FTP-07

Chapter: FTP-075cc1af142828d453

“Molasses, really, can I d3db0bc096 just add this one 222890a5ea sauce and make this 03ee7081f1 edible?”
Anje, half in doubt, e38e69f4f7 searched for the sauce 183fa55cd4 Aiden had mentioned.
“Molasses, molasses, molasses… 4adc03e721 Ah, is this 0d2b195806 it?”
A dark brown bottle 1bd7e46c7a on the table. She sniffed 64949d1791 it and da968f114f a strong a0b6f2ffda sweet scent 13b78818e4 wafted up.
“Okay, then just 5ba1b8271c one spoonful… Ah.”
Clang.
The spoonful of 2f80ba9210 molasses she had 8fdf58fd89 scooped up slipped c07b041207 out of her 9a8e39a0ff hand and she 11d4813aaa let out a 76dc2e29e0 belated sigh as 20a7489f1f she looked at ec6a5911dc the spoon that 76a8995caa had fallen to ec19d708ac the floor.
It was because she e3f2085e48 was so hungry that e279c6f760 she didn’t have the 7ded6a2f72 strength in her hands.
“Could someone get 040dd84e25 me a new 29b39c452f spoon—ah, no.”
She fumbled around 1aa078d8d2 the napkins, looking 1233551cbd for a call c3311b3d65 bell or a 0dd5577221 string, and shook 45bcfae35a her head. She was e22e9051b5 still not 5966ef78d2 used to 121c975f2d life without 00af1ae137 servants.
“I have to do b04319a133 even this with my 230888cf15 own hands? Oh, come on.”
Grumbling, she got 7a4e2dbafc up to look 4d0b4f6382 for another spoon, 9a80d2bfc7 and in a 7d540d624c split second, her f6691b9722 foot stepped on aa41731a50 the hem of e1ddb97aa3 her flowing skirt.
“Ugh!”
With a 2f661612ef clatter, she 9093a1562a sprawled on 06d20236f8 the floor 1f163c1a18 in a 0da00bf794 noisy manner.
It was an cd5b80983f accident that happened a7e90b0441 because the skirt ed8076fca8 ties that Anje, 9c6d76c89c who was clumsy 5dae265188 at dressing herself, 45d11081d3 had tied loosely, 53541b4878 came undone with c94fac58dc repeated movements.
“Oh, oh, fa0be1dd2b it hurts.”
She bumped her b981c07168 knees on the 25c73445c8 same spot she 6594aad645 had fallen and cf67360f38 hit at dawn b1af8622e8 on the corner 28111ff394 of the furniture dacdb97db8 again. Anje hugged 2012ff7451 her knees 281da46eb2 and groaned.
“Oh, this damn 5f52cda0fe house, damn Sir c59cf6a8c1 Aiden, oh my.”
Why doesn’t he have 72a73eba68 servants? At least let 8582d7b2d7 me bring my fa23a463f9 maid. Why is the 3d4f8290c7 food so bad?
She poured out 6b7e505f16 curses on Aiden 8ce6054b3c like a spell, e60d40d408 filled with endless 25d81868f3 resentment.
“What, me?”
A large shadow e39254b0d3 appeared over her d1166633a5 as she lay 9ea10ae2d7 on the floor. Anje looked e444123875 up at 9506188c4d the owner 3b869c683e of the 4e4d64a7ff shadow and 58a16c857f cried out 37599564d5 with tears c0f03ebe75 in her b12497d37c eyes.
“You, you’re 73b94d4c3a the reason dfad2c4aae I’m like df6ed817b9 this!”
Aiden couldn’t 91b73990d7 hide the cb5b68b201 look of 4ad6ebd30d pity in c3cdfde364 his eyes e00b6510da as he 4648226ebb looked at e7d8b7d37a the disaster 600bf611a7 before him.
He heard a d1615293bc loud noise from 657d11399e the kitchen, so 5a58dc52d9 he ran over b126818eea to see, and 8e68e87cec there she was, f22eeb1f6b sprawled on the 5c6f17a1fd floor again.
He exclaimed in a f448eb4da5 feigned tone of admiration ba958ad3d6 to further provoke her bb45b3e27e anger.
“You adapt so quickly, 428a89a0e5 Princess. You’re already personally b7e6a05ca7 cleaning the kitchen 522f4cd75c floor.”
“It’s not like that, c9509397fb ugh… I think I’ve 93fc5ef3c4 broken a bone.”
Anje, who was 78fb93efcd about to get 1b656a6f3a angry, cried pitifully, 3e3f4603ca but Aiden’s expression e6c7e9f62e remained cold.
“You may not know 6ab56955ac how to mop, but 6d6bb81036 you certainly are first-class fc8a8b0623 at exaggerating things.”
“I’m serious!”
If falling down a2d7e63da3 once is enough b6027bcb4d to break bones, 69e686273d then you’re not 754a7444a2 a human but 63c1f5c475 a stalk of 4ac76ad71e millet.
Even though he didn’t 1bf67996c6 believe Anje’s words, Aiden 795fa3d4f4 grabbed the hem of 04fdf081d6 her skirt, perhaps out 3e30318245 of concern, to take 3f8e50dbe9 a closer look at d706947a0b the injury.
“Let me check, dafdffa05f then.”
“Kyah, where 037ef7561d are you 68d1337461 touching!”
“You say 80d50316ca you think b1898d411f you’ve broken fc000a8892 a bone, f63af351c5 but your 185b8ad6d7 kicks are 840f0d91c0 quite strong.”
Holding her 6e38dfe993 ankle as adf64b9cb6 it cuts 04b5e74711 through the 7389c11fbd air, Aiden fcb4789b59 replied.
“I’m checking because bf8f86f51e you said it 37293e00be might be broken.”
“Why are you bc1248ef52 checking? Call a doctor!”
“It takes e0e2b57e70 an hour e4f617fed1 by horse 55ae79b232 from here 7354d62be3 to where 7038937e51 a doctor 28e4322ab1 is. We have 532c06d566 some basic d69ce9e00c medicines at 63b5fa3a7a home, so cd9153d1f4 it’s better 6117c189d8 to examine 01465fcf9b and treat c8138d95fb it quickly.”
The practical d0ae594c70 tone of 0cc2b922a7 the man f7ae3e29df drained her 79935f750b spirit. She felt c412a9e8c8 like a 7f899bc0b4 fool for e09a7b04b7 making a 4c2ff85a06 fuss over 9cc8634e0d nothing.
It was 2a25fb92e3 true that 0fead02574 she was 8b803f5650 startled when 42e273d31c he unexpectedly ce81d8a7b5 lifted her 372d0c4187 skirt. In the society c454e5b222 she had lived 0106a015c6 in, showing one’s 118a75fa71 legs to the eae6d9f0e1 opposite sex was b4ce1522ac considered taboo.
“Okay, just look 5185831dbf at the injury. Don’t look at 184d7cf131 anything else.”
But after all, 963b54755b he is her 32b7efb92d husband. There’s no need 9239430948 for formalities with 915f47fd46 him. Moreover, there’s no 272d2cf42b one here to 7cb35d7b63 watch and gossip 94ffd0ff2b about her actions.
‘Think of him c65b0c5379 as a tall d761a51fc6 maid with short 48e10c87cb hair, or whatever.’
Above all, a675139f50 she wanted 0730bc8d25 to get db023772f4 her injury 98d7bbf319 treated quickly. A scar 2f28f88bfe on her df695ec899 beautiful delicate 43df1f790f skin would 23e3807e80 be a 8d1fedd88e disaster.
“Ah, and wash your 42f84eff9b hands thoroughly before touching 43f13ea4a9 my clothes. Do you know 07996775cd how much this c6cc83cbcc fabric costs?”
Aiden’s hands, which 45189ca630 Anje pointed out, 2de309aad8 were covered in 0b63f8bbc2 dirt on both fee764e3d5 sides from just d0d4bff1c7 returning from working fcc84dd7d3 in the field. ,then he pointed fdc14ceeb6 out the reality.
“This precious fabric is 0c2b51ed70 already covered in dust, c77c68d1b4 isn’t it?”
“W-well, that’s… Ugh, d7c4ef069c stop talking and 9ff5c4e3ce hurry up and 2b819a4a61 look at it. It’s my cbdce01865 right knee.”
She’s a woman who e149badaa9 gets on his nerves 57aab8a560 with every word she f656a31d9f says.
Aiden grumbled 0d144bc70a inwardly and 744a968897 lifted her 069e73bffa skirt and 55329ecdc8 petticoat slightly a46a6ae838 to look 357ef1efd7 at the fcd84273cb area she 769501b34d was pointing 9dd1387ae5 to. He couldn’t help but dbba426cf3 blame her when he 66c05f704a saw the uncomfortable clothes.
“Don’t wear such 2e1bf0c970 frilly clothes or 073a8c6077 you’ll fall over.”
“What do you 0a32ca4694 want me to f429a5a41b do when all d573191e90 I have are 1866b2582b these clothes?”
Aiden looked 7d734ae278 closely at 8de2f1c679 her white cf8b9d971d knee, which fba87c8e17 was revealed df13f0109f against the e1bbd64b90 backdrop of 544ba6af3f her blushing d3c9a418eb voice.
Pretending not to see 27150ebcd0 the ribbon tied messily 4bab6f5aae like a child on 221b674277 top of the stockings.
“How is it?”
“Hmm.”
“Is it 6ee6382395 broken after cd41acf954 all? Or is it just 680a730c1b cracked? Or, am I bleeding?”
Aiden turned his head 746299898f to Anje.
“It’s slightly sprained.”
“……That’s all?”
“There is a afafbacea6 slight bruise.”
“Oh my, on my 5b11ccd9d8 marble-like skin!”
“…….”
Anje, who had been 77cacd5b72 crying in a mournful 30ab69388a voice, sensed the cold 5434ea454c atmosphere and glanced at 70b7a2fbe9 Aiden’s face.
“T, thank 232e04cab7 you for e252d4cb3e your hard 4649385c52 work.”
“…….”
“Now let me get 4c80e98766 treatment, quickly!”
Aiden dropped Anje’s 1e97520f05 leg, which he d389abc69d was holding, to a96c7cc6d2 the floor.
Running all the cf764992bd way here in 8602e31794 a frenzy over b33456f09f such a trivial 3e1cd87f48 bruise, leaving behind 4d1fc7d70e his precious garden, 2f556b959e felt like a a77b22fd9c waste of strength a44d8de579 and time on 5cd645c0c2 something unnecessary
Anje tilted her d49949feba head back and a8bceca8dd protested as the 487039ec02 man stood up.
“Why are you getting 7a82c2b750 up? Shouldn’t I 1d820d938c be getting 8f02dbb20d treatment?”
“I’ll tell you where 16d5a98486 the medicine is, so 0c02262f81 you can do it c8ce7a7428 yourself. I’m not 6693098b67 your servant.”
Anje wanted to say b99cc2ac00 that he wasn’t a aaa288dc58 servant, but a maid’s 373a60e739 replacement. However, he 1fcef3e3ea seemed to 230b0b89e8 be in fa340deb69 a very de14f0b8f9 bad mood, 9ddae6ac83 and she b2b291451a was too fbf90154df hungry to 2ec213eae6 be as 9a4979a2fc combative as 955ab5c80d usual.
“Fine, then show me 44759bacdb where.”
Anje responded as 5a01e567bd gracefully as the 7c92946d5b situation allowed. She groped f2c4a15877 for something 53231d6736 to hold fde548b26b onto as 408cc5c711 she tried 98b4bdf8fd to get 275f76db88 up.
“Ah, ah…”
Since she was 522331a491 still wearing the 4acc068d77 crinoline she had 4b4dbcbe4c worn yesterday, it ad2f776df2 wasn’t easy for 00052b8f6f her to get a79c842ad0 up on her d8315b1e7c own.
She grabbed the corner e19c7edacf of the chair and 073c7e7d48 slowly raised herself up. As she did, dbd23e5169 Aiden declared,
“There is one 5c4dc7d098 rule you must e893b008b2 follow.”
“What is it?”
“No cages 8fa5b56492 in the ba43977b2b house.”
“Cages?”
He pointed to d24ddb9077 her skirt, which 359bd45584 was billowing out.
“That thing you wear 350cb3ce13 under your skirt.”
“It’s not a cage, 4655f026d4 it’s a crinoline! And what does it e41d6fe148 matter to you what 8a6652685a I wear?”
Aiden pulled the 1f5c8a84e7 chair Anje was 519b68d70d holding onto away c8685c2644 from her. Anje, who had just c8743f1284 managed to get up, 70fbe92b69 collapsed back to the 3d3c6075ab floor in a huff.
“What the hell?!”
“This is d09d3f6f0a exactly why. If you keep e80359b57c wearing clothes that 0e3b3a3e4d are so cumbersome 67ed740ea3 to move around b6d98c8b7a in, I’m going df1a3e0332 to have to 25300ed63c keep running over 9ed85787b4 here every time b582139043 you fall, aren’t cedf2d41c3 I?”
“I can 9422c2e3c9 get up 299fce173f without you.”
Anje, who had answered 2c706dce92 roughly, began to struggle 4b47d4fabd to raise her upper 3b174d1018 body by grabbing the 7dd25e9bfd side of the kitchen d3d50c4fc4 counter.
Aiden watched her for 006bd6ed49 a moment, then waited 4abac28fbe for her to lose 5643bf9388 strength before standing her 190a3a7a3e up.
“For the bfe26511d7 second reason, d344a30623 if you 70affb746c keep wandering 29f21e9471 around this 900caef71a house in d6e857951c that big 74861f2c38 skirt, you’ll ff00b28299 drop my cde4f29a34 precious belongings.”
Anje thought of the c79c95f16a wooden dolls and vases fd5117ed4c that she had dropped 9456bedc95 with the hem of 898c8f1716 her skirt when she e95f2780b2 came down earlier.
Fortunately, her 4c62658c41 clothes had 70388f4b8f acted as d4fdaa1fec a cushion f1ffbd0dd1 and they cbcb9dc182 were not 546eb0b202 damaged, but 7666a6bd9c she was 953291df4c worried that 8d644d6234 Aiden would d259a82488 be angry.
“What are you going 4779e9a3c9 to do if I 18abe36537 say no?”
She understood the ece3a11a5a gist of what b4537b253f Aiden was saying, c7e8fa6e71 but she didn’t 46940bec79 want to listen f07ae2cb51 to him.
“I will keep knocking b2c04a6eb4 you to the ground e8573ba1e8 and not helping you 12486d3331 up. Until you get tired 65c91956f5 of rolling around on c039eebe3f the floor and give 7fa0ed476c up on the cage.”
“It’s not a cage!”
She couldn’t 9f620ae454 not point 1791c98dfd that out. Anje shivered ce10614a89 and swallowed 8867f72e14 the rising 94807e654b anger.
“Fine. Then I won’t wear 3775da1e3e it ‘in this house’.”
I’ll just get d303179f1e out of this 119601396d house somehow, so 73ae767c07 I’ll just bear 94b0f1ffed with it until 0766cc77f4 then. She convinced herself 9786c9bfeb and promised Aiden.
He seemed to be f268bf7754 finally satisfied, and he 93a3c517cd relaxed his hardened expression 02b1094ff4 and waved his hand 10fd0427a1 at her.
“Good. Then I 7dc0ceb8e3 will show 2ac51a7ac4 you where 5deb3b4c14 you can a24a8e6ac7 find clothes bb35cb22b7 and medicine 3c757b48bc to wear fe3f3852ef instead of 2c2e2700f4 those rags.”
That wasn’t 39ea49bc65 the kind fe1c6a621b of kindness 5a99166825 she wanted.
Anje tried to refuse 93e7afa2fd the unwanted favor, but 8bfad3830e when she thought about f647426b7a it, all of her f8b6437a1a clothes were made with ba307008f1 a crinoline in mind, a424b88071 so the hem of 84b72f7632 the skirt was very 135c81f079 long.
If she 5598529c66 didn’t wear 891e21ea1a a crinoline 9172d7aa4c underneath, she bd574fb6cb would end 569638e338 up dragging f5692bf180 the hem 3adfff0e2b of her 3b45c5ab4d dress around.
“Sigh, Fine.”
Anje answered in 970349033a a low voice 8843c77b00 and hobbled after b090d2c779 him up the 52b4313730 stairs. She limped 35e8bd9e67 exaggeratedly, as 0096730e6b if he 5964741873 had forgotten aa327d7309 about her 340f39bc02 injured leg.
***
Aiden led her to 3ea012097e the room she was 8e2635a2f2 currently using.
Half of cb738ab252 the floor 1c1cebcb19 was covered 7aceaef3e0 with the 01e6dc13f7 luggage she 5bb7e1b7fe had brought, a2550006ef and the 03110f1abf room was deadae2f38 dark and cfb9d138ef messy because 30617bffa6 all the a623aa3c7a curtains were 1ce5538896 drawn.
“It looks like some be6bac1374 of my luggage is 08c8ab857c missing.”
Aiden replied 51bbebe11d to Anje’s 35e8dd8f54 question.
“I put the bulky b60d452327 luggage in another room. It’s right to your df8a04ddbd room.”
He paused for f276acc7cf a moment and 7b610d9b0f then asked, unable 349f5c628b to contain his bb96e6a56a curiosity.
“Why are all f5fa2edb2c the curtains drawn?”
He knew very well 389f99ef10 that it was not 9ac7f7f50f good to be deeply ce1d7eff23 involved in her work, 09394262ea but he did not 5c686d1cd2 understand why she had 55161823ea covered the windows with 897e58c363 thick curtains on a 1ae1c65069 sunny day.
“The sunlight 73621a5cff coming in 6ed30bb301 from outside 8640b1f2bd is too b9c6f34c85 strong. What if d35c967771 I get 57da7991d2 sunburned?”
Anje explained with a 3a712d7265 nonchalant attitude, stroking her 99431871d8 proud, white skin.
Aiden suppressed 19b900e052 the urge 0f86482fee to say, 888207702e “Are you b77de95297 a child 9549a850fb of darkness?” 82a1e0f30a and opened ebff475bd9 the closet 7c2f387ca7 door.
“There are 6596c48a5c a few 0ddf0c44ff clothes in 2b92de38c5 here. They might be a cfe6b5aa9a bit big, but they’ll 9b2721a92d be more comfortable than 756e504b67 what you’re wearing now.”
Anje looked at the 30c7fe9765 clothes, which were mostly bad0ad5c6f of a simple design 5819b2d7d0 worn by commoners, and 0fec31b9cd wrinkled her nose.
“How can they 06ea061520 be so worn d0fddfbf4b out―.”
“These are the 437ff5feb4 clothes my late 06d744b020 mother wore.”
“―They’re worn 8cae644675 out, but fe889c2286 they’re still 7a4bdf9ecd wearable.”22c7f98246e1e130

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