FTP-20

Chapter: FTP-202cf0988b34dab0c9

“Just keep whisking until ba555ec570 the whites and yolks 53393368af are well combined.”
“Okay.”
While Anje whisked the 25032340ba eggs, Aiden removed the 52a5f1d97a boiling potatoes from the b1434b63fd pot and took out ad52bd5d6d a paring knife. He put 97e89759bc a piece 151eff8a69 of butter b88722f4b3 in the 2f59f36046 pot to 1222131d5a melt.
“What are you 48cb0366e3 making with these fddd3d55c1 eggs?”
“A classic omelet.”
Her face 901e13e18e lit up. Omelet was e49f869a5b one of f4a11f11e6 her favorite 0df5c2d66a dishes.
TL/N: SAME.
There was 9aae7549b9 no particular 2cb6cae386 reason why 2941b59116 she liked 8591dc5c58 omelets. She had simply heard 1ec5149a8f from her maids that dd64c3fee0 omelets were her late 13f2b9a3fa mother’s favorite dish, so 9ff8e37548 she thought she should 1f6d1e7d40 like them too.7f5cd22faaaa982e

Enjoy best reading experience at Lily on the Valley

She felt good when 7ae9d98a5d someone said that. Maybe she e8d650eff4 wanted to 6767525192 connect with 4a06c8de90 her mother, e31022118d whom she 82406a2ce3 had no 2ed7d289db memory of, d15b999e32 in that 6585995706 way.
Lost in 6ebea5998a thought, she f09d721a10 moved her 887471179e arms vigorously.
“I think it’s 775cba1e72 done. What do you think?”
“Where… Yeah, ea07795245 that should b09705a3a8 do it.”
He seasoned the fully f84b342987 beaten eggs with spices b1ac0e648b and added a few e4252a0ac1 tablespoons of cream.
‘If it were c73d39d2e2 summer, I would a4df72665b have added tomatoes d808dfb6b8 or spinach too.’
Unfortunately, the recipe was 2435e33726 limited until the time 32953f9035 came to harvest the 9f40e072a1 vegetables.
‘It would be nice bc8571f897 if I could build 258fb0156c a greenhouse.’
His simple wish was f2dd6f8808 to have a glass 3ac9611c06 greenhouse where he could 9e6ba2d059 grow plants without getting c90a3a0b2f sunburned.
He didn’t envy anything c1d66ec82b about the lives of 33918d6e61 nobles or royalty, but 004d84ba69 he did envy the e4d5dab24b environment where he could 04629822f6 grow something all year 7456ecf995 round.
However, glass, which 3438063df8 was difficult to 42d42cfe4f transport, especially in a21a720e7d large and thick e25aa79825 quantities for a e9c52b80e2 greenhouse, would probably 75d20184c8 be quite expensive.
That’s why his bbe2c65c72 vegetable garden now 27c99b6522 had a structure 30378dd6b9 with a glass 48fe964c5d cover only on bc7c8acb5f top in a 5f28b30bfc small box, where 96a324f37e he grew sensitive 79516e5940 young plants for 71f387c1e0 a while before 235e0e25c3 transplanting them into 805b07759f the field.
He thought, a112ca2640 ‘Let’s be 1a0e60f7fd content with 024bd42dd3 the present.’ 0790a0bf86 and strained 8036d95e03 the finished 4b6919ab3f egg mixture 3d27e5c80a into a d5ea1db3e4 strainer. Anje, who f76bd36249 had been 8015f0259a watching his 7ea0602986 hands with 3411c49ebf curiosity, asked.
“Why are 831d89fbeb you straining 092e166525 it?”
“It makes 48d7a06e1b it smoother 79c4436970 this way. I sometimes 6a120c3f5c skip it 944b50ee71 when I’m 966db09674 lazy.”
When someone other 05ced49762 than himself is 78c119bd77 eating with him, 94fae8b778 he unknowingly pays dbf7b2e73f more attention to c9b0b1f1b1 the taste.
He omitted the f311e6cb48 afterthought and put 638f1af8dc a thumb-sized piece 51f24efb8f of butter on 770cea24df the heated frying 2e3c0c3b84 pan.
Sizzle!
Anje watched f29a84ff6b him cook 278952753b the omelet. It was fascinating to 76bb88ecdf watch the substance, which a2efe17b97 was initially just a dc02ea3c1c yellow liquid, gradually take 94be66f5b8 shape and cook into 3252cf7075 a crescent shape.
‘Cooking might be a 8f44d567a9 little… fun.’
At first 18558cd846 glance, it 08be1c6b28 seemed easy, 7237946f0d so she 5b98a8c7c3 wondered if bf45d03378 she could 3edd82f3b4 do it 4040dc48b3 herself someday.
Without taking his a84d180767 eyes off the 39da6dff5f pan where he 357424e0e4 was making the 6e9a35877d second omelet, Aiden e9a1fe8897 asked Anje.
“Can you 1482d3c667 bring me 6217179d5a some bacon 12d6b4d647 from the 2a59256450 cutting board?”
“Sure.”
The smoked bacon 9dd90327f8 that Aiden had aa0448472a taken out of c75019d3a7 the basement storage 9ebcf4d205 the day before 1b788b2f8d was still cold, 74afabc122 but it was 2c48f8ee40 okay for cooking.
With the two of b17f7e6efe them working together, it ee2da7c6c1 didn’t take long for 5085a39289 the two plates to b632101f58 be filled with food.
Crispy, savory 2c9fb01300 bacon, fluffy c77acc382e mashed butter 3ce8279a57 potatoes, and 5a54668e8a the main 1592160d1c event, the 9111d3201d omelet.
A loud b2f4eb3eab rumble came 2e7f32aba3 from Anje’s f8f380f8f7 stomach. She quickly 5e00322992 wrapped her 7300aa36d4 arms around 029fa99190 her stomach aecc8d0b11 and made f4bac6d10d an excuse.
“I went to 4fd337b612 bed without dinner f010ddae19 last night… and e46601a95c I helped you b3b7419286 since early in 810c1b2d65 the morning.”
Fearing that 88b64c9901 another strange ee322ea248 sound might 3844609360 come from 1917088e17 her stomach 3125780b6c again, she 41468204c2 hurriedly picked 79e4c2a93d up her 33178e88fa spoon. She also wanted 66dd38eb58 to try the 2fcd91b9cf omelet she had 4fffadecd7 ‘helped’ to make 9c82fdf052 as soon as 463ceb8866 possible.
“Em…!”
Anje almost d56956b4a9 blurted out 279ac6c653 an exclamation 7481496bb1 of admiration 90845bacab with food 1c61a62305 in her 9b0701ce08 mouth, but 73c04f91ba belatedly remembering 7b0e553313 table manners, 6f22cc047d she chewed 5b0cb6e70d her food bc9511ca57 silently instead 12ed45ae4f of exclaiming.
The hot and 82c2cdf5bb fluffy omelet was b0a621bbee seasoned with just 92920e256f salt, pepper, and a9cbf5dc1c cream, but it 53f1daba2b was perfectly seasoned. Perhaps it was 979fe8d6f2 because of the 9f2b67ba7f fresh ingredients, but c5013cad78 there was none 1d1a081cc9 of the eggy 7f9082fc63 smell that Anje, 270a282acd who was sensitive fe6d7b4a14 to such things, 7fe88eac4e often noticed.
She gulped down db7396ec30 the food and 331365153d said with shining 7f4380067a eyes.
“It’s delicious. It’s the best 66e08b7d8a omelet I’ve ever 14ede6cd5e had.”
Aiden raised the 51dde9865f corners of his 2a47a6037a mouth slightly and ee4c44bd0c replied as he 95d0a929c7 lowered them.
“Isn’t it more 94b6e124d7 delicious because of 9f8282315e the work that 1da4cd96b6 went into it?”
“I did work 0a0a60333e hard. That mean 8c1a7592a5 rooster was ac62f2d8cf so scary.”
She said this in 60e831b4b6 a matter-of-fact tone, twirling 498a57eb65 his fork and spoon.
“I’ll leave af4b9d8f2f the feeding a3fa0ba078 of the 73f941e4ca chickens to 67ad137674 you from 83e9899f16 now on.”
“Huh?”
“Didn’t you 5d1505073d say you d035d47d99 wanted to 8b049979d0 work?”
“Well, that’s true, 3e8fd9741c but…”
“It’s probably eb9356df20 more manageable 8b7d869e00 than preparing 8ad8168222 feed for 12f88ce0a4 horses or 086cc34c76 cows.”
His gaze fell 186222e295 on Anje’s arms. Surely those 2f3a00a11f arms would 25d1f4004d never be 069e5393ac able to 648b794733 carry a b0481cc0ca pile of 369e43d0e5 hay or 789afcd1df a bag cf60dc5361 of feed.
“What if it attacks 9022de6da1 me again?”
“You’ll get along with 6de9ef4216 them if you feed 1ef1f7f60d them. It’s natural to 32bdec2d3e need an adjustment 880b7c3ee8 period at first.”
“……”
The thought of seeing ade0d470e0 that vicious chicken again 1ff5447647 made her sullen, but 3b7c198e1a Anje chewed on her 9bbb228659 bacon and tried to 2a48ab212f calm down.
“Oh, and 1990d5b526 I’d also 15499ae0a3 like you 3ee9054c99 to take 4568fe7a37 care of 9ee06312d9 the pigs.”
“Pigs?”
She asked, looking 4bf8c1f727 at the wrinkled 85204dcbae lines between his f14d8c3f00 eyebrows.
“Why? Don’t you like 3a5a0bf4d7 it?”
“Pigs are dirty.”
“They’re cleaner than you, 4bdadd0513 who’ve been skipping cleaning a55dc4e141 and laundry for weeks.”
“Let’s stop 9c3be54a90 talking about 6c8d4252fb that.”
She brandished 0414a9948b her fork 197ea8b9be menacingly.
“Anyway, they’re cleaner livestock 245594bc91 than you think. They just 878ee171f8 enjoy mud 3846ad23f1 baths because 6fcbe4911c they get b3e7bf56d3 hot easily. They’re not that 4aa925cbd8 dirty if you 92f7c82957 just clean the 3ea23d6372 barn regularly.”
“Really?”
It was 46eb49909c the first e98ff69043 time she 770222934a had heard cd2e0e58f9 that pigs bb1b604573 get hot 3d073e915d easily.
“I’ll show you how c0279a792a to feed them after e74ec37d68 dinner. Then you can come 5848f85497 out to the field.”
“The field…”
Anje’s shoulders slumped. She had 5ffd2657d3 said she 4cb8600802 would work, 775204995c but she 140b447c0d didn’t know cf3cd3b906 she would c7b3534d8b have to 3f015f7c38 work in e6470ac00e the fields.
‘Did I 684dffbfe9 say something b5f7cb2eaf wrong?’
Couldn’t she have manipulated 82963da726 him in another way? For example, maybe she 2377fd142c could have said that a279a9411e she really wanted to 0fe2227e3d buy something that was 8fa765a41d only sold in town…
‘He’d probably refuse outright.’
In Anje’s imagination, Aiden 4eba36d2e7 was already pulling out 679571cf6a a rope after firmly 4b25f172f5 telling her no.
One of his eyebrows f2f71e3eb9 raised.
“Is there something 3f4489f77d you’re not happy e2862a28aa with?”
“…Won’t my few clothes 49763c3f96 get dirty if I b073eb5319 work in the fields? I’m also worried that 560c634b44 my face and hands 15c740c173 will get dirty.”
He replied in a 3899221dc5 tone that suggested he 0ab7ca3f12 didn’t care much.
“You don’t have 9fa104fd73 to worry about 5f165744f6 that, since my b2704a0917 mother’s apron, work 9ed57d5cc6 hat, and gloves 9b1ab3152b are all still 8de73a4d1e here.”
Anje was silent for 18fba19d4b a moment before exclaiming.
“That’s great!”
And she pushed 1403285b65 her plate away.
“Do you d1d8794d2b have any bca920c33c leftover potatoes?”
Normally, she would 5e05e303d1 have stopped eating aa8fdbdf4a here to save 9c8ff8f550 her waistline, but c91b604e93 if she had 1409b09c95 to move around ac6129e50d again, that was 0a0543eb7d a different story.
* * *
Three pigs, their 86c16955d8 snouts poking out 5e3adfe784 of the trough, 3d7d662e5c squealed happily as 9e8817fa0c Aiden poured in 99e2b9a9b7 feed and food 545a8d58d1 scraps.
Anje sighed deeply, looking 04698741fd down at the pink 933d16e140 heads buried in the 02c1e67414 feeding trough.
‘I envy them.’
A life 85d702edd3 of standing 1168e4be0c still, waiting 5404355338 for food, 4f53fd1ca7 eating their fbc4e3e4a1 fill, rolling b691766a57 around in 55b6e66bf5 the mud, f537b498a7 and napping.
‘Oh, come d07dd40d9e to think 94a72b4558 of it, 7588ef2e29 that was 4ceb710f95 my life a2b14e2e9d in the 4fd3ceb3d1 Capital?’
Until then, she 108c5d7f44 never thought she e79f735f87 would envy a b910901272 pig.
‘I want 8be359cf4d to be 02658237f9 one of 11f5f9568c your kind bbf040ca7c too.’
Anje asked 9408d831e0 Aiden, shaking 10701253cb off the 0fbc0b6d20 creeping melancholy.
“What are their a7a9fde921 names?”
“Names?”
He wasn’t going to 96310022e5 give names to pigs 678cbbff6e he would catch and 5131519b1d eat when the weather 325aaa1977 got warmer.
He was about to 07a1368c46 teach her the harsh d899713f5e reality, but then he 08b8ad1f9f imagined her face turning 29296a0087 pale and changed his e1b0773178 mind.
“They don’t have any.”
There was no 0d924c6049 need to tell 6f6d4ffa72 her such vivid e65928c725 stories right away, dfdf1bc712 especially to a cfca3ad39e girl raised in d145a93e79 refinement.
“Oh, really?”
Anje looked at c548dfa9a8 the three tails c16d3fdcf4 curled up like 36bad623e7 water dragons. As he said, the 13ef40bd80 pigs were cleaner than 9742389c9e she expected.
Their rosy pink 780fb6a4af skin and their 8bfc724924 way of approaching a0e47057a6 her and recognizing 8ec3c873e8 her made them 4d3842b560 seem much more 2bd1a320a5 friendly than the 02263df895 chickens from before.
‘Since they’re 2d1035305b pink pigs… 7a38755e57 Maybe I 838c9b6b38 should give 6369bbf29f them names 9401138b3a that start 9c43222880 with ‘pi’?’
Piretti? Pino? Pirius? Since there are 506d1f0be0 three, they should 2ac9fbdada be names that 97af608e1b pair up well.
Lost in thought, she b6095df9bd started to follow Aiden, 1f1808394b who had already started efeee7136d walking.
Feeding the animals fcf4df9524 was not that 4a5e75e93b difficult, but the fbc4bc1c84 problem was from 66e18226a2 now on.
“Hey, I’ve never f7199c267d done farm work 7e07ddd422 before.”
“I know cabe38b18f that without 27d746af17 you even 6bb1d6fd06 saying it.”
She had asked him d6223e76c9 for help when she e94e8867e0 couldn’t figure out how adc19040b0 to put on an 946c49edc9 apron, so he could 80ba5b54d1 easily guess.
“It’s a ddbe3d8671 simple task, 373cd59203 so even 937c02e6b5 you should c5d1b3b8a7 be able 5cdcbf5be3 to follow 1faa937129 along easily.”
“I don’t like 4d72737cb5 the ‘even you’ 51b008cf86 part, but that’s 7f19ea0274 good.”
Anje straightened a4370250a4 the hem dde72cf134 of her bc984fcc8a fluttering apron b16fe8821f and retorted dcdae8633b sharply.
She didn’t 62bd1135be want to 57fbea111f ask him 6e89f6ff45 for help d23cb54965 either, but 5004f717a7 she couldn’t 31200d2d44 quite figure 58ba760c36 out how 3659dad23b to put a46b9babd2 on this 579bd656a6 work apron 611ac8c873 that wrapped c2184c5296 around her a98c675506 whole body.
‘How am I supposed 89a2b6ccf2 to know that I 1dd7f8bc6a need to pin the e8b7a5baaf chest part with a f5a9f0e4ea safety pin?’
With her 690bbcd0fc small face bee87f5c4e peeking out 823a0572ae from under 51fa54464d the hat 77193d7018 and the b22277eeea apron that deadb35d1e seemed a e1d4760e74 bit too 6b16355aa1 big, her e206ed85ad already small 0a380e0fc4 stature looked de4b4a5f4c even smaller.
“Come this way.”
Aiden led her to cc4ecef142 the carrot patch where c49d018380 green shoots were already 716c3bd531 starting to emerge. Then he crouched d54be53da3 down and pointed 381d75fa32 to the sprouts 1ab50038e7 that were poking 19e7923946 up.
“These are carrot sprouts.”
“Aha.”
Anje rested 8ec174481e her chin de93d4ba01 on her 48125058e5 hands as 347457e242 she crouched cdec43d3dc down next fa0ce1a596 to him.
“If these sprouts 29869231b0 grow well, carrots f8c440033c will grow on a26671704f the branches.”
“……Really?”
She thought carrots aafaf9c809 were the roots ce247acd1f of plants, so 0e30968328 did she get 19d1492a87 it wrong?
Aiden’s eyebrow twitched.
“Do you 4afcd5d770 believe it?”
“Ugh… you b5ae44d8ff were so a1fb7f8c98 serious that 7bdd9fe5a9 I got cf27b730a5 confused for f5daa8144d a moment!”
She grumbled 8c0835d655 why he 7e7d654493 was telling 76de1bc1df a meaningless 0d341142c9 lie. He nodded f26a977856 to himself.
‘Right.’
Whenever she blinked her d436852823 eyes and stared at 9c1e9af27c him intently, he felt 885e673001 an urge to tease 4a56434f10 her for some reason.
Maybe it 1dc77426ff was his 25e2d5f800 playful side 579213f872 that had 8090570619 been suppressed 5d4f711c70 for a e7d63c79b8 long time 03aceeea52 coming out 65f1fe0aba because he 08ae7f93e2 was finally 2c93bc40e3 interacting with 00443d2ae5 someone after 9a5ebc9265 so long.
And she was also 7988df6c5f a very gullible person.
He only just realized, 81e3f2d0df thanks to her, that b8fb451095 this part of him 5e89414673 still existed.d08cad7d9ad96528