Jean was a beautiful girl. A charming girl. A lovable girl. She knew what she was; It was impossible not to. There was no one who showed up to the church at the age of 7 who didn’t know what their [Gift] was, and she had somehow unluckily become a [Greater Charming Beauty]. Jean had never asked for such a thing, had never made any secret wishes to the God-dess before bed at night, and had certainly never secretly longed for such a thing in passing. In fact, before she’d turned 7 she looked just like all the other neglected orphans in the orphanage; She had frumpy, dull, tangled hair, her skin was dirty and pallid, and she’d been a rather quiet and aloof little girl. She was a regular old ugly duckling with a fear of talking ingrained into her. And yet, all it took was a single trip to the church and in just a few days not a single flaw could be found in her new, lovely body and voice.

Jean hadn’t always been in the orphanage, though. Early on in her life, after she’d been born, her mother had left her in the care of a neighbourhood grandma that had always been kind to everyone. She’d told the grandma that she’d come back for her baby later, but then, as it turns out, inevitably never came back. The old woman didn’t actually know the baby’s mother too terribly well even though she'd caught glimpses of her occasionally as the woman grew up, but because she had such a deep love of children, she decided to keep the baby and look after her as her own. She’d never been told what the baby’s name was, however, and as the little baby grew up and started to resemble her mother at that age, the grandma with slight dementia took to calling the child after her missing mother’s name: Jean.

Despite the old woman’s choice to take care of Jean, not everyone in the neighbourhood was so kind. Some children would pick on her and play pranks on her, and some of the more awful adults would tell the small girl ugly truths about her missing mother. Like, for instance, the fact that her mother was an escort, which apparently meant some kind of high class whore. Jean didn’t know what exactly a whore even was, but from the mean looks and sneers she received when people would say the word, she knew it must have been something bad, no matter how high class it was.

They also told her that her mother’s ‘name’ was fake, and that ‘Jean’ was just her whoring name.

This meant that even her very name stemmed from some ‘fake’ and ‘bad’ thing.

In hindsight, it made sense. ‘Jean’ wasn’t a terribly usual name, not from the way that naming conventions in Odessia usually worked. If anything it would be closer to how the church named their chosen Nobles. There’s no way a simple commoner who lived just one street off from the slums could have such an extravagant name.

As the people’s harassment grew more and more harsh, Jean learned to just stick to herself and not bother to say a peep unless she had to, lest she give her harassers more fuel. Even when the grandma who’d been taking care of her had finally succumbed to her old age and died, and Jean had been forced to go to the orphanage in the next town over at the age of 5, she still didn’t give up on the unfortunate habit. She was sure that no one in the orphanage would like her either. After all, her very existence was somehow dirty and bad.

However, things were different. After a few months of her being in the orphanage, a shy boy named Helt appeared. They were the only two children there who preferred the quiet, and they’d often find each other by accident when they would go off to hide from all the others. It was only to be expected that they eventually bonded and became friends. And then, in Jean’s 6th year, when she’d finally started to open up a bit and would sneak out into the streets to go exploring with Helt, they found Ren. She was somehow smaller than the both of them, even though she claimed to be their same age. She was like a sweet, ashen mouse, and whenever the duo would stumble upon her, she always seemed to be sad and alone. But the way she would blossom into smiles whenever they would talk to her easily melted their hearts. She may not have been from the orphanage, but they felt extremely close to the lonely girl. And so, their trio was formed.

Upon hearing from everyone around them that they had to go to the temple at 7 and find out their [Gifts], the three of them made a pact that they all had to go together and find out what they’d be at the same time once they were all of age. And of course, they all agreed that no matter what they were told, and no matter what would become of them, they would always, always, ALWAYS be friends and stick together. Ren still had parents, unlike Jean and Helt, so Ren had asked if they could come along on the day as well, since that was the tradition, and of course they’d agreed. It only made sense. Why try to spite their dear friend just because she had an opportunity that the other two didn’t?

Sadly, that decision was what led to the trio’s downfall.

However, that’s for someone else to explain.

~~~

When Jean first learned of her [Gift], she really didn’t feel much of anything. They told her that she was now a [Greater Charming Beauty], but… wasn’t she still just ‘Jean’? Nothing…really changed, did it? Had they possibly gotten it wrong? She came out and told her friends, but she couldn’t really believe a single word of what she’d been told. Everyone said she still looked the same when she asked. Helt, who was next, told them all what his [Gift] was, and they all clapped and cheered despite not really knowing what it meant. Jean was worried about the slight shadow that appeared over his amethyst visage after he’d told them, but she was much too baffled about her own [Gift] to really give it much thought. And then finally there was Ren. Ren had looked so happy when she’d been escorted in with her parents, but the absolutely chilly atmosphere, combined with the way that both of her parents just marched out without their daughter, well…

It was easy to tell that something had gone terribly wrong.

Ren was refusing to tell her friends what her [Gift] was until they left the church and got somewhere private to talk. Her ashen visage matched her ashen hair. She was practically shivering under the cold looks of all the priests that they passed by. What could have happened? Even when the group finally made it to their little hideout, she still insisted on repeatedly asking if Helt and Jean would keep their promise to stay her friends no matter what her [Gift] was, and of course they said ‘yes’ every time. It wasn’t until the girl had finally calmed down enough to tell them what it was that the two of them could understand why she was acting as she was. If the adults were to be trusted, then she’d gotten the absolute worst [Gift] of them all, if you could even consider it one. Ren was even scared to go home to her parents, considering the way that they just left without her. The trio hugged and decided to keep her with them in their secret hideout for now, until they knew what to do.

In the end, the three of them really only had each other.

Their pact would never change.

And they would never change, either.

~~~

After a week had passed, Jean had to face reality:

She had changed.

Perhaps she hadn’t looked any different after she left the church, but it only took three days before her beauty and charm truly manifested itself in its entirety. Her hair had gone from dull, frumpy, and tangled, to lucious, beautiful, bouncy, and flowing. It looked like she somehow stole the lavender hair of a princess. Her skin was so beautifully pearlescent that it practically glowed, and it was almost like it just repelled any dirt that might possibly try to stick on to her. Her face and entire body shape had changed to be more shapely and perfect. Even her voice had suddenly taken on an irresistible tone, and on the occasions that she had to ask someone for anything, it seemed that they well and truly couldn’t resist her words.

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And then there was the feeling she would get.

Jean wasn’t sure when it started, but somehow after her change she grew more willing to talk to others. In fact, any chance she had to use her beauty, charm, and voice against someone unsuspecting felt surprisingly good. As she grew more and more accustomed to her [Gift], her powers of persuasion grew all the more, along with how right it felt to use.

But there enlied another problem for Jean; A problem that she just couldn’t stand. It was the problem of her heritage. It was commonly thought that people had a chance to pass on their [Gifts] to their children, and Jean was in fact her mother’s daughter. Could it be that her whore mother had had a similar [Gift]? Could it be that she had felt the same way that Jean was feeling right now? Was she somehow stuck turning out exactly like her mother that all the neighbours had disparaged? The thought of it made Jean’s [Gift] feel disgusting and dirty, and by extension that made Jean feel dirty for even having it. And yet, it felt so good and right to use, that there was no way for her to possibly just give up using it.

And so, whenever Jean used her [Gift], she felt horribly, horribly guilty.

She decided to stop using her power if she could help it, and her power stopped growing.

~~~

Noth’s villa was more luxurious than the kids had ever seen, and while the fourth girl that had been rescued was taken to a back room to sleep off the aftereffects of whatever was still ailing her, the teen had somehow created a delicious plate of food for the trio to eat. He was such a mysterious existence to the children, and to Jean especially. He’d rescued them valiantly, and she knew that they could trust them, and yet… well… In truth she really only couldn’t trust him because she knew that he wouldn't be able to control him. It’s not like she had some burning desire to keep everyone at her beck and call, she had no control or power fantasies. But when you have an innate power to have someone hang on and follow your every word and then it doesn’t work on someone? It was a little disconcerting for sure.

Yes, it had looked like he’d been swept away by her charm when he’d first rescued them, but Jean knew the truth. She’d used her [Gift] enough times to know what it felt like. And yet, when she tried to use it on Noth, she’d feel… nothing. Not a single gratifying feeling. He complied along just fine, and he gave her the same look of awe and attraction that everyone did, but… that was it. Her visible and audible beauty had done its job, but nothing else. Had he truly not wanted to answer her questions, he wouldn’t have. And that realization was vastly worrying, because it meant that her greatest weapon was unusable.

Jean couldn’t help but grimace at her thoughts. She was such a coward and a hypocrite. She’d been so afraid of her own [Gift] that she hadn’t even used it to help her friends escape, for fear of what her enamoured captors might do to her afterward. She knew for a fact that if she had used the full force of her powers that they would have been able to escape, and yet she selfishly feared what she’d end up becoming in the end. Her awful [Gift] was good for one thing, and one thing only, and she couldn’t stand the thought of becoming something so filthy. How did anyone stand being forced like this? How were people so okay with their roles being so one dimensional? Or perhaps everyone was okay because they just didn’t get such unlucky [Gifts] like her.

The girl stewed in her own self loathing as she slowly ate her food. Her eyes that had been staring off into the distance ended up landing on the kitchen maid that Noth had told them was called ‘Elillith’. The woman was busy bringing the children some juice with the blankest look on her face that Jean had ever seen on a person. Elillith didn’t seem like she would have a single care in the world. Is that what it was like to be a maid? How carefree was it to have your [Gift] just guide you through life? You wouldn’t have to think of anything but your job, and feel fine and right doing it. Jean couldn’t help the sigh and bitter murmur that escaped her lips.

“I wish I was a [Maid] like that.”

Noth, who was seated nearby, had taken notice of her jaded words; It was impossible for his ears not to pick up every beautiful word she said. It took him a few seconds to understand what the small girl might have been talking about, but when he finally understood it, he let out a short giggle at the misunderstanding.

“Oh, you made the same mistake that I once did. How nostalgic. You see, Jean, Elillith actually isn’t a [Maid]. She’ll tell you so herself, although she doesn’t like to say what she actually is.”

Jean was absolutely flabbergasted by his words, and quickly turned to Elillith for confirmation. The kitchen maid gave her a small nod of affirmation back, although she quickly shot Noth an unimpressed frown afterwards. The tiny girl couldn’t understand how such a thing could be happening. She asked a flurry of questions to try and understand why someone who wasn’t a [Maid] would possibly be doing the job of one, and received an answer that immediately shattered all her preconceived notions of the world. Apparently MANY people in the world had jobs that were tangential to their [Gifts].

Noth had seen the shock and surprise in the girl’s eyes, and couldn’t help but chuckle at her reaction. It only made sense that Jean hadn’t known about such a common thing; She had only just received her [Gift] a little over a month ago, and she’d had no formal education or parents that could have taught her about such well known facts. The teen quietly muttered something to himself, and suddenly out of nowhere a textbook softly landed on top of the table they were eating at.

“I can see why you’d find it so surprising, so let me read you a passage from a book that I found very interesting while growing up. I think it will help you to understand.

  ‘The God-dess may lay a path for everyone, but it’s not such a rigid path as one might think at first glance. A [Carpenter], for instance, may be forced to work with wood, but how they choose to go about it will define what they ultimately choose to be. Perhaps they only build houses, as expected, or maybe only furniture? Does one specialize in chandeliers? Fancy picture frames for the aristocrats and nobles? Could it be that they become an artist who makes beautiful wooden sculptures? There are many different ways they could specialize their crafts and become unique amongst their similarly [Gifted] peers. Even something as seemingly single purposed as a [Maid] has their different choices. Yes, they could work under a noble or some other kind of rich employer in a mansion, but there’s also the possibility of becoming a housemaid for one of the more well off commoners, or perhaps you do freelance work for a day at wherever is willing to pay you. Perhaps you work in a dorm in a school. It’s not uncommon for some [Maids] to work in hospitals as pseudo nurses. Yes, you wouldn’t be able to do all of the work that a real [Nurse] could, but that doesn’t mean that it would be any less of a necessary job, nor would anyone scoff at you for taking the noble and selfless path of the healing arts. It’s even possible that instead of using your [Gift] for working purposes, it could help you to find a good marriage. There are plenty of [Maids] who end up marrying into families for a hefty dowry, simply because of their [Gift]. Even merchant families would be glad to marry in a [Maid], since their organizational skills and cleanliness would surely help to keep stock of inventories. All of this means that at the end of the day, it’s not the skills you possess, but how you choose to use them that creates who and what you become.’”

As Noth closed the book and gently placed it back down onto the table, Jean was practically shaking. Did this mean that all this time, she’d been able to choose a different path than her mother? Had she been wrong this whole time? Her [Gift] was more than just the dirty thing that she’d thought it was?

“I…I can be something… different?”

Jean’s gaze turned back to Elillith, and her eyes began to tear up.

“C-could I… Could I maybe… b-be a maid one day?”

The sudden wetness in her eyes alarmed everyone in the room, and when Noth shot Elillith a panicked and begging gaze, the woman quickly came to Jean’s side and wrapped her arms around the small girl.

“Wh’not givvit a try?”

The unpassionately drawled words oddly gave Jean the most hope she’d ever felt in her life.

For the first time, Jean truly felt saved.