Simmering Jams at the Edge of the Forest

I was too embarrassed to look up when I thought back on it. How did this happen? Mark caught me getting a little sentimental, and when I cleared up the misunderstanding that I wasn’t lonely because Mr. Hugh had left, he hit on me.

No, wrong, that one. I couldn’t stand the subtlety of the atmosphere, so I looked for a topic and asked unintentionally, ‘Do you prefer guys to girls?’ That was a simple question, that was the switch… A beautiful, big smile was scary. It was a crisis in so many ways.

I knew. I didn’t really think Mark was that type of person either. But it came out on the spur of the moment. I thought he was very tense.

Be careful what I said, for my mouth was the root of all evil…for that, I couldn’t even speak.

What a joke, though.

…Uwah.

That thing in the back of the doctor’s office, wasn’t that the workplace there? I didn’t know what would have happened if Grandpa Tom from the grocery store hadn’t come in after that, oh my God.

The doctor definitely knew. As soon as he came down from upstairs, he looked at me warmly, about 50% more than usual.

Even at twenty-eight, this kind of experience was very lacking and I couldn’t catch up. I’d only had one boyfriend in the past, albeit for a longer period of time, and the relationship was somewhat cold because we started dating casually from the beginning. I mean, why was Mark so sweet? I thought my heart would stop.

And I knew that he could see through all my worries. I was looking away, but he forced me to turn his way. He told me to accept it properly and understand it. He might have been waiting for me to get used to this world. I was always in a fluffy state of mind.

I was the one who was not ready to accept, wondering what I was here for. This world and people’s feelings. It must have been very frustrating.

…Could I cling to those arms? I didn’t want to be just another person to be protected, but what could I do? If I couldn’t stand on my own two feet, I didn’t deserve to take the offered hand.

Even though I thought so, I was happy and relieved to be hugged. My head was thinking too loudly, but my mind and body wanted it all on their own. The imperative confession was completely transparent to me, who could not nod otherwise.

Still, I wondered if he was really younger than me. People in this world seemed to have a high mental age, probably because their age of adulthood or average life expectancy was lower than in Japan, but even so.

I was twenty-six years old, two years older than Mark, but I didn’t think I had any advantage at all. I wondered, did that mean I was not experienced enough? Or was it because of his upbringing, where he said he had a hard time in his birth family?

I’ve never felt this way before, perfectly over capacity when my mind was already full. Please give me some time to cool down a bit, come to think of it, even the first time I rode in a carriage, what was it with escorts and kissing the hand he took every time I get in? I didn’t understand!

At any rate, Sir Walter teased mee! How did he even find out about this already, and what did Mark say while I was back at the clinic? My face was red anyway, oh my goddddd, where was the hole, let me in! I wanted to be buried!

While I was burying my face in the basket without time to enjoy my first carriage ride, Sir Walter made a shocking confession.

… That was good.

I knew I shouldn’t have interfered in the matter, but it made me itch to see it, and more than anything else, I felt like I was being watched by Lady Adelaide.

If I didn’t have to feel that sadness anymore when I looked at the picture above the fireplace, that was very… I was glad. Ah, my God, I couldn’t wait to see her. I wanted to see her face right now.

As soon as I arrived at the mansion, I ran into the kitchen and squeeze Lady Adelaide, and she, who was worried about my injuries, scolded me again about not running. It was true that my ankle was a little sore, and that Sir Walter was holding back his laughter behind me, but rather Lady Adelaide smiled like a little girl, and I wondered why Mr. Daniel was not here.

That evening was very peaceful. The air was comfortable the whole time, and I didn’t mind the brief silences between meals. In fact, it seemed more desirable than before. I was totally fine with the absence of Mr. Hugh and the pauses.

I prepared after-dinner tea and left them in the living room, and took Buddy out on the balcony. There would be stories that accumulate, though Sir Walter was not very talkative. Since they had been apart for so long, I wanted him to spend as much time as possible with his parent while he was here.

The balcony was not dark because light leaked in from the interior. I lit up an insect repellent candle on a small table, set a mug of hot tea and sat down in a rocking chair. The sound of the wood of the flooring rubbed against the foot of the rocking chair, which swayed back and forth. The days were getting longer and the sky looking up was not yet pitch black, only slightly bright.

A thin, narrow moon was rising above the tall trees. Who was it who said that the thin moon around the new moon was like a cat’s claws?

There were moons in this world, too, and two of them. Both appeared to be about one size smaller than what I was accustomed to, though my eyesight was not so good. The rotation period and angle seemed to be different, sometimes I could see them at the same time, sometimes only one, and today there was still only one. Maybe it would come together later in the day, but I didn’t know because I basically went to bed early.

Once every few years, the day when the two moons came together in the mid-sky fell on some kind of festival day, and a big ceremony was held at the temple in the royal capital.

Yes, it seemed to be the same in every world that there were festivals or festivals now and then. There were festivals related to the seasons and harvest, and then there were spirits and royal court related. I heard that in the summer there were festivals to thank the spirits. Well, even though it was called a festival, it did not seem to have food stalls or Bon Odori dancing, and was more like a Shinto ritual. They said it was like a spirit floating down the river or something like that. I was told that it would be suitably glamorous in the castle town of the royal city.

I took a sip of tea while gazing at Buddy’s lazily wagging tail lying next to me and the sky that was glowing with stars. The warm tea seemed to flow into my stomach and sink into my heart.

I wondered if the clinic had already closed. Mark said he got home at different times because the doctor’s office hours were never the same…. The moon seemed to squint and looking down at me as I fretted alone, realizing once again that there was someone who had unconsciously popped into my head.

**

Good for you, I said, and my apprentice, who stopped in the middle of cleaning up the mess, wasn’t happy.

“…Am I that easy to understand?”

“No? If it were anything else, you’d be totally good at hiding your expression. I guess Margaret is the only exception to the rule.”

“…Is that so…”

He turned his face away so as not to look unnatural, but there was no way to hide the fact that the tips of his ears were dyed. While pretending not to notice, I enjoyed watching him as if I was watching my own child grow up. I wondered if it was conceivable from that alleyway that this child could have come to accept someone and seek further beyond.

“…Well, that said, it’s still kind of a one-way street.”

“You are unusually modest.”

“That’s probably true. It’s heavier than you think.”

My, he didn’t sound too sure. So some things were too close to the vortex to see. I took the last instrument away from the disinfectant solution and put it away in a container.

“Margaret is not one to lie about her feelings, you know that?”

“Teacher.”

“As far as I can tell, she wasn’t thrilled with her lover in the original world. Take good care of her. If you make her cry, Addy and Buddy will fly in.”

“I don’t need to be told. I’m sure teacher won’t keep quiet about it either.”

“Naturally.”

After a pause of bitter laughter, Mark put the bag in his hand on the desk and turned straight to me.

“Teacher, the last documents are in order. We will proceed with the story you have been telling me for some time. If that’s alright with you?”

“That’s what you’re here to hear. You’re not getting much in the way of benefits. I’m the only one who benefits.”

“The benefits, etc… I couldn’t be more grateful.”

There was no doubt in my mind that his eyes were sincere and he meant what he said. However, I still felt guilty.

“A mere provincial baronage is stealing a brilliant heir from the prestigious Count Disraeli family in the capital.”

After Mark had been sitting in Meissery for a while, I was the one who first asked him if I could adopt him as he was. I didn’t know when I began to see him as more than just a successor to a medical clinic… Maybe it was from the beginning.

He agreed, but was keeping a close eye on his feuding parents’ family, and decided at this point in time.

“As long as they don’t get involved with me, they are good in their own way. First, I have never felt attached to the family name. If the doctor hadn’t picked me up, I would have thrown it away long ago… And now, I can’t let that house use Margaret.”

The ‘Orison of the Holy Spirit’ did not have direct political influence, but there were many who expect sweet nectar from the position as an important figure on the continent. It was futile to even think about what Margaret would think of such a world, as she was hesitant to accept even a small benefit.

The existence of the spirits had already been announced, but the official announcement about the orisons would not be made until Walter returned to the capital and the report was scrutinized. He was working with people to make sure that Margaret’s surroundings were not too noisy.

“… That’s right. Have you decided when you’re going to the capital?”

“I will go with Walter when he returns. We will be closed for two days.”

“I don’t mind.”

“When you come back, it’s Mark Reynolds. I don’t accept returns.”

I held out my right hand to Mark, who smiled mischievously on purpose.

“You’re going to take care of me, right? That’s what sons do.”

“We’re not there yet… Dad.”

Use the strongest card you have for those you want to protect. It was difficult to do, even if it was easy to say. I was genuinely happy to have a wonderful son.

His handshake, which he was hiding his embarrassment about, was very forceful.