The first and only child of Victor Malreaux, youngest brother of the Viscount Malreaux, Ersebet was born and raised within the confines of the Malreaux family lands. From birth, she was sheltered from a great deal of the outside world, knowing only the company of her parents and, on occasion, those members of her extended family whom she encountered in the Malreaux libraries. Above all, it was here that she felt most at home, studying in particular the tomes on history and astronomy. It was the girls' mothers' belief that Ersebet was weak in body, so weak that it would be a danger to allow her outside.