The Otome Heroine's Fight for Survival (Manga)

After losing her parents at a young age to a monster attack on their village, Alicia is sent to an orphanage, where she spends three miserable years being mistreated—and doing her best to smile through it all. After finally reaching her limit and running away, Alicia is attacked by a strange woman who wants to take the young girl’s place as the protagonist of something called an otome game. During the struggle, Alicia accidentally absorbs part of the woman’s memories and knowledge, transforming her from a scared child to a calculated young woman with a mission: to write her own destiny. Now adrift in an unforgiving world, Alicia vows to grow stronger by any means necessary. She’ll need all the might she can muster if she has any hope of changing her fate and fighting for survival.

Alicia—now going by the name Alia—decides to continue her training in the woods, isolated from others. Through ingenious use of the resources available to her and despite the growing pains associated with her increasing aether, she continues to hone her combat skills and begins her forays into the world of sorcery. One day, on her way out of town after stocking up on supplies, she senses a distinct presence—or lack thereof—and realizes she’s being watched. It’s a dangerous encounter, one with life-changing consequences she couldn’t have anticipated.

Alia accepts a job as a maid-in-training and guard to Princess Elena, one of the villainesses of the otome game. Under the tutelage of battle-specialist handmaiden Sera, Alia hones her combat skills even further. To her surprise, she develops a sense of kinship with Princess Elena—another gifted child bearing burdens far beyond her tender years—despite the two girls belonging to vastly different worlds. When Elena falls victim to a kidnapping plot, Alia rises to the occasion and runs to the rescue, realizing she now has something to fight for.