Falling To Paradise

“Oh my, you’re back already? You could have taken your time.”

 

Meg fussed over Aiden and Anje as they returned. She had hoped they would take their time gathering raspberries, enjoying the scenery and having a leisurely picnic by the stream.

 

And as they walked through the meadow, Anje tripped and fell, but Aiden was there to catch her. As she regained her composure, their lips drew closer and closer…

 

But contrary to Meg’s expectations, the couple entered the house maintaining a distance of several feet between them. The palpable tension between them was enough to make the bright spring day seem gloomy.

 

“I’m going to change my clothes.”

 

Aiden set the basket down in the kitchen and disappeared upstairs. Meg had a bad feeling about the fact that he was avoiding her gaze.

 

“Here, the raspberries you asked for.”

 

Anje, who had kicked off her shoes and socks, had an even more sullen expression, but she forced a smile at Meg.

 

“Let’s make the jam right away, Meg. I can’t wait to try it.”

 

The tips of her fingers, which were laying down the basket and hat on the table, were chapped from biting them.

 

What on earth happened when they went to pick raspberries? Meg held back the urge to shout.

 

“Shall we?”

 

She wouldn’t be likely to answer easily if I asked her now.

 

“You picked a lot. There will still be plenty left even after making jam.”

 

“Let’s make wine with the leftover raspberries. lots of it. No, why not turn all of it into wine?”

 

Something must have really happened.

 

“Well, that’s good too, but we don’t have the ingredients for wine here. Let’s make the jam first and then store the rest in the cellar, and we can make it together next week.”

 

“Alright.”

 

Anje nodded, letting out a sigh as if to exhale. She wanted to do something now, anything to keep her mind off of other things.

 

Even better if it didn’t involve facing Sir Aiden.

 

“I’ve already made the preparations, so let’s wash the raspberries together.”

 

Meg had already finished all the preparations while waiting for them to return. Two sterilized glass jars, a pot to boil the fruit, a wooden pestle, and a lemon and a bag of sugar.

 

Anje rolled up her sleeves and stood side by side with Meg, carefully cleaning the basket full of raspberries.

 

Then, once the fruit was spotless, they strained it in a colander to drain the water and put it in a large pot.

 

“You can crush them into a pulp with this pestle.”

 

“I’ll do that.”

 

Anje, needing an outlet for her frustration, grabbed the wooden pestle from Meg and swung it vigorously.

 

‘Sir Aiden is really, really annoying.’

 

The fruit broke into pieces, splattering red juice everywhere.

 

‘Isn’t it common sense that the purpose of raising livestock is to get meat? Well, I lack common sense. I’ve never been to a farm, so how would I know?’

 

She had never really considered the fate of the plump, well-fed Pa-Pi-Pu. She had merely found their playful antics amusing and taken pride in their soft, squishy flesh as a sign of her good care.

 

‘I guess I fed them too well.’

 

She felt a pang of regret that her efforts might have inadvertently shortened their lives.

 

Aiden had rejected her plea to keep them a little longer, arguing that they were still young and it would be better to slaughter them after the hot summer when they would be thinner and have less meat.

 

‘Sir Aiden is too harsh. He doesn’t even think about it, how can he be so decisive?’

 

Thanks to her anger-fueled beating, the heap of raspberries had quickly turned into a thick soup. Meg pretended not to notice the spiteful beating and calmly explained the next step.

 

“Now, just add sugar and lemon juice and simmer until done. See, it’s easy, right?”

 

The two women combined their strength to lift the heavy pot onto the stove. Anje was taken aback to see nearly half the weight of the raspberries in sugar being poured into the pot.

 

“You use that much sugar?”

 

“That’s how it keeps the jam from spoiling and lasts a long time.”

 

Bubbles began to form on the surface of the jam as heat was transferred to the pot.

 

“Stir it constantly to prevent it from sticking, and just skim off the foam occasionally.”

 

“How do you know when the jam is ready?”

 

“When it reaches a honey-like consistency when scooped with a ladle, it’s time to jar it.

 

The sweet, rich aroma of jam filling the kitchen lightened Anje’s mood a little.

 

Noticing the softening expression on Anje’s face, Meg’s eyes sparkled. Now was the perfect time to find out what had happened between them.

 

“Was there anything between you two? Both the young lady and the young master look very unhappy.”

 

“It’s just… we had an argument over something trivial.”

 

Technically, it was nothing big. Arguing over the lives of pigs would only make people in social circles laugh if they heard about it.

 

But Anje’s eyes welled up with tears whenever she thought about what she had heard earlier.

 

Poor Pa-Pi-Pu. They had been eating their honey porridge so happily this morning, completely oblivious. They were one step closer to the afterlife.

 

“Oh, there’s no such thing as a ‘trivial’ matter. If it upsets you, then it’s a ‘real’ matter.”

 

Meg gently coaxed Anje into revealing the truth.

 

It wasn’t that difficult. Anje was feeling hurt and needed someone to talk to, or more precisely, someone to vent her anger at Aiden with.

 

“Well, on the way back from picking raspberries earlier…”

 

Meg nodded enthusiastically, occasionally adding interjections like “Oh dear,” and “Really?” to draw out everything inside Anje.

 

Meanwhile, she didn’t forget to occasionally stir the pot. After all, as Aiden put it, she was a competent housekeeper.

 

Having heard the whole story, Meg shook her head thoughtfully.

 

“Oh dear, the young lady has every right to be angry.”

 

“Right? Isn’t it just too much? He even said I was ‘handling it too emotionally.'”

 

“That’s such an infuriating thing to say. Why do men always accuse women of being emotional?”

 

“Exactly! How would he feel if I decided to get rid of something he cherished? Pa-Pi-Pu were my first friends on the farm.”

 

As she spoke, she realized that Pa-Pi-Pu were more than just pigs; they were her first friends here.

 

She quickly wiped away the tears streaming down her cheeks with her palm.

 

Meg’s expression grew more serious. She must be really attached to them, to be crying like this.

 

“Don’t be so upset. It’ll ruin your pretty face. Young Master Aiden grew up on the farm, so he probably doesn’t fully understand how you feel.”

 

Anje found herself accepting the ladle Meg offered her.

 

“I’ll go have a word with him. In the meantime, can you fill these jars with jam?”

 

“Ah, okay.”

 

If Meg went herself, maybe Sir Aiden would change his mind? Hope flickered on Anje’s face.

 

“Thank you so much.”

 

Leaving behind Anje’s dispirited voice, Meg exited the kitchen.

 

Knock, knock—

 

“Yes?”

 

“Young Master, can we talk for a moment?”

 

A deep sigh, heavy enough to sink a bed, escaped from within.

 

“I have nothing to say.”

 

“You must have something to say?”

 

“What would a heartless, cold-blooded man without a shred of mercy or compassion dare to say?”

 

Repeating some of Anje’s harsh words, his voice sounded both angry and a bit defeated.

 

“There must be a good reason why you made the young lady cry.”

 

“A savage man with a narrow mind… Wait, she cried?”

 

A crash sounded from inside. Aiden, who had been precariously stretched out on the edge of the bed, had tried to get up too quickly and fallen to the floor.

 

A moment later, the door burst open.

 

“Why in the world was she crying―, ugh!”

 

Meg’s fierce fist struck Aiden’s stomach. He groaned and clutched his stomach.

 

“It’s all because of the young master, isn’t it? What other reason would there be?”

 

He felt incredibly wronged. Even Meg was siding with the princess! Shouldn’t she be on his side, considering the years they’d spent together?

 

“Crying over a bunch of pigs…”

 

“They might be ‘a bunch of pigs’ to you, but not to the young lady.”

 

“I know, but…”

 

“You should have explained things properly from the beginning. You should have told her not to get attached to them since they’ll be leaving eventually.”

 

Rubbing the spot where he’d been hit, Aiden narrowed his eyes. He had thought about telling her at some point.

 

But he didn’t want to upset her for no reason, especially when she seemed to enjoy naming the pigs Pa, Pi, and Pu and sneaking them treats.

 

“That was my mistake, but…”

 

“But?”

 

“That’s the way things work on the farm, right? We can’t just turn the livestock we’ve been raising for meat into pets all of a sudden.”

 

You raise livestock by feeding them, and use the meat from that livestock to make a living. You sell any excess meat at the market and use the money to buy necessities.

 

It’s the basic principle of farm life.

 

The ham and bacon that the princess herself happily consumes, and the soap and candles that they use in everyday life, are all made from these animals.

 

Meg, who had lived on the farm for many years, couldn’t disagree with this.

 

“That’s true. Pork prices have been high lately, so those three pigs would probably fetch a pretty good price if you sold them in town.”

 

Before Aiden could even smile, Meg raised her index finger and wagged it in front of his nose.

 

“But there’s such a thing as human emotions, even if we’re talking about right and wrong. Did you explain things calmly to the young lady in a way that she could understand?”

 

“I did at first, but…”

 

When Anje, who was still in shock, began spitting out barbed words, Aiden also got angry and used a harsh tone.

 

And in the end, as always with these kinds of arguments, it turned into a contest to see who could hurt the other person more.

 

* * * *

 

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