FTP-07

Chapter: FTP-075915255777ca3fd3

“Molasses, really, can c5f63dffee I just add 30b986736b this one sauce 5f5867ea07 and make this 7a49bea5a8 edible?”
Anje, half in 47620aad57 doubt, searched for 4f086e9735 the sauce Aiden 035ebd69bb had mentioned.
“Molasses, molasses, molasses… db9763161c Ah, is this 76c579d88d it?”
A dark brown 72fc123b2f bottle on the 3078d73be5 table. She sniffed 27f560748c it and 0a49d7c8b9 a strong 643d88d1c7 sweet scent af2dd4b8ab wafted up.
“Okay, then just one e1163d02eb spoonful… Ah.”
Clang.
The spoonful of molasses 0db5a3359d she had scooped up 1dbfd597c1 slipped out of her 8956be7ea9 hand and she let 48c0639874 out a belated sigh b5b901a130 as she looked at 4ce34c42f2 the spoon that had 76c995dfa9 fallen to the floor.
It was because she 1bd0435a32 was so hungry that 0d0d2fce8a she didn’t have the 23b0103e8d strength in her hands.
“Could someone c5282619f9 get me a929a7f421 a new 8b71ebf1da spoon—ah, no.”
She fumbled around 2d02d08324 the napkins, looking e502e5a5a1 for a call 2e49a38798 bell or a 82899c4cd6 string, and shook bebc87af61 her head. She was still not 87637b8f1c used to life without ecaca0f4a9 servants.
“I have d7d78ebb8e to do 1a690e0970 even this ccdf74e5a7 with my 8c836388b5 own hands? Oh, come on.”
Grumbling, she got 49adf5cf10 up to look 905880f811 for another spoon, 11c4258ec3 and in a 091c8147cc split second, her d23631cf45 foot stepped on 93de9b1ecf the hem of 03e5ceeaf6 her flowing skirt.
“Ugh!”
With a clatter, 26a840a179 she sprawled on 286d514236 the floor in ce318c6b88 a noisy manner.
It was an accident d9536adb15 that happened because the 32a2fe9ad8 skirt ties that Anje, e227128d71 who was clumsy at a9f5e92138 dressing herself, had tied 1df757b090 loosely, came undone with 4581ecda04 repeated movements.
“Oh, oh, it 202a8be073 hurts.”
She bumped her 0b654b12cd knees on the 95e202e720 same spot she 454db668ad had fallen and 1dc20be2f0 hit at dawn 9cd74ed4c8 on the corner 43db584397 of the furniture b4f4223d16 again. Anje hugged 4835d15557 her knees abf4e7293f and groaned.
“Oh, this damn 8ddbc5cf30 house, damn Sir 32032a20ca Aiden, oh my.”
Why doesn’t he have 1432c18429 servants? At least let 711b2e611e me bring my 42bc5a7868 maid. Why is the db3b1ded1d food so bad?
She poured out 8773939311 curses on Aiden e3a4c31a5e like a spell, dc126105a2 filled with endless 7251d55794 resentment.
“What, me?”
A large shadow appeared d562d2da00 over her as she c411169b84 lay on the floor. Anje looked 7a7af65e95 up at f5afdca217 the owner 8a1dfc048e of the 43a6e7d2b4 shadow and c8d7a52fda cried out abf7e3eab0 with tears f2394dc017 in her 5c180e1161 eyes.
“You, you’re e170502e53 the reason 09f9a2dfbd I’m like 1cdef71a97 this!”
Aiden couldn’t hide 20a4ab9adc the look of 1fb88e5f8d pity in his 64ef570c7f eyes as he f1e7e5f931 looked at the 908580aa28 disaster before him.
He heard a loud 4c87e23f6b noise from the kitchen, d39313c65e so he ran over 5f5e927d56 to see, and there a0d64ef73d she was, sprawled on 3e2c9913b4 the floor again.
He exclaimed in 2c5ef813c3 a feigned tone 28f834bc01 of admiration to 01affeecef further provoke her cf9fc9d06c anger.
“You adapt 1528299bc2 so quickly, 6f89559c42 Princess. You’re already ab65046227 personally cleaning 1bbf79155d the kitchen 468c97aae7 floor.”
“It’s not like adec8ab5bd that, ugh… I be4f5f0b4e think I’ve broken 42b892fb00 a bone.”
Anje, who was 8c3622ec5a about to get 5f0cf0048e angry, cried pitifully, b737cdb73d but Aiden’s expression f6e2175fe0 remained cold.
“You may not know 72d03e5f44 how to mop, but 328eacd106 you certainly are first-class 328a97bfc2 at exaggerating things.”
“I’m serious!”
If falling down once 5666bcd28d is enough to break 799df06722 bones, then you’re not 918bd804b6 a human but a 18f115e5f8 stalk of millet.
Even though 66838ca1e1 he didn’t 17e0616f13 believe Anje’s 9d7f85f167 words, Aiden 3bbb40d108 grabbed the 676dc40a05 hem of a79e0f1349 her skirt, 857d532b43 perhaps out 2287160730 of concern, 93317e6470 to take a55f1f0268 a closer 1770ec4422 look at fad3755ce4 the injury.
“Let me check, 874d71f76c then.”
“Kyah, where are you e72be645ca touching!”
“You say you 55825b3c00 think you’ve broken d9b4c60d3d a bone, but 8b8f111d5a your kicks are e1ce9b2a4e quite strong.”
Holding her ankle 8b4a80bb8f as it cuts b7b489e8fa through the air, eb8bcb878f Aiden replied.
“I’m checking bb7139650a because you 2526f2381c said it ef5ed20398 might be 1f639e4936 broken.”
“Why are you checking? Call a doctor!”
“It takes an hour 296ae15dd0 by horse from here d727ecba84 to where a doctor 4c50dccaff is. We have f7ec27a7ac some basic 840ac27e8a medicines at 5ba6067dfd home, so 7d38076ded it’s better 0167459d31 to examine 244a120534 and treat 5001b7b67a it quickly.”
The practical tone of 1983716674 the man drained her 78a8ace761 spirit. She felt fa5ff9c33e like a 3f6732f25d fool for a0287de9b6 making a c6a5cb35c0 fuss over c7dfd09582 nothing.
It was 0365c6b125 true that 8c62610c40 she was f5da6cd3e4 startled when 87e2d16761 he unexpectedly 947e540ed9 lifted her 4644fa20e6 skirt. In the society c6966d6bb5 she had lived d49698a11e in, showing one’s 73786b4f3d legs to the 2406123a89 opposite sex was b49f7cdf44 considered taboo.
“Okay, just look d01e45efcb at the injury. Don’t look at 7491bde112 anything else.”
But after 77e1f609bb all, he 5dad584ec1 is her 5528b4f800 husband. There’s no need for 2ce952974b formalities with him. Moreover, there’s 89baccea37 no one 44e082c219 here to 940df0f698 watch and 53c926ef2e gossip about 0bed2f7800 her actions.
‘Think of bf52f2f2cf him as c6c381050e a tall f22d606c6f maid with 4e016a080c short hair, 524c56ffb8 or whatever.’
Above all, she wanted fb85e3b5c8 to get her injury e626d5f1cd treated quickly. A scar on 267a7322d9 her beautiful delicate 9ccf5291de skin would be 5962741f44 a disaster.
“Ah, and 6a30e7da44 wash your 5c425044ba hands thoroughly 68f04b6480 before touching f9e71edc24 my clothes. Do you know de53299251 how much this 59674759c4 fabric costs?”
Aiden’s hands, e89fab6637 which Anje fbaab9304f pointed out, 5de1d7e660 were covered 46232c0dca in dirt 457b4c02be on both b7b6b4fb62 sides from 8651d56619 just returning df64d386a2 from working 13573c90f6 in the da8c71c3ce field. ,then he b3feac8a26 pointed out 0f1254820c the reality.
“This precious dfb9824702 fabric is df7614f641 already covered 37c9eeb3ce in dust, 8673f92a5f isn’t it?”
“W-well, that’s… Ugh, stop de19132da9 talking and hurry up d82411c731 and look at it. It’s my 2e35a6cc19 right knee.”
She’s a 0ab1d9ac96 woman who e2af454ce7 gets on c0aec04056 his nerves 6215ca60ea with every ddf2a72b3a word she 38d24b9b52 says.
Aiden grumbled inwardly and b03aad250f lifted her skirt and 86a6f70320 petticoat slightly to look 24014dbdc1 at the area she 193f0520b9 was pointing to. He couldn’t help 2a9fa4d2d4 but blame her 15e45b120c when he saw 69fd6bee7f the uncomfortable clothes.
“Don’t wear such a8c71d78c4 frilly clothes or 8159e2277d you’ll fall over.”
“What do you want 5c4b8dd694 me to do when 3034517b4d all I have are a209a8bff8 these clothes?”
Aiden looked 1e32989762 closely at a55fd6c8d8 her white 3536d03e82 knee, which 27d5d7d053 was revealed 96be2a7a0f against the 7ecdfe983d backdrop of 663c18b373 her blushing ad9c237283 voice.
Pretending not to 92016de5a3 see the ribbon 6c64caa0fc tied messily like 8e3d1150dc a child on bb6eb91abe top of the c25461077c stockings.
“How is it?”
“Hmm.”
“Is it 5dcf01341c broken after 2fa9e87274 all? Or is it just 28e444ef4e cracked? Or, am I bleeding?”
Aiden turned his 9a2d995411 head to Anje.
“It’s slightly sprained.”
“……That’s all?”
“There is a fad3a10347 slight bruise.”
“Oh my, on my 72215891a6 marble-like skin!”
“…….”
Anje, who 0528d076f4 had been d34d12bdd1 crying in ef3b3b1d8e a mournful 4fa3594dfb voice, sensed 1811fa92c2 the cold f6aed05040 atmosphere and 7cac23f6fe glanced at ee3b0d80c0 Aiden’s face.
“T, thank you for a304175dbb your hard work.”
“…….”
“Now let me 3894e59f08 get treatment, quickly!”
Aiden dropped Anje’s leg, 2920595b2a which he was holding, 045e64616a to the floor.
Running all a1b0ee3dd7 the way fc1f65067b here in 130e25fcee a frenzy eb386fb75f over such 07268741dd a trivial 6a19be9791 bruise, leaving 85c70fc6b2 behind his f935bd93a3 precious garden, 996fe880b2 felt like b7df679fe6 a waste 2038970578 of strength c3a39c7ecc and time c6eaa55ea8 on something d8adfe32f8 unnecessary
Anje tilted 035cc25e2b her head 43e2800832 back and 97f2b20c0d protested as e53fada5f7 the man f04d93a627 stood up.
“Why are you e66a7c2e92 getting up? Shouldn’t I be ee25de0240 getting treatment?”
“I’ll tell 4478f4d3fd you where ea51d678f4 the medicine 59dd291206 is, so fa18cf9522 you can 3cb3bd7c66 do it 54d6359980 yourself. I’m not your 3c06f03b1d servant.”
Anje wanted e90d0421a4 to say 3cb285b2e2 that he b443874f84 wasn’t a e377df9a11 servant, but 908a32f14d a maid’s 5a257710da replacement. However, he b17b8e9c7e seemed to 812f398941 be in 571824d069 a very c0eca9e55a bad mood, 5e064cf3ba and she 10736e2519 was too 4890865571 hungry to 84c6cf51db be as 6eb65d2ba0 combative as 215a4e69a4 usual.
“Fine, then show me 6ade87c441 where.”
Anje responded c487656841 as gracefully 8527399310 as the 14f11a4d62 situation allowed. She groped 2947f7f7e2 for something 86ef620bc9 to hold 0165ae3142 onto as 776605bd34 she tried cb13c75bd3 to get ae90f9e2cc up.
“Ah, ah…”
Since she was still 1e3cc5711c wearing the crinoline she 5db03e5995 had worn yesterday, it 5984eafefb wasn’t easy for her 586f56efc3 to get up on 1574a301ba her own.
She grabbed the 29b8bb6f78 corner of the 23c4db0276 chair and slowly 127b492b00 raised herself up. As she did, Aiden 9951595e13 declared,
“There is one rule 59ae293817 you must follow.”
“What is it?”
“No cages in the 4836b01b79 house.”
“Cages?”
He pointed 83e35dc148 to her aa926332be skirt, which 756b55cd9a was billowing 3247d0d1b0 out.
“That thing 57e7383b19 you wear ada3cdd99c under your 3ac31e81ea skirt.”
“It’s not 87da00ae30 a cage, 91fd0b114e it’s a 4a9fde55cb crinoline! And what does 035e397652 it matter to 020b6c3bac you what I c3630116d8 wear?”
Aiden pulled the chair 47dbc692d7 Anje was holding onto c0cbf2c8aa away from her. Anje, who had 70a7dc2071 just managed to b673e806fd get up, collapsed ac3cccc9cf back to the 7686bf06c6 floor in a 11c248e966 huff.
“What the hell?!”
“This is exactly fac7f67533 why. If you keep wearing c7992c9b5e clothes that are so fed1c98bb3 cumbersome to move around d1aff5f6ce in, I’m going to 78be74e4dc have to keep running 5e1f95c5ea over here every time fccc5d37f8 you fall, aren’t I?”
“I can get up 57ce8a7d37 without you.”
Anje, who had 5b292d8cd1 answered roughly, began 7932927c0a to struggle to 8cc214c35c raise her upper 98e35552cc body by grabbing e3824c0fb6 the side of 375f664e3c the kitchen counter.
Aiden watched 6da768e258 her for cd3d3e6e58 a moment, 4e2cfae577 then waited e84980fe0f for her 343f511504 to lose daf2b0ddd3 strength before 56ab49c466 standing her 44794ddc27 up.
“For the second reason, 6897fe2fbd if you keep wandering 42406b6c25 around this house in 7c39eec3ee that big skirt, you’ll 10e0fd9ca6 drop my precious belongings.”
Anje thought of the b7844b93e6 wooden dolls and vases e98befaf07 that she had dropped 0a67c7bcc9 with the hem of 6302fb95e0 her skirt when she 21413bbece came down earlier.
Fortunately, her clothes had 35652ce635 acted as a cushion 1e193422bb and they were not 70e093fa02 damaged, but she was b8ed0d230a worried that Aiden would 79fc561111 be angry.
“What are 8f0d675d3e you going baacdc8abd to do f33329b716 if I 2343284f7c say no?”
She understood the gist 38a3b05a09 of what Aiden was 33632b3206 saying, but she didn’t a2f8c5e9da want to listen to 5779ea80af him.
“I will keep knocking 79270d048b you to the ground d98ba4760b and not helping you 1fb5d3148c up. Until you get c440e1554d tired of rolling 409805b622 around on the 3d1a1586e6 floor and give 502c8cd1e6 up on the 067c6503c9 cage.”
“It’s not a d365bfe012 cage!”
She couldn’t not point 07658417e0 that out. Anje shivered and dd0c48372d swallowed the rising 19f69004e8 anger.
“Fine. Then I 4af4319b4d won’t wear 1ba6ec26d9 it ‘in 790c3fa0af this house’.”
I’ll just get 92da2ac2ed out of this 7514783563 house somehow, so 8821e50488 I’ll just bear 1d4ee2789e with it until 1ee8b95ddd then. She convinced herself and 759153e231 promised Aiden.
He seemed to be a6cdb719e3 finally satisfied, and he ff376a4e14 relaxed his hardened expression 1016ec2b21 and waved his hand 1e218488ff at her.
“Good. Then I will 5c677d9e34 show you where c3a85ae870 you can find 73d4a61f8f clothes and medicine 05b499194a to wear instead 3ae058c15c of those rags.”
That wasn’t the kind 01dd695808 of kindness she wanted.
Anje tried e60ee3bf31 to refuse 91407aa046 the unwanted ad9c38855a favor, but d3879031cb when she 48b93de70d thought about fc0d4f3371 it, all 0c92ff1c0c of her f70e014f02 clothes were 053c2eb9a9 made with 42198784a1 a crinoline b6ebdc7977 in mind, eb77c20f00 so the 2a516ed7f2 hem of ee8b4c5d93 the skirt ae7d754e35 was very 2472ccd1b0 long.
If she didn’t wear 2ae812445e a crinoline underneath, she 4780280d92 would end up dragging 5a8a29a2c5 the hem of her c7a7a4eaea dress around.
“Sigh, Fine.”
Anje answered 9a06ea2463 in a eced4c4ba7 low voice cae4f0bd9c and hobbled cb7095f582 after him 3c4f7eacde up the 8501a4a877 stairs. She limped exaggeratedly, as 61d990ce84 if he had forgotten 277139601b about her injured leg.
***
Aiden led 5f43940fae her to 9fedefe5af the room 7ccff0bac2 she was c4354b3f44 currently using.
Half of the floor 5023a56088 was covered with the faac4c3360 luggage she had brought, 2897ca9a5c and the room was 651a659b4f dark and messy because 702b2025cd all the curtains were 024c050cd4 drawn.
“It looks like some e14f49ba92 of my luggage is 228987add2 missing.”
Aiden replied to Anje’s 28d5dfe418 question.
“I put the bulky b58837f7a2 luggage in another room. It’s right to 0f2f994080 your room.”
He paused for a 7a27bc66e9 moment and then asked, 3b6701ada5 unable to contain his 215a049fd8 curiosity.
“Why are 198e4127b1 all the 9c2d18dac0 curtains drawn?”
He knew 19d5b716f7 very well 94799fd39f that it fb6f73318b was not f6bd08e83c good to f59998c7aa be deeply d9dbf71b2f involved in 68d3e8ddce her work, 2295b8e7ef but he ebb0c8e929 did not f8ecc24537 understand why e7984d3fa7 she had dd7aee665c covered the ca0787ace2 windows with e294aaa4d9 thick curtains 8b88966d99 on a d12726ea72 sunny day.
“The sunlight coming 0df6a1bc28 in from outside aefbb5c7b4 is too strong. What if I get e1f499c249 sunburned?”
Anje explained c36169a8e2 with a 5036e27d19 nonchalant attitude, b766078b34 stroking her fded721073 proud, white 8c4c0185c5 skin.
Aiden suppressed the 80140f46ea urge to say, 8a0e12a770 “Are you a e5acfba731 child of darkness?” 6107f9f45a and opened the 0f330d4db4 closet door.
“There are 5c359028b1 a few 8f3770f035 clothes in 088c955fe0 here. They might 3a49d94fc8 be a f2710d1a90 bit big, f608e8ab48 but they’ll 5d1cf0407d be more b6eb0ae0c9 comfortable than a00d9e3c99 what you’re 9a5722baed wearing now.”
Anje looked at the 59e25f069d clothes, which were mostly 5dcf649e55 of a simple design 8bc351816d worn by commoners, and b25356634f wrinkled her nose.
“How can they 7109c03852 be so worn 71a51a3f90 out―.”
“These are the 332aa6f9fe clothes my late e1bd6edab6 mother wore.”
“―They’re worn out, but fae261180d they’re still wearable.”8bcef07c387253fb

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