Can Everyone's Least Favorite Become Everyone's Favorite? [19th Century]

Amalia had always known that the people around her, her family and friends, didn't like her much. She was like an invisible person.

After all, she was pitiful, frail and sickly, and looked like a little mouse. She was utterly unremarkable.

She once overheard her stepsister secretly call her "the poor little thing."

Amalia didn't really care. She just wanted to eat well, and felt happy each day she heard birdsong and breathed fresh air.

Then one day, it seemed like everything changed.

Her family began to treat her with great care. When they learned her lung disease had worsened, they sighed and wept.

Her fiancé, an outstanding young man who had always treated her coldly, wept bitterly in front of her.

Amalia's face was pale.

"Please don't cry." She smiled, her eyes crinkling as she wiped away his tears. "I'm just going to die."

An unassuming, naive, honest heroine

A beloved girl

One heroine, multiple love interests

Set in the 1840s, with family, friendship, and romance

Several love interests

Written purely to indulge my tastes

Theme: Believe in kindness and beauty.