[2] It has been dubbed in several languages for some regions, such as Iran, Portugal, Italy, Spain, Latin America, the Arabic Speaking World, Germany, Romania, Thailand, and the Philippines.

13-year-old Perrine Paindavoine is the daughter of an Anglo-Indian mother, Marie, and a French father, Edmond, who dies in Bosnia at the beginning of the story.

After the burial, Perrine embarks on an arduous journey to Maraucourt, traveling almost 150 kilometres (93 mi) on foot and barely surviving starvation.

Once there, she assumes the identity of Aurelie to assess the situation in advance: Maraucourt is a town whose primary function is to house the workforce of its cotton mill, which Mr. Paindavoine owns.

Coming so close to her grandfather, Aurelie learns about his personal life: having virtually no loving relative, Vulfran has started a search for Edmond, intent to bring him home.

The bad news is proved almost fatal, as Vulfran is struck down by grief and only survives the ordeal through the passionate care of Aurelie, who helps him recover.

Vulkan immediately sends his lawyer to investigate Aurelie's background and also acknowledges that if she is truly his granddaughter, he must make up for having said terrible things about Edmond's family in front of her.