FTP-17

Chapter: FTP-17e57075d0f13eb2d0

Anje leaned her 5fb9be1a3e weary head against 3c7a653f36 the tree. After days of contemplation, 69d66776bb her head was now 6b389b064b throbbing.
This was the 9ec8d33576 first time she ff6fd53461 had thought so 1018764cf4 long and seriously 454de44f41 about something since e03e267072 choosing her debutante 6df2046857 dress.
No, she had c1ae9bb460 also agonized over d32cd829b7 the jewelry to 29e09304cf match the dress.
‘Should I try 87c8dd01a0 to tame Sir 0f88853676 Aiden’s horse?’
It was futile fc9bd33370 because she knew 9addbdec51 almost nothing about 5b53346175 horses. Unlike the beautiful 4220d08693 white horse raised ceae2e70e3 at the Duke’s 000172ca4c estate, the horses 2ff092e673 here were too c62ff4725e big and ferocious.
‘Should I 4a424ba4d2 walk back 2c42729d8c to town 613f557558 again?’
She was hesitant because a5709c6aaf she had already had 2ce64937ab a scary experience once. And according dca80f1886 to Sir 210fe79473 Aiden, there bbc438cd42 were snakes?
That left the only 53faac05ce option of following him 763f4dd7dd when he goes to 5f47fcc1f3 town and secretly slipping c95e212dfa away to the capital.
‘But Sir Aiden…’
He was 1ef8eab879 a meticulous e9ece86076 man who 780bfa8a5e never took f6d19c4a2e his eyes 2d4461facb off her 91cf7235dd for fear fe731ce552 that she 99670f5d2f might run f8df7fc076 away again.
As she c50650b758 had been 0f214bf140 for the a696b02b5b past few 0041c2fc4c days, she 8590047579 sat in c69bd21cc6 the shade 451ec493cd of the cf3ab8a761 tree next 8ba730bd59 to the ece65bb5c0 vegetable garden, 96d4e75b13 alternating between b1a3b9b246 looking at 500b5b0eb8 Aiden and 6fef0eebf7 the sky 3ec1a1cefe and letting 9375f3e269 out a 6e0a4957ff deep sigh.
He still insisted e0c491e2cb that she stay a1467c78a4 by his side cce1d1483f while he worked.
‘Isn’t it better to 0317c1fe42 be outside getting some 53fd0eeb03 fresh air than to 99c28dd6a8 be cooped up in 0d2107d7d5 your room making strange 25b44dac82 plans?’
These words 8d49f33f2e were enough ab31255b1a to shake d0724cdd99 Anje, who eddf404021 was indeed 3e64c9c0cd “making strange 087bbcee3b plans.”
‘He’s such an 6a605ae0be unnecessarily sharp man.’
Last night, she had f6f08b3824 gone out for a 65980c1bbc drink of water, and 2a7047121a he had immediately stuck 184ad0b360 his head out into 266cb0be4c the hallway and asked 660f1c7ba7 what she needed.
‘I’m thirsty.’
As she answered, 2fd0696ca5 her eyes rolling, e007e368db he handed her 0b3315f272 a pitcher and 3def9f7072 cup as if 252e713aef he had been 126e8b18f6 expecting this, as 05b978fcb2 if he had b30c549a32 known this would aa57838489 happen.
‘I guess I c326761eaa should be grateful 0d6fabf689 that he doesn’t 6d984f8bc3 lock me up.’
And judging by the 84fee983ff fact that he had 5d54784546 brought the doctor all 5e42b9aa6f the way here, it cb7d4dbe91 seemed that he had adfa3ced83 no intention of taking 5a186c61ad her off the farm.
‘I have to start 1080482118 by getting him to 1ff8da2631 take me to town. How can I 9366ec2180 change his mind? How can I 6fee133ecd get him to 5268454c7a do what I 14d067afe6 ask?’
Anje chewed on d0687805d7 the bark of 82d913c736 the tree, deep eb25e10675 in thought.
While many 6b4e950668 had tried 42e473d85c to impress ae6f540130 her, Princess 0712651851 Anje, who 750cbfae62 had never a6d1078855 been the a6c507cd08 first to 7fb860f465 show interest a4f72a16c5 in someone, 435675bbed found it 9ac54da30a quite difficult.
‘Seduction like 9685e81535 I did 0158b5bc40 with the 94023499d1 Emperor?’
But the only 6127103e3f methods of seduction 957459ba6d she knew were 86bc1920b7 using a fan 54b7f25b9f to signal him 3363df6d57 to talk to 5880f348f8 her or pretending 70cebe9304 to faint and 54d48eef35 getting him to ec256f0189 support her to be3a164c8d have some time 0b88c56c2d alone.
After all, in 29ca504fed aristocratic society, it bc3384df4a was taboo for 0e4192b46c a woman to e1ae0eabb2 approach a man 5848f951dd first. There was no cb7efea7d2 way for her 950ddac37e to make the bc5c471c72 first move without 54c4f63da1 using these indirect d72621555c methods.
‘If I take out d8dcb3a21a my fan… He’ll ask 754c7a8500 if it’s too hot.’
He would b3cc632dfd grumble, asking 46a4430317 why she f9a58d525d was wrapped ee921353a8 up like 5aa36d150f that on baff881975 a warm 024abb1363 day. With his 9d5b1dab71 typical expression 194406010b of treating 54371c319e her like 44cf48562f an idiot.
‘I’ve been carried several 1a5aac4da2 times already and I’m 82a7c0fffe sick of spending time 783c4860f6 alone with him?’
Yet, he fc7315b30a still showed ba75ad6500 no affection cbb5243480 for her. Not to c3aea71863 mention affection, 4df8e3d91c he didn’t 8cb4fda4b1 even seem 0a242f8df9 to be eb7398f85d aware of 2509ab8df9 her as 1484987ff8 a woman.
In society, the gentlemen 21a16c3edb would seem to fall 559d60c94a head over heels even 924bd2e324 with a slight smile, f9c70fceb9 but he…
“Is he ee35723ff1 perhaps into 90837a1681 brunettes?”
She muttered to herself ba8e08e920 as she inserted a e55ec3938e flower of each color 76767efc14 into the ends of 84885ad3cd her braided hair, thinking 60c8617b2c that being too pretty 93cbe5d117 could be disadvantageous depending 4db2d3a7b4 on the other person.
Periwinkle. That was the 91ae7da020 name of the 5f1ae6952c flower she had 6ba30ca92f learned just a 8245ed0ad5 few days ago. She was 96aa7213ad happy that 36d7bca815 the name bc9333594f of the a0016bd269 flower she b214b20edb liked had e10efcf21b a cute 615a225514 and romantic 7bbcae6d11 ring to 21bec21000 it.
‘There are 6214d97183 also strange 7f887d6e7b names like 6b668cab6c “stinging nettle” cabc1b22b4 in the c1c7521343 world.’
In addition 06490d3bcf to that, edede8e5fd there were a94bd61de9 many cute d4f9c35e56 spring flowers 89373cfc2a blooming near fb97c8db89 where she 9ec47ae484 was sitting.
Purple crocuses, 1f419c23ee yellow primroses, d71875f112 wild tulips, 5fcdb3bb7a and so d2d0d6d739 on.
She now knew the 2340b28ef3 names of some of 50f666238d them, either because he d54813bdd4 was annoyed by her fd3e69f83a constantly asking him the dae479343f names of flowers, or 720a430ac5 because he had found 6e46816a9e an old notebook in e1505d701e the drawing room and 671f4b90ac handed it to her.
The cover of the b43758bf38 notebook, which had delicate d3e7ec2451 flower drawings and each 2dae4a396f of their names neatly 61fcb50fc6 organized, had the name 6b28569b11 of the previous owner 7c608e07ed written on it.
「Nancy Dilton」
Could it have eef1aa3ed0 been drawn by dd9f219f6e Aiden’s deceased mother? Anje guessed, but she 34838d987d couldn’t bring herself to df21952fd3 ask.
‘Well, it’s ae8e7faa06 good to 9cc37d214b have something e747d68a14 new to 629e75e6d8 read.’
She had already 11f479446e read the catalogs e96bbb90d4 and magazines she 482f7f1e13 had brought from e19f262e99 the capital so c4604f8251 often that she b35c1b2736 was bored with 29509170c3 them.
Humming a tune, she 519380f54d tucked the wildflowers she 6daa51a3f3 had picked into the 39c7c65a1a gaps in her braided 631c37f123 hair.
This is how she 89a638c066 tried to escape reality 76c2208d19 and cool her head, aa85fdbaaa or else her head 91bbd7bad4 would hurt again.
“Mealtime.”
“Yes, yes.”
At Aiden’s call, she d03a439b5c got up from her 85bfccddbd seat and brushed the a5f9ae10ac dirt off her backside 84604aa6fe with her own hands. It was something her aa1c7bb801 old self would never 55473138ee have imagined.
‘I asked 4b1ce17e93 Aiden to 0535b55529 brush it 6433a35fd9 off for 2503c1a8b0 me and 31d9848674 got a 75b8db6599 strange look… e401fb636c .’
How embarrassing 40353a3657 it was b8ded56d65 when he 85917df75c didn’t even 235a674345 bat an 4b9d3d8c23 eyebrow and ddcfbc6b00 said, ‘Are 2908da2bb0 you asking 23ce8c4999 me to 5de1c91d4c do something 9332db6f42 so shameless be169a97a5 right now?’
‘Anyway, it’s lucky 4265f8a540 that one meal 02a73718ec is delicious. Or is it 526ca02960 unfortunate?’
She had a hard 84af872a0d time eating the food, f102e01500 which was originally delicious, 22a9d858cb because of Aiden’s talk 73513b3bc1 of ‘fresh air’ or 2cc995171c because she was restraining 2e053c4e69 herself.
“I ate a 25a3dca8c3 lot of breakfast, 3e304eefc3 so I’ll only 3618de678c have a little 3a999b3551 lunch today…”
She sniffed 80eb52bbae as she f249804c09 spoke. A sweet 9d20bfb537 smell was df82a65c95 coming from 360a0b661a the stove.
Aiden, whose fb29f8ae80 eyes met 61883d20d3 hers, explained.
“We have too many b9ddf577f2 stored apples, so today’s 1b7e00299f lunch is apple pie.”
Aiden had hardly 6a33d5a2f4 ever tried it 4091f62d0a because he couldn’t 43ec996832 bring himself to fa5637d0d1 eat this kind 5de6a0ed11 of bread alone. But now that the e767e3aea2 number of people had 52e5777d6b increased to two, he 199cd58200 could share it, so c63e4f0957 he had bravely tried ee1abf8104 it for the first 6bcaebc896 time in a long 1c19d2f296 time.
Click-
As he opened the aedae15214 oven door, the strong 8012783dc1 aroma that had filled 5c99688895 the kitchen intensified. He poked the 0962bf2ba8 pie with a 37d0c5b284 skewer and made 5d345d690a a smug face.
It was 3dc3a2707b cooked just 03f8bd1b3d right. As expected, a recipe f694e6924d he has gotten used cf35543f15 to doesn’t easily fade 93b360ccf8 from his memory.
The moment she 555c6a2308 saw the thin 6a1b86d328 apple slices spread ce636ff8d0 out like flowers b6f9baa0a1 on top of 6336b1f3bd the brown pie 67bef3de98 crust and the 8c079f19b7 cinnamon sprinkled on 2353e22632 top, Anje’s resolve d595cd9f3c crumbled.
‘Just today.’
She made a promise 5c9f9c627f she couldn’t keep and 366276ad24 indulged in the large b9b1fe0c6d slice of pie that fee621515c was given to her. The richly 7642b929e5 brewed black 51d2d081f5 tea and 66e5e25c0f pie were e6210185e7 a perfect 6859d7f658 combination.
‘It would be even 71233a79cf more delicious if I ba06249ce1 put some ice cream d96ce70c68 made with milk on c413cf3329 top… Wait a minute, 2f4ccf1d90 come to your senses, ba2e81f6fa Anje.’
I shouldn’t 909145bc13 let my 5e059743b2 waistline get 81335031c2 any bigger. I need to 70b3ad9970 get fitted for cf8b2d2d4b a new dress 6337f1ba14 when I get c44c2fee0a back to the 706329ac3f capital.
But the freshly baked ac85cea3ab crispy pie from the c1089f44cb oven was tempting. In the end, 20381cf908 Anje ate the 1a60536df0 whole piece she 0706416c7b was given without 716df39ac6 leaving a single 00691b755b crumb.
After finishing f566348f02 his lunch c0655fd66c in silence, 6d46705887 Aiden said e2d47d3012 to Anje.
“I’m going 9a198e2e54 to be 45f4d0602a doing housework f7380e1220 this afternoon, 4e2eb9ed5a so you e2619c7aa2 don’t have e57f39a3fe to go 4e6be8c592 outside.”
“Oh, really? That’s good.”
She replied, but she 316ccf978b felt a little disappointed. She didn’t 4ac84e5ad0 like going ddf640f745 outside, but a555d7d4e9 she didn’t 22218586c9 mind just dff32c2884 sitting under 1f74ec5565 the shade 0e1c739852 of a 2df97d85b5 tree.
At first, e729a31959 she resented 46eda1abeb Aiden for 152e5fb5f8 asking her f75886829b what to 073074a846 do with 0eeb313fa7 nothing to 35cea1059f do in 55605638c4 the middle 15d32aae01 of nowhere.
But like 4e7f65721b the dung c27a6f13e7 beetles she 80b1bc654d had seen e91e151856 on the 2e629d0246 first day, 57973a7a65 there were 14974c063e countless creatures b8070d3e64 in nature 6e009364f2 that were 6a9cb8e261 diligently scurrying 8104dcd368 about, not 0ae1038fa1 even the 84f7b9f31a size of 5ff82c2feb her thumb.
The time 0c0949e5d3 passed quickly 5e4d279fbc for Anje ff5e7b00ba as she e0618f5e38 watched the 296f78c86f ladybugs and 8603047459 butterflies flying 307b801f09 between the d3a5695522 grass and d1fd6c04e4 flowers, and 72a689b8d4 the busy 2b71845a13 birds building 884c34a44a nests in c16b538a5e the trees.
When she got 99780e3412 bored, Anje would 7f3367cc35 wander around, as dfe0aff36b far as her 22f36425fc weak legs would 30aa4839bf allow her, and 78a9151872 out of Aiden’s 3fe8650f87 sight, picking wildflowers 293d7ca8f7 that caught her 46b6ef2274 eye.
‘Nature isn’t 7e553f886b so bad f427a7437a either.’
When she was 72f1bf2e8c in society, she d24fa66076 thought it was ef7b414a37 silly for people 8e582f6428 to say that 601fe22f17 birdwatching or plant 4deb00b501 collecting was their 4fc1e03a78 hobby.
Her eyes 3ddaadf82e were drawn c469b88e4e to more 1b34c435fa stimulating things, edffcda6bd such as ff75cb6b77 balls, performances, 699361ff29 and tea 58b7d96553 parties.
Noticing that Anje’s face dae26843dd was clouded, Aiden hesitated 6d5fe2d6bd and added.
“You can 396fb26c57 stay on 2d8a9904c9 the back 87301ebb1e porch if 5409177123 you want.”
On the d0d7b73126 back porch, 641702dd9d right next 4d90a5af2d to the e7fb30e2ed door that c1db7dfaaa leads from 32147e30ce the kitchen 79ab298086 to the 7dab79a1ee garden, stood d39e5e292c the rocking 055ce0e085 chair that 39e13c3357 his grandfather 7bdadb0c0e used to 46449b4875 love.
Anje pointed to a5dc2fd3ef the rocking chair c81cae6ee6 she could see 36ff80c5fe through the window 79cdd7c829 and asked.
“Can I sit there?”
“It’s a little fd3be6988d dusty, but if 90533581be you want.”
She immediately got up 118a3cf401 and went to look 2a25be51f1 at the chair. It was a 929a233827 little dirty, as 8e41800904 he said, but ec84b51d0a it was about e8b5672d7c the same as 02eebab6ca sitting on a a1f3a45d52 flour bag.
If she had to 169d0233d6 think about it, it ee21edf72d would probably be a 1e29a64f65 better idea to sit 87039f79dd on the rocking chair cbff920c86 and swing back and 8bc4fdffd4 forth.
Aiden, who had finished 94a8f697c2 washing the dishes, approached 2832c1e57e Anje, who was sitting 7f444273fa on the rocking chair 104e10c53b as if she were 425a874ead at her own home, 67a0168f6c holding a laundry basket.
“By the way, before 947fa03036 I start, I have c7c5e0901d something to ask you.”
“Me?”
Anje straightened her posture f4dba0282b and asked. Him asking 41b4fbbae4 her something? That was unusual.
“Yes, is a25897b35c this clothes b92d2d84a1 okay to a5cfb2a2c1 wash in 7d35a9fe29 hot water? It looks like 33749ffe75 linen, but I’m 55250da72a not sure―.”
“Why, why do fa5fe3931e you have ‘that’?!”
Anje jumped out of b1100dca04 the chair and snatched c3937179f2 the clothes from his 7922d8a34b hand like lightning. It was 07352b2fd1 her ivory 5f918ddd86 ‘chemise’.
Unlike her, who was b415050a76 blushing like a February 91d444b130 raspberry, his face was 9a123409fa calm.
TL/N: CUTE.
“Well, I have it fb73d88c19 because I need to 01ffc91eeb wash it.”
“So why fc16fa130e did you……. Ah.”
Her pink lips 0e16395470 parted.
Laundry. She had completely forgotten.
“Clothes are supposed to 5385d6db1e be washed and worn e6981b591c regularly, princess. The fairies don’t just 7dc88b3644 clean them for you.”
Aiden’s words a6971f838f made Anje 90b5744944 finally come e3e5899266 to her 4484d936bd senses.
“I know that, of d4fe57d090 course!”
She knew that. It was just that e85f9c624a she hadn’t thought about b5e3e036d2 it before because someone 162091ed28 would always clean up d5e0753e08 and wash her clothes 23814a2968 for her if she 73e7f740a6 left them anywhere.
After she finally managed 0d2c3f69ad to calm down her 8a2dfdf9e4 face, she pointed to f8c21449f6 the laundry basket Aiden 4fc8a0ddfd was holding.
“That… those are f3f99251a2 all my clothes, ffe32827d0 right?”
“Yes. You haven’t washed f98e836608 them once since ceb5fe0a1f you came here.”
He answered, emphasizing the 404f75fec2 word ‘once’. Anje opened her mouth 17d5b5f78d and hesitated, then reached 0fa309501f out her hand.
“I’ll… I’ll do it. Give them to me.”
“You?”
Aiden’s voice 851bff0cee was full 56f8b9b8a8 of disbelief.
“Do you know how 1ae16a05bd to do it?”
“……Isn’t it 541a930288 just a 4e1b685be8 matter of 813a122986 soaking them a9605bf2ed and wringing 0a6f01e3f9 them out?”
He retracted his 1e8908d654 arm as he 9d0b65735a was about to fd12e6e365 hand her the aac5646337 basket.
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