ALL RIGHT THEN, I'LL SEE YOU TOMORROW!
GOOD WORK TODAY, OLIVIA. GET HOME SAFE!
I'LL GET THE HOT CHOCOLATE MIX FROM THE GROCERY FIRST...
...AND A GIFT FOR PRINCESS LUCY AT--
OLIVIA!
GET IN, QUICK! YOU HAVE TO GO NOW!
IT'S MS. MCPHEE'S DAUGHTER.
WHY DID SHE COME SO SUDDENLY?
WHY?
SUSANNA MAX
BORN A COMMONER OF HEROD, SHE ACCUMULATED GREAT WEALTH TOGETHER WITH HER HUSBAND.
WHEN THEIR WEALTH WAS AT ITS PEAK, HER BELOVED GRANDDAUGHTER WAS BORN...
...AND SUSANNA RESOLVED TO GIVE HER A LIFE AS GOOD AS ANY NOBLE'S.
UNTIL ONE EVENING...
...THE CARRIAGE CARRYING HER HUSBAND, HER SON, AND HIS WIFE WAS OVERTURNED.
THEIR BODIES WERE SO BADLY DAMAGED THAT SHE COULDN'T EVEN HOPE THAT THEY MIGHT BE ALIVE.
HOWEVER, THE WORST WAS YET TO HAPPEN.
SINCE HEROD DID NOT ACKNOWLEDGE WOMEN'S PROPERTY RIGHTS...
...HER ENTIRE ESTATE PASSED TO DISTANT RELATIVES AFTER THE FUNERAL.
DON'T EVEN DREAM OF COMING TO LEECH OFF ME.
NO MATTER HOW MUCH SHE STRUGGLED, SHE COULDN'T PROTECT WHAT WAS HERS.
HOW CAN THE LAW ALLOW THIS?
GRANDMA...
WHAT KIND OF LAW ALLOWS THIS TO HAPPEN?!
WHAT ABOUT MY GRANDDAUGHTER?!
EXCEPT FOR AN EMERGENCY FUND THAT WASN'T REGISTERED...
...SUSANNA WAS LEFT WITH NOTHING.
ON TOP OF THAT, SHE LATER RECEIVED WORD THAT THE RELATIVE WHO TOOK HER ENTIRE ESTATE...
...GAMBLED IT ALL AWAY AND TOOK HIS OWN LIFE.
IN HEROD, WOMEN WERE NOT ALLOWED TO SERVE AS GUARDIANS...
...SO SUSANNA HAD TO BEG A MALE RELATIVE TO GET OLIVIA INTO SCHOOL.
WHEN THAT ATTEMPT FAILED...
...SUSANNA LEFT HEROD FOR HER YOUNG GRANDDAUGHTER'S SAKE AND HEADED FOR THE REPUBLIC OF POLDER.
SHE ABANDONED HER OLD NAME MAX, AND CHOSE THE NAME LIBERTY IN HOPES OF FREEDOM.
IT HAS BEEN 12 YEARS SINCE THEN.
LIFE AT POLDER WASN'T EASY EITHER...
...BUT OLIVIA'S ACADEMIC ACCOMPLISHMENTS BECAME THE SOLE LIGHT OF SUSANNA'S GLOOMY LIFE.
“I'LL MAKE SURE SHE BECOMES THE FIRST FEMALE STUDENT EVER TO ENTER UNIVERSITY.”
THAT WAS ONCE HER PRIDE.
HOWEVER....
MADAM LIBERTY, I THINK YOU SHOULD PAY MORE ATTENTION TO OLIVIA.
YOU'RE UNAWARE THAT SHE CRIES HER EYES OUT BEFORE SHE GOES HOME, AREN'T YOU?
PARDON...?
MY OLIVIA? THAT COULDN'T BE.
SHE LOVES SCHOOL MORE THAN ANYTHING.
MADAM LIBERTY. YOU MUST UNDERSTAND...
...THAT ALTHOUGH POLDER IS A REPUBLIC, STIGMAS AROUND SOCIAL STATUS HAVE NOT YET DISAPPEARED.
IN SHOCK, SHE PRESSED OLIVIA FOR THE TRUTH THAT DAY.
OH.
IT'S OKAY, GRANDMA. I'VE JUST ACCEPTED IT FOR WHAT IT IS.
I CAN ENDURE THIS MUCH.
I NEGLECTED YOU.
DROWNED IN MY OWN SORROW, I FAILED TO NOTICE YOURS.
YOU ARE STILL JUST A CHILD...
...YET YOU WERE DESPERATELY TRYING TO EASE MY GRIEF.
...GRANDMA...
GRANDMA...
YES, MY DARLING.
GRANDMA...
GRANDMA...
OLIVIA.
OLIVIA...
IF I COULD GO BACK TO THOSE DAYS, I WOULD CHANGE.
IF ONLY I COULD.
I WOULD NOT SHOW YOU MY GRIEF.
I WOULDN'T PUT THAT BURDEN ON YOU...
...WHEN YOU STILL HAVE A DIFFICULT ROAD AHEAD OF YOU.
GRANDMA!
I'M SORRY FOR MAKING YOU GROW UP TOO QUICKLY.
After her day's work, Olivia prepares to head home but is shaken by an urgent call. The chapter focuses on the tragic past of her grandmother, Susanna Max: how she lost her fortune, her family, and all her property in Herod because women had no right to own property, and how she emigrated to Polder for her granddaughter Olivia and took the surname Liberty. Learning from the teacher's warning about the ostracism Olivia faced at school, Susanna feels deep regret for having neglected her.
