On the morning of their third day in the witch village...
There, waiting in the hallway near the front door, was Charlotte—not dressed in her usual attire, but wearing a detective’s outfit. The home, of course, belonged to Marjorika, who was still kindly allowing them to stay.
Atop Charlotte’s head was a ribboned beret. Her long hair was styled into two plaits. In her small hand was a magnifying glass. It was the perfect getup.
Of course, Maria had helped Princess Charlotte—nay, Detective Lottie—to get dressed. Even if this outfit was a simpler affair than usual, she still needed the help of her lady-in-waiting.
Now that she was ready to go, Lottie adjusted the angle of her beret as she spoke to her assistant.
“Alphonse’s loins. Have you seen the captain’s loins?”
“Hmm, I don’t think he’s up yet. I left his breakfast in front of his room,” Alphonse said, with a troubled smile.
“What a pain that pair of loins is being right now.”
Though Lottie complained, she wasn’t berating Zeke. The captain had always performed his role reliably, in a calm and collected manner, so his behavior last night had come as a complete shock. She couldn’t simply ignore him after seeing him look so angry and hurt. He was probably too depressed to get out of bed. If that was the case, then Lottie had decided that she and her assistant would do their best to resolve the whole affair.
Alphonse glanced around the foyer. “Hm? Where’s Maria?”
“Maria went out with Marjorika. To learn about medicinal herbs, apparently.”
The medicines that the witches concocted were special. Of course, they could make special potions that could remedy baldness or get someone to fall in love with you, but they also concocted normal medicines that could heal maladies like colds, headaches, and stomachaches, to name but a few.
Each potion contained a delicate balance of medicinal herbs, which meant that they were famed for having few side effects. Maria had announced that this was an indispensable opportunity to learn about them, and so she’d headed out right after helping Lottie with getting dressed.
Lottie sighed, feeling as though Maria was also a handful. However, she didn’t berate her lady-in-waiting, for she knew that the reason Maria had gone off to learn about medicines was to care for her husband, who often fell ill.
And so, as Maria was so busy, she had selected Alphonse—who had nothing but time on his hands—to be her assistant.
“Right then, off to Cecily we go!”
“Okey dokey.”
“Be serious about this!”
“Roger that...”
Following Alphonse, who was barely stifling a yawn, Lottie bounded out of Marjorika’s house.
“There she is!”
Lottie had a keen eye, so it only took her all of three seconds to locate Cecily. She was walking with Cain on the lane in front of the house, the pair seemingly enjoying one another’s company.
“Cecily!”
At the sound of her name, Cecily turned around. Her eyes were drawn instantly to Lottie’s outfit. Looking her friend up and down, she couldn’t help but exclaim, “Why, Lady Lottie, you look so cute!”
“I do? Hold on—that’s not what’s important!”
Lottie didn’t mind the compliment, but she knew that she had to take charge of the conversation.
“Don’t call me ‘Lady Lottie’! Just Lottie is fine!”
That was what was important.
“Oh—sorry, Lottie.”
“It’s okay, don’t worry.”
Lottie quickly forgave her friend, then hid behind said friend as she glowered at Cain.
“You. Cain’s loins, was it?”
“Uh, what’s this about loins?”
Cain looked back at Lottie with an expression of confusion. His melancholic air tended to draw attention, and he was the textbook definition of a handsome young man. However, Lottie’s beauty was unparalleled, even by him—if he were a painting, then Lottie would surely be a sculpture—and she felt no stirrings of romance for him.
“Never mind that. Cain’s loins, you don’t intend to do anything untoward to Cecily on this ‘date’ of yours, do you?”
“A d-date?” Cecily said, fidgeting nervously in embarrassment. Her behavior vexed Lottie greatly. Cain glanced at Cecily before giving Lottie a cheerful grin.
“Well, we are lovers, so I suppose we may end up doing things that you usually don’t mention in front of others.”
“E-E-Excuse me?!” Lottie couldn’t suppress an earsplitting shriek.
It was unthinkable that this man would dare to even say such shameful things on the second day after reuniting with Cecily after a decade. Not only that, but Cecily was still fully under the effects of the love potion—how dare he!
“A-Absolutely not! I forbid it. I’ll be following you to make sure you don’t perform any such lascivious acts on Cecily!”
“I’m not quite sure what you’re talking about, but please don’t. I couldn’t bear being the victim of such boorishness.”
Lottie’s reply caught in her throat. Shameless though he may have been, he had a point. Lottie knew that she was acting uncouth right now, but Cecily’s judgment was still affected by the love potion. She could end up walking down a path that she might later regret simply because Cain had told her to do so. Lottie didn’t want to see Cecily despairing over her betrayal of Zeke once the effects of the love potion did finally wear off.
“And what’s your estimation of all this, Cecily?” Cain asked Cecily, who had been silent until now.
Lottie looked at Cecily expectantly, but Cecily’s face twisted into an expression of guilt.
“I’m sorry, Lottie. It’s been so long since I’ve seen Cain, so I’d like to catch up with him alone.”
A shock rippled through Lottie, as though she’d been struck on the back of the head.
“O-Of course. Sorry for getting in your way.”
After this proclamation, Lottie walked off as if nothing at all had happened. Her magnifying glass in hand, she kept on walking without any particular direction in mind, until finally...she came to a stop in a deserted area.
Seeing that Lottie had stopped, Alphonse called out to her.
“Are you upset, Lottie?”
“Not in the slightest,” she said, after a pause. She slumped to the ground, pulling her knees close. Her slender shoulders began to shake. Alphonse sighed.
“I’d like to offer some consolation, but you’d prefer not to be touched by a man, wouldn’t you, Lottie?”
Lottie was silent for a few moments.
“I’ll make an exception for today, if it is only for a little while,” she finally said, after an intense internal battle between the conflicting emotions of her phobia of men and how upset she was after being treated so coldly.
She pulled off her beret with forced nonchalance. Her hair was tousled and a bit sweaty from wearing the hat all morning.
“But I do only mean a little. You may touch me with only your pinky. That’s all I shall allow.”
“Very well.”
Alphonse had come a ways in approaching Lottie. He knew that coming from behind would surprise her, and that getting too close would make her scream. Instead, he squatted down a short distance away and reached a hand out to her. He folded his fingers into his hand apart from his pinky and began to gently stroke her head. His finger gently caressed Lottie’s rose-gold hair, near her whorl.
Unsure of this feeling and whether it constituted actually being touched or not, Lottie took on an expression of confusion.
“Um... You may stroke my head a little more properly than that. I will allow it.”
“You’re shaking.”
“I am not shaking!”
Alphonse grinned at Lottie’s obstinate remark.
“Do you feel a little better?”
Lottie’s cheeks were like two red apples. She was fully aware of how she was blushing, and pulled her hair in front of her face. Of course, it was clear to anyone that she was red with embarrassment, but she wasn’t aware that hiding her embarrassment amounted to admitting it.
“You really are overbearing, you know that? And quit calling me Lottie.”
“Huh? I thought you wanted everyone to call you Lottie.”
“I feel weird when you call me that, Alphonse’s loins.”
“Ouch,” Alphonse said, before letting out a loud chuckle from...not very near Lottie at all. She couldn’t help but smile along.
“Now then. What do you suggest we do next?”
“Good question,” Lottie said, as she stood up. She was done moping around. A detective is not someone who allows themselves to remain idle. “I’m afraid that there’s nothing we can do in regard to the Cecily case. Until we’re able to find a clue to help us actually make any headway, I think we should find another case to work on. We’ve got the time for it.”
Alphonse thought it was a bit early for Lottie to be giving up, but he held his tongue. He couldn’t bear to dampen Lottie’s mood after she had finally perked up a little again.
Fortunately for Lottie, who was keen to move on from her setback, another possible client came knocking almost straightaway.
“Lottie! Nana’s gone missing! Could you help us?”
It was a little boy and a little girl. Both of them were among the children who had been playing with Lottie yesterday, and they seemed keen to ask the older girl for some help.
“Well now,” Lottie said, resting her chin between thumb and forefinger in contemplation. “Who might this Nana be?”
“Nana’s our cat!” the boy said plainly. Apparently, their family cat had gone missing last night. Their feline companion sometimes left the house for hours at a time, but they had grown worried, as this was the first time the cat’s absence had lasted more than a day.
After hearing their story, Lottie let out a gallant proclamation. “Very well! Leave this case to Detective Lottie!”
“Really? Thanks, Lottie!”
Even searching for a lost cat was among a detective’s duties. An elementary task though it might have been, it would serve as a good diversion. Not only that, this boy and girl were sure to be overjoyed should their cat be found. The cat too, indubitably. It was a win-win-win situation.
“Is this Nana of yours a boy or a girl?”
“He’s a boy.”
Lottie whipped out a piece of parchment. A means by which to take notes was also an absolute necessity for any detective.