Maria Campbell

"A commoner, and yet a wielder of Light. Maria Campbell was, without a doubt, the most special girl in this academy - no, perhaps the entire kingdom."

- - Katarina, talking about Maria; Novel Volume 2, Chapter 2

Maria Campbell (マリア・キャンベル) is the main protagonist of the Fortune Lover visual novel game, intended to be Katarina's rival but striking a close friendship with her. She is currently one of the only known characters to have light magic.

Appearance
Maria is a girl of average height. She has blue eyes and short blonde hair with pink flower accessories on both sides, with a braided section tied with a brown bow. She wears a pink dress uniform with long brown boots.

Personality
Maria is a kind-hearted and positive girl. She acts like somewhat of a doormat, never wanting to get in the way of other people and never defending herself, until the later parts of the series. She is caring and thoughtful to her friends, and desires to gain the strength to protect them. She is smart and hard-working, earning her spot amongst the most talented and intelligent members of the Magic Academy in the student council.

In the later volumes of the light novels, Maria admits that she's become a little bit of an attention seeker, due to her lonely upbringing and lack of positive attention. Her past also made it hard for her to rely on others, as she is not used to having people around her who would generously lend a hand, and because she grew up to be independent.

Background
Maria grew up in a small border town far away from the capital, and her light magic first activated when she was five and healed the injured foot of her playmate. However, because Maria's family isn't of noble status, she was then shunned by everyone in her place. Her happy family was broken because her father thought that her mother was a mistress of a certain noble while her mother who was called the most beautiful woman in town became distant to Maria.

Maria worked hard and actively participated in household chores, never complained or said anything selfish, and desperately studied. When she entered the Magic Academy, her long years of hopes for magic school were immediately shattered when she learned she was the only commoner. She was also bullied for the audacity of having magic powers despite only being a commoner.

When she became a member of the student council, she then met Katarina who fell for her delicious sweets. Since she felt needed by Katarina, she started to make sweets for her.

Game Description
Maria is one of those rare commoners with magic powers, and on top of that with light magic. All attention would of course be focused on Maria Campbell because of her light magic and because she's both good in academics and cooking. She has short, beautiful, flowing blonde hair and clear blue eyes, she’s a beautiful girl.

She also has a very kind and gentle nature which attracts the hearts of the four love interests in Fortune Lover.


 * If the protagonist succeeds in romancing one or all of the 5 potential love interests, she will gain a happy ending with people who love her.
 * If the protagonist fails to capture any of the love interests, she will either be left alone with a broken heart or die from dark magic.

Katarina Claes
In Fortune Lover, Katarina would have been Maria's worst love rival and jaundiced enemy, in an extreme level since the game Katarina is typically killed or exiled in most of the routes involving her; this is likely due to how the game Katarina had been brought in the typical spoiled lifestyle as a duke's daughter which formed her arrogance and conceit.

In the present story, because Katarina had regained her past memories as a Japanese girl with humble origins, the current Katarina is the first person to create a strong bond with Maria, who was psychologically isolated when going to a school that mostly consisted of nobles. Unbeknownst to Maria, the current Katarina had vicariously experienced part of Maria's life by playing Maria's game version in Japan, so Katarina knows Maria's possible future to some extent.

While the current Katarina had formed a relationship with Maria, partly to avoid the death scenarios that occurs in the game, Katarina had also grown to cherish her as a friend. Katarina always comes to rescue Maria from the harassment of their peers, and is the main motivator in improving Maria's image with the other students by showing them Maria's hardworking nature. Katarina is also the first person to appreciate the sweets that she had been baking as a remembrance to her old and happier life with her family, and her friend's love for pastries is her motivation to improve and experiment with her skills. She has learned a lot of lessons from Katarina, such as the fact that it is okay for her to be more selfish and that she should try to lean on the people around her more, as she has friends that she can rely on, which she gratefully takes to heart. Maria is very grateful to the duke's daughter for opening her world and giving her friends and memories that she wouldn't have gotten without her. Thus, Maria sees Katarina as her most important person.

Maria has romantic feelings for Katarina, as she was the first person to ever see her as herself, and is constantly putting herself in danger in order to protect her. Katarina is always there to save from danger and to comfort her when she is scared, hurt or insecure, which is something that Maria is very thankful for. Maria wants to be able to be worthy of being around Katarina, as well to have the ability to protect her in return, which is the main motivation of hers to work in the Magic Ministry and improve her light magic.

In Verge of Doom, Maria is very wary of the Duke's daughter, due to the bullying that Katarina encourages and leads. After Katarina gains memories of her past life, she tries to apologize to Maria, which Maria reluctantly accepts at first. When Maria realizes all the thought and effort she put into her apology, she accepts and becomes friends with her. Maria is now spending a lot of her time with Katarina and her friends, as they do no wish to see her alone. Maria admits to Geordo that being friends with Katarina has made her academy life much more enjoyable. After Katarina saves her from a group of noblewomen who were planning to harm her with fire magic, Katarina shares her sentiments about wanting to become friends with her, and the two officially become friends and starts to call each other by their first names.

Mary Hunt
In Fortune Lover, Mary was the villainess on Alan's route. After realizing Alan's feelings for Maria, she gives up and steps down with dignity, remaining on good terms with the Maria, the protagonist, bearing no ill will against her.

In the present story, Maria and Mary are both parts of the student council, and became good friends thanks to Katarina. The two of them trust each other very much.

In Verge of Doom, thanks to Katarina, Mary and Maria are able to get along and have tea with each other while in the Student Council room.

Sophia Ascart
In Fortune Lover, If Maria desires to be close to Nicol, she would have to befriended Sophia first. Maria essentially becomes Sophia's first friend.

In the present story, Maria and Mary are both parts of the student council, and became good friends thanks to Katarina.

In Verge of Doom, thanks to Katarina, Maria and Sophia are able to get along and become friends while hanging out with Katarina.

Geordo Stuart
In Fortune Lover, Geordo is the first student Maria interacts with in the Magic Academy. She would be flustered by her attempts to climb a tree in a skirt, sparking interest in Geordo that would lead to a friendship (and possibly romance) between the two.

In the present timeline, Geordo and Maria are good friends thanks to Katarina. Maria admires and respects Geordo as a peer in the academy and as a friend. Geordo finds Maria interesting and admirable, but could not find any real interest in her because of how much he was in love with Katarina. Unbeknowst to Maria, Geordo currently considers her as his biggest threat in the race for Katarina's heart, to the point where he calls her a "powerful foe who is almost from another dimension". Maria partakes in the attempts to end or delay the engagement between Katarina and Geordo by helping Katarina get a job in the Magic Ministry.

In Verge of Doom, Geordo and Maria are close acquaintances due to their work as part of the Student Council. He can be seen pairing up with Maria to do patrols for Magic Classes. He often shows concern for Maria when it comes to her involvement with his fiancée, which Maria is grateful for.

Dewey Percy
Maria and Dewey came from the same town. Maria sees her previous self in Dewey (when she was someone who was always alone and refused to rely on others), so she tries to reason with him and help him become more dependent on her and the other members of the Ministry.

Cyrus Lanchester
Maria works in the Magic Powers Research Department of the Magic Ministry, which Cyrus is the director of. Maria originally thought Cyrus was unapproachable due to his stern and responsible nature, but was very happy to know that he wanted to be acquainted with her.

Sora Smith
Maria and Sora are familiar with each other, as they were both unofficial employees before the next batch of recruitments began. He helped Maria out when she was being bothered by a man during her initial stay in the ministry. The two often hang out with each other when they are around Katarina.

Sienna Nelson
In Verge of Doom, Maria is initially very wary of most noblewomen, including Sienna, due to the bullying and harassment that they direct towards her. As Katarina starts to seek Maria's forgiveness, Sienna worked alongside her in preventing Maria's bullying.

As Katarina and Maria become friends, Sienna is naturally around her as they all hang out. Even though Sienna can have a conversation with Maria when Katarina is around, she doesn't know how to talk to her when they are alone. After Sienna formally apologizes to Maria for the harassment that she helped escalate, the two have grown close and promised to study in the library together.

Light Magic
Maria's magical element is Light. She is one of the very rare light magic users of Sorcier. In her Character Profile, it says that her magical power is rated a 5 on a 5-point scale.

Maria also gains the Light Covenant, a book of lost magic that only she can read.

Baking
In her Character Profile, it says that her special skill is baking. It is her beloved hobby that ties her both to her parents and to Katarina.

Trivia

 * She likes sweets and snacks.
 * She hates bitter and spicy food.
 * Maria, along with Keith, are the two characters with the strongest magic.
 * Though Maria and Raphael are innocent-looking and pure, they are secretly involved in an organization that is planning to separate Katarina and Geordo.
 * Maria is quite similar to Ginger Tucker.
 * Both girls were bullied by their peers for being of low status (Ginger is a baroness, but their financial situation is not that different from a commoner).
 * Both girls are intelligent and capable enough to be a part of the student council despite their humble upbringing. In fact, both girls eventually gain the position of Vice President, with Ginger replacing Maria when she graduates from the Magic Academy.
 * Both girls are saved from continuous bullying by Katarina, as she persuades the other students to acknowledge the girls' potential.

"I would love for them to take me to a wonderful place for a date. And then we would look at the view while eating from a lunchbox that I prepared. Ah... if we are going to have lunch outside, Lady Katarina would be excited if she were invited, too. Back when I was still eating my lunches outside, she did mention that she would love to try my cooking! I'll be sure to invite her if I go on this date."
 * When asked about what she would like her lover to do for her, she replies that she would like them to take her to a wonderful place for a date. She then talks about including Katarina.

- Mary