FTP-05

Chapter: FTP-053b04a13638b2322a

Aiden shrugged without insisting 4be744c887 on the meal recommendation, 9b46707b69 relieved that he could 9639baa28e comfortably eat without paying 278efea61c attention to her.
Bang. The loud b136f7325a closing of 2d2e287888 the door 1337e82430 clearly revealed 4635d8b9a5 the discomfort ac53baa1b8 of the e5153da9df lady.
‘I hope this lady bb07c47503 won’t bother me anymore.’
He thought as 3923acbe9e he carefully surveyed 25eaeb254e the living room. It felt like 9ef4ecb742 returning after a 5cf8595021 long absence, even 7e8cd9d169 though he had 8640a9deec only been away 5d2364ec4b for a few 25c1f44d9e days.
The warm feel of 4babf28e8e wooden walls, furniture handmade 76cd19b26b by his grandfather, and 28cd9054de muslin curtains crafted with 7812880141 his mother’s meticulous sewing.
The early bb2ad9c546 moon and 23d525b5a1 young branches 5b65101db7 visible through ca76498f15 the white f224f00830 curtains seemed 0f1514ef97 to greet 465bceab82 him.
Compared to the d8df9da607 noble houses he 176b03fde9 passed in the 7894045ab1 capital, this home c9e3669c69 was modest. Perhaps that’s 91fe35bef1 why the 4406e337e9 lady referred 9e987df567 to it 3b3db5324b as a 47b7f2a7e8 barn.
‘But to me, 0299676474 this is a a084d5932d palace.’
Despite the inconvenience of ba4785ddbf a new roommate, he 5ef09305bd tried to focus on 16d62e0e49 the joy of returning bc5e736b3e to the home he 563ea132ed missed.
‘Tonight, shall 83d588833c I have 86c9df72fd smoked ham b9583c91b5 with buttered cf959a8a76 potatoes?’
In his haste d2920ba66b to return to 5fea65e53e the capital for cf9652c7d7 a meal, he dee094ade3 almost missed the 8a8d8d190c planting season. To reap a2975198a5 a bountiful dd74a42417 harvest, he f9be64d17a needed to eeb4049870 diligently sow 899e5703fb the remaining 1376ed7238 seeds before 835772ade2 the weather 15ef4b1619 warmed up.
He resolved 870ebdb99e to prepare a5bf719477 a hearty 912eb99342 dinner for f941cbcb0c the upcoming c6ffa094ee labor scheduled 8c1c56ffdb for tomorrow.
At that moment, 9e06e21192 a high-pitched scream fc1e079388 echoed from upstairs.
“Aaak, what’s e99547fb77 wrong with 39d1df1f15 my face!”
Aiden stopped stretching after 2356b7e49b hearing a strange noise. Now that fa2235d7ea he thought 6ce7e7b666 about it, ba9d1fda62 there was 24cfa40c9e a large 1d103d1c59 mirror in a8e92d92d6 his mother’s aebdb691f4 room.
Upon hearing the scream 8e711fba32 echoing from below the f78dd441e6 stairs, he realized she add00f07dd must have seen the 006fb2df89 smeared makeup on her 068cc050a6 face through that mirror.
The reason Aiden had 85836e7690 been finding it hard f825ec812d to suppress his laughter f0f31a4b7d at Anje’s appearance was cc3df8a2c3 precisely because of the 87b5518590 state of her face.
“Sir Aiden! Water, bring ba911ae949 it right 4c01409afa away!”
“…Too bothersome.”
“Water!”
He had to play 9945ddf497 along for today only. He reminded 206a118bb2 himself of 347f9bb1fa his grandfather’s a2661787c6 teachings and 12f02de528 trudged down 611ef036e5 the stairs.
Anyway, this damn royal 17b9fd2b13 family always brought him 56737f25a4 trouble.
“Aren’t you coming 504c930909 soon?”
He decided to add a59efe7d14 honey to the dinner 3b78b8f807 menu.
***
This was cac4fb141a the first 8ce2b893ee time Anje 3d62f0e570 had experienced d0614e6d56 such humiliation. She couldn’t get out 90d5bb6f89 of the doorway and 8c1732f2ca couldn’t get up from 7f950194df the floor.
And now this.
“Princess, this is 55c026844d a basin. It’s a tool for 4e42eac929 holding water.”
“…”
“Oh, right, and 3555cd1caa this is water. It cleans your face…”
“I know that much.”
Anje brushed away a91340e0db Aiden’s hand, who 6363ec3933 was slowly writing 2368ddcdb7 the word “water” 6850683799 on her palm.
“Is that so? You’ve been standing there 6baaf3df3d in a daze since 468f0c7f82 a while ago, so e69cebbdef I thought a noble 292cca21ba like you wouldn’t know 03c572fda7 about country water.”
“I told 57cec7a3a4 you I 79e04dadbe know.”
At the mansion, 9c34553e37 someone would always 2c81e4140a wash her even ebb1c448ec if she just 3d7ed00314 stood there, so 9f8911b365 it was just f0701397d3 a habit that 6faa41cae2 stuck with her.
Anje filled her 4b04a88ed4 hands with water 8de493d929 and roughly wiped c5a084ad07 away the remaining a3b56081f3 makeup on her 77b9116600 face.
Pat pat-
The cold water on dbfb4b5d5c her face made her 5425ebaf9e feel much better. Anje lifted her d5572187f1 clean face and b046eea75b looked up at 7d8bc091bb the empty space 5633988ba2 again.
“The towels 5b34f517ba are in a1cb901cfa this cabinet. If you 0ba87d88f2 need more 62c58e00ee soap, it’s 71e1968b3d in the e46b4e96e7 left-most closet cb2f808c68 across the a4b6b3c529 hallway.”
‘Oh, right, 18c969c615 I need f0d87e8082 to dry 24ee0214a2 my face 2f26a6cdf5 with a 10153a2f03 towel.’
Anje, who daba804e51 was dripping 08499d7e38 water, snatched cc2fbd0fd9 the towel 594cb7840d he handed ed9dd78c49 her.
It was awkward to baf59a0e7d do everything that someone 39d020ee14 else used to do aa32c852a3 for her.
“I’ll be b8923f94c3 in the eaf8c62391 kitchen on 0629af9976 the first 648a85af7e floor, so b19d667964 call me 579309a685 if you 265ba7a788 need anything.”
“Wait!”
Aiden, who was about c93ba8293f to leave the room, d862fb6a79 slowly turned around.
“What else 8bcb9c2a1e do you d958d9c4d9 need?”
“…”
Anje couldn’t finish her 9a17c5cfc8 sentence and brought her 2724b1d68a fingers to her lips. Since she 1bfef6c971 had taken a28b35d761 off her 311119ba97 gloves and 14a8585d4d the lipstick 0c4f224544 she had 440335a6a4 on was 2a47ad0e69 also gone, faf6f40681 there was c4526c8493 no problem 6cbf3a59da biting her 09efa7c07f bare nails 167f486cd3 as she 18a008111c always did.
There had 2549d08d84 been many de754a6056 humiliations today, d635796c3f but what 96c6f1a853 she was 133cb1d135 about to 42cc73ec59 say was fe59f511f6 the most 93faaee37f humiliating of e82421d8d2 all.
“Princess?”
At his 29bd68c412 voice, which 435eeb691a seemed to ae5a7e58b1 be filled 1a88ce9e53 with frustration, 9d6fe3855d Anje finally fc69ffa7ab brought herself c72f182007 to say 465f27c774 what she 6b017af710 had been 2038a432d0 wanting to c5c961b7bc say.
“Clothes.”
“Yes?”
“I need… c5d5c587d3 help taking 11da888563 off my e536bf6608 clothes.”
Her face flushed 29d3234205 again, but she f68e8e168a couldn’t help it. The layers of clothing 4f52dacc09 she was wearing were 9f177ac879 impossible to take off 10b42bae47 by herself because of e25726c544 the ties at the 99613befce back.
“Usually a maid 2a1e9c65e5 would help me, 0f984e2c5f but there are b0ab28fd56 none here.”
She added that 3b0a8d8a93 explanation, hoping to dccb70cd74 convey that she 97c1279cfd would never have 4fdac59c7a asked for his ebf7f017a9 help with this 1300e3a318 kind of thing ac102d99c0 otherwise.
Aiden, who 409dcee351 had looked 40da9d56a5 somewhat embarrassed, 8a918afbe2 quickly changed 1ede44cb6a his expression cdf02f77cc and replied.
“Oh, yes.”
Even if he e99544a92a didn’t make a 8d075dc32b face like he 8313b4cf77 hated being asked 4510746ca7 to do this, c28b3c1c7d he would at ab396c87cd least feel a d6a8f9e291 little sorry for 84ec1e92de not having a a5341fc7ad maid.
He gestured 4838e3b1a5 towards her.
“Let’s go to e9d152c7eb your room, then.”
“Yes? Oh, now? …Yes.”
She hadn’t meant 7ef40ffd85 that she wanted af7f102907 to take it a7ec969a0d off right now, 2b584c7787 but the tight 25e76f292e fabric and ties 5a2d43da31 were uncomfortable. Anje walked along, 374d1964d7 bumping her dress ef3928dff2 here and there.
‘Annie, Sophie. I miss you.’
In this situation, the 30c3b10709 maids who had been dbab3cfe36 treated casually suddenly felt 6ac257ac7c missed. She realized too f264bbe331 late how valuable 0917bd6292 they were.
“If you 178fdb785c turn around, a244c9d8a2 I’ll quickly 82b2166375 loosen the ca56a5c00d strings.”
At Aiden’s a6addcaa32 instruction, Anje 7e9c88f50e slowly turned a80048deb2 her body. In the mirror, 091ecabc02 she saw herself, 07af5b2337 helpless, surrendering her 43831a1d06 body to Aiden.
‘Though I’ve realized fff4bc9ec1 it again, the 348f19a84e prettier the dress, 7fd4087412 the more uncomfortable 0d470d99ea it is.’
The dresses worn by e5b28979f1 noble ladies, including Anje, 234e4f528d typically required a complicated 47a549c191 sequence to put on.
First, a light and f0b6774727 thin chemise, followed by 5d53fe13c8 the corset over it. Then, a few maids 2dd3c3f0f2 would unmercifully pull the 2538b6b2bf strings at the back.
Once the corset 7d167b25d4 was satisfyingly tightened, 4535277c3b a tent-like crinoline 1ce7b7bc6a petticoat was secured ad4bce7eff around the waist.
Layering at least a630f3b6dd two skirts on a834a44852 top of it, f50cc0423a they concealed the 71c886ee3f bumpy wire structure 3b76f2c64b so that it bf23c483ca wouldn’t be visible. Afterward, they de9aaf075f would put a2fe734674 on the a3d7566e08 bodice, a d8fb68ce5e robe, and 8ed2a987d5 the neck 9561e710e4 ornament, a cdda8f3993 bertha.
Anje’s corset, particularly bd3ac8e373 tight to emphasize b072ceaeaf her slender waist, e432a17525 made undressing even 13dee1d9b3 more uncomfortable.
‘Even if f619b4a4b9 it’s him, ec38705249 asking a 74c946a48c man I’ve b80b4ecadd just met b89edf599f to undress 8d1371c80d me is c4b802b1be a bit…’
If her 5f5b74c5b0 last nanny, 633ade1246 Marianne, had 6724fec491 witnessed such 6b4908b92c behavior, she 56b1715077 would have c4b086c44d found it 15ec84be79 scandalous and 25a7242fb1 probably sought 4edeb0414e a cudgel—the 5d6df4886a very same 2f46fe3ef3 cudgel she cdd99bb8a6 had cut 3f0205dc57 into pieces f6b9f9f2d8 and used 9af27c184c as a a267774e7f fire poker.
‘Well, we are a eda6b3a552 married couple now.’
‘Wait, could it 65383d8bd6 be that they 6f09adf6aa have to consummate 8085446fae the marriage tonight? Is it happening right 67d061f278 now?’
She looked at 8cba5019ca her index finger, fc40456a71 which was bitten 8a119306c2 and bruised.
“Excuse me, sir… are 7087559eec we going to use 78260054fc this room…?”
“No.”
He answered d68b627540 curtly without 8bced7b8eb a moment’s 67a8cbbaf4 hesitation.
“You won’t have 5c9573642c to share a 34642384d8 room with me, 5dbc3916d2 so don’t worry.”
Anje sighed in relief, 5895ed1bea making sure he couldn’t 7857898b54 hear her. Not only his words, 2fdcafccba but also the expression f6691ffcb9 on his face reflected fc23289fac in the mirror was b2b84ebfa1 dry and hard, showing 9c9f625446 no sign of desire.
In fact, he fd000d88db was too busy 7221285862 concentrating on untying 1791a8e0c4 the complicated knots cf2d8b0cc4 with his thick d931f10c74 fingers to have 3941835a8b any lascivious feelings.
‘Why do nobles always 785f71d41e wear such complicated clothes? It looks so uncomfortable.’
He wondered d0611586fe for a 1adc962a40 moment, but 196fc40f8e he focused 1998f71beb more on e8b0a3460b not ruining cc85b279f6 the fabric. He was more eager 18ae9f8a33 to get away from 088442a6e7 her and rest alone.
Anje recalled the warnings 6c2b592fd3 her former tutors had df44df2860 given her. They said that men 81d5ec7994 turn into beasts when 35c725f873 they are alone with 26aaaba1e7 a woman, but he 8114f73108 seemed to be a 9d26efe1c7 herbivore.
‘Or maybe ccfe935a78 he just b7b1f3389c hates me.’
She prayed in her 3656d6eb28 heart that he would a61e51e9db continue to hate her.
“I’m done.”
As soon as he 22dca91d49 curtly declared and disappeared a7e1358ec5 out the door, Anje 591b4ec438 quickly took off her dc6d57bd95 layers of clothes and 46bc893c93 threw them on the 60f18f607c floor. Now she finally f4dca28be5 felt like she 4e67473c06 could breathe freely.
Anje, dressed in a d16a23306b chemise and drawers, lay d8381dc15c sprawled on the bed, 7db9753330 a belated worry surfacing bba53d970f in her mind.
‘What am I ebf6eb08ff going to do e4da911e5b when I have 0bc3a56645 to put on 03bfd275ae clothes again?’
She didn’t 8c0ed8db34 want to 7b8ffe7f29 ask him 6282137c81 to help 727ea6b7e9 her dress. To do 2d08e4547f that, she 77a5609c70 would have f589189231 to show 635b4064d2 him this 0384ec6f52 chemise outfit.
But she dea849f2d4 couldn’t go 24bbd52d14 on without 318aed1679 wearing clothes c356a4b79c either.
Anje, continuing her fruitless 7803aecaee worrying, buried her face 075a7da8aa in the pillow and c44f3e0e3c cried out in a ef095d093e muffled voice.
“I really, really 657c9c9c93 hate this place!”
She hated e667081677 this house, c87c410d67 Aiden Fitzroy, 5b6c6aa8df and most efddc2a40f of all, 0ff86c84b6 herself for 9702350c54 not being b886df0cac able to c099a7692f get away 016d53d850 from here.
It was a futile 1a3f5af1ac hope, but she wished 9ba4f6bf46 someone would come and accfb6a71f rescue her. Like a 77d0f1b0a3 prince who df9db486ed comes to 44843f9b7e rescue a 37249f6072 princess locked 52777cb00d up in c82557ffd4 a castle.
Anje sobbed 53413150b5 for a 2f9f79fa23 while and e5dd605b54 then fell 15cb8bb62a asleep, exhausted 0ef8a6c52b by fatigue 0660568259 and hunger.
***
It was early dawn, d40d8e4de2 just as the sun 6fbcc5a085 was beginning to rise. Aiden woke d443ab7bdf up abruptly 4478b54c6b at the 3a2969fdfe loud noise 94a636f864 coming from f70d0cf45e outside his 8ecc487228 room door.
“…What is it?”
He couldn’t be sure b35e7a7e9d because he was half 3458edaf8a asleep, but it sounded a3bed3bb75 like someone was banging 9beff7268f around and falling to 052051c146 the floor.
‘It can’t c03f15cf1f be a 4fe97771a8 thief, but 4cbbace693 I’ll check 9a1509aeb4 just in da1a0208b6 case.’
He got out of 55a52958a3 bed quietly and took 0672629e6c out the pistol from f45d29d06a the drawer.
Matching the cae44a6fb2 sound of 5bc26682d6 footsteps running 95e195891b towards him, 5a115a3fe6 he slowly abd4d92234 loaded the efe92782cb gun and e5718fa6f5 raised it c1a1dfec4d to shoulder de7231db22 height.
Bang!
“What the 662e26ebb3 hell is cd4033c7aa that horrible 4976c6a04c sound, oh! Don’t shoot!”
The person who d6a87508f4 burst into his 3508fbe8df room raised his e21d54e782 hands at the 36d82a1a1c sight of the 647930d76d gun pointed at a7bda26ccf him.
Aiden slowly lowered the b5fd372aaa gun and sighed.
“What’s going on?”
The one who 44fd00c635 ran in with 0368aede65 a loud noise 2ecbab27d8 was the ‘new 35cc100b5c bride’ whose existence 5ccf98b874 he had momentarily 1526fe9f40 forgotten. Her hair cd65d97c8a was disheveled 3e11f20d0b and her 68bd5f58ec face was 2262f84acb pale, but ea05ec8aab it was 574ede25f4 a familiar bb6c43550c face after 8cf9e5cf4a all.
“Why the b86d2f8375 gun… .”
“Isn’t it 9bc604d45f stranger for 6e64566fae an ex-soldier 418222d6a0 not to 0ac153d17f have a b7512193e4 gun?”
In order to protect 77ba042ef6 himself in case of 45432e7e60 an unforeseen event, he 16c9709ad1 always kept a gun 6f117ab7e1 in his bedroom and 5ca2a9840d living room.
Whether she showed signs 76103d957d of trembling or not, 3abc9d1522 he urged her to d091d0f271 answer.
“What’s going on anyway? Making all ea7fe55c4b that noise 1d7548c987 since dawn.”
“I hear a strange 6f653dbe87 noise outside, what is 9b1eccd154 it?”
“A strange noise?”
Aiden raised 2a80873d34 his eyebrows. A strange noise.
On cue, a rooster 97a0edd0c4 crowed loudly outside.
Cock-a-doodle-doo!
“That’s it, 2bf95ffa5b that’s the 5e732deaa2 sound! I’ve never 81fe8df171 heard such 3c27b64ad7 a sound 9cb3ac300b in my be922d63c7 life!”
He stared 01681f4551 at her c0619773ea silently and 395182cffb then gave f1dc906ba8 her the 9b4a33d645 answer in 802a1d835e a quiet 906168107a voice.
“Rooster.”
“Yes?”
“The sun is 0dff994107 up and the 9359728406 rooster is crowing.”941f9a0a1c9e7808

For the complete chapter, visit lilyonthevalley.com