The Abandoned White Magician’s Tea Life - Chapter 76 : In the Spring Fields (1)
Translator: Sunnyshies
[unedited]
Chapter 76 : In the Spring Fields (1)
“Mom, do you want some water?”
――”……”
“Mom? Hey, hey, open your eyes! Mom, don’t die!…!”
――”Amalia. I’m sorry. I wanted to spend a little more time with you…”
“Why are you apologizing! It’s not my mother’s fault! It’s the disease that’s making my mother suffer that’s bad! Hey, get well! It will be spring in a little while. It’s going to be warmer, so it’ll be easier to spend time with you. Until then…!”
――”Thank you. But no more.”
“……hey, is there anything I can do for you? can make anything happen! So, say something!”
――”…………”
“Mom…!”
――”……I wanted, to, see you, one last time―― I love you…”
“Mom…wait, oh no, don’t go…don’t leave me…mom!”
…
…
…
After a cold and windy winter, spring has come to Polk.
The fields, which had been desolate during the winter, are sprouting new shoots, and the sunlight is gently warming the skin.
“Mom, look! Butterflies!”
“That’s right. But don’t crush it.”
“Yes!”
A blonde-haired boy is running around in the field, chasing the fluttering butterflies and the grasshoppers bouncing on the ground. His plump hands will probably kill the slender insects in an instant, so she must teach him the spirit of “respect for all living things.
Amalia looked up at the sky, holding the hat she was wearing with her hand.
About six months had passed since Amalia and Yugo came to live in Polk.
‘After all the mess during the winter, I’m glad we had a safe spring…’
A few days ago, she received a letter from Juana in Kyros addressed to a representative of Polk. In it, she wrote that Alphonse was dead and that Esmeralda and Braulio were imprisoned.
That detached palace where Amalia was placed under house arrest is said to be the place where the young prince will be raised from now on. The prince, whose father is dead and mother imprisoned, will eventually be taken in by the crown prince and princess and raised as a prince without the right of succession to the throne.
The maids, Juana and Lorenza, have become the prince’s educators, and they have written their determination to raise the prince with sincerity, who will eventually leave the royal family and receive a duke’s title.
‘…Alphonse is dead. And Esmeralda and Braulio will surely never make it to the outside world――’
King Kyros is a self-serving man, and he will not tolerate anyone, whether it is his own daughter or a talented black magician, if it causes him any disadvantage. He blames his daughter and her husband and Braulio completely for the attack on the light dragon that took place in the winter, so he is not likely to pardon them.
She still hated Alphonse and the others, and can never bring herself to forgive them. However, she didn’t hate them so much that she felt happy that they’re gone. Rather, she felt a kind of relief that she would no longer be involved with them, and her shoulders relaxed.
‘It is enough for me to be able to live in this village. From now on, I can choose my own future…’
“Mom, mom! What is this?”
Yugo came running back to the pensive Amalia. He has a big smile on his face and holds out his hands, stacked on top of each other as if he is rubbing them together.
She was sure there was something in those hands, but she had a…bad feeling about it.
Yugo is Amalia’s adorable son, but recently he seems to have developed a strange wisdom and often surprises her with his mischievous behavior.
‘The other day, he handed me a caterpillar saying, “I found a good one!”…’
Amalia smiled and raised her right hand to chest level.
“Yes, stop there. What’s in your hands?”
“Good stuff!”
“Are you sure it’s good? Is there anything there that mom doesn’t like?”
“…there, isn’t.”
She still thinks he is getting wiser when he says, “there isn’t,” even though it is obvious that he is lying. Furthermore, she also feels that he is still a child when she was the one clearly upset here.
Amalia instructed him, “open your hand there,” and Yugo opened his hand as if in contemplation. As expected, a tremendously huge grasshopper popped out, and Amalia’s mouth twitched.
Although she lives in the countryside, Amalia hates insects. She could handle butterflies and other fluttering, crawling things, but she hated anything that jumped or scurried about.
Amalia looked at Yugo with a smile. Yugo’s smile was drawn at first, but eventually he folded his hands behind his back and apologized in a whisper, “I’m sorry,” he said.
“I just wanted to show mom what a great grasshopper is.”
“Yes, it was a very nice grasshopper. But you know, mom doesn’t like grasshoppers. You know that, don’t you? If you want to show me the bug, please ask Leonardo to do it for you, okay?”
“Uh-huh. But Leonardo hasn’t come back yet.”
He seemed to miss Leonardo’s presence, and despite the scolding scene, Amalia’s heart warmed slightly.
Leonardo has been on a mercenary job since the end of winter. He told her beforehand that he would be gone for a month, so she wasn’t too worried, but she still missed him. She guesses it is the same for Yugo.
‘Well, surely we can’t keep the grasshoppers for days until Leonardo returns. Even if it’s…’
“I know you want to show off your big grasshoppers. I’m not very good with bugs like that…so even if you them to me, I can’t be happy with Yugo.”
“…”
“You know what I mean Yugo, don’t you?…perhaps you enjoy watching me get scared?”
“Huh? Well, no, I don’t. But…”
“But?”
“…a scared mom is cute, and sometimes I like to see a mom startled by a bug.”
Reluctantly, Yugo was still confused.
‘…t-this, isn’t this the same as the boys at the orphanage who would play pranks on the girls they liked!’
You want to get along with them, but you do something on purpose to make them dislike you. They do something naughty even though they know the other person doesn’t like it. When she caught a boy and scolded him before, he cried and said, “I wanted her to look at me.”
Amalia, with a hand on her forehead, squatted down and placed her hands on both of Yugo’s shoulders.
“Mom doesn’t like boys who do things they know she doesn’t like.”
“Oh, no, no! I’m sorry, it won’t happen again!”
“Really?”
“Really! So don’t hate me!”
Yugo grabbed the skirt of Amalia’s dress and looked up at her with a face that looked like he was about to cry. To be honest, she was horrified to be touched by a hand that had grabbed a grasshopper, but she couldn’t afford to say so at the moment.
“…okay, I get it. But this is really the last time. If you do it again, I’m not going to let you get away with it. I’ll tell Leonardo.”
“Yeah…got it.”
Amalia kissed Yugo, who nodded, and sat down on the spot while patting his shaking back. Yugo then asked, “Can I sit on your lap?” So she picked him up and he leaned on Amalia’s chest, his cheeks relaxed as if he was relieved.
☼☼☼