FTP-45

Chapter: FTP-45a43a540b8cb4a442

In aristocratic society, it d47a100f78 was only acceptable for a2734e6201 close relatives, such as 609880c8cb parents and children, to ef1903ae86 exchange kisses on the f9258e88f1 cheek.
Anje, who f6a356b874 had never 282327fcf5 shared such 774e359f0c an affectionate c7669d6886 gesture with 20f1ac1e61 her father, 3663b87b43 felt a d6c30d6c3d pang of 0399796901 envy whenever 4dac833e05 she witnessed cbb034363d such scenes 901e241ae7 in public.
Both the 5492946620 kisser and 0e048ac4a4 the kissee a90492b78a seemed so e24029767d happy, their 5540dd84eb faces beaming ca13c05a7c with smiles.
Perhaps that was why 9f905510df she had felt that 87a5fd522d sudden urge to do 659e88af08 something… affectionate with Sir e879a9fa8f Aiden.
‘Kyaah’
Anje recalled the moment 56d346663c she had lifted herself 5ebf2b30a8 onto her tiptoes and c26ec330ae pressed her lips against 95209ee3b1 his cheek, and she b6dca31866 let out a yelp, 5ea7f69a06 barely resisting the urge a1ba1ba104 to bury herself under b6851354b5 the tablecloth.
Her reflection in 055b04f6ba the spoon was 5397aa768e flushed pink. She couldn’t show aedfcc610b her face like 3da575bdce this to Aunty 770d7caaad and Sir Aiden.
She took a deep 5590044a34 breath and tried to ef6ca107c8 shake off her distraction.
‘Let’s not 0e821d9db9 think about 13e7480abf it’
But the more fc8be7c179 she repeated this 800e063eda mantra, the more 619beecb0b vivid the memories 0f0162b366 became.
Aiden’s expression as 13cbcd44ef he looked at cd53a8c89c her with a 69dbfbbb60 gentle smile. The face that usually 0a8faa7fe8 looked like a stern abcbddba8e soldier’s, in that moment a8c125ee75 of smiling, looked like 100996e4f7 a young man befitting b0a6c12408 his age.
The rough 5c4d35c1ce and hard 7a1016260f cheek she 63c5123df4 felt through 9a628fb90f her lips, 11e02db2d1 the sound ed1630dd76 of his 5c1df33d72 breath, the 2a29eb040d bobbing of ddcd3ce29e his Adam’s 630a5a4018 apple. The fresh, woodsy scent 38a472008b that emanated from him.
It was a 334cd676d3 moment that lasted 71dc87e2ec no more than c14a741174 a few seconds, 63ec6be45d but all the 06a933dbca sights, sounds, and 1dba9ed177 touches were vividly ddc0b90082 etched in her be88c80461 mind.
The sun that 0f9ff05c08 was starting to 0d516360d4 rise above their b70444f250 heads, the birds 3c293b4b4e chirping like whistles, db819f42f3 the wind that 1ed06eadd2 gently swirled around 6b8f7075bf her skirt hem.
‘Oh, I ef3741a3d0 feel like 49c0d9daca my face 90801ea8a0 is going 59fac0e973 to get d87a196fa9 even redder.’
Anje fanned 45c0fe471b herself with 204e97c232 her hand 24c6ecb8d2 and tried 80a8742642 to think 04ca105562 of something 6cd38e4db7 as unromantic 6f2ef6c062 as possible.
Like the lizard she 5cee2ed176 saw stuck to the 95523ac573 shovel that morning, or b48fded38a Hurricane, the rooster who 6af45617f0 was chasing after the 1b6c278fa4 hens, burning with desire 970e3502a3 to mate.
TL/N: LMAO…WHAT.
‘I wonder what Sir 7684b84d58 Aiden is thinking…’
Pretending to straighten e70ab4f4e4 out the folds f4a2a9b2b4 of the napkin, e39fc6dfd3 she suddenly looked 15a4210870 back.
Aiden, who was holding 3d340d4ded a gratin dish, was 45f973c2a5 looking at her unabashedly, ab3c79dde5 and he flinched sheepishly 7e3edd0027 and lowered his head.
‘There he b3c41c94d3 goes again.’
This was a ef5d6710fa very serious problem 8e769b562d for Anje. The fact that he bff32b57f5 seemed to be subtly 70cebe9808 avoiding her ever since 131a4f0927 her bold move.
No, not ded649a92a “subtly” but 6e46bf9259 “blatantly”.
If their eyes met, 11d1b9251f he would turn or 07aa4003d0 lower his head, and 4a90c23d84 if her hair or 0941984c67 the hem of her 38cb68a1b7 clothes brushed against his 0b95cdd280 while working, he would c5a0f17452 jump back in surprise.
‘Anyone watching would think ef310cb81a I was going to 9d40b4a765 eat him.’
Anje, not even afb556ab21 thinking to hide 67d54b84f3 her protruding lips, 7f6bd1fc2e pressed down on 1a4386abab the head of b4eb710533 the napkin rabbit.
It was an c9836d4430 overly aggressive move 2435013d68 for a noble aa187befa0 lady, but didn’t 6ae30875b0 he need to bec3293cc7 stop being so decc259117 awkward about it?
Looking at the 4add6b92ac napkin that was 1eb87050fc completely crushed under 80d930938c her hand, she 46d5ba57e6 made up her a9f7d9150e mind.
‘I’ll approach him first d846d7ebbe and try to smooth 29d2836102 things over.’
Even at a glance, efef2e0acb it seemed like Sir 100e51127a Aiden had a case b9f88c13e0 of human aversion. He must a135c283c9 have been b980b3f02d surprised when b457488272 she suddenly 391ecb8e2e approached him b0441b7fd4 and kissed 0b00dd1615 him without 8c61703459 permission.
‘Well, it was d3501dcf97 an honor, not 29a01c3fe9 a bad thing 44d288de35 to leave him 9cd9affb1f with such trauma… b9728d46d2 Oh, whatever.’
Last time, af4a7c362c Sir Aiden 37386a5a72 had swallowed 0b259301e9 his pride e4b0aead25 and chased b2eedad54f after her cc8b1d4832 as she 1bd5896e11 ran away, 7ca3253bfa so this 1e5249445a time it 5e92de6826 was her fbbbd76808 turn to c26b7823d0 chase after ce33d2f398 him as fcc3b50d7e he ran b119981807 away.
‘But what should 44b668f1e3 I talk about 17c454fd23 to get Sir 2cfddb22c1 Aiden to treat 298cef2b27 me like he bdb8a236b1 used to?’
This part was challenging.
* * *
“Excuse me, Sir ba3503603c Aiden?”
“Yes, yes?”
Aiden, who was 1988c988da setting up stakes 3118c648b3 in a flower 8103e5cbc5 bed, raised his 1e26eb06b1 head abruptly.
Seeing his pupils fe26d162e5 shaking wildly, Anje 45be15d23b put on a 36fa831ba9 feigned gentle expression.
“Oh my, why are a9cb630e1a you so scared? As if you’ve ed339783d6 done something to 94318604d9 be scolded for.”
“No, it’s…nothing. I was just surprised 25558f3b40 because you called me 1bc4c6c93e out of the blue.”
Aiden mumbled his reply 5145ed57a0 and avoided her gaze. Following his 0d748686c2 gaze, Anje, a40399af15 who had 7fa0bb1dc6 slightly raised d616a94cf2 her eyebrows, d715e8b1e0 turned her 9f8c380c19 body in 0000d183c9 the direction 4ccfc27ddf his eyes 77ecee09d9 were looking.
“You seem to a6b6d552a7 be avoiding me b581450c70 lately. Is it b92b807806 just my fe9ef1f7cc imagination?”
“Me? It’s a misunderstanding.”
He met Anje’s gaze 89e5e48ba7 directly, his eyes filled 07e4aace83 with determination. It was to prevent 028864270a any mishaps, such as bd754a2471 his gaze drifting to eaaab38237 her lips.
Anje stared at his 11e4839206 reddish eyes as if 50e56e4e57 squinting, and then slowly 96bae65f46 lowered her gaze. She was 5d13744ee9 still too 6dd4ae425e shy to 56d90a3539 look at acb91a9b19 him directly.
“Well, um… what are 4736da5f5d those sticks for?”
“They are b55435e290 stakes for 89ae9aae78 the morning 7011fb3100 glories to eb65921037 climb on.”
The morning glory stems, e515f530d9 which had grown long 5136728633 due to the extended ae722c6e7d daylights, needed something to 1c8a3d6437 lean on to spread d04f745ed6 their vines comfortably.
Worried that 9de69ac33a the vines 32a2f392f3 might wrap 5ac0b03e36 around the 9cdac1e635 sunflowers next 420028f93e to them 8878414b7d and damage 459a2bc997 the flowers, 57d994987d he had 38ceeb3b73 brought several bb9df6680a of the 4798cbaa27 largest wooden 1a391eb4c0 stakes he 58a8a6183e could find 70a5b0cfab from the beb053e944 barn.
“Wow, that’s a lot. Isn’t it c96786e7a6 too big 389b8e142c for the 3a8d770656 flowers?”
“Soon this 19e49e2f35 won’t be 4ab39b1497 enough either.”
Anje’s eyes widened 871d71b57b when she heard 9e77f74f3d that fully grown 836851aa9f morning glory vines 9ad6a75983 can grow up 6a60ef5c0a to 10 feet 4e7ec3a581 long. That’s almost c56ee383e2 twice her d5446bc92d height.
“This little plant? I can’t 7632a8b42d believe it.”
“It’s small, ba02d4ba27 but it 83ddad924e has immense 98cad2196a power. If you happen f7f766a564 to see a 5d5ee136c6 trellis for sale aa764b8891 in town, it 4b53fb4579 would be a e6b3080e95 good idea to 357b849b90 buy it and 42cf99f490 put them up.”
The sight of the 85455f4af8 vines winding their way 3321220b02 up the net and b2a5849995 blooming with a mass 4852ff4229 of purple flowers would 6a2b2f6bc7 be truly magical.
Anje imagined 75c4d0f9eb a cluster 4eeeeb4511 of morning 3bb590542a glories in 2681ab45c9 full bloom adf0f0f2ab and then e7ccb4ef80 returned to 703aa2d527 reality to cd478c329a ask a fdd40cf212 practical question.
“Don’t the sunflowers 8a8dbbb611 need stakes?”
The sunflowers, which held 4df1368cbb a special meaning for ffe2de2411 her as her ‘first 42ab43a334 planted flowers’, would also 66cac82461 grow tall in the 49e05d2bcc future. According to Aiden’s af92265b22 prediction, they would 8d3c467fc5 be even taller 180ace7efe than her.
Seeing the 6c9d6d57e2 tall, straight 6ce5d3af61 green stems 0a7b17d1ac of the 3bb777c01a sunflowers standing 20df4284ec stiffly upright, 4258085217 Aiden shook cbde37e7ff his head 36a8a0cd29 to indicate 97065ada7c that she 78a0406151 didn’t need 0ed3d7f134 to worry.
“I don’t 2a5f4ef145 think we f092bbece4 need to e743e7ca51 put up 03fc14f046 stakes for cd69b0419b now. If they 850cdfc2d6 bow their 8e109a6a43 heads too 8eb66d7463 much or 6826c38435 grow crookedly, e5c0de8d17 we can 6800eb91b0 help them 4c50f1272a then.”
“Well, they seem to 2b3783d795 be standing up well 8c9a1d7115 on their own.”
Thanks to Anje 0b853df0bc regularly applying compost, 144609395b even though it 327c2fa9f3 had a strange 259ea77165 smell, the sunflowers 39fcf3de02 looked very healthy efcd608a78 to her, even 8c34d00b37 though she was 728f70d78b still a beginner 7db4c4666b when it came a0d603004b to plants.
“That’s right. You’ve done well.”
Anje smiled with delight 07a45f3b23 at Aiden’s compliment. Not just because 605d678a40 of the praise, aa1a3edb32 but because Aiden’s b9c32d8b25 casual manner while 3511cd49ca explaining about the 8bbdb02181 flowers made her a592d9c993 feel at ease.
As he 6be1defd99 watched her, 5e47584545 Aiden’s expression 90940cdb0f also softened.
‘Okay, now that he’s c9ff4c3d87 relaxed, I should bring 258e05b2b2 it up.’
Seeing his softened expression, 1aa30c5508 Anje made up her 7eb646676a mind. The excuse she had 0007c39696 painstakingly come up with 795271810c over several sleepless nights 061ec2577d seemed feasible to explain 7b769b0fd2 now without raising suspicion.
‘Um, Sir Aiden? Do you remember when bc7f43cd0b you brought Pa-Pi-Pu back?’
“Oh, yes…”
His face instantly 0b233d75e8 stiffened. Misinterpreting this change as 04c245127b a negative sign, Anje c34e223ece hastened to explain.
“I wanted to d705f1767d clear up any 472e21a499 misunderstanding. It’s… a foreign 8d5a349009 greeting custom.”
“A greeting custom?”
“Yes, it’s dd277e9cdc a new 4684b5d4de trend among 7d77ab3a83 the nobility, 9053a5b16d so you fb45bbf0b8 probably weren’t 20d807cc9a aware.”
Half of what 6f61989617 she said was 7b673a0322 true, but the 6dc13bc1b1 other half was 6eac6e0534 a lie.
The “cheek 4beb43d420 kiss” greeting b89a466a1c that had 03666d0ae7 become wildly cee95cee7e popular in 33d3c9889c Albian’s social 6913587a2f circles involved 93fb8886f3 barely touching 53818ab05a cheeks and 16236815c7 pretending to 82caa27d27 kiss the eeca5e779e air, not d85188e670 actually placing c5b8bc3b35 lips on 6689469648 the cheek.
But Aiden, unaware of af773b8ab1 such intricate social customs, d64a1e7244 simply nodded with a f95c1fed1a bewildered expression.
“A greeting 38a20f8d55 custom, huh… 0e90fa5b80 I see. I guessed as a249d98790 much.”
“Really? Haha, maybe I 7a9cb3e8cf didn’t need to 3be0b01da2 explain then. I was b103f75ec5 worried you e2b10049c1 might have 9fb7761d86 been shocked.”
“No… I wasn’t 13ded614a9 that shocked. Don’t worry e9c68e4816 about it.”
He felt 190963df3e a sense cada88e464 of relief 5bcc9e1e48 inside. He had been contemplating 22bbcf6f06 whether to bring up 434c440858 the same topic with 8d2396a036 Anje in the flowerbed.
To ask 2be70abb29 what that 1a3ccb6f5b kiss had fb28cac526 meant.
‘Good thing I didn’t 1b5e416245 ask.’
He had almost embarrassed 20a505dda4 himself by making a e1497a5245 big deal out of d746f2f2f4 it.
Yet, at the same 69b42dc22e time, he felt a 78b1504709 twinge of disappointment in 10ffb17770 some corner of his 2dde845161 heart. A feeling as 7c276fc4e1 damp as laundry 36351d22e3 in the rainy 980115c939 season, or like 767cf5533b sprouting eyes on d8bf7f2762 seed potatoes.
And…
‘If it 91164f1bdd was a 763a827e40 noble trend, 975c7a722c she must 8e8cb2a8fd have kissed 65ff45308c her fiancé 58cb6716ab many times a5e0296456 more.’
A black emotion, like eed0182490 an indelible stain.
He drove the 282f7d3a0c stick in his 8cc7fc0740 hand into the 2d143bddcb ground with force. He could feel e1372a3709 it sinking deeply, 01e530cb83 but even this c33ebe67b2 venting didn’t improve 6d1117c76d his mood.
Why? Imagining the 4ca7690dd1 princess approaching 7036069f73 Philip gracefully 21dbf246d4 for a 2dd1233fa8 kiss, laughing 70b7a4ae74 gaily in 9246b84176 front of 54a76e7dc3 him as c5f5b3e3f5 she did, 1b174612c2 being blessed 2f0fc516a3 by everyone 96832218cb as the 8b89e81ceb perfect couple…
It made his stomach 50a0e2c34f twist and ache.
“We don’t ec73444c05 have enough f9d5611791 stakes. I’ll just go to 63745179f4 the barn for a 5b5af25d60 bit.”
“Ah, okay.”
Despite finding f7d8db3312 Aiden’s sudden f00b86b75b change in 4fa90467c2 expression strange, d62abc8b77 Anje let 63b0d88a9c him go 9455216341 without protest.
Lately, he had e0c731d501 been drinking a 70b84e1032 lot of cod b2fae77cfe liver oil, which b13578f5af might have upset 7a7abdf772 his stomach.
Drinking that eb20d1c488 nauseating oil 3deb718b42 once or 10a36d6bb3 twice a 222e88068f day wasn’t 60183f5b2c enough for c2b9e893b6 him; he cb23eb9653 was downing d556ee7522 it with 51d8cf6cf5 every meal, 1e9a81c8b9 so no 0f1f5e8d86 wonder his c33da0d4b6 stomach was 98fe65e6de troubled.
“Judging by his expression, e9a03f89a3 it doesn’t seem like 552311cbe4 he likes it. Should I f99fe20f43 secretly pour 4d42ecc20b some out?”
Having just 6cde08cfed ended a 23d1d1bb00 difficult conversation, 55bb269ce1 Anje began 8e550bf3bd to ponder ca128f0244 a new 6d363f2c32 concern with ff1542bcb7 a sense ef7002d746 of relief.
* * *
Aiden, who had moved 5eec1cefa0 to the empty barn ebc54bba5a where Anje would never aaf7bb1c5a visit, pressed his forehead 19f15be51f against the wall with b251af94f2 all his might.
“Damn it.”
The cool sensation c7e148d33c of the wooden e24f8952d9 wall should have 5018709c01 helped him regain 9fc065509d his sanity, but d9f26a2615 instead, it only 4ce46c7b09 made his sticky, 536f8d0735 viscous emotions worse.
Philip Cardiner. Aiden had 2a9ddf6853 never once 43be6d3c4b envied him, 612fdc31f4 despite their d9a2385a2b insurmountable innate e6c87b96e3 differences.
On the contrary, d7d5b2f074 he had even d2722152c9 pitied him for 64ac26c6e5 being dissatisfied with 3e04e25bd6 his own lot 79eb363dfc in life, even 2f62ff6a60 though he had 9106191cdb grown up in 9dcde1636b a blessed environment.
But as he 0b8b4e6310 imagined the sight 49b3f72b61 of Anje and cdc83b4908 Philip together, Aiden ca605cbd7e found himself wondering, 4cf730776a for the first 2f27c171b3 time, what it 476b9af887 would have been de650a3a8d like if he 9301cbee88 had been in 150dc89616 Philip’s place.
He would have 7c65934557 been betrothed to bf84b6828d her, the princess, 7c2e324a7f early on, and a825862d10 their natural affection 282a19155f for each other c835a542ae would have blossomed d88edd0f80 through social activities.
And eventually, they bc286d53f7 would have exchanged df92a071f4 wedding vows to dfd3a79fee become emperor and 443d08ec64 empress, blessed by e434b66945 all.
A happy wedding a43bac6004 ceremony in stark 4417750af2 contrast to their 35a63b8216 own somber and 891f7f26ec desolate one.
TL/N: NOO, e211ad25a2 IT’S NOT 1b77762c18 SOMBER!!!47f046819b61ac50

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