Simmering Jams at the Edge of the Forest

Margaret.
I love girls, but I decided not to get married and not to have children.
It’s a mess for a commoner with high magic, the nobles look down on you, the commoners are afraid of you, and there’s no place for you.

If not, you are swept up in your own power, and until you learn to control it, even a normal life is not possible.
I don’t want my children to inherit this kind of hardship.
Of course, there are aristocrats like Walter, and many people from the Academy of Witchcraft and Wizardry are of the same ilk, but still.”

The hand that held mine was cold and a little shaky.
Looking beyond me, toward the center of the village, Mr.
Hugh muttered.

“…I really didn’t want to come to Meissery either.
There are a lot of people who have been inconvenienced because my magic has run amok, injuring them or breaking things.
And yet, on the first day, everyone gathered at the village chief’s place and waited for me.
‘The outburst of power’ was just an old laughable story.
There was no one to blame….
I felt like a weight had been lifted from my heart.

So, Margaret, thank you for coming to this world and to Meissery.
Without you, I would never have come back to this village, and I would have been stuck in the past for a long time.”

Mr.
Hugh’s green eyes relaxed and he gently stroked my head with his hand, which he naturally let go.
I stared at him without being able to say anything, and once again, our eyes met properly.

“Hgh, sorry.
That doesn’t sound like me.”

His face turned bright red.
He covered his mouth with his hand, and turned away.

I hurriedly followed Mr.
Hugh, who walked away slowly without making eye contact.

When I arrived at the clinic, I said hello to Dr.
Daniel and Mark, and rolled out the rug as usual.
Mr.
Hugh was looking at me with great interest, but this was the end of the preparation… You didn’t have to look so unsatisfied.

While I was carrying the lunch basket to the break room and washing my hands, patients arrived.

“Margaret, good morning! Take care of our little guy today.”

This Miss Tanya, a blacksmith, had a big voice and a sharp personality.
Hey, Tanya, thanks for dinner yesterday! The loquat pie was delicious!

Tanya’s new pie, presented yesterday at the women’s meeting where I was forced to stay home, was made with loquat.
A whole loquat compote was wrapped in a crispy pie crust… A moment of bliss.
Moreover, knowing that I was not coming, Tanya made sure that we had enough for Walter and Hugh’s and the number of people in the room.

“Ah, you’re that pie person from yesterday? That was delicious.
I wonder if you could sell it if we took it to the capital.
I think my mom and sister would absolutely love it.”

“My my, I can’t do that.
It’s a hobby of mine, you know, and if people eat it and say it’s good, that’s all that matters.”

By the way, didn’t Tanya know Hugh? I took out my magic tool and asked.

“Wow, that’s an interesting magical tool.
This is very convenient.
Good for you, Margaret.
I’ve come from the previous village to marry into Meissery, so I’m afraid I’ve never met this nice man, the sorcerer.”

“You’re the same age as my sister? If we had been in the same village, I’m sure we would have become friends.”

As we were talking about this, Mark called.
Tanya-san put the little guy, John, in my arms… Oh, was he a little hot?

“I’ve been a little under the weather lately.
I don’t have much of a fever, but I feel kind of sluggish.
Dan told me to go to the clinic after I told him that Margaret was there today.
I’m going to go see the doctor in a bit, so be a good boy and wait for me.”

Tanya patted John’s head and headed to the examination room… Tanya, weren’t those the symptoms? John was in tears and reaching for his mother’s back, but when the door closed, he grabbed my clothes with his returned hand as if he had given up.

“This child, how old is he? … Hgh, ow ow.”

Mr.
Hugh looked into John’s face and was grabbed by the hair.
Yeah, he was curious about the red hair swinging in front of him.
Yes, I gently opened his fingers to let go of the hair and sat on the rug.
When I gave him a cue ball that I had taken out of the wooden box at his feet, John held it with both hands and played with it.

John, who played tinklingly on my lap, had just turned two years old.
He walked and ran well, but his chatter was a little slow, still just ahhs and uhhs.
He was a quiet boy, much like the husband Dan, a taciturn craftsman, but today he seemed even quieter than usual… I touched his forehead and neck.
He was still hot.
Then, these teary eyes were not because his mother left him, but physiologically?

“What’s wrong, what’s bothering that child?”

Mr.
Hugh noticed me flopping around and touching John, and he asked me.
I nodded and wrote that I’ll tell the doctor that John had a fever too.

John looked up at me with moist, curly eyes.
When I smiled and took the fever with my forehead, his eyes blinked for a moment and he was delighted.
He seemed to be enjoying himself, so I tapped his forehead again.
He seemed to like it so much that every time I repeatedly tapped him, that nursery rhyme about the two ants butting heads played endlessly in my brain.

Finally, both of my cheeks were held tightly by small hands, and our foreheads were squished together.
It was a children’s song festival for John in his mind, who was in a good mood about what was fun.
He would sing the full chorus.

“…It’s turning red.”

I laughed when Mark, who came to call, pointed out my forehead.
Mr.
Hugh smiled at John and Mark as they waved bye-bye and walked into the examination room.

“That sounded like fun~.
Do you always play like that?”

If it happened every time, I’d probably scrape my forehead.