A sign announcing today’s closure was displayed outside the shop, while Lotte remained inside with Alisha.
Alisha was so distraught she’d pleaded, ‘Please kill me,’ driven to the brink—there was no way she could simply be sent home now.
—Indeed, it seemed unlikely she’d ever leave willingly.

“W-welcome.”

Lotte offered Alisha a drink.

“…Thank you.”
“I, I don’t know if it’ll suit your taste…”
“It’s delicious—or at least, I’d like to say it is.”

Lotte’s body trembled slightly.
Surely, a herb tea made from herbs gathered in the nearby forest wouldn’t suit the taste of Alisha, the daughter of a great noble family.

“If she finds out about this… it won’t taste good at all.”

　—It seemed it wasn’t that it didn’t suit her palate; she simply wasn’t in a state to savour it.
Indeed—for Alisha, this might be a serious matter.
After all, she’d come to buy books dressed like that.
Which meant—she didn’t want to be seen.
Truthfully, one couldn’t imagine Alisha buying such books.
Lotte tried to cheer up the dejected Alisha.

“W-well, I was certainly surprised, and I did find it unexpected.”
“…You must be disillusioned.”
“N-no, not at all…”
“It doesn’t fit your image of me, and frankly, taking an interest in such things isn’t exactly normal…”

With a wistful expression, Alisha spoke.
Lotte had no idea what the right words to say were.

“Isn’t taking an interest itself perfectly normal?”

Yet, those were the words that came out spontaneously.

“—Normal? Is this normal?”

Alisha suddenly looked slightly startled and pressed Lotte with the question.
Not thinking she’d said anything particularly unusual, Lotte answered, flustered.

“W-well… I suppose saying I’m not interested would be a lie too—Hyah!?”

In an instant, Alisha seized Lotte’s hand with lightning speed.
The person she admired was holding her hand—just that alone made her heartbeat quicken.

“You understand, don’t you!?”

Completely unaware of Lotte’s true feelings, Alisha’s eyes sparkled as she tightened her grip.
This time, it was Lotte who became visibly flustered.
Not knowing how to react, she managed to squeeze out a reply while still held.

“…It’s not… something you need to hide, is it…?”
“But… honestly, if someone saw me buying books like that—I thought they’d be disappointed.”

—She couldn’t deny that.
Truthfully, her image was that of the ‘perfect princess knight’ everyone admired and respected.
Beyond her strength, including her noble lineage—the image most held of her was consistent.
　Lotte’s opinion, strictly speaking, was merely that it wouldn’t be strange for someone to have an interest.
For instance, frankly speaking, it was impossible to imagine Alisha openly discussing such dubious matters.
Pure and proper—that was the girl Alisha Zekrosia should be, and Lotte had admired her for it.
No—she still admired her.

(…That’s right, my feelings haven’t changed.)

Discovering a new side to her doesn’t make those feelings waver.
In fact, the sheer fact that just holding hands unsettles me this much is proof enough.

“I won’t be disillusioned.”
“! Really?”
“…Yes. But buying books like this in secret… is that… still because you care about your image or something?”

　Lotte glanced at the book resting on the table as she asked.

“Well, yes. Not so much that I don’t want to ruin my image—more that I feel I need to live up to everyone’s expectations.”
“Everyone’s…?”
“Yes. I don’t read books like this, nor am I interested in them—I understand that’s the image everyone has of me.”

Was she objectively evaluating herself?
　And it was actually correct—meaning it wasn’t so much that Alisha herself didn’t want to shatter her image, but rather that she didn’t want to shatter the image everyone had of Alisha.
The result was shopping with a suspicious appearance.

“…It’s surprisingly difficult, you know? Living up to everyone’s expectations. Honestly—it’s stressful.”

Alisha sighed softly as she spoke.

“Stress, you say…?”
“Ah, I’m sorry. It’s not that I dislike it. Being able to help everyone brings me joy, and I intend to continue doing so. It’s just…”

Alisha released Lotte’s hand and lowered her gaze.
Her expression carried an almost oppressive heaviness.
　She was a lady of such renown within this kingdom that there was scarcely anyone who did not know her name, and her existence was likely known even in other nations.
The weight of that pressure—it was something Lotte could scarcely begin to fathom.

(After all, Lady Alisha shoulders the weight of the kingdom itself.)

So what if she read a book or two, whatever their content, as an outlet for that stress?
　Lotte showed a determined expression and opened her mouth.

“I—”
“But I saw it.”

—It was Alisha who cut Lotte off.

“Huh? Saw it?”
“Yes. I’ll never forget that day.”

And so Alisha began—to speak of the past.