FTP-33

Chapter: FTP-33510a4475d03c74e6

Amidst the dd615f4685 blooming apple a07fb9ed9c blossoms, Anje 03d6a16bf5 carefully caressed 8a9d009aa5 the delicate 6d3d489c0e petals. She had promised Meg 63748de874 she would return the ed4582e4be favor with asparagus once 674f92b0c8 the first harvest came bc4e28a60c in from the field.
“How about we ccce7c95c3 have a light d2bfe2eb76 lunch outside today? We can also enjoy 78519c1093 the flowers.”
“Alright.”
Aiden readily agreed. The sunlight 4a63bff6e2 streaming through 09420d897b the clouds 3cfa2ad87f was refreshingly 2e8c5a8146 bright today, e3d2766ecf and the a10fc65e2e allure of 2e6c5121b6 the gentle dc2aeb7ea2 breeze was a38b2b3e9c irresistible.
A moment later, Anje 77f24cb3e1 settled under a tree 556e16c256 adorned with white blossoms, 409524d333 removed her hat, and 6675afedeb sighed.
“I still can’t 7cf8b5749b distinguish between apples, 2cfc57f067 pears, plums, and 687b767128 peaches. The flowers all look a1d40cfbeb so similar. Is this…peach?”
The flowers of fb06dd814c the fruit trees df360a7e8b she mentioned were c9432cee0b all white or 11ced67e80 pink and had 62e6c184b8 five petals.
Aiden suggested that she a3fe05ae1a could tell by looking 85f8d9ba07 closely at the length 29b8b43b27 of the pistils, but 3c310d1e4f it was difficult to 25515b0dc8 discern from afar amidst abff69f8b0 the popcorn-like clusters of 37184b950c flowers.
“No, it’s an apple.”
“Darn, I’m bb7d30e5a1 wrong again.”
Aiden replied with 4bbff7d584 an unusually gentle 1da4dec226 tone.
“So what if you’re 23447330e2 wrong? As long as 373977aa5a you can enjoy 31b6ea93b8 looking at them, a365578ff0 that’s all that 18dece5ad4 matters.”
“That’s true, it’s 7adb4f56ab so beautiful.”
Anje let out an 191142dced enraptured sigh and took 8c45bdca04 a bite of the efa3098c14 sandwich she had been 1c17d9d1a1 holding in her hand.
If she had 9cf8cf299e someone to send ee4adce983 a letter to, 881eed2a1a Anje would have 414863cee0 spent a long f267319bd6 time wondering how b73baf78be to describe this c96660e7db scenery. The sight 6e3028b9a3 of the e08750061b orchard trees, d9b66893fd including the 19ffd24104 apple trees 26d878e1e1 surrounding the 2f41504698 house, all 3399fcbd18 dressed up 8dac3312c9 in white fb048cae3f and pink, 840f4c3684 was like be43b3e18c a spring ac7f330717 bride or 05516f40f3 a devout 72588eaa3e priest.
Even though 1492193e4b her back 258fdb4e65 and legs 1fe41b39c1 often ached 231a8345dd from her a1bac2564a hard work 0dae678c96 in the c10f6bcab7 fields, her b1dd7f64bb fatigue would fbf1b92f3a melt away 23e4ffbc30 when she 3a7ba2c070 raised her 66fb08fd2a head and 4220884ae3 took in 35bd0345f4 the sight ea41a20545 before her.
As if 5aef9e7b43 understanding her 9d241d6700 mindlessly gazing facf711020 at the a8340187ca trees, Aiden ccab9ffd1c did not 60749baaf0 scold her 857d7e8b10 but left dc6856dd94 her be, f8fd1e4423 no matter 23e8c2ef38 how long 4e40fb6f79 she remained 98f37296bb lost in 0588d316dd her thoughts.
This was the 7ff8367902 spring scenery of 652463fd27 Leslie that could 6c31f4aac7 only be enjoyed 5039affd26 now. Then it would 30a54131ad be better to ba59bd2624 let them savor d313c966e8 it to the 2f9c6e0bff fullest.
“There’s the af3c96f5a5 best way 72092f4e43 to identify b50233510b the trees.”
“What’s it?”
“Wait until 2d206f2224 the fruits 8c150c3cc7 grow and 4eef55ea3b then taste 11cf09618c them.”
For a 227edee005 fruit lover 729d09725a like Anje, a419996c58 it was cb48cf2d23 a heavenly 310654cd66 method. She burst into dcb3512524 laughter and enthusiastically b4857b44f1 agreed to the 019640ea64 method.
“Okay. Once I’ve eaten enough 8ce4387381 to taste, I won’t a7ebf6c95c be confused about which 5cd65b246f tree is which.”
“Right. Oh, but 7a9797ffb4 I recommend 124c2cbe2b not eating a544445ad8 the apples 63ce8a1083 from this 3f9e62aca0 tree here. They produce 53b4f42b9d a lot e9d382bfcc of flowers ecdb450b4f but don’t 79e5b0871d taste very f5bde483af good.”
The bright red apples 96df7e86b4 that looked delicious on 3125f9ee0d the outside turned out 0748d32cab to be sour and 50d7880216 tart when one took c32b92db5f a bite. The hungry young 80b890629b Aiden had been 205143a3b0 fooled several times.
“Really? That’s a shame 46aef00575 for such a 41b8a0a486 beautiful tree.”
“My grandfather was going ecba9f9b83 to cut it down 7af1a0082a because it tasted so 425cf79b67 bad, but it barely f159facb97 survived after my mother 572dcb91db begged him.”
Unlike his 1cbe2b8ccf pragmatic grandfather, ba09db050d his mother 0327f7708d was a a71b8ad787 romantic who cf40f2b944 loved flowers 54c24f53c4 and trees.
“I’m looking forward to 3299a7ae98 the plums the most.”
“You’ll be 562472695f able to 01eae86236 eat them 932a41cc3f in a 79af6f13d3 few months. They ripen from July 0849bea40a when the weather gets fed1d3bf13 hotter.”
It was 55d048f6b6 also a 23f2ad943f delicacy to bf25d188d6 eat the 5e8bd65189 unripe plums a34fa6be7a by hitting 4c996d5080 them against c89effe278 a rock bf362d5875 to make 271614b986 them sweet 41a21c68cb and then b63346909a sucking out 040e972372 the juice. Anje’s mouth watered 4d042e32ca at Aiden’s description.
Even though she wasn’t 1cbd0b218b sure if she would fa7e8337f1 ever be able to 0716cdb435 taste those fruits, it 42be782aff wasn’t bad to have 01df0a31a4 a pleasant imagination.
Apple, peach, pear, a061f2b156 plum trees full 5b80b7083b of fruit on e2d4a9cada every branch… She 3aa42652fa and Aiden strolling cda74d683a freely under them, 44312e5dde picking the fruit 291be3a81a and eating it fe408fb4cd until they were 28cc960210 full.
Imagining it, Anje c8bdba0bed swallowed her saliva d44cd1fbbb and took a 1bf68c0af9 spoonful of apricot 92c1d2df3b jam from a 302a33ab1f small jar to 0a091a94ae soothe her regret.
Leaning against 28e33a5971 the tree 25d364ed95 and stroking 0a58ad0d20 its bark, 78cbfb721d Anje had 47b8074ac4 a question.
“Come to 51c21dfc2e think of 230700dbfa it, how 4d7ac96b07 old are 6db0c89d40 these fruit 073bd1b594 trees?”
“Except for those 83be9bd3f1 that grew wild, b96d4df6f5 25 years. They were planted just 7043873fcd when I was born.”
This answer was 00c85c7686 unexpected to Anje, bdebaf4ff1 who had vaguely b375b804fd thought that Aiden’s 46eae38945 family had lived c057a0189e here for generations.
“Then they 8f93a357e3 (his family) 8c45e7d724 lived in 491b9d2344 another area 6dbb031bd5 before?”
“Yes, I heard they 1a91c0bb22 were originally from the efff860517 northern region. So they 659f768d67 had a 4a757c3c80 hard time 1724af6a7e when they 9b680c6354 first came 815d2081fc here because cf3075cb81 the land, 97d191361b climate, and 7acb774204 crops were 212e680f57 different.”
It must 2560c2eb31 not have 52e625672e been easy fabb44c5a1 for his 9533326605 grandfather, who 844e038d5c was a f8a959170b successful farmer b0277b4bef there, to ca7ed9f015 sell his a54518c385 house and bb108829f8 land and a51094c3cd move his 1ea93bb568 base.
“Why did they 94840e7641 come to this 27b670c8b1 region?”
“I heard 77ee176885 that my 0d18982c9d mother was d273852cef not in e33eb71cd5 good health, fead0fd794 so they a3e0ad315a came to e5308dca23 the countryside fe6822547e where the 7237a16446 air was 7432da3272 good for 3d2fe3de17 her….”
He suspected 4c307db841 that the e301f34be2 reason they 82a141a9f3 chose such 46cf2644f3 a remote f8cedb26b5 place even 4a8159f815 in the 7e7a4b8eaf countryside was a2ce0eeee5 to hide 73e1010734 his existence ea71c442ac from the 6b68e5e1ac imperial family.
But why ae7328f059 was he 742f5d5464 so careful? Leaving the fa1cad7762 land they a4fd7a5fd0 had lived 9bab1ed6a5 on for 1e749556fa generations?
‘I was 7ebd02424b only a 808610cd26 commoner’s illegitimate 3351793046 child who d54034f87d played with 7ad093b906 the emperor 9422ee1850 for a 9c82e63068 while.’
It was something as 5e3a0fe9a6 incomprehensible as the emperor’s 05a9fffb23 abnormal obsession with him, f6420e8b6e but now there was f8c54c8700 no one to answer.
So he fumbled for 59dc0f42f7 an answer.
“I guess e3770126c7 they just b3f70d14fa wandered around 24d963c628 and decided f767c6d833 to settle ee5910d114 here because 802efbe043 it was ddd917bd5d the most dc34c42369 beautiful place.”
“Well, that’s right.”
Anje agreed and looked 727d3b284a around. The sky bluer than 2fefbdbfaa any sapphire, the towering 6b792702a0 green trees, the spring 81ad49d1c3 flowers blooming above and 114ae871ca below her feet.
“Didn’t you hate 430a1d7a3c it here and 10b69282b6 call it a 857bebe34e barn?”
“Huh, the barn fee08063e8 was just a d245dd26ef misunderstanding based on 4b20bb35d2 the size of 8796ba19dd the house. I’ve never said anything 42323f7c13 bad about the scenery. And the forest and af249f7f51 the road are completely 74243a9a97 different now.”
If she 63bf0bd1ea had known 559b068888 that it fea74d06ab was changing ba8a9daea7 so beautifully, 2200ccf1bf she would a4ef1dd272 not have 742b42ad76 judged it a2775832fe so harshly.
Also, the Dilton Farm 6a7f3c73c8 was no longer a 2133d4a104 strange and shabby space f024f98ea1 to her, who had 56da0cfd3b poured her own labor 9538ce40d9 into every corner of 85b861f9d3 the house and fields.
“Well, I understand. The Duke of c892920ec7 Glasster’s mansion must 5319b9ca11 be incomparably bigger. Even its barn alone 328890b95d would be twice the 1034114236 size of this house. The garden would e2c673fc3b be full of 1500338dc8 even nicer trees 50b0c668f0 and flowers.”
Anje cleared her throat e5c9f89817 awkwardly. She felt a1e428bc95 embarrassed when 33e46dd04e she recalled 0f69f724f8 how he f7df02a7be had compared 8f9d2abb9e the Duke’s c09b265daf mansion and 12854c3c15 this place 976685244f to her ad3d2d0c62 in every 1efcb105eb way when d569b57613 she first 9fedb2e49e came here.
At the time, she 4a94448ca3 didn’t realize it, but 12337833bd now she knows how 2e6f0e7e8f rude it was and bc8879a55d how much it must 5ef2d30641 have hurt Aiden’s feelings.
“……The Duke’s aa42de3f48 mansion is 7a6a69fd16 big, but 31b4d3b5d1 there’s not 48271e98ba much to 1def9f1742 see. The trees 76f51bbc6a and flowers 51bf61c508 seem so 289eef29b1 dull. The sunflowers b9c90ab5ed and silver b95ad0513c bells in 27c22ed450 our flowerbed 3d4c05bfb9 are prettier.”
Aiden was so startled 4681715737 that he almost dropped f76eee1054 the teacup in his 303ae4c21e hand. It was b97e6da64a the first 2fd6d26797 time she 2d5ba30124 had spoken 94e4827070 so humbly d32d6e14c2 about the 06d73a2fb5 Glasster.
“And…… there 532af6c96e aren’t even 245a6f0114 any pigs cddf55a91c like Pa-Pi-Pu.”
Anje, who 332528e290 loved her e61357c8f5 pigs dearly, 0da3e2eb8a finished her b530eede62 praise with 4336356b75 a compliment 413000097f about them 80397c8465 and snatched 586906b2d0 the teacup d038564878 out of 01ea1de357 Aiden’s hand. Her throat was 22e2779dd5 suddenly very dry.
Aiden, unable to take d8e2966249 his eyes off her, b0def7cc3e smiled faintly, which only 88d90fb77a increased her thirst.
She gulped 96a4a48c6d down all 44b5e199ae the tea d208ddb080 in the 3cdcde9dac cup and 26f090cd1e handed the 37dc841141 cup back efe14b05fd to Aiden.
“More tea… oh, b7cca48956 the wind.”
The flowers in 4cde2125af full bloom scattered 090bcadc92 their raindrop-like petals ca6f263c1d on the ground 95f72bbbf9 whenever the wind a4995a8715 blew.
The teacup 7d0f0440ef they held 04ce8480eb clasped together, 3dbee945ef the basket 51a145ebb7 filled with 8faf04480a food, not 340ffa626b a petal 581d5b82c5 out of bb14e581a6 place on 9706898f6f their heads 00b5dbc14b or shoulders.
She brushed 61d2a1b5a0 off the 61f50ed000 rose-pink petals 8b1a1562a8 that were e53a841197 stuck all e2049d6681 over her db97b514c7 curly hair dfe71669e6 and burst ae388013fe out laughing bbd3ea8e19 at Aiden. He was just 89b6ed7bd9 as covered in 4928b7cbac petals as she bc8e16bf30 was.
“Just stay still. I’ll take them 55525e2081 off.”
Aiden was c9180021e7 startled and 3f51452d2f flinched at b52346a134 the white, 9ea3e5afbb delicate hand 759fbfb16f that was 88322daeea approaching him.
“Ah, i-it’s fine. I can do fa0464bcb6 it myself.”
He turned and moved 8e38c53c58 away from her slightly. Whenever she came 9e30360791 close to him 26a4fb5b6f like this without 763a75ad4c warning, he felt 70493ac12e strangely like he dccf298597 had just drunk 20f90b98c5 strong coffee.
‘This is strange.’
It was a 6160a946ff completely different feeling deef78072f from the ‘seizures’ fe8bb8a3e1 that often came 8ba7ec2571 to him, but 705f105af1 the fact that ec33f19640 his heart was a7e050fb60 pounding was similar.
Could he have b4f4b02d58 been overworked without a681d591ef realizing it? Or could he be 01d188b39b showing signs of heart ea510e9fad disease like his grandfather?
He struggled 378fca4ea7 to find ca413e8596 similar symptoms 09a9d826c0 in a ee4937550e medical encyclopedia ea7c15a520 and eventually f7c5aa6a81 concluded that 658573c2e9 it would 095124d387 be better 4d4e795b05 for him 88332fb0f3 to drink 6950120e76 some of 524d4e667e the tonic a3a63560f4 Meg bought 11f4cc97b1 when she 34ffed7ee7 bought it 9fcbdbf4c8 for him.
TL/N: IT’S A b5983ec683 POPULAR DISEASE IN 4bf11cf87f ROM NOVELS CALLED df6d2d7c9a “FALLING IN LOVE” 36de5fb56d 🙂
Anje narrowed her eyes 9a438d7716 slightly as she watched ad8b8b2b3f him do this. He often 125281df96 acted like 4bfd93937c there was abb6153d22 an invisible f6a4b68392 glass wall cba0786fb0 between him 8c093607dd and her.
‘As soon as I 93688fb1f9 think we’re getting close, 5a13b49b22 he always backs away.’
Sometimes he 3f2beb8107 would be 8afbf56f6f kind, but eeef2a69f0 then he 915073deb9 would quickly d7d4227c5b put his e5749cb944 armor back b777fdd7d4 on. He was a truly 313c5eeefa elusive person to her.
Wanting to see how f927d482eb he would react, she 0b840088e9 turned her back and e65a99b10c showed him her hair 75f6d14568 this time.
“Then please 07a75a709f take off 8584e1ec7b the ones 3adbd4c719 on my 1d458e7f8a head.”
The petals 86f9a75bb0 that had 6c703b249b gone between 5698922343 her luscious 878bc48a03 curls were ab5c7ed8b4 tangled in ea49032bff her hair a79a72b019 and wouldn’t ba84188aea come off bb54278f79 easily.
With no response from ad41d528f7 Aiden, Anje thought he c913fc018e might refuse.
But soon 0a36575177 after, she fea4a11597 felt a 3ce9b8139a gentle fingertip ddc7a18172 teasing her 8c58cd183e hair.
‘What an elusive b88901dd0a person he is, bb530a3054 really.’
His rough, clumsy c0ccdcf1eb hands gently removed f2d65f1dd8 the delicate petals. It was a de51820f36 careful touch, like e6b48576d2 a musician playing 3f713b63c8 a difficult instrument.
He tried to break 7a56bff56b the awkward silence by 305d4ace58 bringing up a different cb14691c48 topic.
“Your hair has 2938c55b41 grown quite long.”
“It’s grown incredibly b991292474 fast since I 187811860e came here.”
It also seemed to 29064eee03 have more shine than 77312111dd before. She shook her 9f7c506974 unique colored hair ece9e9c78f and showed it ca02d30eda off to Aiden.
“My hair 9715e9749f color is 7ee0d908ba unusual, isn’t f39c8a7064 it? Because of this d76d17ec35 color, I once c6c80e01f2 had the nickname 08aea6448d ‘The Wilting Rose bc5af8c999 that Blooms at 157ada3ed5 the Dawn of e7abf9511b the Empire’ in 55eec8f135 high society.”
She meant for him 140d171fec to quickly compliment her 0492a27164 hair color like the bedcdefbe4 others, but Aiden was e51941ab7f not good at that.
“Ah, it a2bf34405a does stand 098c4ddd93 out because e4642a0fd4 it’s red.”
“W-What? Red?!”
Anje turned her 1391d7ed1e head and glared 4a7ac88af8 at him with 406d77d6f2 eyes full of 5fc2741df0 anger and disbelief.5abb068ae7977089

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