Alma

"If only I had the courage to kill this girl..."

- Alma regrets her daughter's existence

Alma (アルマ) was the mother of Historia Reiss, and the mistress and former servant of Rod Reiss. After she and her daughter were sent to live with her parents, she became an escort working in the city at night.

Appearance
Described by Historia as a very beautiful woman, Alma was slender and of average height. She had bright eyes and shoulder-length, blonde hair with bangs that brushed just past her eyebrows. When staying on the farm, she usually wore a plain button up shirt with a dark-colored skirt. She wore much finer clothing when going into the city. When she was a maidservant to the Reiss family, she wore a long black dress with a white apron and a white cap with her hair pulled back.

Personality
Alma is shown to be a very timid and almost lazy woman, who never helped her parents and prefered reading books.

She was likely to have had a more pleasant and understanding personality while in the presence of Rod Reiss, as he felt that she was the only one who could understand what he was going through.

However, she carried a deep hatred towards Historia to the point of wishing she had the courage to kill her to save her own life. Most of the time, she avoided speaking or even being in the same room as her. Alma only spoke to her daughter twice, and each time, she expressed deep regret for Historia having been born.

History
Alma was a beautiful servant in Rod Reiss's household who eventually became his mistress. Sometime later, she gave birth to Historia on a small farm managed by her parents in northern Wall Sheena which was on land controlled by the Reiss family.

During the day, Alma usually spent her time reading on her parents' farm, leaving her parents and Historia to deal with the farm work. During the night, she would dress in fancy clothes and a carriage would take her into town. She did everything in her power to avoid interaction with Historia without leaving the farm permanently, eventually only speaking to her twice in her life.

One day, wanting a mother-daughter relationship like in her books, Historia decided to embrace her to see what would happen. Alma, in shock, threw Historia off of her and tearfully stated she regretted her birth. She walked off, leaving a stunned Historia behind her. However, the latter was happy because it was the first time Alma ever talked to her. After that, Alma packed up her things and left the farm.

Prologue arc
After the fall of Wall Maria, she returns, with Rod in company. She stands frightened as Rod formally introduces himself to Historia for the first time. As they begin to make their way to the carriage, they are quickly surrounded by the Military Police's First Interior Squad, who have been sent to suppress Alma and her daughter. With Historia being an illegitimate Reiss heir, the council thought it best to be rid of both her and Alma.

Confused, Historia called out to her mother after Kenny Ackerman grabbed her, causing her to deny any relation to Historia. Taken aback, Kenny questioned Rod if he knew either of them, to which he lied, saying that he did not. Kenny then knelt Alma down and prepared his knife. Historia began to call out to her again, causing Alma to cry out and express again her regret of having given birth to her daughter; after which Kenny promptly slit her throat, causing her to bleed to death shortly after.

Royal Government arc
Kenny Ackerman would later tell Historia that her mother had her in hopes of becoming Rods new wife while trying to convince her to turn against her father.

Several years later, after Historia killed Rod, she saw a past memory of him in his younger days, crying into Alma's outfit, saying that she was the only one who understood him.

Later, when Kenny was talking to Levi Ackerman, he mentioned how women were Rod's weakness, pointing to the times when Rod would confide in Alma.

Relationships

 * Historia Reiss - She carried deep resentment towards her daughter. This was mostly out of fear of being executed by order of the council for "shaming" Rod and his reputation by birthing his illegitimate child and/or being his mistress. Though she knew Historia was in danger of the same fate she was only concerned for her own life. She tried to ignore or avoid Historia at all costs, to the point of leaving her parents farm after her daughter tried to hug her. Alma regretted not having the courage to kill Historia herself to ensure her own survival. Just before Kenny slit her throat, she expressed to Historia that she wished she never had her.
 * Rod Reiss - Her former employer-turned-lover. She was his confidant, and he believed he could tell her anything. Sometime after Rod had gotten married and had children of his own, the two started a secret romantic relationship. Alma eventually got pregnant with Historia, causing her to be sent away to live on her parents' farm so that her child would not shame Rod and his reputation.
 * Parents - After becoming pregnant with Historia, Alma returned to their farm and stayed there until Historia was six. She never helped her parents with the farm work in favor of going into town and reading. Given their own cold treatment of their granddaughter, it is likely that her parents disapproved of her birthing Historia either because they felt Alma birthing an illegitimate child was shameful or (if they were aware of who Historia's father was) because they were concerned for their and Alma's lives. It is unknown how they reacted to Alma's death.

Trivia

 * Her name is Latin in origin, and means "soul" or "kind".
 * This is ironic, considering her cruel nature towards her daughter.
 * Her name may also be a pun on the phrase "Alma Mater," which translates roughly to "Nourishing Mother" and refers to a college one attended.
 * Alma also means in ancient Hebrew "unmarried lady" or "young lady."
 * In Hungarian Alma means "apple."

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