FTP-26

Chapter: FTP-2686a23c0e45c3d945

Now Aiden could recognize 0c64e99c5b Anje by the sound b15cab5a37 of the creaking wooden 10f25b2184 floor alone.
Her light, 4932bf280c bouncy steps 6ef7930c5c contrasted sharply 0b7a419ff9 with his 033579d720 heavy tread, f653ced8d9 reflecting her aef348a8a9 personality perfectly.
He deliberately approached 8b3d6c5ed4 his room’s door 13a81a4023 quietly and then 44430a3706 swung it open b975bff807 without warning.
“Where are you cfa0be5eca going?”
“Woah!”
Dressed strangely in a 75b71a6842 nightgown and apron, she 75a5bc18b7 was so surprised that a906a67d46 she sank to the 7f52023af9 floor.
“Just for a 0a604284e0 little walk.”
“A walk… Hmm, 082f5d2f7a are you not 81dc959cbf tired of running f228034ee1 away again?”
“How can I ed92fbf2bf run away dressed e147c3d340 like this?”
Aiden also knew that 126529f9f9 Anje’s attire was inappropriate 0fa1a5f050 for a long journey. He just wanted b72e09c3b2 to tease her 4a6ccd2039 a bit.
“Then where are f8c1a78cff you going?”
Anje bit her a5adcb05e3 lower lip with 0cd193d3e6 her upper teeth 3a681643af for a moment c83c82ceef and then let fc01604491 go.
“To the 1ab775ae1c flowerbed for 5dec1be111 a while.”
“Why to the 9397903494 flowerbed?”
“……To see 0fdcca66b9 if the 96c790e71c sunflower seeds 7add814a36 are doing 5c549dcde8 well……”
Aiden sighed heavily on a5dc096339 purpose. He knew e61f973566 she was be1996b04b an easy 6d31c621f3 woman to 96ff6cc67b read, but 2bfb583a43 he didn’t 4437f520e7 expect her f631a59de2 to act fbc8f6b800 so predictably.
“Haven’t you 70ae3cbb1d seen them 8369add53b all day?”
It was af5c07640a no exaggeration 62cfec4417 that she cf0ad0c1e6 went to ee26bacdff check on 1d8016b1af the sunflowers 7279b1688d almost every 879ae3f0b0 30 minutes 327f2b1c08 even while 4ed9c6bc73 she was 43022fb514 working.
She seemed worried about 5cf570f902 whether the sunflowers she 1c704bd83b had planted herself would 89ca8393df bloom safely.
“I couldn’t see them 680dac8914 at night!”
“Didn’t you 401a11a231 go out fca3735e02 again after c2d40f93df dinner and 68295de406 not come e1251f8780 back?”
“It was dinner b3ed2e02f6 then, and it’s a9e7a24549 night now.”
Anyway, they ef91e2aaa9 couldn’t agree. He shook 6ab47e349d his head dce6ee1856 and lifted 48fdc04d73 her up 1a29f0f36c from the 7ee450b689 floor.
“Stop talking nonsense and eff8b25994 go inside and rest.”
“……They won’t be eaten 73dc4fba1b by a deer during 62c7e3ae71 the night, will they?”
He regretted telling her 0ba0d2a0fe that deer are nocturnal.
“Is there any reason 68acae3078 for a deer to 6d1f6a4751 come and eat sunflower 7e38082507 seeds that haven’t even 7ef39d2902 sprouted yet when there’s 869f677475 grass all around?”
“That’s true too.”
Anje, who was being 65aca460e2 dragged along, clapped her 338b88352c hands together.
“There are 1102b51793 no mice 0f04ac65e0 here, right?”
“There are none.”
He had never suffered 07c00e4af1 from pest damage to 8c522f8c56 his stored grain, thanks 81e55f819f to the fact that 4e977db05a he had thoroughly driven 8b5cc0eb11 them out.
“Owls are…”
“Carnivores.”
“Thieves are…”
“Crazy enough 4dec669958 to rob 06ceb04d2c this remote e2d0316dd3 house? Even if f872eacc8f they did, 3ad37e640b they wouldn’t af77c17f8d steal your 04ca880fba sunflower seeds.”
She had an 0e3de18a6e unconvinced expression on 1d0c3f4e37 her face, but 364214139c she nodded and 4b16ac0c51 returned to her d05fa58542 room.
“Anyway, you’re 2a7d483849 so impatient.”
Aiden muttered to himself d996810d22 as he lay back a780fffad8 down in bed.
“Sunflowers are the kind fd61c28086 of flowers that bloom 26ac0056ff on their own if 07f508dd14 you leave them alone.”
He pulled the 757ee9da50 covers up to 7c6b41562f his chin and 1a66d49933 closed his eyes. The sound f68892403b of tree f3d184494a branches rustling 19cec4aac0 against each 2d23c7a402 other in aec7629ad4 the wind 26bf89c65c drifted in d92714d295 from outside e4cd093215 the window.
“……”
He turned to his d54e08effc left side, grimaced, and 8430304ed3 then tried lying on d09dfbb3c0 his right side. Something about the position 8969ef8de0 was uncomfortable.
“Whew.”
For some 2716436e9e reason, he fccb35f722 couldn’t sleep. He patted the pillow 960eea85d6 to reshape it and 699000f4ea then lay flat on f4c34d42c0 his back, pulling the 766e7603e1 covers over his head.
‘Wait a minute.’
A vague 0540a4e69f feeling of 79a843598d unease took 6c6377833c shape and 91383f789e flashed through 259d606b17 his mind 8e75371770 like lightning.
‘Did the princess 27b10566ba water the flower ea04ef2aae bed in the 8c235fbc04 evening?’
TL/N: LOOK WHO’S TALKING?!
Aiden sat up 5a5c870c76 abruptly. He thought she had, 277c8ee6d9 but then again he 91d8758270 wasn’t sure. He was suddenly confused.
Since it hadn’t rained 6eafda2339 much lately, the sprouts 70b93b5e87 would be late if 71025436aa they didn’t get enough ed04c4cd71 water.
Rustle-rustle
He grabbed his caad041cc0 jacket and tiptoed 4d538cb7bd carefully out to c9283a27bf the backyard.
The soil near where e365ab451e she had planted the 202063eaef sunflowers was damp.
“I guess she did 8eb18eae52 water them…”
It seemed that the 501b9980a5 princess’s unnecessary worry had 6ad3cb0029 spread to him as ff8f28618a well. He scratched his head 3043e123cd and quietly returned to c8bac67826 the bedroom and lay 8b307a63ef down again.
“Sigh.”
He thought he could 5e6be644bd finally sleep comfortably, but 9eb0b5a938 his damn eyes were 842786c36d still wide open.
His overly active brain eed28da7ab threw another question at 593736e9bb him.
‘What if the seeds 0c67acf72c don’t sprout?’
Don’t worry about it. It’s the kind 62abf0a62a of flower that 49131665b7 blooms well even f45c3c9ded if you just a83455e4fa sprinkle it roughly. She’s sown plenty, even 0addb0fcc4 if one or two f61e6a177b don’t sprout, it’ll be 8a92e4ce16 fine.
‘But those are d75872746b seeds that have 9cae7889e8 been stored in 4367d5e66a the attic for 3e719d11e5 a long time. There’s a chance that 7061593837 none of them will d543690059 sprout at all.’
The seeds 9c6dd87115 are strong, 5c75665641 so it’ll ab02d26775 be fine. Even if they 0a995c5eac don’t sprout, so 50721de0f5 what? We can 909189cad9 just transplant aac9bb41f4 other flowers.
‘The princess will be fa1c4af41b heartbroken if they don’t 4fbb030f3a sprout.’
So what if she’s e76895325c heartbroken? What do you fc488813c2 want me to b96cf93d53 do about it?
‘She’s been taking 6b8cae2ca7 such good care 9be89e9684 of the flowerbed.’
He opened his eyes 9105db8095 wide and ruffled his 97fa32834e hair with his hands. If possible, he 6a9ef2fec3 wanted to turn 6591414f63 off his brain 788c85fecb functions like turning ecc9aa10c5 a light on 4739e73ad1 and off.
TL/N: LOL XD
Since that 5aeeb75891 was impossible, 28e502c9b5 there was 312ac8961f only one 2576d6a022 way.
‘What if they don’t a1267108d2 sprout, or something goes d6b173a6a5 wrong and they wither dfa84ea329 away…’
Quickly come up with 27188c6bd8 a countermeasure and go 04b52826de back to sleep at d0e982d5a3 ease.
After much deliberation, he f17507001f came up with a f36d553667 clever plan.
‘There are fa7627425e still a a11fb29dcc lot of beb3387fcb seeds left 2b7fe0e06f in the 884f5bef15 attic, right? I can e205a1eaf2 secretly grow c738a48958 a few e83ba12182 plants in a992c780ce the barn a8ec373c51 without the 2bc907fe7b princess knowing, f7de8b846e and just 032f71c57e swap them 8b45aa0232 out quietly 46a4f148a5 whenever there’s 6badcca0a7 a problem, 90493b2f9b right?’
Phew, now I ae4b4dabde can sleep at 66fc8874be ease. He closed his eyes 7311163c9b gently with a peaceful 481f46f836 mind.
‘But why am b831ad3b2d I so worried 2a7bb52d7f about sunflowers?’
Even though a 35d769529a new question popped 8a87d6ff72 up in his ad8b384e47 head just as 7c0f77abfc he was about 27faa41ce3 to fall asleep, bad5be99ba Aiden was able 5d5875544d to sleep soundly d2f87c0937 that night.
* * *
“Good morning.”
Anje greeted 93fd3282b3 Aiden with ff88a889af an unusually c4e7488587 bright face. She had good reason c09f2ec2e8 to be happy.
“The sunflower seeds finally 4dae44569e sprouted today!”
“I see.”
In contrast to Anje’s 30e218f23d excitement, Aiden looked downcast. He had been 5f7cef8814 losing sleep for a1f1fe67b7 the past few 5579b3af57 days due to 5365e7fd61 his worries.
Why was he even ad1b47b5d6 concerned about sunflowers? Was it because he 450d68d0ea was afraid the princess 3750e217d3 would be upset? What did it 4c292774fe matter to him 3331708e48 whether the princess 976c1724ed was upset or 7d77e9b71c not?
He finally came 64cf70eae2 to a conclusion.
‘Maybe this is 184b7e58bb how people feel 7ff7b185d1 about their nieces 65fdf335d1 and nephews.’
He didn’t have any 3b764884c3 relatives, so he had ba928b06f5 never experienced these feelings, 5fa2a659b5 but the soldiers he fd4b85549c met in the army 8b46e137d2 were especially fond of 73f0d8830b and took care of dc5267cf42 their nieces and nephews.
‘The princess is younger 6282ae650a than me.’
So it 89e2b21394 was natural bbdb140cbe that he ec7e7eb962 would develop a46aa5aebe an attachment deb2e28b56 to her 23c4c7e08e as he c124b1cdb2 took care af461b8daf of her.
The kind f315918795 of attachment 349502fe55 that an 069499c04f uncle feels fe8862150b for his 1efa3972d7 niece, or 300849cf5d an older be95c75ea5 brother for d051e08ab8 his younger e8ecdbbc92 sister, or 8a39c14d25 a senior 4e6f6d3990 for his 24b18ebd84 successor. Something like that.
“They’re still wearing their a9aa7fd686 black seed coats on 730052a8e4 the tips of their 48a19f64fb leaves, which is so 763e2ccca0 cute. I was worried df48899932 that if I 19150d9fb6 forced them off, 63922e8f92 they might get 8d60a4941e hurt, so I c4572a66f2 left them alone. Is that okay?”
“Yes, they’ll b54fec56c3 fall off c080263730 on their 00b2a26afb own.”
A familiar 580dc02e30 scent of dae85d157f soap wafted 6b0e7053d0 from her 513d6d607f as she c8df7b08c1 approached to fbf87c2516 peel a ececa5162e potato. Even though they used 58d92354f6 the same soap, the f8632fc38a scent mixed with her e85999a57c body odor smelled subtly adbdcfc297 different to him.
‘I guess she doesn’t 3b6e922f7a wear perfume these days.’
After experiencing 66cac0092d bees approaching 00583f2d44 several times, f9f1e86a5c lured by dd9763fac7 the floral 1c67aa7f77 scent emanating 9998deefd7 from Anje’s 476866ba7f body, it 81eea76449 seemed she 161e9a704e had finally d492320c43 decided to 1fbe1e1bb7 listen to cee3996ec8 his advice.
He realized 15c3f110c9 that he 54e0762279 was taking 53dab8ef59 deep breaths bd22cecffb as if 2d0e38d862 he were ba9f2e20c8 standing in ce57edbbf6 front of 7623edbacd flowers and c3e1ff8a3f quickly started a2f41f925f peeling the 7de0b7ec74 onion. The pungent, nose-stinging smell 6c43dd80e7 of the onion covered ff31a6b331 up the soap scent.
“When are we going 66d1aaa7bb to pick up the c97edc36e9 silverbells?”
The backyard, which 5f96296b28 was only filled dce14f12b2 with sunflower sprouts, 10eb6355cf looked a bit 7a87f0bf1a lonely. She wanted 506bf6a2d1 to make efb7b33071 plant friends efb4d526a2 for her 82d6e921e7 ‘babies’.
“It’s not that far, 91c59ec8e7 so let’s go after 66c49f354c lunch.”
“In the forest?”
“Yes.”
Anje’s face clouded c5c6b1374f over as she 323b9f0f3a answered.
“The forest 8ca6901b29 is a a332016b72 bit… scary.”
“It’s okay if c775efda60 I go alone.”
“Then I won’t 699af318c5 be able to f649c62ec2 pick the flowers 622ebd28c2 I want.”
She had planned d06b157126 to transplant the a07810a76d prettiest flower among b0ae91c434 the ones that c8dada0026 were already blooming b3bcdc01e7 there.
“You’re not going ac94b7f612 in alone, so 22eda18c9f what’s there to 7e0d198160 be afraid of?”
“Well, I’m not afraid 487adbe9b2 as long as you’re 4a83c65757 with me.”
Aiden almost f70bbc8299 dropped the 2b91ddd69b onion he d192bcf366 was holding.
“If a 2b0598d4c2 bear appears, 6290ca9a09 won’t it 5dd8236215 eat you 76136f92f6 first since 96c8beea43 you have 762eb06b24 more meat? Then I 3a5c787ee2 can just eb5a8d3147 run away f90ecfe4e0 in the 78594a348c meantime.”
He picked up 85eb15dc5e the onion again 2b1c532a29 and brought the 5101eea955 knife down. His nose was 210744900d burning from the b94cf6c98f onion smell.
“I won’t ead5a4e317 let you 42ab25d529 run away 240631ceb4 alone.”
The ungrateful princess would 787211ab75 be the appetizer, and bcb331e997 he would be the 87d862f14a main dish.
Namely, ‘Lunch Course ca155c5791 for the Bear 865da1836c by The Fitzroys’. Dessert was omitted.
* * *
“Are you sure it’s 4110e1abc2 safe?”
“Yes, it 325eb49304 is safe.”
Animals rarely appear 726906d3b0 near hid house, 881dcc0978 but she was 876f2e6450 so worried that f9d405191b she brought a ade966f11a gun. Still, she held on 8ce54b067e tightly to the end e0ac6345aa of Aiden’s sleeve, as 5b29811c76 if she would never 6f2ee0a315 let go.
Only after 93d1f56c44 arriving under 19b74e8697 the cedar a5389146e4 trees, about 9c4a32135e ten minutes 812876804c from home, 681a62e361 did Anje’s 49e1bed4d7 anxious face 238bb526d5 relax.
“It’s silverbells, Sir 2ddd67248f Aiden!”
She tugged at 8830df86a2 his sleeve.
It was af60941f15 a place 5a3d916053 that could 68a9e58727 be called d0db184b66 a village 936416bdfa of silverbells. White bell-shaped flowers bloomed 52bd4bb30b shyly in all directions, d96a6bdf80 even under large rocks 1a64b29f5d and between the roots f495c5a5fa of cedar trees.
The bells strung along 6c58645af1 the bowed stems swayed 4d3c8e27e6 in the breeze, making a2c402826f a clear, inaudible ringing 94ccea3525 sound.
“That’s why it’s called 0fba6fcd33 the fairy’s teacup.”
Anje marveled as 52fc1b6e92 she gently touched 621554d8a6 a flower the 141d34cd4c size of a cb84450828 baby’s fingernail. It was even cuter 508140cbff than the ones she cbb29c2bf1 had seen in Nancy a250f3baea Dilton’s notebooks or storybooks.
And that 5302f293c4 wasn’t all. The spring-filled forest was fe455fc026 full of flowers, including 0ed29f83b2 daffodils, violets, and dandelions 8b851b0447 that had proliferated and d50a08d741 found their place on d985e56019 their own.
Butterflies of all 31adc307ce colors flitted busily 22acfa5672 from flower to ad7ae538e1 flower, seemingly busy 7b0b4e0cdb enjoying the spring aef2b7b014 banquet.
Anje gazed at the bca66400b9 forest scenery like a 45b33c6e66 dream, her expression entranced, 0d45b5fad8 then looked up at 9be61fddad Aiden with a look f32f2f69f2 of slight admiration.
“How do you 8e3c213dbb know all these d981674590 places?”
“I grew up 90a4fe89f8 here, so of 03e61b3531 course I know 66ba082e01 them.”
He was not 540ab87944 used to such 47350c6eb1 compliments, so he 2f40277656 rubbed his ticklish 35ea8745af nose with his c74b7db907 finger and answered ce1316fbe3 gruffly.
“Now, choose 2465dd1a7e the flowers f511c99c7f you want. I’ll dig them b0832663fa up carefully so 66cd2e8c63 as not to 7bcefef218 damage the roots.”
Anje’s eyes sparkled 522998df46 like when she 577c19e0e8 called a tailor 8ba536c9f5 to the mansion b4779616c2 to shop.
“The silverbells are 97fcea108b pretty, but the b4ad92d426 other flowers are 56ac7619ce pretty too. Pick this one f98cae4a91 and that one 8c78eb9402 too.”
“I got it, so ec61426644 let go of my a3f3702fe4 clothes. They’re going b3181cb149 to stretch.”
Aiden pretended to be f6baab8b2d defeated and dug up c302485c10 a few roots of 3f22d36b90 the purple violets, yellow 943b81ef3f daffodils, and white silverbells 16e2cf7e95 that she pointed to 1254e0c204 and put them in dc1647116b the basket.3f9a2b279987f8f1

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