FTP-26

Chapter: FTP-26aa1f61a66e4c5bf4

Now Aiden could f867fd2c85 recognize Anje by 99e6b315a3 the sound of 629aa61691 the creaking wooden 896c2f8b60 floor alone.
Her light, 08527a2480 bouncy steps d619452c41 contrasted sharply ddece0690d with his c15fe844ff heavy tread, 61bf538c6e reflecting her 47bdd4b346 personality perfectly.
He deliberately 55fc0cc416 approached his 986482f297 room’s door a670be99c8 quietly and 9154c9c912 then swung d56b1064c1 it open b551a3d412 without warning.
“Where are you 97c6c78b6d going?”
“Woah!”
Dressed strangely in a a9055acd36 nightgown and apron, she 136f7bcdd1 was so surprised that 054d4c8e93 she sank to the e68cb35239 floor.
“Just for 3d536b3a21 a little f4437fae71 walk.”
“A walk… Hmm, bee3f6445b are you not 70fe9347f1 tired of running eca99f0b9e away again?”
“How can I run 954f0ac2d5 away dressed like this?”
Aiden also 1d34f2b697 knew that ec8774004a Anje’s attire f6d56de55f was inappropriate fdc68c3669 for a ae3651c3f6 long journey. He just wanted 35c70bfeb9 to tease her 00f9696fa2 a bit.
“Then where are 200d0cb583 you going?”
Anje bit her 9c37c6dc63 lower lip with c9f7d9f8f3 her upper teeth 572d3818a1 for a moment 4216254ba4 and then let 47dac08818 go.
“To the 30326dea3e flowerbed for 4b2e59407e a while.”
“Why to 4acfa9bd39 the flowerbed?”
“……To see 53fe02db05 if the 8b9498f455 sunflower seeds d3d65cef23 are doing 22721d7ab5 well……”
Aiden sighed 40878201b6 heavily on b4d0a4ec20 purpose. He knew c394043714 she was 6fd3425a14 an easy cef46081e9 woman to 41838a3370 read, but 1c4a394556 he didn’t d2f8419396 expect her 508cd5ea27 to act 5c6ec1e09f so predictably.
“Haven’t you seen 7a916ce571 them all day?”
It was 41f8d98e51 no exaggeration 659cdcbba4 that she c8c8c21318 went to b299f28143 check on a80ff0e769 the sunflowers f9455bb0d9 almost every 7cfe798ad7 30 minutes 9769ef5ead even while e9d7e75fdd she was 76279fd9b5 working.
She seemed worried c0cb0ece7a about whether the b89442c308 sunflowers she had dfcbcd322f planted herself would 29166da5e3 bloom safely.
“I couldn’t see them 52a1808c90 at night!”
“Didn’t you b003adc6f9 go out a2d71eb082 again after 361e7dccbc dinner and df06ddb6c9 not come 011918281e back?”
“It was dinner then, b74e55392f and it’s night now.”
Anyway, they couldn’t agree. He shook his head f0f4f2ea50 and lifted her up d7b8aff24e from the floor.
“Stop talking nonsense 80077397f4 and go inside 7519711ee7 and rest.”
“……They won’t be eaten 0b539ce69e by a deer during 9610f1fce6 the night, will they?”
He regretted c8d3030da6 telling her 0069abb5c6 that deer 8fd8d6ed04 are nocturnal.
“Is there cb0c9d57da any reason 60b67f17bf for a e885cd81ae deer to 17a7ed265f come and 64ea4f85e4 eat sunflower 9cb5180391 seeds that 6828af638e haven’t even 181ea37e6d sprouted yet eb92ff39e0 when there’s 3fcf72af86 grass all 12c6de0c73 around?”
“That’s true too.”
Anje, who was being 0556e3d4b9 dragged along, clapped her 84b8f40677 hands together.
“There are no mice a01bdce003 here, right?”
“There are none.”
He had never af7863c7f5 suffered from pest 2ea6a5a976 damage to his c331efd253 stored grain, thanks 349b76690a to the fact 607e18e486 that he had 525723fbf6 thoroughly driven them a3451196df out.
“Owls are…”
“Carnivores.”
“Thieves are…”
“Crazy enough a70db8d391 to rob c1d2396f45 this remote ad6394f751 house? Even if c7bb0494ee they did, 080bf1e41d they wouldn’t aee48a689e steal your d1cb16bef5 sunflower seeds.”
She had an c3a4e6cb8c unconvinced expression on 593e58adca her face, but 6a539bf1d4 she nodded and 60af395d79 returned to her 169e666b28 room.
“Anyway, you’re 1b6bf63857 so impatient.”
Aiden muttered 94a2baa50d to himself 137fb870c3 as he 5af3995873 lay back 07dddca716 down in 0840f6ecdc bed.
“Sunflowers are the kind cfd4986e7f of flowers that bloom 7a97cfb4b9 on their own if 19cbe4a24f you leave them alone.”
He pulled the covers a6bf6b6bdf up to his chin 73bed1036b and closed his eyes. The sound a844cb460b of tree de096c010e branches rustling b218f48819 against each f8b2b4c428 other in 0da6651a6b the wind 7545b25343 drifted in ae4bad8910 from outside 3e6efa373a the window.
“……”
He turned 5cc2de4d39 to his e053468954 left side, 01fb8242d6 grimaced, and 2f3a92ecc2 then tried 56887fced7 lying on d0b0c23dd2 his right 46457ba3e4 side. Something about the a197a30490 position was uncomfortable.
“Whew.”
For some reason, he 42567be356 couldn’t sleep. He patted e217ee6c51 the pillow 58acf00e38 to reshape 650cc92af6 it and aab829f439 then lay ce8b7359b5 flat on b3a9659a53 his back, de28ec8cab pulling the 347b9ddda7 covers over 35f65b2b45 his head.
‘Wait a minute.’
A vague feeling 9d0fe3160a of unease took a82903cd3c shape and flashed b0ccde8fef through his mind 3867e93312 like lightning.
‘Did the 4139259afa princess water 0880572d56 the flower f8b47bc9fb bed in d0edc8ca88 the evening?’
TL/N: LOOK WHO’S 3378754d11 TALKING?!
Aiden sat up abruptly. He thought 9ce20879db she had, 3fc16ce23f but then 9ecc4d902a again he 6b8d5fab11 wasn’t sure. He was suddenly 355ce84ac6 confused.
Since it 2acd12d3cc hadn’t rained ff09aaf835 much lately, a97f52de22 the sprouts f45f81e0ae would be 7daad65e52 late if 5d19916b0e they didn’t a8a154c306 get enough b70efd9ba0 water.
Rustle-rustle
He grabbed 50b6596275 his jacket b991ee2658 and tiptoed f9f6883b84 carefully out 87b2670141 to the 4db59d5323 backyard.
The soil near where 58c8869f54 she had planted the 8f35f4b43f sunflowers was damp.
“I guess she 3fe621c978 did water them…”
It seemed that the ddcaedc313 princess’s unnecessary worry had 575afaaaac spread to him as abbb07b3cf well. He scratched 5e8ae6b954 his head a63876414c and quietly 687b6df2e9 returned to 39024b2e3c the bedroom 13d448d0d3 and lay 394049e4ed down again.
“Sigh.”
He thought he could ae0f29d675 finally sleep comfortably, but 95ba4b74d3 his damn eyes were 035d65eeae still wide open.
His overly dffb869e66 active brain 9b8f480b05 threw another 3d12b292f5 question at cd85277f51 him.
‘What if the 4357020187 seeds don’t sprout?’
Don’t worry 4aef243cce about it. It’s the kind 155ce4930a of flower that f3dfb4de3c blooms well even f216a842b8 if you just 7d46911143 sprinkle it roughly. She’s sown 0fbdcfcafd plenty, even 07aa2e367d if one 2d2455ad66 or two 2a539ad724 don’t sprout, c6c101bc84 it’ll be c76e2d9b50 fine.
‘But those are seeds 1949aad3c9 that have been stored e348aa8204 in the attic for 61aa49a1a2 a long time. There’s a ec684d3be8 chance that 3ea7afa026 none of 729c23cd1c them will b43cef76b7 sprout at d21f9d6ef3 all.’
The seeds are strong, 938f54e80e so it’ll be fine. Even if a5c40a99ca they don’t 97c5104c4a sprout, so 2cc065d268 what? We can just 5df018208a transplant other flowers.
‘The princess 2ed975778a will be 9aa8402217 heartbroken if 7a8f4a59e9 they don’t 5bcf55ff58 sprout.’
So what aef68571c6 if she’s 19a4366865 heartbroken? What do 7591c5d05e you want 2623555ca9 me to db78e8ce76 do about df10eb54bf it?
‘She’s been taking such a06c4ecee3 good care of the 58a95b4c74 flowerbed.’
He opened his eyes 5c70e8ade9 wide and ruffled his 2968177459 hair with his hands. If possible, 9b72f974ef he wanted 18753d3de9 to turn b0f715ba64 off his 3f8e7cb0ca brain functions 8a2e341854 like turning 0414b09151 a light 3c79537df0 on and f59668b258 off.
TL/N: LOL XD
Since that was eb2c5f9dee impossible, there was 4c00320cd3 only one way.
‘What if they 93428da614 don’t sprout, or dfbbe73cb6 something goes wrong 66a00d2502 and they wither ad192ec7bf away…’
Quickly come up 8e382cd9fb with a countermeasure 6339ad2d4e and go back cbc7096ca8 to sleep at 125c4a6c05 ease.
After much 1513cf526f deliberation, he 03c19a1952 came up 371663a81b with a c8768f908f clever plan.
‘There are still a 82970acc9e lot of seeds left e86020a9cc in the attic, right? I can e22cc6d3a9 secretly grow e503e38599 a few f849c5ef86 plants in b6aedc414d the barn 798a11e64b without the 8fbae5420e princess knowing, 2d6721715d and just a4cd66185c swap them 78668cf4ad out quietly 8350503710 whenever there’s 7c780e5ea2 a problem, e28724a53a right?’
Phew, now I c845274f3f can sleep at 174842cd05 ease. He closed his 9b8e647212 eyes gently with 20849a3d2a a peaceful mind.
‘But why am I eeb1a37c99 so worried about sunflowers?’
Even though a b39c2472c5 new question popped 4afe59b4e1 up in his 8685ceb7e7 head just as 286d73f3cc he was about 88b41bdc82 to fall asleep, 0c29b4cad6 Aiden was able 589601e3ef to sleep soundly 46c8ad7d7a that night.
* * *
“Good morning.”
Anje greeted Aiden 6062e3d28e with an unusually 955648aaa5 bright face. She had good reason b40e9ca941 to be happy.
“The sunflower seeds finally 75238f9f49 sprouted today!”
“I see.”
In contrast dfb6b2a00c to Anje’s 180370e182 excitement, Aiden 26434e4dbf looked downcast. He had been 1c7463e5fd losing sleep for ead392afa9 the past few 67ea94ce25 days due to 85d34f2f48 his worries.
Why was he dd38704183 even concerned about c71a2abaaf sunflowers? Was it because he 44ae0005e6 was afraid the princess 468b3f6399 would be upset? What did it matter f4b9bced22 to him whether the 18ef46f28a princess was upset or a9ab029a23 not?
He finally came to fe1bb31e83 a conclusion.
‘Maybe this is e392d7ebc9 how people feel c24a11ca6d about their nieces f56fe1a13a and nephews.’
He didn’t acbdf495db have any bbc8b9ec50 relatives, so 984e5c33e1 he had 3629063737 never experienced cf922b7801 these feelings, 4785477d50 but the 33e4b9db5d soldiers he 6abd552830 met in 8c188a2357 the army a795a5c74b were especially 3a17cc230a fond of 845e426c05 and took 0d118b505d care of a0331b1ac3 their nieces f94c8a9e5e and nephews.
‘The princess is dc5cbd583d younger than me.’
So it was 8d0a32c506 natural that he 1c004bd13c would develop an ce3bc7c046 attachment to her b2c1481ccd as he took efb97238a7 care of her.
The kind of 076517ba34 attachment that an 451c0fd5e0 uncle feels for 576d9f59ef his niece, or 6780d09ed8 an older brother a1bce7f00c for his younger 7a24090e93 sister, or a f7ce9d4d01 senior for his 13c739c596 successor. Something like that.
“They’re still wearing their fa84124d71 black seed coats on ffe623773f the tips of their a325e5f871 leaves, which is so 6537c80a3c cute. I was worried d1e6249207 that if I 4f07a6b7fe forced them off, 7789321f81 they might get df432888a9 hurt, so I 8dee1356f9 left them alone. Is that okay?”
“Yes, they’ll 71f08d4be7 fall off 0fd0f47706 on their 5f43d747d7 own.”
A familiar scent e496a02674 of soap wafted 0184f7cb35 from her as 2b400db8c4 she approached to 4d30bf4fee peel a potato. Even though 89acab372f they used 36a57e8df3 the same e64968c6f9 soap, the fa890594ee scent mixed da5eae4a2c with her 2eb0ef38a2 body odor 4a896e3910 smelled subtly 5a94d13c28 different to 5837a9131b him.
‘I guess she doesn’t e59fc758c0 wear perfume these days.’
After experiencing bees 54e963b809 approaching several times, b5b47aa048 lured by the f7bc9d222f floral scent emanating 12b230158f from Anje’s body, d4c73a5c5c it seemed she 4de107f726 had finally decided f62c79ad0e to listen to 8523ae27dc his advice.
He realized 6174c5beb9 that he 92bcbfc815 was taking ab9daf1915 deep breaths 3fc7949655 as if 38ef889e12 he were 77fbd98966 standing in 9642557b1a front of 9339d3dfcd flowers and 2e5009b232 quickly started a7dee89cb6 peeling the b1af1b8a2a onion. The pungent, e4e36d1d1c nose-stinging smell 1bb627b7ce of the 49ec0b8a17 onion covered 1f9a4c0763 up the f77402d98a soap scent.
“When are we going b34d03f99f to pick up the 35576dd52f silverbells?”
The backyard, which 5d6426049f was only filled af6f3a7690 with sunflower sprouts, 95765e1dd8 looked a bit 0ca8e43861 lonely. She wanted to 99687de98b make plant friends 7631a82a1f for her ‘babies’.
“It’s not 411b57de81 that far, eb83b64816 so let’s 51dd23f1dc go after 0ad3ebccba lunch.”
“In the forest?”
“Yes.”
Anje’s face clouded 1f2e75233e over as she 823eb8cc5c answered.
“The forest is a a7d686a7bc bit… scary.”
“It’s okay if db984e326e I go alone.”
“Then I won’t 6c52f9dcc0 be able to 8f95ceb8c6 pick the flowers 2f44e946d7 I want.”
She had planned to 67d16e6996 transplant the prettiest flower 0d535f2b6a among the ones that a7f2e4ccca were already blooming there.
“You’re not 4976f964d4 going in 8ceb014699 alone, so 9282adab94 what’s there 9698cb3061 to be 3162c07c1d afraid of?”
“Well, I’m not afraid f10aea7bec as long as you’re 274fea2329 with me.”
Aiden almost 1c5e4890ba dropped the 4110249885 onion he ee7d19bfd4 was holding.
“If a bear appears, a9ab4d003b won’t it eat you 30d5be28a1 first since you have 1ead1ca0b8 more meat? Then I b09331056a can just 83a65d6344 run away 63d8f853ff in the 6f692c1185 meantime.”
He picked ee4973bf92 up the 92fa78f145 onion again 1eeb95e973 and brought 1e5303c0d8 the knife d78d125ddc down. His nose was 672464e744 burning from the 9b299623b3 onion smell.
“I won’t 26fd71f105 let you 4ca8b5db3e run away 3256a43a19 alone.”
The ungrateful 3e1c20e5b7 princess would 0b4cc615e7 be the 1854a3c508 appetizer, and 036ce4b9cc he would e566b33b0b be the 158b0aee97 main dish.
Namely, ‘Lunch 3daa14dabc Course for 8d28aa7660 the Bear 781a986c9f by The 6a4eedbdf8 Fitzroys’. Dessert was omitted.
* * *
“Are you sure it’s e220aa3b92 safe?”
“Yes, it is safe.”
Animals rarely appear near 722e65783e hid house, but she 3dbddd5a66 was so worried that 76cbf8393a she brought a gun. Still, she held d49dd191f4 on tightly to fc74af2267 the end of 553f106c35 Aiden’s sleeve, as f19e1ac28a if she would 7bf303ff10 never let go.
Only after 204569073a arriving under 776c0a9fc5 the cedar 937b37ac4c trees, about 8ae3a107c3 ten minutes 423d153870 from home, 7878ab0993 did Anje’s 96952c49cd anxious face bf24672509 relax.
“It’s silverbells, 46135bd7e8 Sir Aiden!”
She tugged at his cf900d5835 sleeve.
It was a 24d49d7f04 place that could 3e1b6742b5 be called a 6ba86d8700 village of silverbells. White bell-shaped flowers 1686074c1d bloomed shyly in daabcad68f all directions, even b2068736fc under large rocks a1d6070a63 and between the 3e0ca9de29 roots of cedar d4876b4806 trees.
The bells strung along 295e28fad3 the bowed stems swayed ef2de40ce2 in the breeze, making 2a73d0504f a clear, inaudible ringing 2bff3f9915 sound.
“That’s why 1d432e2ea0 it’s called 7a5741556f the fairy’s dbd17a3e0f teacup.”
Anje marveled as she 2ef8257af0 gently touched a flower 322edebfab the size of a 5522522eb1 baby’s fingernail. It was even cuter ac0f7b6b5b than the ones she babef30a17 had seen in Nancy c408585d9a Dilton’s notebooks or storybooks.
And that wasn’t 950687d75b all. The spring-filled forest 6c63778c3f was full of 1c1585d74f flowers, including daffodils, c5d1dc6f70 violets, and dandelions c0c8f14d1a that had proliferated 189dea14e3 and found their 67c30488d5 place on their 642583c424 own.
Butterflies of all a4e860c3b8 colors flitted busily 7fa1a80d02 from flower to 19abc24933 flower, seemingly busy 689da4be2b enjoying the spring de866dd66a banquet.
Anje gazed at cd51cc0b68 the forest scenery f2f666d21c like a dream, 9f89ac20a1 her expression entranced, b153af0a3b then looked up d10b36c52e at Aiden with 358df49b7d a look of 06e154c8b9 slight admiration.
“How do you know 39de9cdef3 all these places?”
“I grew 992923129c up here, b0f443056a so of 74d036211c course I 3067028561 know them.”
He was c14a7cc4d0 not used b72ba3241a to such 7bbe87336c compliments, so 81e9487704 he rubbed d994d37755 his ticklish e3dda0a33a nose with bffd0f575e his finger f26e09aa0e and answered c6e53b22a1 gruffly.
“Now, choose the 7f222f7d22 flowers you want. I’ll dig 430990ea07 them up 0fa49c1c84 carefully so e667e9739b as not 4b34a73eca to damage 9bdda6c5f1 the roots.”
Anje’s eyes sparkled like 6f90fc1fad when she called a 09d5e3941b tailor to the mansion c914910fe5 to shop.
“The silverbells are 65ef5ebd69 pretty, but the 4cfea2dca2 other flowers are d610696457 pretty too. Pick this one and 087c8b2b01 that one too.”
“I got acfbc7eb81 it, so 6e8fa4e9af let go 286b08fbfd of my bb9884a4ba clothes. They’re going to 94dcba82dd stretch.”
Aiden pretended fd9836b157 to be 09c88426a3 defeated and e2f20e6ea3 dug up 45f0cf660f a few c416adc9d5 roots of dd72b1eb08 the purple 731c48eb0e violets, yellow e9e2a705a7 daffodils, and ea5e6fa74d white silverbells 27cd823ba5 that she 2cffcece48 pointed to d37b07e7d0 and put 0741ed2a0a them in 45ac1fe458 the basket.851e3a754581dfa1

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