Victoria is a young woman who was orphaned at a young age but was cared for by the kind old woman Sylvia, who ran the local orphanage. Her father was a King’s guard and her mother was a prominent reformer, both of them died on the same night when a protest against the government turned violent. She was given, posthumously, a medal for courage for her father’s sacrifice; It was the only thing she owns to remind her of them. As an adult, Victoria works nights at the palace as a maid to earn money to provide for her and her fiancé and help support the orphanage. She has great amounts of intelligence and inner courage but struggles to let it show for fear that others in society will not accept her or take her seriously. Her relationship with the king allows these traits to be put on full display.