Born to a farming family at the edge of the kingdom, Catherine wanted nothing more than to help people. For much of her childhood she always tried to help her parents and siblings with their work, only to get in the way most of the time as she can't do much of the heavy lifting and work required to run the farm. Despite that she was deeply loved by caring parents, and her brothers and sisters, who only wish for her to be happy. Fortunately, Catherine did find some things she excelled at, particularly cleaning, cooking, and other menial services, causing her siblings to joke about the farm having its own personal maid.
One day a noble passing by the farm decided to stay for the night. True to form, Catherine provided her services to the noble, Duke Raymond Craye, and his envoy. Duke Craye was impressed with this young woman's talents so much, that the next day he offered Catherine a job to work for him as a personal maid at his mansion. After some encouragement and assurance from her family, Catherine accepted the offer, on the condition that some of the money she would earn goes back to the farm. With her new calling answered, Catherine accompanied the Duke to his manor and began working for the nobleman as one of his maids.
For a few years Catherine worked as a maid for Duke Craye alongside a few others, cleaning every room, dusting all the furniture, serving all the food, etc. Much like at home, Catherine excelled greatly at her work, and eventually become a favorite among the duke and his occasional guests; all the while a portion of the money she earned going to the farm to support her family. It seemed as if Catherine would live a full and happy life, until one fateful night.
It was a quiet night at the manor, everyone being asleep except for a now 19 year old Catherine, who was just returning to her room after using the bathroom. However, on her way she heard a sudden noise coming from the duke's office. To Catherine, it sounded like something fell one the floor with a heavy thud, and out of curiosity she decided to take a look. What she saw terrified her. A pair of men in cloaks were rummaging through the duke's belongings, one of them trying to open a hidden safe in the wall, and the other was rummaging through the duke's desk with a knife in hand. Catherine, in an attempt to get away unnoticed, didn't notice the vase she was backing up into, and accidentally knocked it over, making a loud noise heard throughout half the mansion. The two cloaked men immediately looked towards the frightened maid, and before Catherine had a chance to react, the man with the knife gathered energy in his hand, and shot it dead center into her chest. Catherine screamed as she felt nothing but pain, and soon lost consciousness.
The next day, Catherine woke up in a startled state, in front of Duke Craye, the other maids, a doctor, and a mage. The duke and maids told her that they found her on the floor in front of the office after hearing her scream. They soon after found the two thieves that attacked Catherine, and managed to capture one of them, while the other, the one who attacked her with magic, accidentally fell on his knife and died trying to escape. Before Catherine could take a chance to be relieved, the doctor and mage had bad news for her; whatever magic the thief hit her with had lasting affects. In other words, she was diagnosed with a rare curse called Midas' Syndrome; which would slowly turn her body into a living inanimate statue made of precious alloy or minerals, such a gold or sapphire. The curse's process is slow, and normally begins right away, but due to the hastily used curse and the stress of the thief when he casted the spell, the curse put on Catherine hasn't taken affect yet, and wouldn't do so for at least a few weeks. The only person who could lift the curse would be the one who originally casted it, but since the culprit is dead, there is currently no way to lift the curse, and save Catherine from Midas' Syndrome.
For the next few days Catherine fell into a deep depression, never leaving her room or working all day, knowing that her life as she knew it was over, now fated to be an eternity of torture as a statue in the manor's garden somewhere. To her all hope was lost, until she heard news of a dungeon suddenly appearing near the town of Verzen. A year ago she heard a story of a man cursed with Midas' Syndrome going into one of these dungeons, and coming out of it cured, rich, and stronger than ever before. Catherine suddenly realized that her only hope to break the curse is in the dungeon near Verzen, so the following night she packed up everything she needed for the trip, left a note for the duke telling him what she planned to do, and apologizing for leaving him, took a carriage, and rode off into the night.
Before she knew it, she was at the entrance to the mysterious dungeon just outside of Verzen the next day. Wearing only her maid uniform (because that's the only thing she had that fit her these days, and never bothered to buy regular clothes), and armed only with a knife, Catherine took one last deep breath before venturing into the dungeon, her fate resting upon her choices from this point on; she was determined to lift her curse as soon as possible, or die trying.