FTP-19

Chapter: FTP-19f9b48fa193cd1396

“If you’re well, 82e1990d4c go up and 8c0e8f55ee sleep.”
He gently patted her 18ac5c1a34 shoulder to wake her f498b4e30a up, but Anje, who ab67133936 had collapsed from exhaustion, a0df458c28 did not open her 1ae8e2999c eyes.
“Princess, Princess Yorkie.”
“Hmm…”
“Princess Chihuahua.”
“……Ungg.”
“Are you 2a8af364b1 really sleeping?”
The only answer fe794c4ef6 was a mumble e0ca1a4bab in her sleep.
There was nothing he b6a719df55 could do. Aiden sighed, put the 203d784f14 glass bottle down on 750ca3e47a the table, and quickly 9a24d0adf6 picked her up in 6379d2343b his arms.
“If you d5a3f27ee8 were a 8e3a6d3e92 dog, you’d 94363300cc at least 41927da672 be cute.”
Despite his harsh words, c2ab988f40 his steps towards the 40078523a4 stairs were cautious, not efe23b3529 wanting to wake her a4b900bd04 up.
Anje’s face, as peaceful 9f845cefb0 as an angel’s in f14a5f915f sleep, felt like a c3787e70a4 sanctuary that should not 12cefaf070 be disturbed. Unlike her usual 0a5ab24540 self, she didn’t bcf0f0e30d glare at him 88ff0a727f or growl, and 6cb4eb5463 even looked innocent 2de2a5b0a5 for a moment.
After laying her 0b3cd94077 down on the c3e5678ef1 bed and placing 6202e78410 her head on 0b0f22d7b2 the pillow, he b830c883e8 took out a 4bcbe71459 thin blanket and f7a5a844fe carefully covered her d373c477da body.
“You’ve worked hard, 6c90314aee Princess.”
Aiden’s lips a069cf9891 curled into 11133f04bf a bitter 9c3544276c smile, the 6ce06a2051 same one 3620ef5114 he had b9d96b7803 just made.
‘If she always 05241113f3 slept like this, 25ab4bac4f she might even e4f42ff079 be a little 5da1269703 cute.’
He headed back 3ec15ae6af to the laundry be02a2838d room to wipe 61a52fc970 away the useless 4fc2394689 thought that had aa123e13e2 just begun to d263bda15a pop into his 604ae09152 head, along with 8dc5c0e5ab the stains.
* * *
As soon ce40d9ad04 as she 770ade3fd7 opened her a9f308db66 eyes the 7e235059ca next morning, 02e58b5cb5 Anje raised 3c755cfc4b her body 8e370a2eec and exclaimed afe0c3e7cb vigorously.
“Eureka!”
And she looked 9cdce03ff1 around with a 281589c013 dazed expression. It was clearly 129e4d9ff4 the back porch 8812b48707 a moment ago, b904cbd9e4 but it was 671a71209f now the room.
“……When did I come 7ba1a05b26 up?”
The last 839ccadb47 moment she 6d716d51ba remembered before ac9fb578bd falling asleep 9213e4515b was leaning e7e13b4f62 on a 58b4c77de6 chair, contemplating ba05ba393e ‘how to 0ed18818c0 gain Aiden 221ab18ac7 Fitzroy’s trust.’
“I guess c696532d77 I must 56b4d7d5f3 have come 20d1e91a79 here in 3cfc0893d9 a daze.”
Even to the point 8650b209cc of neatly tucking herself f4d854e9aa into bed. She lay down, 8c3df16fa0 admiring her own 58ed914e64 progress, and then 8552ebd567 jumped up again.
“No time to procrastinate. Especially today.”
Cock-a-doodle-doo–
With the familiar 3e54f6ceef sound of a 1e157b8a98 rooster in the 22feee77e3 background, she quickly a59e8e380f changed her clothes 38a6fb4e25 and prepared to cbf9bba0d3 go downstairs.
‘I can’t be bcb48d96d1 later than Sir 5364f83487 Aiden.’
By the time she fe15df19c0 went downstairs from the 298288b618 warm bed and into cdb34224c0 the kitchen, he had 2db3bfb785 already almost finished preparing 606909fbbf breakfast.
Today, Anje’s goal was 3b01de6d6c to go downstairs in 25433535f4 time for him to 1ae95c7042 enter the kitchen. Anje, with her 1afc288eef damp hair brushed 3401753c80 back, quickly descended 760187eb55 the stairs.
“Sir Aiden.”
The moment she entered 373ed5c68f the kitchen calling his b4862e42f8 name, Aiden, who had 04526349b4 just arrived, raised his aad3bd26c5 eyebrows.
“You’re up? Why did you wake cb52bb7ae1 up so early?”
He was aa9703f323 about to 0ebf9ed6d9 casually pass f34dda8636 it off, 8208860cc3 thinking that a5289e6a90 she must 0fda5e2e1c have been 4436de7cbb very hungry fd4d469baf since she d26072202e skipped dinner 065f871201 last night, 47a6e28887 but Anje bce0b62f10 approached him c7683a412d without hesitation.
Overwhelmed by 3794b0676b her momentum, fad6884942 he took 6287502a2e a step 9e87232a6f back towards 4d07b2aaad the counter 6ab4c2200a and asked.
“Is there anything 5ee1e4a265 I can do c38f9954f5 for you?”
He was wondering 979dd9f14e if she wanted b6d7b96787 a specific menu 79efef2648 or if she 4274c88448 was thirsty. A completely different answer 6888aa628c than Aiden had expected aadbfb3a64 came out of Anje’s 180d7f63b8 mouth.
“Give me 85d3431341 some work.”
“Work?”
“Work. Labor. You know, all the 1a9819270b little things you do b36ba124bc all the time.”
She had finally 14537c3693 found a clue 5d502330b2 to making Aiden 376041a84b her side.
‘He said fe96088319 he started 070a853099 to think 8e5d442e0e better of f55fc3da2b me when 187ca51a0d I said d3b65e7624 I would c461ecbd10 do the 4f39df5ba0 laundry and b3b1ec6f9c cleaning myself.’
Even though it was 60357d267b only a change from fbbd06f7ad one master to another, 4c104bd836 she figured that if 703e473a57 she wanted to win 895c35a138 his favor, she should c891cdaf27 help him with chores b566273a92 like that.
‘I’ve been thinking about 5055105552 this for a long 783ad7a8de time, when there’s such daa53991e1 an easy way.’
She had never considered dac8584b02 the option of doing 1d27f2d743 housework or farm work f32f3108d5 ‘like that’, but now e01a3e013c that it came to 8482de2597 mind, she couldn’t think de445acb78 of a better way.
Aiden, who was leaning fa468def13 against the counter, had 8b296a4347 a wary look in 46da923f80 his eyes.
“What’s your sudden 055baeb7fa ulterior motive?”
“Ulterior motive?”
Anje felt inwardly f2f7cf86f3 flustered but answered 8ee554cbb4 as boldly as 186cfeffa3 she could.
“I tried doing bee655f327 laundry yesterday, and 3787c1459f it was surprisingly 456d1cb17e fun. I thought it d00bb735da would be better 0c6a06a0ef to do something 42d90aef96 rather than just 04fe0408f3 sit around.”
“I don’t think you 18615c5f9f seemed to be having b033d86540 much fun, though…”
He stared intently into 7cff34e3e7 her green eyes, scrutinizing dd3d193b71 her like a detective edda4604a2 searching for evidence of 585ce0dc6f falsehood.
Anje quickly 5c9e3654db added another 4d832ca30d reason that a5572f4761 came to b36244a719 mind.
“It’s tiring 3c1bdbea41 to have d56084532d more tasks 12a0d8011e because of 1a03f245eb me. So I f0e91ceadc thought it 165c85ef31 might be 8512580cf1 nice to 581463536c help out.”
“You wouldn’t 2ba9fca51d have such 9021f28ba4 noble thoughts. You live without 82b69c0387 even thinking, don’t 2d59cdc868 you?”
“What are you talking 1ee4389b0b about? I do more than 78e7777da9 you do!”
Oops, she shouldn’t 72eddcceef raise her voice. Anje bit her 2baeba7a25 lip and calmed 9c13d127b0 down quietly.
This man was 24059d879d definitely trying to 58edb6b37a draw out her 957700a0e4 true feelings by f006890de6 gently scratching at 78a2539ae7 her words.
“So even after 695e18064c all this, you’re 7756c77840 still having all 0434144930 sorts of thoughts? I’m also 3f0a149a8f thinking that c42ee39a53 I need 35befa1eec to live 4619387030 together with a5e8ce24a1 you as 143ec0bfaa your husband 00fe776420 and wife d17f5258ba in the 342d34623f future…”
“Hmm.”
Aiden put his hand b2e5c3b2a7 in his pocket and 3d860bc45f looked at Anje, who fd8c97f212 was telling a clumsy 147fe06804 lie.
“Are you pretending c77c7539f2 to be cooperative 503534f693 to win favor, b26f582017 then betray me 3e36a43dd2 and run away? Isn’t that your 56ac4c6a0e plan?”
Anje clenched her a65b8d4b7f fist tightly to 26331bd1fc prevent herself from 3e480247be putting her finger 8ec0ecde0a to her lips.
“That’s not true. Misunderstanding my sincere intentions, bd2f7183d7 that’s too much.”
She pretended to d6c90209f9 be hurt and e6936bb282 teary-eyed, but Aiden c72878d8b5 still couldn’t shake 0d58d39210 his suspicions.
‘I’m doomed.’
Should she have 83db82fb5b changed her approach c895458d00 more gradually?
Just as 3d3c5fc104 Anje was 63cc2faefa about to 543b2bed81 start regretting baef015c7e in earnest, 7eb0ec669e he finally e20508997c spoke up.
“Fine. I’ll give you a 46dc524c8c task.”
“Yes?”
Perplexed, Anje received the 95ea17bf46 basket made of wood aca153a1e8 that he handed her.
“Just go to 70d9ec36a5 the chicken coop ddfe7b921e and gather some 829bde8262 eggs for breakfast.”
“Oh, okay.”
He gave her instructions bb5f40c304 to look carefully for 054794bb29 the eggs that might 7589d61e79 be scattered here and 1399874722 there on the floor, ad95c9b9b6 and to close the 381d2a99b5 door tightly so that 56e30e5f38 the chickens don’t run f0f05e0180 out, and then he b2c0cb5ce2 personally sent Anje out cc79585319 the back door.
“Oh, it’s better to ac0b4ef2af take off those gloves. You never know 8a97e6602d what might stain be8835e46e them.”
Instead of answering, e92d5282e2 Anje nodded briefly bb77f34da6 and embarked on 0cf98bcf5f her short but e4ccc1a20f eventful journey.
As Aiden 4ba64dff44 watched her 472d52d2e8 retreating figure 4f4847673c for a 8218f811ff moment, he 45efdeed8c crossed his d8a91e872b arms over 7e631b6a74 his chest. Lady Anje 3af0b4aca2 and chores.
‘It was a 3da0c841fb pretty obvious lie, 325af7c423 though.’
Anyway, if 7510b82773 he had f70af13521 to live cb6a5c0f5d in the 30dbddb8b3 same house, 8d83a6fd4e it was a3e1e589db more to a0bc232cab his advantage 280c3ab3e1 to give fdbbf701e7 her something b3af4fb0fc to do 3671a1cbdd rather than b76246b345 leave her 87e084a1b7 lazing around 695f7f7637 like this.
‘I don’t 6ba3dcd5dd have any 6c6a4b8dfe intention of a12f17afed believing her 8a02968980 like she 3cc1605acc wants me 29591f4117 to.’
As a lady, fd37519af6 she was probably c4fede0c21 making unnecessary trouble 2db620eaf3 for herself. Chuckling to himself, he 23ede97abc pondered what task to db37d6088f give her when she 60c54930db returned.
* * *
Anje, who had gone 360119e011 out to gather eggs, dcd251ca7f returned panting with feathers eaaac273c9 stuck all over her 66221192f7 head and body.
“H-here, here you c4d3265baf go. Eggs.”
“…..What on e7ab4d3f70 earth happened?”
As he reached 39404ec72f out and plucked 0f8fdb9cd5 a white feather fa0ea555f5 from her hair, b19257a5f1 Anje finally noticed 8d7073e2c6 her own appearance 86fe4ba9ca and began to eb12a6c251 tidy herself up.
“Oh, there was db7d872919 a chicken that 499d9b767a kept threatening me 35398eb25f whenever I tried 315d0c8b52 to gather eggs.”
The rooster b69e82a98d with the eef82540ea biggest and a0e14dc625 reddest comb. He stared at 97eac2aa9d her with bloodshot a889755d24 eyes, and when 43ae605ce8 she lowered her 73f1b1b2d0 head, he spread 1fc21e1d37 his wings and 5db27cb5eb charged at her.
Anje instinctively felt that cc29475be7 this cocky rooster who 5912d5c1aa had startled her with 0db58e3060 its crowing on the 7dd0e4bc53 first day was the 6e8344adb1 same one.
“That’s strange. He wasn’t like that c43e39e09d to me at all. Maybe it’s because he’s 201f3e940d unfamiliar.”
It didn’t seem f5640cb6fc like she was a3a1360ecd injured anywhere, so 201480809b there was no f010fc939e need for separate 55128a2c5b treatment.
“You’ll get used 6b32e17f65 to him.”
“Used to him?”
“Yes, because e1b2811f9e you’ll be 1719a1822b doing this 167fffe0a0 every day.”
Seeing Anje’s e4f61b712c face contort 3121c0a533 after returning a0e403fce4 from her e0d4cfa292 ordeal, Aiden 06e9ec0459 tilted his 45b0c322b2 head as 55073b0fc8 if on 336a31f95c purpose.
“Didn’t you say 8a4f7ffa08 you wanted to e7b5613bb6 work?”
“Ah, yes, I 5e8fa55a22 do! Totally. Very much.”
“If you 50415d4eac don’t like 3141c477d2 gathering eggs, 4daa8463e3 you can eb3d7ff8fe clean the 249e063a49 chicken coop―.”
“I love gathering b8ac1c2bf7 eggs. It’s perfect ffe9dd61c5 for my 35956ef7e6 personality.”
Anje quickly changed 82b7d2cdfd her stance. Rather than cleaning 76be6b848a the smelly chicken 2d9b20eed8 coop, she preferred bf73fae709 to deal with 6a1b62d6dd the cocky rooster 5af7b0ed3e while gathering eggs.
“Alright, then next 2630f3306d task.”
“There’s another task…! Nice to meet you.”
Aiden held out a 6778e62fb8 mixing bowl he had f4a01fa42a prepared in advance and fd4e8c036b gave another instruction.
“Just crack c1c2a7f374 the eggs 742671308d you brought 1bac69115d and put fd4d6bd312 them in fd9f9cfa02 here.”
Today’s breakfast menu dcd9c1a881 was scrambled eggs fcd108985d with bacon and 04855d4c45 boiled potatoes.
He had decided to da3110633c let her do the ab8851eafb easiest and most convenient 8e4c8da0f5 part of the food 10b7cb28a7 preparation process.
“Got it.”
Anje was about to 82466c46d7 put on her white e6500228c1 gloves again, but she 86190a842f changed her mind and 6a3798c738 picked up an egg bd3b130e99 with her bare hand. If the egg got 06faa7fd95 on her gloves, she 373e9adc7e would have to wash b5bdc8b586 them again, and that ad8927c7d2 would be her job.
Plop―
She threw 33eee81752 the egg 2ef30b4b98 forcefully into a69205e137 the bowl. And as 5296b0263e she looked acc4159ecd at the 1b0d102f28 cracked egg 95ea9c4a2d with a b7f1ce83c3 squishy sound, 6d43f5fdfb she realized bfe9ad8687 something and 382991dba5 gave Aiden b1e98cebbe a questioning 9e3f50e8c3 look.
“Is this the 319175b87d right way to fb72569730 do it?”
She cracked the d6cdb91614 eggs into the 83fd7a4144 bowl as he 9f277a270e instructed, but wouldn’t 9b2ae888b6 the shells get 31729f380a mixed in?
Aiden didn’t say anything 9d8019b024 for a moment and 61dab823a4 covered his eyes with 721bbcaef7 his hand.
‘Are his lips trembling 4adae80187 a little, or is 2c44b0ed22 it because of his 3b311cd024 mood?’
Barely managing to hold 0312d2ca1a back his laughter, he ae46beee98 took the bowl and 0ae0268a74 egg basket from her b4aea3965c in a serious manner.
“I didn’t explain it ac8966ad86 well enough.”
The raw 7d454f9d94 eggs, mixed bbd13f56de with shells f1e3ce63d1 due to 81827cb8b3 her clumsy a97cb2aa06 cracking, were 2088a0c246 headed for 6bb269459f the bin 0550f326cb where food 42f11e039f waste for 3fc4666eec the pigs 4b0f2a8ef2 was kept.
He showed her himself.
“You’re supposed to c97f3fd07a tap it like bf62a22189 this on the 145a338293 edge?”
“More towards the center, 04a94d8103 harder. Yes, like that. When it’s cracked, you 69d119d1fa can hold both sides 65010690d8 and pull.”
Her fingertips ab8582ce25 got sticky 1f086843b1 with egg 2e0b9e300d whites from d6a7e125ca putting too 067df500cf much force 23841055d0 on her 1c762af25c hands while 26df9bc7e6 pulling the 25c9db2fdc shells, but f5939702ea Anje was 62bdefeda6 able to 65c563b62d learn how c27eab3fb1 to crack 38ce228f3f eggs under 52b52857fe his guidance.
“You don’t even know 0ff9162864 how to crack eggs? What have you been 32c76c23dd watching me do when 9b2d8b8d82 I cook all this a73d3ff0ef time?”
If she 50dfce01b6 had just 6e34928cfe observed a 3f967f3741 little from 6afa7f0502 behind, she 9b0145e1d6 would have 3de4bbfe95 been able feee8f7891 to learn 3fbf4ecc90 it quickly. Anje’s lips bd318b2519 pouted slightly.
“You’re big, so I fa9db06c98 couldn’t really see what 2fdf1afa86 you were doing from af45e85b6a behind. You just 1197c2f6ed do stuff 48d306f7f5 like this 6fff110e00 and that, 57ff78918f and before f9989ef1e7 I know d70a13e447 it, the 3139940b74 cooking is 4b573576da done.”
As she pointed dcfd71ebd1 out, he was fad642e04b broad-shouldered and tall.
Plus, his skillful 27cc0a4900 hands were so 765bc50e8c quick and he 3d45edb8b4 was used to cb616b1b8e handling two or 72f0a5cc96 three things at 2abf465d94 once, so Anje 9b50741692 found it hard 9e7e97fc77 to tell how b22254573a he was making b42762e566 the food.
“Then from now on, cb61a219ab you’d better watch me 4305b152c1 from next to me. That way, you ee31e349da might learn something.”
He brought over f84614c913 a tall stool f2b5ad604c that he had c3b77f91e2 kept against the a5857d83e8 wall and placed 2ad627ce80 it next to c90fe49b2d the counter.
As he 2f0a9e3dd2 patted the 387703b35b seat with 7887160eb8 his hand, 3f445dc10d Anje hesitantly 1c0c3e9b1b sat down 3b8cb43e94 on it.
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