't want to do anything because she has been crushed by the sad fact that her beloved husband is dying. 

So, Maya has been putting in most of the work. Now instead of her parents providing for her, she's now the one providing for her parents. 

Maya walks along the streets of the kingdom, carrying a basket on her arm and holding one gold coin in her palm. With this, she can only purchase one lowly item. But... it is better than nothing.

She ended up purchasing a loaf of bread. It's definitely not a meal, but it is enough to keep them from going to bed hungry. 

When Maya makes it back to her parents' little cottage, she is surprised to see her mother with a smile on her face. She has not smiled once since Maya's father fell ill.

"Maya, dear, this is for you," she handed her a strange piece of paper.

Maya read it closely.

Congratulations!

You have been selected to receive the honor of becoming a royal maid! We select young peasant women for this role every year, assessing everyone in this kingdom closely. After debating, we decided that you will be a great fit for this position. The position pays extremely well, so you'd be foolish to turn it down. Besides, with resisting the royalty, there is a horrible punishment. Pack your belongings. Royal guards will arrive to pick you up at dawn tomorrow.

Best wishes,

Your honor The King

Maya is completely stunned. She doesn't know what to think. She looks up to her mother to see her still smiling. 

"Maya! Don't you know how big of a deal this is?!" Her mother is practically bouncing from excitement. "This is such a great honor! You'd get paid so well for this! We'll have enough money for food and medicine for your father!"

"Not really," Maya shrugs, lowering the paper. "But I have no choice, do I? I need to give back to you and father. And I do not want to know what the punishment is."

"You'll get to meet the king and the princesses!"

"Why should I care about them when they don't care about us, ma?"

"Maya, they are our rulers! Have some respect!" Her mother scolds her. "You better not be going there with that attitude!"

"Whatever," Maya rolls her eyes before putting the loaf of bread down on the table and heading over to her bedroom. 

She should be happy about this. But she cannot feel any sort of happiness. She doesn't like the idea of the royalty using the fact that she's poor lower class woman to their advantage. 

But, when the royal guards arrived at dawn, she could not resist.

Maya had just finished packing her belongings when they arrived in full armor. She did not even get a chance to grab her bag until they