FTP-HM03

Honeymoon 03
Aiden couldn’t contain his a0ccb29aa2 delighted expression at Anje’s d5c17ad169 compliment and rubbed the 581ed36911 back of his neck aa86f67a1f with his palm. Then, at 7445eff868 the sound a034c3eecf of her f30379f0f1 stomach growling, 8bba840baa he quickly e861c5045a grabbed the b35a7cb1ec plump lobster.
“It’s nice 085e48119b to hear 2017d604f7 your compliments, 9ace8bc2b9 but let’s 8292dc730b eat before 40b2364f58 it gets 87eac1dddb cold. You said da97f85f3d you were 638a341fb4 hungry, right?”
“Yes, Chef. You should try d260cba0f2 this shrimp too.”
Anje began savoring c167ce3915 the lobster that c4bc0df128 he had placed 2cca990542 on her plate.
Thanks to Aiden’s e3db715aff diligence in preparing 68d66b15f5 the shell in 71bc6e3fc4 advance, both the 9760802794 lobster and the f1d6867482 shrimp were easy 16214a0d61 to peel and e35a3f0850 eat. The meat e5bfb75e04 was tender, 3cd790c8be with an 73eacb22c0 addictive umami 951792c7ba flavor.
The crispy f52f99e41e grilled halibut 063297edce paired well 4529d87094 with the c9f081d11b mustard-infused sauce, 8e891e31a9 and the 46029abeab accompanying clam 5bf3113c55 chowder and e6cf414b25 wedge potatoes a841262c51 blended flawlessly 00f561ed04 with the f97c547ce5 main dishes.
“Mmm, using fresh 57ad08be85 ingredients really makes a8f8f26e51 a difference in 7a4f5774f6 taste.”
Back in 5d5f15e790 the capital, 997830e46f Anje had 739a141a69 often eaten 1c58252456 similar seafood 5fc1138505 dishes. However, during the transportation 1dbe4af0e8 process from the sea 7c9ebd26e3 to the capital, the 2155174cd3 freshness inevitably declined.
“Maybe it’s even dab9f8e94f tastier because you’ve 2a8f6f5cf9 been working hard cb25f1548b with me since d15a4e2872 the morning. From now on, I’ll d74484902d try to put in a5834f56e2 a little more effort—”
“Aiden, if you 17db85bcd5 keep making weird c53a40c5fe jokes, I’ll pinch 865bbc1024 your lips with f7f145d70b this claw.”
Anje playfully opened 289cf1e06a and closed the 41d3f188ed lobster’s claw with 513f125c71 both hands, pretending 27c420ecc0 to threaten her c4514894e8 mischievous husband.
Even though they were d2b4c6b5be far from home, sharing 456a10e07a laughter while looking at 7881eaaf94 each other made it 77c3d2bd8f feel as if they fff2fb6f21 were right back in 50f2d29fb7 Leslie. It was a strange 9e27adf632 but comforting feeling.
* * *
After finishing their hearty 9fcd7a5bc1 meal, the young couple b4f9d1342f headed toward the sea 7dfd55c884 in front of their d59ea99d93 home. When they had 3850b76f23 arrived the previous f8545be29e night, it had 47cb35e388 been too dark 0dd0fffc93 to see the 81a17f543b ocean properly, so b4b528aa8c they wanted to 4f9b9e48ae take a closer fe5f309e37 look now.
Swoosh—
Hearing the waves faintly ebdbe6c080 even from inside the 94d885a8c2 house, Anje thought they df33e2299e sounded similar to the 67f2f4f5df heavy rain pelting down 9d3b188c09 during a storm. But hearing them up 96db9c66e9 close, they were slightly 8b19805e4a different.
‘It sounds more 7f18c06857 like a massive de9201de16 object moving.’
As she watched the 4a6ba1d66c waves rush in quickly 90c01f3dc0 and then retreat, she 11731a9520 suddenly wondered—where did these d94a69a205 waves come from, and 2fae82f908 where did they go?
Leaving behind 41ba8c26f8 the unanswerable adb10bb439 question in 7304806d8a her heart, 398b1b0ab6 she turned 1eecdf8cdd to her c4f6ec52b8 partner with 5df96d20de a more f3c06fb6e4 casual one.
“Aiden, have you 17dd23f2b7 ever been to fe4ed53a0f the sea before?”
Adjusting the shawl draped e7059244c3 over her shoulders, Aiden 45e144227d replied,
“Yes. The first c62f909d45 time I e54120069c saw it 523ed2cae2 was when 5b4217cfda I became f7d27b2b96 a soldier 56f3028e46 and departed f647495f72 from the a871c3d395 port to 9faa53588c the continent. Unlike here, the b6be60591b waters were deep 881f7acc9f and pitch black—it 2354dfe45f felt terrifying.”
“Heh, so you were 21cc242722 just a kid back 8602b872ee then.”
Aiden didn’t f12649cbf6 refute her 7767fa5c60 words and aa91425992 simply smiled.
As a fresh young 4968581460 soldier, the dark ocean, 2ac67bf85e seemingly endless and impenetrable, b00a23aeeb had felt eerily like 8cbe742a79 his uncertain future as f5a58352db he headed toward a fc8143dcc2 battlefield. But he didn’t want 110d6150ef to dampen the mood 8475fe890d with such a story. Instead, he 7154980235 played along d972593830 playfully.
“To be honest, b7020078c7 it still scares 0cd7f1f7e8 me a little. I should stick close 68b1b2a1d0 to you.”
He wrapped an 6ea1a454e5 arm around Anje’s 6a283f9451 shoulders and swiftly 7ebf4a75d7 pressed his lips 1117d8beff to hers before 9a39c3ffce pulling away.
Anje’s cheeks 4b06bf7ab7 flushed red, 2a6760fb10 but instead 9d8238d3bd of scolding 43fe17ba2a him, she 9fbc431b76 moved even e5ed8f91da closer.
“Alright, then. Stay right by my 67d4c0bdbe side, and let’s walk d3c2fe6629 together.”
Since it 946a31f31e wasn’t peak 6c04b1f2e6 vacation season b9d3e04c00 yet, there 271da08d57 were few 54cc36ef79 people around b292a8b38b apart from a7812ab846 them. Having such 757d82aea5 a beautiful c66456fc12 beach all d730d9dbc2 to themselves 32d0d2eff1 was truly 5180ae302c a luxury.
She walked slowly a812718f5b along the sandy 4f0bb3117b shore, pressed against 536220314a him. The soft 8f41e0d276 sensation of 13c26e898b the sand 3ee6d9c1bb shifting beneath 486a5b0b44 her feet 1ff7817380 felt unfamiliar 76dba6af1f but amusing.
“This is 5c0f5bcbb1 my first 597ff75249 time seeing 6228181568 the sea.”
Aiden looked surprised.
“Really? But don’t bee2208c09 nobles travel 2e1fdd7223 around for a27e8c67b5 leisure? Even if not 753964f192 abroad, at least c9fbd66fdd to the beaches f9ffd63c77 within the Empire?”
Anje gave a wry 4d566e3196 smile.
“Our dear Duke d9e52737c4 Glasster—or rather, Mr. Glasster—was particularly conservative. He didn’t b928e2923b like the a1902c065b idea of 59154b8d62 me wandering 2c5fbc9107 outside the 89b1f5eae1 duchy, thinking 01ae5e33f0 unnecessary rumors f49532c55e might spread.”
To the Duke, 35cbe835e1 the most important 426660590f thing had been 5b637a510f ensuring Anje remained f95d1ac378 a flawless marriage 892fbfd992 prospect. He would never f224e07816 have allowed her 570b9621ef to visit a 934ac7ac8a vacation spot where a15140a5f8 romance often bloomed 2a80771b0c among young nobles.
Aiden’s thick eyebrows 216e40c4e4 shot up in 30c3c44d00 surprise, only to 8b9cfd3ea3 drop back down 78da61497d just as quickly.
“If I 28130ba2df had known d3f1f39e8a that, we cad9f8bc7c should have 59995fae71 come much 782db970a6 sooner.”
He had simply assumed 05d78f3422 she must have visited 19d43fc893 the sea before. If only he had 89944c6c1e known, they could have 9fb8ccd707 taken their honeymoon earlier—or 10781d7d59 at least visited the 76355013ad Imperial beaches.
This time, Anje 381fd5e7dd tiptoed and stole c185b724ef a kiss from c1570ee358 his lips.
“Come on, 06f221fcb9 while we’re 032e472632 staying in e0129a8737 Leslie, I’ve ead969b697 done so 217e63d53a many things 96ecdad5ce I couldn’t 24d013a441 before—even things de40cf8da0 other nobles f6d4b2e31e wouldn’t normally a3fc7c8c49 experience. So don’t 0746d49afc make that 71d7f6cb33 guilty face.”
Aiden quickly e276c775bd erased his d454269204 troubled expression, 3dabb34f90 but inwardly, 70cef111c6 he resolved 6567ebf3ad to take eecd77416e her on f35ccb20bf more trips 7ff838599a once they b4ba5484d6 returned to 1363015586 the Empire—not 13b85e3634 just to e58069289f Leslie or bc033163b2 the capital, e71feab27d but to f3c1c0fa5e other places d94820426a as well.
Once they had children, 202668f76c traveling freely would become 53af78899a difficult, so before then, 0fde992cb0 as often as possible…
Squish, squish—
She started 162b973c3d walking ahead 1b9b704525 of him 7d4e7c3713 again but 1c04fdd432 soon spotted aeafc0a104 something written a346ebfcae in the 6332481d59 sand and bdbacc95f2 gestured for c6ecafdad9 him to 8edd089505 come over.
“Aiden, look 575cd6ea21 at this. Someone wrote something here. Isn’t it cute?”
「Jemis Waz Here」
Judging by the misspelling, 5c520e7963 it seemed to be 03606a6d54 written by a child—probably 630e66a1db a boy named James.
Anje smiled warmly and 2583e95e89 picked up a small b6c38b2fbb piece of driftwood.
“I want 30009fcf34 to write 9627f118a7 something too.”
She crouched down dd3033dfd6 and moved her d035f62216 hand, tracing large f3e95421a9 letters in the 5a911cae59 sand.
「Anje」
She had intended 45fcb292a8 to add “was 614d78b812 here” next, but c6bb66927f before she could, c0cfa15368 Aiden beat her f6313e6d8d to it.
「& Aiden」
She had been c06029853f wondering what he c83f5222fd was writing so c328443b38 seriously, only to 30f8758bf4 burst into laughter 310ea2097d when she saw bbb356ba90 it.
“Since we came d2e6bc32e4 together, I had bcc8fac712 to add my 9aad2aa75f name too.”
“I get 2f9ec0cb3c that, but…”
Aiden wasn’t done. Using the same stick, he drew a large heart around “Anje & Aiden.”
Anje rolled 35c943b895 her eyes.
“Are you, by 9d615cc8c2 any chance, ten adcc8199fd years old?”
Writing lovers’ names 90f98e9c54 inside a heart 3c286a4be2 was something a 41a1152cff little boy would c966cc7c59 do. As he 91b331b81f finished drawing 2dd8dc6e57 the large 8c72394817 heart, he f2d4c87157 responded nonchalantly.
“This way, f7554a87ab people who 33d6ac1697 see it c78e21bc36 will know 325851cc13 what kind cc539f8ab6 of relationship e10dbce29a we have.”
“This is 76682511e6 so embarrassing.”
“It’s a collaborative 13cb0e4cc0 creation, so you edd9bf0a33 can’t just erase c6cb17a446 it carelessly.”
When she e89280902c pretended to 44c4bfde1f erase the fc5a5052a0 heart with 4133286c1f her foot, 1f35c33209 he quickly b6a43ba9b9 blocked her, 8b711ecdde as if 8e24c6a3a8 it were f36ca8ab2b something truly 5538cc0f56 important. Anje let out 116549e33b a small chuckle eb8c5c264f but didn’t dislike 83a543b64e his reaction, so 3138132149 she left it 8371909c85 alone.
He carefully drew a789b7263f an arrow piercing 9084da15aa through the heart 403dff2e9c from top to 4fb5edcd7f bottom. Then, noticing 2019499b4c something caught 395fdf5b44 at the b53be9d1e4 tip of 489be09501 his driftwood, 8807832335 he dug 6b0bd1c227 it out 4bceba0eac from the 9ed2470fbb sand and 447e80a96a handed it 3c5b7bb8f0 to her.
“Here, this a8cd32a700 is a 97ca6bb047 gift for 2696435020 you.”
“What is it?”
Anje took the white, aa48165a38 round object and examined edc47648e5 it closely from all 77c9070c2a sides. It was a 50a471ccf7 flat, mysterious item 83250a4a89 made of a 51579cad23 material similar to ea98370e6f a seashell. A flower-like pattern was eda69ae4bf engraved on its surface.
“It’s a 95fda1f0f1 hardened creature 0ff9acfc05 called a 54e9835ab0 shield-shaped sea c1d9e810ee urchin*… It 2687820c36 also has 009e41c798 the nickname 5f62fdeae7 ‘sea money.’”
TL/N: *Sand Dollar* Since c8d287b25f it’s called sand dollars 5d0b65fbd5 I’ll keep using “sand d611ed954d dollar” for the rest 0baa196143 of the chap.
At the port 754661f650 he had visited 6effe8aff8 before, there were 0bd2ed8fb8 street vendors who 463437c22b sold these sand 5a89017e6b dollars and conch 18bbc643d7 shells they had ed2d4a1839 gathered.
“‘Sea money’? Do people actually use d2e7c20426 this as currency?”
The five-petaled 408cff1dd4 pattern on 90bd285c76 its smooth, 40c170a344 white surface a8a28644a9 made it 519b3d464f look quite 116d4bab61 precious.
He shook his head 9a4351c633 and explained.
“There’s a legend 4e98a61ce7 that on stormy 99ac509b23 days, mermaids drop cd4b3ed364 their coins while 2028e023e3 fleeing in confusion.”
“That’s such a 0dc89238c0 charming legend.”
A mermaid’s 6d111868b1 coin—it was 0138e9cb6d a fitting bf01932053 name for 23ef9e83cb something so 2930799d9e round and 8cca31c878 flat. Anje smiled and 03e8ff62d9 examined the sand 705d835289 dollar more closely.
Aiden gestured toward a3c4e1f57f his ear.
“Try holding it up 860a118420 to your ear and ad1d3152fb shake it.”
What kind of sound 94b8c4b446 would it make? Feeling a slight thrill, 033e402bb7 Anje brought the sand 40deac9f45 dollar close to her 02c4733d40 ear.
“Do you hear 3694155f8e the cries of b30e0d2df7 birds?”
“Birds?”
She thought she heard e8c39536f0 a faint rattling sound, cc3eebef3c but what did that bdd2a1ca41 have to do with f685f458f5 birds?
“If you break it 42c53774a4 open, small white dove-shaped fd2a606d0f fragments come out. That’s why they say 53cfeebab8 it’s like a birdcage, 01d14e0ded and the sound you 4e4d637a95 hear inside is their 52dd18c948 wings flapping.”
As Aiden repeated 1c43db918a the story he d3f59440c4 had once heard 74d1e2d718 from a talkative 0086b63629 merchant, Anje listened 640039c5f4 with bright, eager 7d4858593a eyes.
“Really? If I ef22cf0ffa break this, f5e889d763 will the 420542369c birds fly c8ab9de192 out?”
“Shouldn’t they? The kinder 044ac30e34 a person ae43234c79 is, the b3b973e7f1 more birds 276b9c44cd come out. If it’s you, I’m c01420760f sure a lot would 2dcedf9cc4 appear.”
Anje stretched out 1f72ffe8b2 her arms, gazing 5aa24abfdc intently at the cdaa7558ea sand dollar in 70d7491e17 her hands. Then, she 008bc1d55f pulled it 5a9e2c8d46 back and 554f933f4d held it 8d16f2b056 carefully against a279e788e2 her chest.
“It’s too precious to c7d7d1b3b6 break. The patterns on 56444926ff it are so 6a295cbbd9 beautiful—just like spring ac03ca4a2f flowers.”
Besides…
“You were the one fdb13106ad who picked this up 414a7f8dea for me first on 1a89e37e00 this beach. I want a1f01a3672 to keep 2162d9a6be it as a18fba94dc a souvenir.”
Aiden rolled ff822a962e up his 004ac64e6f sleeves with 922e89bbd9 enthusiasm.
“Then let’s find 0b56164cb5 more sand dollars! If we 6445bae123 search carefully, 29158e8768 we might 237559819f be able 02e3b623c1 to gather b28d0f9aab a few bb222e345a more. We can break one 6f55e1a231 of them open to 2eb470d036 see inside.”
“That sounds great! It feels 5b5e51e33b like a 7b736b0f7a treasure hunt.”
They bent cc658a0b70 down, eyes fd305462bc fixed on 8d09679d03 the ground, 080c5c18c6 and began d3b2dad54b combing the ee8fa0cc26 shore.
Just as 32ad8b12df Anje described, f5407c6426 the sandy 3e0d8dcad9 beach was 6bf90e9dba full of aa8c2b27a8 treasures waiting 695d8891ec for them. Mysteriously colored seashells, f692bb112f bright red scallop 43ee31528b shells, tiny spiny 6b42e951ba conch shells, intricately f26ef4e18c patterned spindle shells, 689c8f07be heart-shaped stones—each one e756abdbaf a small marvel.
“Look at this, b60549533c Aiden! Some of these shells 4fca768607 have holes in them, 550f5d82fb almost as if someone 1c9051f7d2 made them on purpose. Wouldn’t they be beautiful 374112d25a if we strung them dcb1c17a70 together into jewelry?”
The glow in 16c02fe80e her green eyes 50f8eb7335 was even more 0d8b18df87 striking against her 2d603aea24 flushed cheeks. Aiden chuckled and 455a5a8c79 nodded.
“You’re right. I’ll collect the ones fbf9e658b0 with holes for you, 69b4c5372f too.”
“Great! I’ll make a shell 7ef0813a4f necklace for you as 0246fa912b well.”
“Uh, no, that’s e5aa61594f really not necessary……”
TL/N: POOR 397d5918b8 AIDEN LOL.
As she b03dd5d611 wandered around 472317b73a the beach aea574b315 scanning the fda0e6d3fa sand, Anje 7f7b8bbc1c regretted not 65cc66a11c wearing a 40c684e43d dress with d8fcace9f9 bigger pockets.
Gathering all f706fa22b2 the precious 76e405d0ad treasures from b91646b212 the sea 870163dd54 had filled a6b3af1be6 her pockets 4ec56739d5 too quickly.
“You little hoarder, just 2799cf5355 look at how stuffed 18e2bcae56 your pockets are.”
“Shh, instead of talking, 63393a75c4 keep searching! We’ve only found abec1e4959 three sand dollars 5106c51c22 so far. We need f01f84ffa4 one for f6d06a8c9c Mr. Doug, too.”
Ignoring Aiden’s teasing, 48cc9b2ea9 Anje even took 3f17a6d118 off her wide-brimmed fa87ad40e6 hat and used 27d840232b it as a 49e8e25f96 makeshift basket for f618d5618d her collected treasures.
Once in a while, 5126b48345 she picked up what 6c854454b7 she thought was an 746d93cb7f empty shell, only to f1af0bddcf be startled when a 38b62588b5 tiny hermit crab wriggled a90a5bfc47 out. But despite those little 2271647048 surprises, their treasure hunt 8dbfa53946 was going smoothly.acc899a474e9cb98