The Legend
Do you want to know her story?
The Legend of Dollaretta is a comic book series created by Cherry Gunzenhauser – All rights reserved. The digital comic is available for sale on Comixology and the paperback graphic novel is available for order on Amazon.
Where the legend began
Elizabeth Rose Convent is a Catholic co-ed boarding school dedicated to the pursuit of optimal education, discipline and general well-being for all of its 700 students.
The land was not always a designated boarding school. In fact it was once the Boulegard Manor; home to the noble residents of the Boulegard family. It was only donated to the church many years after it was rebuilt due to a tenacious fire that destroyed the manor and sadly, took many of the lives of its residents. One of the few survivors of the disaster was the lone heiress: Elizabeth Boulegard. It was she who saw through the rebuilding of the manor and its donation to the Catholic church, in the hope that she might honour the lost lives of the Boulegards by means of creating an institution of evangelism and academic excellence.
Or so the administrative council of ERC would have you think. Since the convent was established in 1890, the students have been told of the true horrors of the Boulegard fire by the old town’s people who had once seen the notorious heiress for themselves. The legend is too enticing to ignore and too devious not to share. So all those who heard it have passed the story on, and from generation to generation the legend prospered in the minds and hearts of Elizabeth Rose Convent finest. This is what they were told…
In the early years of the 18th Century a young lady of nobility named Elizabeth was married to the Boulegard heir: Aiden Theodore Boulegard. Elizabeth was known for her exceptional beauty as well as her rare and unusual artistic hobby for making equally beautiful dolls. Several years passed where Elizabeth had failed to become impregnated with Aiden’s heir, and in these years Elizabeth’s hobby had caught the attention of many in the community. So much so that she was referred to as ‘Dollaretta.’
Once she eventually gave birth to a baby girl, she was forced to resign her hobby and devote herself to motherhood. Only months later the Boulegard Manor was aflame. The cause was unknown, but the fire started in the dead of the night. All of the unsuspecting and unprepared residents perished in the fire. All but one. The young mother Elizabeth was the only resident to be away from the manor that night, but when she became aware of the horrors that had taken over her home, she recklessly tried to enter the mansion, desperately trying to rescue her newborn daughter and husband. It was far too late. The fire had destroyed everything. Her futile rescue attempt had left her badly scarred, and the disaster had left her widowed, bereaved and heiress to an immaculate fortune.
It was then revealed that her fate to survive had been determined solely by her peculiar decision to escape the manor that dark night to return to her doll house (a house behind the manor that she once used as a studio for dollmaking,) to reminisce in her past days of artistry. After Elizabeth initiated the rebuilding of the mansion and the common town’s people caught glimpses of her scarred face, they began calling her ‘the broken doll.’ Years passed on and the speculation grew; it had become a common ‘household’ suspicion that the Boulegard Manor fire was started by none other than Elizabeth herself. The years passed on as Elizabeth lived in seclusion, but none in the town had forgotten the Boulegard fire, and all were weary of the noble lady known as Dollaretta, the broken doll. In an eerie twist, the corpses of pretty, little girls began being discovered by the town’s people.
They suspected it was Elizabeth who was murdering their young ones out of hatred and spite. Elizabeth’s rank of nobility shielded her from the common people’s accusations, but the suspicion never ceased. Many years passed as the town lived in fear of losing their precious daughters to the powerful and dangerous heiress, but even after she died of old age, the corpses of young and beautiful girls would continue to be found.