Violet Evergarden written by Akatsuki Kana

From the author: I’m writing this letter from the north. Snow Country is a place as quiet as the dead of night. Because of the cold outside, I grew into an adult who indulges in movies and stories when at home. I hope that the scenes here, drawn from my imagination, might float with you on your sea of words.

Prologue: “The Auto Memories Doll”

Some time has passed since this term was all the rage. The first one was created by Dr. Orlando, the world’s authority on automatons. It all began when his wife Molly, a novelist, complained of her clouding vision. Molly, having devoted most of her life to her words, was crestfallen as they faded away from her. Once reduced to blindness, it seemed as if her strength also was wasting away. Dr. Orlando could not bear to see his dear wife this way, and as such he devised the Auto Memories Doll. It was a contraption capable of recording a person’s spoken words: a “borrowed pen,” as it were. At the time, the doctor had meant it merely a creation for his dearest, but the model quickly spread, and soon such dolls were acting to support myriad other people. Today Auto Memories Dolls are widely known, even available for rental at a modest price.