Maid Maiden

Maid Maiden is romantic komku series by Malaysian manga artist Kaoru, who previously worked on Helios Eclipse. The komku was first serialized in Gempak issue 222 in 2009 and later in Chinese by Gempak's Chinese sister magazine, Comic King. As of September 30, 2011 three compiled volumes have been published.

Story
Set in a fictional universe that is highly influence by the Victorian era and high class society, it begins when a little girl named Alivia falls into the drain. Then a mysterious boy helps her out from the drain. When she wanted to thank him, he vanished. Her only clue to find him is the badge of a high profile school, Adam Gordon High School, the perfume rose scent, a mole under his right eye and the scar on his right hand. A few years later, Alivia was accepted into Adam Gordon High School, which brings her closer to finding her 'prince', but unfortunately for her, her family declares bankruptcy. She peeked into the school from far up on the tree near the fence. Because of her clumsiness, she falls and accidentally kisses a student who happened to sleep under the tree. As Alivia is clueless, the boy, Bennett takes the chance to take her as his girlfriend, despite Alivia's unwillingness. As the reward, Alivia can study in school for free, provided by his wealth, as he is the heir of the school. She thought it would be a gift from the heavens, but little did she know, the most beautiful dream of finally finding her 'prince' becomes her worst nightmare.

Concept
In an interview article with Kaoru, she explained that Maid Maiden was highly influence by Victorian era and high class society. Other references include works of Jane Austen, the manga Emma that popularized Victorian era maid culture and the Gothic Lolita fashion trend.

Characters

 * Alivia Wender
 * A cute, energetic and innocent young girl who is trapped in the 'offer' that Bennett gave her, hoping to find her 'prince' that saved her from the drain. Pretending to become Bennett's girlfriend by force, she became a maid at Gordon Villa in order to pay her rent. Although she goes through obstacles, tortures from Bennett and and the hatred from all the other jealous girls, her quest to find her 'prince' never fades.


 * Bennett Gordon
 * He is a cool, famous student who actually the heir of Adam Gordon High School. Even so, he being treated as an outcast from his own family as he is the distant relative to Adam Gordon family. In the eyes of many girl students, he is the perfect man on earth, but in reality hidden behind his fake smile, he craved for comfort and happiness. When he met Alivia for the first time, he thought that Alivia is perfect to be his 'punching bag' and personal assistant a.k.a slave. Although he always arguing with Alivia and make her life miserable, he gradually fall in love with her innocent personality.


 * Rebecca
 * She is the class representative of Alivia's class who is kindhearted and helpful. Despite that, she has a huge crush on Bennett, and gets jealous when she found out that Alivia is his girlfriend. But then the misunderstanding is solved when Alivia tells everything from the beginning and how she ended up becoming the Bennett's girlfriend. Even so, Rebecca took revenge on Alivia after getting rejected by Bennett, with Shawn's help.


 * Shawn
 * Bennett's best friend and Alivia's 'prince'. He has beautiful black hair and playful personality. It seems he have some sort of 'agreement' with Bennett which was unknown until now. He intends to steal the 'little kitten' a.k.a Alivia from Bennett. Shawn helped Rebecca with her plan to separate both Alivia and Bennett. It turns out that he was pretending to be her 'prince' in order to save her younger sister Dorothy's relationship with Bennett. After Alivia was kicked out of Gordon Villa, he offered to shelter her at his home.


 * Alexander
 * Alexander is Bennett's 5 year-old cat. When Alivia first heard about him, she thought that Alexander is Bennett's little brother.


 * Ethel
 * Maid and Housekeeper of Gordon's villa. Her job is to oversee all the works of the servant. Like the others, she also has a reason of serving under Bennett, which is still unknown.


 * Lilly
 * She is a 29 years old university graduate. After being saved by Bennett from jumping of a bridge to kill herself after finding out her then boyfriend cheated her, she became his maid in order to pay back his kindness.

Volumes

 * 1) Maid Maiden Monday. ISBN 9789675288777.
 * 2) Maid Maiden Tuesday. ISBN 9789673850037.
 * 3) Maid Maiden Wednesday. ISBN 9789673850181.
 * 4) Maid Maiden Thursday. ISBN 9789673850334.
 * 5) Maid Maiden Friday. ISBN 9789673850587.
 * 6) Maid Maiden Saturday. ISBN 9789673851058.
 * 7) Maid Maiden Sunday. ISBN 9789673851478.