――Two years ago, in a certain frontier region.
Several monsters had come down into the human settlements.
It seemed poachers had hunted a monster’s young, and the enraged herd had swept straight towards a nearby village.
In that village――there was a girl, paralysed with terror.
She had been left behind in the flight――cowering, unable to make a sound, when she saw the form of a large monster.

“――”

She covered her mouth, but the monster was sniffing the air.
Soon it would notice her – yet she couldn’t flee.
Eventually, their eyes met.

“…!”

Baring its fangs, the monster charged towards the girl.
She would be killed – she understood that instantly.
But the girl had no strength to fight.
　Realising there was no escape, she closed her eyes—yet no pain reached her body, no matter how long she waited.
Tentatively opening her eyes, she saw the back of another girl before her.
She appeared to be about the same age, clad in a knight’s full armour and formal attire.
The blade of the sword she gripped was drenched in fresh blood, and the monster that had been about to attack the girl—lay sprawled on the ground.

“You’re safe now. Are you hurt?”

The voice belonged to the girl—slowly raising her face, their gazes met.
She couldn’t answer immediately, mesmerised by the girl who had appeared before her.

“You don’t seem to be injured. I’ll finish this quickly, so wait here, alright?”
“H-h-hai…”

She managed to reply to the knight girl’s words.
　—And then, the girl dashed off, defeating the monsters that had attacked the village one after another.
To the girl, she was undoubtedly a hero—and that was how they met.\

＊＊＊

There was a reason Lotte Kloos aspired to be a maid.
It all began when she was saved by a knight girl named Alisha Zechrosia.
　Lotte was thirteen at the time, and Alisha was fifteen—though newly knighted, she was already demonstrating her talent.
Lotte lived in what was considered a remote area of the Kingdom of Woerth, but it was known as a safe place because the neighbouring border was separated by a forest.
　However, that was only when the focus was on warfare between nations.
The number of monsters dwelling in the forest was not insignificant, and a fair number of knights were stationed there to deal with them.
Alisha was among them, and it all began when she brilliantly defeated the monsters that attacked Lotte’s village.
Lotte was saved by Alisha just as she was about to be attacked by a monster.
　To say she felt something akin to love at first sight might not be entirely untrue.
It was then that Lotte learned of Alisha.
She was not just any knight, but a member of the Zekrosia family, one of the kingdom’s foremost noble houses.
In other words, a princess knight – a figure utterly distant from Lotte’s life on the frontier.
Yet, there was one way she might draw closer to such a person.
　That was the profession of a maid.
A house of the Zeklosia calibre naturally employed numerous servants.
If she could become one of them—it was with this modest dream that Lotte became a maid.
She travelled to the capital, worked in a small tavern, and waited for an opportunity to apply—and Lotte was successfully hired by the Zeklosia household.
Though it was menial work, she was genuinely delighted at the time, filled with the resolve to work hard for Alisha’s sake.
　—But reality, of course, was never that straightforward.
The other maids who worked alongside her whispered behind the back of Alisha, born in the frontier.
‘A country bumpkin isn’t fit for the Zekrosia household,’ or ‘She can’t even manage the basics of being a maid,’ or ‘Working with her makes us all seem provincial too’—the list went on and on.
　Indeed, most of the people working at the Zeklosia household, while not necessarily nobility, were predominantly born in the capital city – the so-called wealthy sort.
It was precisely because they were such people that they were deemed fitting for the Zeklosia household, and someone like Lotte was likely seen as more of a hindrance.
Before she knew it, she found herself isolated, unable to fit in with those around her. Lotte – submitted her resignation to the Head Maid.

“Are you truly resolved to leave?”

Upon handing in her resignation, the head maid asked her thus.
Lotte hesitated, then gave a small nod.

“It’s natural to find things unfamiliar when starting work here, but it hasn’t been that long. As your employer, I must say I’d prefer you to persevere a little longer.”
“…Well, I’m terribly sorry.”

I couldn’t tell the head maid that I was leaving because I couldn’t fit in with everyone else.
Or perhaps—if I could have confided in her here, things might have been different—but Lotte’s spirit had been broken.
The head maid did try to persuade me to stay, but she understood Lotte’s resolve—and accepted my resignation.
　—She had come here out of admiration, yet barely interacted with Alisha herself, existing merely to vent the frustrations of the other maids.
Lotte’s disposition wasn’t thick-skinned enough to endure such a life.
And so—Lotte returned to the frontier where she was born, helping out at the bookshop run by her grandmother.
Handling books in such a place was unusual, and it had many long-standing customers.
　—However, given the location, it was far from thriving, and compared to her days as a servant in the Zekrosia household, the workload was worlds apart.
Even now, while minding the shop, there were hardly any customers—Lotte mostly just idly leafed through the books left lying around the shop.

“…But this life can’t go on forever.”

Sighing softly, Lotte commented on her own situation.
The money she received was little more than pocket money—she couldn’t stay like this.
She needed to find some new work, but Lotte found herself unable to take that step.
Having lost the goal she’d found—taking on something new wasn’t easy.

“…Hmph.”

Another sigh escaped her.
Was she really destined to spend her days in this stifling rut? Just as she was pondering this, the clang of the shop bell announcing a customer rang out.