Alisha had departed on her expedition, and Lotte was working at the Zekrosia family mansion.
Though she was no longer summoned by Alisha and should have been able to focus on her actual duties, she found herself making simple mistakes more often.
As she spent her days like this, she remembered — why she had become a maid in the first place was surely because she wanted to be of use to Alisha.
　Yet she had done things that hurt her — could she really continue working at the mansion?

(…That’s no good, is it?)

Lotte quietly resolved herself once more.
—While Alisha was away on her expedition, she would resign as a maid.
If she ended up working for the Fressis household, that would truly be betraying Alisha.
To prevent that — she would return to the frontier.
　Surely, if things stayed as they were, Alisha wouldn’t come looking for Lotte.
Having ended the wrong relationship, Lotte would vanish from Alisha’s sight.
Then, their secret affair would truly come to an end.
Lotte wrote her resignation letter in her room.
　—She never imagined she’d be resigning as a maid again.
As she wrote, she realised tears were already dampening the paper, falling one by one.

“…Eh? What?”

She hadn’t meant to cry.
If she cried in front of Alisha, she’d surely notice something was wrong.
Kind as she was — even the current Lotte might worry about her.

(But it’s alright now, isn’t it…?)

Alyshia wasn’t here — so it should be fine to cry.
Having soaked the resignation letter she’d just started writing with tears, Lotte lay on her bed for a while.
Unable to leave her room with her eyes swollen, she took the day off work, claiming she felt unwell.
The next day — having finished writing her resignation letter, Alyshia headed to the Head Maid’s quarters to submit it.
　On the way — she overheard the maids talking.

“…Lady Alisha injured during the expedition?”
“Yes. I just heard the head maids discussing it.”
“—”

Alisha had been injured — as a knight, such things happened.
But for word to reach the manor specifically meant it might be a serious injury.

(…But it no longer concerns me.)

Lotte had pushed Alyshia away — how could she possibly face her now?
Was she in any position to say she was worried because of the injury?
Thoughts swirled in her head. Finally, clutching the resignation letter she had prepared, Lotte headed for the Head Maid’s room.

“Come in.”

The reply came promptly after knocking.
Inside, the Head Maid — Lenore Rounz — was poring over some documents.
She’d apparently worked here since she was fifteen, yet despite being Head Maid, she was still only in her thirties.
She was the one Lotte had handed her resignation to before, and she was also the one managing the maids working here.
　Ever since Alisha informed her about Lotte, she seemed to be skilfully managing the arrangements with this difficult colleague, which was honestly a great help.
She was particularly dependable when it came to work matters, and Alisha seemed to trust her implicitly.

“Are you feeling better now?”
“…Eh?”

Caught off guard by Renoh’s question, Lotte looked confused.

“I heard you’d been unwell. Are you fully recovered now?”
“Ah, um, yes. Thanks to your kindness…”
“I see. That’s good to hear.”

Lenore wore a relieved expression before returning to sorting her papers.
—This wasn’t why she’d come.
Clutching the resignation letter tucked in her bosom, Lotte spoke.

“Ah, well…”
“Did you come here regarding Miss Alisha?”
“!”

Regarding Alisha — meaning the news of her injury.

“…I heard about that earlier.”
“I see. Unfortunately, I don’t have any further information at present.”

Alisha’s condition was unknown.
Yet it seemed the injury itself was factual.
The moment she heard it, her breath caught.
　I thought I’d cut myself off from it all — but I still worry about Alisha.
I intended to leave this place for Alisha’s sake, yet hearing she’s injured makes me unable to stay put.

“Therefore, I’m considering dispatching someone from our side to ascertain Lady Alisha’s current situation.”
“—”

Hearing Lenore’s words, Lotte lifted her face, which had been lowered.
　And her gaze met Lenore’s.

“Will you go?”
“…M-me?”

She found herself asking back at Lenore’s question.
Lenore looked slightly surprised.

“Wasn’t that why you came here?”
“Eh, w-well, I…”

This was hardly the situation to mention she’d brought her resignation.

“…Indeed, you’ve only just recovered from your illness. Let us send someone else instead.”

Someone else — perhaps that was the right decision.
There was no need for Lotte to go out of her way.

“Th-The Head Maid — how did you know the reason I came here was concerning Lady Alisha?”

Though she should have simply handed in her resignation and left, Lotte asked Lenore.

“That is — perhaps because Lady Alisha has taken a liking to you?”
“Wh-what do you mean by that?”

Lotte forced herself to ask calmly.
There was the matter of Ellenphia — as someone close to Lady Alisha, it wouldn’t be strange for Lenore to have noticed something about her relationship with Lotte.
But no one must ever realise.
　If Lenore knew something too — then perhaps Lotte really should distance herself from Alisha.

“Since you arrived, Lady Alisha has been returning to the manor more often, and she seems to be behaving more cheerfully than before.”
“I-Is that so?”
“Yes. Ever since she took up knightly duties — she must have been living a rather stifling existence. Though she wouldn’t readily listen to me if I said so. I wondered if she’d been positively influenced by someone closer to her age, like you. To be honest, it’s been a great help having you work here again.”

—Hearing this from Lenore, Lotte’s eyes widened in surprise.
Truthfully, she’d never thought her standing as a maid was particularly high.
She didn’t possess any special skills, and there were plenty of other highly capable maids — Lotte was nothing special.

“Precisely because you’re like that, I imagine you’re also concerned about Lady Alisha. For Lady Alisha too, your presence might provide some mental respite.”
“I-I’m not that important a person…”
“This is purely my own assessment. I won’t force you. Lotte, if it’s too much for you, I’ll send someone else.”

　—This was, after all, simply a job.
An important job: to check on Lady Alisha’s situation.
If Lotte couldn’t go, someone else would be sent.
Before she knew it — Lotte had crumpled the resignation letter she’d written in her fist.

“…I’ll go.”

And so — Lotte volunteered herself to head to the expedition site.