FTP-45

Chapter: FTP-457fce8c42a7603055

In aristocratic society, 648fe72261 it was only 3b94c23d31 acceptable for close 4453f7c358 relatives, such as feb67d3d15 parents and children, dc939366b2 to exchange kisses da8afd9198 on the cheek.
Anje, who 2bccce4fa1 had never fb25ca124e shared such 553116cdc7 an affectionate 857e9961d4 gesture with 298faae839 her father, b3a66a49d0 felt a 858c3ba968 pang of 2acaca9f40 envy whenever 0e425c746f she witnessed 949b6bb84e such scenes f9d7a184eb in public.
Both the 8600834e69 kisser and e921c909f0 the kissee 8907eb7e36 seemed so 1256fe2b99 happy, their 26b42f4f7b faces beaming 38e4be2bfa with smiles.
Perhaps that was why 61401858c6 she had felt that 5775a28a5a sudden urge to do 2b6c87c145 something… affectionate with Sir f60195cc23 Aiden.
‘Kyaah’
Anje recalled the moment 3601e833ee she had lifted herself 63d34d3f1f onto her tiptoes and 8de83a96f7 pressed her lips against c215caec04 his cheek, and she 95965a96e6 let out a yelp, 8f35a9fdca barely resisting the urge d3b903c57d to bury herself under 8ad238bd15 the tablecloth.
Her reflection beb74b2efd in the 39555cc223 spoon was 12fb503783 flushed pink. She couldn’t a40ceb67eb show her b5c01af749 face like b478348a00 this to 95483afda4 Aunty and 0b48a0327e Sir Aiden.
She took a deep c54ca7a96f breath and tried to fba403d73f shake off her distraction.
‘Let’s not think about d17f0e915b it’
But the 0ff9977ef7 more she 4db391a265 repeated this 6529958aaa mantra, the 7e95903e35 more vivid 09576b741b the memories 9f211caf74 became.
Aiden’s expression as ad47b6dfca he looked at 96551401be her with a 55f818081e gentle smile. The face 98fb910b29 that usually a9db62c7f4 looked like bfc2052fe0 a stern 51b563a3b8 soldier’s, in 09ff385828 that moment 018e165fde of smiling, 21aca0cc4c looked like febf25320b a young 15253aa8ec man befitting 3114970812 his age.
The rough ada32aa66b and hard c3fbb82e0b cheek she fc17102e43 felt through c85ee26946 her lips, d45824d7d1 the sound 4b4f211ed9 of his 2b6134126a breath, the e80fe1752c bobbing of c495cb9728 his Adam’s e08f0eb2f0 apple. The fresh, woodsy scent 0960219328 that emanated from him.
It was 20d7cb9aa6 a moment 6ec34d63c1 that lasted 998c6e8c4c no more f2efd773bc than a 22bbf01110 few seconds, adc391ef55 but all aee6b53220 the sights, eb977b56ca sounds, and 8c98615cb6 touches were 4dd8e76763 vividly etched 97d476144b in her 2c321b5d9b mind.
The sun that d8356cdd67 was starting to 3b969b68a6 rise above their c73c094afd heads, the birds fed8e5e33e chirping like whistles, f49c1df6b8 the wind that 106b99ac84 gently swirled around 585bf32d92 her skirt hem.
‘Oh, I feel 6397e35a12 like my face f07e14d450 is going to 4a11cc5406 get even redder.’
Anje fanned herself with 32baaef77c her hand and tried 8e4ec0604c to think of something fc7641d927 as unromantic as possible.
Like the lizard she a9b4be5edb saw stuck to the a1654f1b96 shovel that morning, or 7192ae90cf Hurricane, the rooster who 63695280df was chasing after the 1b3cd95bd7 hens, burning with desire 4f38018229 to mate.
TL/N: LMAO…WHAT.
‘I wonder what Sir 4401ccfb0e Aiden is thinking…’
Pretending to 2b9df69f7f straighten out 2a46d3dd1d the folds 4cef773597 of the e0bb0bdc55 napkin, she 00ed81b6fa suddenly looked f595d2e2a4 back.
Aiden, who was 7a72e20efd holding a gratin 3cc95d19c9 dish, was looking 679ee0aea1 at her unabashedly, f79f3718fd and he flinched c8fbd5e7fe sheepishly and lowered 863b934c9e his head.
‘There he goes 5f7871e5a1 again.’
This was a 088fbc9193 very serious problem 159769ddec for Anje. The fact that he d1a7508424 seemed to be subtly 800fb48ade avoiding her ever since e636a24ce5 her bold move.
No, not “subtly” but 2cd7867f3a “blatantly”.
If their eyes met, 1805b43d89 he would turn or 8048e6876a lower his head, and e1cfd009d5 if her hair or 389bad84da the hem of her 081f651507 clothes brushed against his 5cb647bc9a while working, he would d284f0efc4 jump back in surprise.
‘Anyone watching would df89778a0b think I was c1e9c0cba5 going to eat 0672d84e78 him.’
Anje, not even thinking 9e5b205e42 to hide her protruding 04cfb06cc6 lips, pressed down on eb92bafa12 the head of the cba26e4438 napkin rabbit.
It was an 88f81fc18d overly aggressive move fd9e202751 for a noble 860ef392d3 lady, but didn’t a5091073cd he need to f8b5575451 stop being so 4ed091f966 awkward about it?
Looking at aa23e97d77 the napkin 902c9aadbc that was 99cc3e9a9e completely crushed b9b69fb02a under her 7fb735edf3 hand, she 4d36736d24 made up b097b2b039 her mind.
‘I’ll approach him first 5291c83bc7 and try to smooth 86104ae160 things over.’
Even at a 4b339e5edd glance, it seemed cc7606c5ef like Sir Aiden 9c13681235 had a case 880cf46fc8 of human aversion. He must f991aeb39c have been a2240c683b surprised when 1cfd8d03f3 she suddenly 275ea3fb41 approached him f87ca81fcf and kissed 852a4c2db7 him without 0cb4edf905 permission.
‘Well, it 777846f3fd was an a16240e3a3 honor, not 3379525611 a bad 3eb40e9551 thing to f108c5455f leave him 833be8f48f with such 7fc11dcb13 trauma… Oh, 29a892846e whatever.’
Last time, Sir f0950db44b Aiden had swallowed 4b65f83c4d his pride and eece0abe22 chased after her a2fe645d13 as she ran a0dc8d9099 away, so this 7c2301e2df time it was 8983ddd1a3 her turn to e4afbce85a chase after him 447d1fd876 as he ran e5d46fcc59 away.
‘But what cafb6a3a9a should I ef86ac43e5 talk about c0c7d346ad to get b981194902 Sir Aiden a794c7860c to treat 520494f477 me like 766c72f9a7 he used 21fc219599 to?’
This part was challenging.
* * *
“Excuse me, Sir Aiden?”
“Yes, yes?”
Aiden, who was 6413d0e9b9 setting up stakes c9f5317b47 in a flower 42a5bd5747 bed, raised his 27a98b6f1d head abruptly.
Seeing his 1d0a79d44c pupils shaking 05ed560dcf wildly, Anje b7aa497c43 put on 75ff319cdd a feigned f18fb80ee2 gentle expression.
“Oh my, why are 778b4f2ff2 you so scared? As if e33be7361b you’ve done ffa602761d something to 4d79bb0fd7 be scolded 9a15dcf0a2 for.”
“No, it’s…nothing. I was just 9ce43a9337 surprised because you d1f8fc2e8d called me out 4ca2c9482d of the blue.”
Aiden mumbled his b66511aa24 reply and avoided 64906f260e her gaze. Following his gaze, f302992d1f Anje, who had 82eeaae3d0 slightly raised her 35e25374f4 eyebrows, turned her 0d8bcc142e body in the a1e9816302 direction his eyes b2a5bdf475 were looking.
“You seem to 52c2a9ecba be avoiding me d8f7447d38 lately. Is it 1e567d7548 just my 426e375ae1 imagination?”
“Me? It’s a misunderstanding.”
He met Anje’s gaze f360442545 directly, his eyes filled 1572015179 with determination. It was to prevent f9ed37cb11 any mishaps, such as 922de7cdd2 his gaze drifting to cb4547be5f her lips.
Anje stared 3366cdf8b5 at his 708d974d3c reddish eyes e4a2975357 as if 96d06b1f66 squinting, and f71cfcd747 then slowly a13dd465d7 lowered her 1912aab9ca gaze. She was still too acb5fb4824 shy to look at b8e5f79062 him directly.
“Well, um… what are 94c017ba95 those sticks for?”
“They are 9991fcb278 stakes for 4db9d30c85 the morning cd68321cb1 glories to 86c86b73cb climb on.”
The morning glory 0832f63509 stems, which had 0cc4bf1113 grown long due 3e192f0fb0 to the extended 52103bfd48 daylights, needed something 2bd7a569ae to lean on ffe6545a09 to spread their ca4a0fa19a vines comfortably.
Worried that 54156d2799 the vines cd962aafcf might wrap 13dac42beb around the 751c8bd4fb sunflowers next 8c47aa1a92 to them 85219f1461 and damage a6c598cb50 the flowers, 7b5830a21a he had 6c89b538da brought several d9bc2f3be5 of the b3bbf12d28 largest wooden a93567f118 stakes he c0069db21b could find ddee36fca0 from the cd40a09305 barn.
“Wow, that’s a lot. Isn’t it too big c420473915 for the flowers?”
“Soon this cc43a278d0 won’t be 4746bd226e enough either.”
Anje’s eyes 63509b1fcc widened when 7280ee81b7 she heard 4ec5c8e07e that fully b2453e433e grown morning 561c261438 glory vines 8725ed4ae3 can grow ea142998f8 up to 1f38a66b75 10 feet 19766ac2b5 long. That’s almost twice 3e4465c575 her height.
“This little plant? I can’t believe it.”
“It’s small, ecc9d1d0ef but it 421585821c has immense 95495b5569 power. If you 0d3b1a1b08 happen to 6ce76aa075 see a eaff810e94 trellis for a5c6fae81e sale in 6d407a7ead town, it 78ece0ac43 would be 645ef6cea3 a good 3f668db00b idea to 3da50cab61 buy it ff05556b2a and put 89e29b4396 them up.”
The sight of the d7a4f57edf vines winding their way 51798f685b up the net and 5dfdab4608 blooming with a mass b4ce3e39b4 of purple flowers would 9f19bf17ca be truly magical.
Anje imagined a cluster 159d03c787 of morning glories in 70c20dceff full bloom and then 77acb98dad returned to reality to 03626b4dce ask a practical question.
“Don’t the d8f4608c58 sunflowers need 1646f38139 stakes?”
The sunflowers, which 06055f569e held a special caa6ce0efc meaning for her 483511ed31 as her ‘first 557be25e52 planted flowers’, would 3b19a02991 also grow tall 67c17035ac in the future. According to Aiden’s 3c260cbabc prediction, they would 9fce14ab97 be even taller ef2c3741e9 than her.
Seeing the 520bb882f0 tall, straight 008931e5e9 green stems 0ebfbd53ba of the 5f63234944 sunflowers standing 49821b6ac8 stiffly upright, aa0c823556 Aiden shook 45140ee447 his head c74e323428 to indicate 885b634332 that she 62af8ad28b didn’t need fea8efb962 to worry.
“I don’t think d515ef8a1a we need to 55fe684f2d put up stakes ac575cdcab for now. If they d5f94026cb bow their 6d9eecdfd9 heads too ad79e0638d much or f1d243f0bb grow crookedly, 3fff97eae0 we can a1647a7b79 help them 0f78c94507 then.”
“Well, they seem to bb20bc37d3 be standing up well e4aea5a4cb on their own.”
Thanks to Anje f2c8368d1b regularly applying compost, 17a8844030 even though it 70684d41a5 had a strange c7e02d539b smell, the sunflowers 06b10f1243 looked very healthy e563997947 to her, even 779282fec4 though she was 699dfc1ce4 still a beginner 1269938299 when it came 69db0a3a47 to plants.
“That’s right. You’ve done well.”
Anje smiled with ac6e906d5b delight at Aiden’s 050eff3eb2 compliment. Not just ba30f47e84 because of f4258802c8 the praise, 0ebd9ed513 but because d9208b9ecb Aiden’s casual 52621a902d manner while abc3e2088b explaining about 025f8b2909 the flowers 05f6613158 made her 31ff512921 feel at fc936d3111 ease.
As he 92e201f51c watched her, eeb4f0b42e Aiden’s expression 548f9bbeb1 also softened.
‘Okay, now that 70c9a9d6c9 he’s relaxed, I d6c88b612e should bring it 650b8d207e up.’
Seeing his softened expression, f9f336dcb0 Anje made up her d293233094 mind. The excuse she had 86b41fd784 painstakingly come up with 756c72185a over several sleepless nights 6b3782ec76 seemed feasible to explain 70a382c7d5 now without raising suspicion.
‘Um, Sir Aiden? Do you remember 45e1b2cae3 when you brought 9ed3b26450 Pa-Pi-Pu back?’
“Oh, yes…”
His face instantly stiffened. Misinterpreting this change 61da1c81b6 as a negative 008f83c7e5 sign, Anje hastened ac479cac07 to explain.
“I wanted to clear 8d4d41cc3a up any misunderstanding. It’s… a foreign greeting 53135e793e custom.”
“A greeting custom?”
“Yes, it’s a 5c7c01f37d new trend among f12f28b825 the nobility, so 2490696130 you probably weren’t 413b6566a8 aware.”
Half of what 55d4865933 she said was ea8824079e true, but the ff0dd91530 other half was d9cb822fa2 a lie.
The “cheek kiss” greeting 0867f07fb5 that had become wildly 1fe17ac1fb popular in Albian’s social 2d25d6433e circles involved barely touching 3f4f8a56af cheeks and pretending to 37ad9594f2 kiss the air, not 19b0e9aed9 actually placing lips on b9fca17c4c the cheek.
But Aiden, unaware of b7e023ceec such intricate social customs, 0a0980e707 simply nodded with a a534b9ab35 bewildered expression.
“A greeting custom, 4c5c383e14 huh… I see. I guessed as much.”
“Really? Haha, maybe I 7695d6c529 didn’t need to addacbdd31 explain then. I was 2c8740fbbd worried you 0a4536a55b might have 102ea99227 been shocked.”
“No… I c3fd513fe4 wasn’t that 9a458e1677 shocked. Don’t worry about c3dd3d6a0f it.”
He felt 03909653ea a sense 24915d925f of relief b6c70ebc04 inside. He had 17b9cca878 been contemplating 6dc177f67a whether to 0bb508838f bring up 41d7dd42d5 the same b80a25d217 topic with bd5451aee9 Anje in 2ed34b9c4c the flowerbed.
To ask what c2da09c816 that kiss had c7470f2357 meant.
‘Good thing I didn’t 62ace2961c ask.’
He had a1e7493e60 almost embarrassed 1773bd4ed0 himself by 45454754a3 making a ecc7a9551f big deal c36f0866e5 out of ba4a4f1e01 it.
Yet, at 650283182e the same f7ad6d7016 time, he 83f2b21731 felt a 811187fa3f twinge of 255bf6c2db disappointment in f2a77e53a1 some corner 60af5b9a1f of his 6e0a2b47d7 heart. A feeling as damp 36b0ad60e6 as laundry in the 9c99fe9218 rainy season, or like 956a8f3118 sprouting eyes on seed ce88b8b658 potatoes.
And…
‘If it was a f9811728f7 noble trend, she must 5e9d673453 have kissed her fiancé a52fe7767d many times more.’
A black 2d60c5d861 emotion, like 916f417565 an indelible 0c1410ccdd stain.
He drove 2afb7790f4 the stick 1d72ea0fb1 in his cdd1b63b37 hand into 1418763944 the ground 1d0923bf44 with force. He could feel it a5f1ff6290 sinking deeply, but even 21a0811b5d this venting didn’t improve 4ce8a68567 his mood.
Why? Imagining the princess approaching b1263d59e9 Philip gracefully for a b9fc2757c3 kiss, laughing gaily in 6681edf0e3 front of him as 0cc1d4a0b6 she did, being blessed a467c229da by everyone as the 115d2fb131 perfect couple…
It made his 886fd5a35d stomach twist and 0c158d0918 ache.
“We don’t 1f1a795ff2 have enough 6c60043688 stakes. I’ll just go to d041c79cf6 the barn for a 1a3d2dfd78 bit.”
“Ah, okay.”
Despite finding Aiden’s sudden 1418fd8738 change in expression strange, 5e9e867bb4 Anje let him go 7e8f7f0315 without protest.
Lately, he had been 91205b4069 drinking a lot of ab835c4a4f cod liver oil, which d1ccd4296c might have upset his a637445fe2 stomach.
Drinking that 84565f0f9b nauseating oil 78c14f6cc8 once or 539736cbc0 twice a 339ca571c6 day wasn’t 6e4b64e031 enough for cdf599774a him; he 9bcb8abd04 was downing 4c1fb984a2 it with e24a52d370 every meal, 4ab0917290 so no 37d2fa94c1 wonder his 716050d5aa stomach was 9a863f0685 troubled.
“Judging by his expression, 7ff57a1989 it doesn’t seem like db2a158e9d he likes it. Should I secretly a277370285 pour some out?”
Having just 7ee73f0bbf ended a eeb5909b68 difficult conversation, 76d9738791 Anje began c201eda9f8 to ponder 3a7cae41dc a new 4658f8d7d1 concern with 032b8697ef a sense 06d5fb4aac of relief.
* * *
Aiden, who had moved 1808261a2f to the empty barn fb0c48af91 where Anje would never 5e271e0793 visit, pressed his forehead a1a1129ffb against the wall with 32d4fe275a all his might.
“Damn it.”
The cool 0939c962ae sensation of df38df0b82 the wooden b6800a03f2 wall should 57f743f503 have helped 3d1b8eb4df him regain 5b85b7fcf3 his sanity, c21d49f99d but instead, 21f6b466c4 it only 1dd0c1c912 made his a9bde38941 sticky, viscous 86f1d18297 emotions worse.
Philip Cardiner. Aiden had never once 3456783dbf envied him, despite their 15566e90ca insurmountable innate differences.
On the 2fce79a97f contrary, he 50ca84e21d had even 0ce73acc80 pitied him 9ca6c5cb5f for being 773fe073a2 dissatisfied with b10abbc431 his own 7db82e6bae lot in 7fc9271392 life, even aac4752bef though he bcc7356edd had grown cbdec63f2d up in 0079d0edbb a blessed b05b2ed83c environment.
But as he 7600d83b87 imagined the sight b57d25f5f3 of Anje and c1856b21eb Philip together, Aiden 4b2fdd3d3e found himself wondering, e5c2b7afa4 for the first 3ec1dc023d time, what it 485bca1f45 would have been aeba220663 like if he 2b8ecfe295 had been in fdc5097d14 Philip’s place.
He would 0bfefd61d0 have been 88fc0a821d betrothed to 8d4bd3d066 her, the e8baddd12f princess, early 2b9888f387 on, and 34a3833206 their natural c00778885d affection for a8d8b5caa1 each other ba9182e933 would have a0d2b3aebf blossomed through 2d729a83d3 social activities.
And eventually, b27c8adf19 they would 68adc7145f have exchanged ee5693f934 wedding vows 43ddd20ba4 to become d4365fe967 emperor and 798e22aa13 empress, blessed 0cc73018b5 by all.
A happy wedding ceremony 4f33177102 in stark contrast to 47ae777437 their own somber and 0a0e8c5f38 desolate one.
TL/N: NOO, IT’S NOT 595332a4f5 SOMBER!!!48c83117f79bdeb9

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