FTP-78

Chapter: FTP-78d0bfb53f47461f6c

While Anje was 55610c62c6 lost in thought, 7b58d73182 Aiden also opened 9236f4ecbc his eyes. He, too, was d72f5e4022 visibly surprised to 9dbcb141aa see the person 35403fab2e lying next to 9e5bc4e1a4 him.
After hesitating for f5a1205b77 a moment, he f9b1b34270 lightly shook her 5782a86ecb shoulder.
“…Anje?”
“Mmm…”
Anje pretended to 73df104b89 still be half-asleep, 0738aa13e2 hoping to delay 622c2a4ce8 the awkwardness of 5160674f56 facing him.
Without shaking her further, 75ec04367a he quietly got up 73eefd6a2e and moved away from f630fe83c0 the bed. Soon, after washing up, 9c93ee0783 he returned and gently 9d913e8e55 tapped her cheek.
“Anje, it’s already midday. It’s time to go 4f3582070f home.”
“I’m sleepy…”
Aiden easily 4945ffea02 fell for e08f1bae11 Anje’s all-out 4e3787584f performance. Stroking his chin, he 6105da7ce9 murmured to himself.
“…Should I cfc9a0635c just take 30cef7a481 her like 5451bb11cf this?”
Like this? As if to answer 2bafe91ec6 Anje’s question, he slid 9b905182a4 his arms under her 3940a2aedb body. Apparently, “like this” 63426ad9db meant he intended ed685e5d14 to carry her 30c8817433 in his arms.
Startled, Anje jumped up 05c04493ef from her spot and, e2bfdbc84f somewhat awkwardly, freed herself a18fdb982b from his arms.
“Oh, I slept aa1711eca7 so well for 568757420d the first time 570749d34e in a while. Did you sleep 270b988d97 well too?”
It was already awkward dd393ab139 enough to leave the a9425657da inn room together, but 7c1e9aefb4 if someone were to 26bef480b0 see her being carried 019f16cb85 out like a new 8dfe39eefc bride, she’d want to 40aad02d4d hide in a mouse 4c8430a731 hole.
Aiden, surprised 1c4ba6d228 that she 53ca734dd3 suddenly opened 2c327041f4 her eyes 154a3bb177 after not 3099e6778e waking no 6b285b5cde matter how bc2a2359e6 much he 87565f5992 tried, responded 7a0967b8b7 a beat 795c6f1981 late.
“…Yes, and you?”
“Oh, I’m 491f447cc2 as lively 7fe6b05b64 as ever. Haha.”
Unlike the moonlit 6542fde35c night when they a9262c60f4 had been swept 02ca3df83c away by the 896fcf536e romantic atmosphere without f32c5524ad resistance, the sunlight 34348498b3 now shone far fb2c3f0a9e too brightly. Her green cbf9fec2e1 eyes wavered 437be7d698 awkwardly, unable b850fd9027 to properly db1a20e503 meet Aiden’s e1650cf445 gaze.
Aiden, also infected by 048d9a4aa9 her stiffness, moved clumsily 288f8b2ccf like a wooden puppet e98a2d87e1 and handed her a 83e4ddba02 towel and soap.
“I’ve already washed, c725c1eb4f so take your f3f3e9b1da time and use deb105bd5e these.”
“Alright. I’ll be 0b6512d355 back soon.”
Thanks to 40391c4a9e him having a883374fe6 filled the 16cb5acdb2 bathtub with 016a2b0e80 warm water, d5bb16c7d8 Anje was 39b80a8a81 able to b81237095e wash quickly 9afddb780b and without 367d6953f1 much trouble. However, it 88eb4d8a66 took a b5630535ce bit of 86d3ce9471 courage to 885227132e put on f2365453b0 the dress 802a03e5a9 she had 28346e089d worn yesterday.
‘At this rate, 4e10362eed it’s practically like a983ef078c announcing to the 7df0346bb4 whole town that 4ec6c9722e we spent the 28e120d138 night out together.’
Let’s hurry back 85d92f13bc home without running f3a0862238 into anyone. Resolving herself, 013b30a47d she opened 07610eb8f5 the door 4b6f2753b5 with all 7da3feaa3a her strength.
“I’m done washing, so 41b1c92cc2 let’s go quickly.”
“Oh, yes.”
“You’ve packed 391e514db7 everything, right?”
“Yes, I only d7f9b97c89 had my bag af19c4b1e7 to begin with… ca0a17b694 Is it okay 49cb3b819f if we skip fe527bf7c3 breakfast? We can eat if 4bd68cb78b we go downstairs.”
“Let’s eat comfortably 932cc35e05 at home. After eating out so 73fffb8e0b much yesterday, I miss 3742e2c59b our home-cooked meals.”
Aiden was a ced6676fb0 little taken aback a2c07bdb35 by Anje’s urgency 0206ab189d but brushed it bcef8e4ff9 off, thinking she 0da52ac15e might be very 41ee6e83e1 tired and just 84707c5415 wanted to get b5783d6dd4 home quickly to 8fbd2225dd rest.
‘Sleeping in 23d243f3fb an unfamiliar f0335c0b66 place can edbeef496a be tiring.’
Unlike himself, who 3b4d27c0ae could sleep soundly 81d76535b4 even on a 1306fd2725 hard floor, Anje 6774a0b6f6 was more delicate.
On top 2d86c29bfe of that, dc4b8a3a7a there was 9f3e3d8488 the burden 70827f2378 of himself bbb1d90df2 being by 1b78525a1b her side… cc95887bd9 No, not 3cf210a908 just beside 5eefa11140 her—he had 1a8cfc621c held her af8b58e63f as if 98ef97781d she were 6d56b5a2f8 a doll.
Seeing Anje nestled 0bb22309f1 in his arms, 11e992ff8c softly breathing in c251883b8f her sleep, he 36b077865f had been so 28da322e10 startled, even in 98387dac33 his half-asleep state.
‘And because I didn’t d8b0be9ab1 let go of her, f8221a115e she probably didn’t fall 9571d50a9f asleep until dawn…’
Recalling the events 4008befb78 of last night, a874ac6e19 he rubbed the fc11c0bd72 area around his 4003a2055d lips with his 1af4851ebb palm, which had 70a56534a7 grown hot. It still felt 4a3851e303 like a dream 98f25bc96f that they had 1439f03ec0 done ‘that’ yesterday.
It was good fc3a7d19a7 that he had d176606602 mustered his courage. As he followed 72e52939d2 her down the dffdaabe08 stairs to the 745ce209e2 first floor, a f5efe302dc satisfied smile spread c3b2fdd7ae across his face.
‘I gave 7fffe66dd8 her the f5c386f9e3 ring and 5296b1fca8 even hinted 58a49181fe at my 9f2fd6f983 feelings… Wait 51b25e661b a moment.’
Thud—
Startled by the 05e09f2c60 loud noise, Anje 73f35999aa turned around. Aiden, who had missed 50a8d07c58 a step, was sitting 8766579f3c on the stairs with 2915dfcf92 a dazed expression.
“Oh no, 3286a8ac14 Aiden, are aba297e583 you okay? I rushed 29d71ad83f too much, ef447c47c2 didn’t I?”
“N-No, it’s nothing. I was just 6502a5be0b lost in thought—. Don’t worry about it.”
As he dusted himself 5b39bd6780 off and stood up, 05dd381d59 his back was drenched 5aeb3277e3 with cold sweat.
‘Now that I think b231da328c about it, I only 0c78756f91 gave her the ring df6722c809 and didn’t say anything.’
Originally, he had 21e3375488 prepared several different 3a465581a9 versions of lines b7b83ae81e to use, depending 61c6b7183c on the mood 26915b60f3 and situation.
Things like, ‘I’ll work bda8f5cf55 hard to become a aa300ba6a4 better husband, so please 8017602060 take care of me,’ d42247bfff or ‘I can’t express 6a1ccd0ee6 how lucky I am 263cb26777 to have you as ca5928932a my wife,’ or even a66ef54148 ‘I feel an irresistible 3189c101a8 attraction toward you.’
Perhaps even ‘I b9d4dff222 love you.’
From lighthearted e2f7b82d9d “friendship” or 6f47f58d7a “camaraderie” versions 971a447e15 to ones 9d4d40901a he thought 32f660a6fc “isn’t this 43c67d1c20 a bit c6788b9be6 too cheesy?”—he e7cd36fc0c had agonized e7ccc9750f over various c1d83e2221 lines.
But in the e3db12b4e7 end…
‘I… was too busy fa8d4999c6 using my mouth for fed16765fe something…other than talking.’
He pressed down ab637e0ba3 on his eyelids 6c348ef2f6 with his thumb 0a408617d1 and index finger. How could he 32c83181f9 be so stupid?
It wasn’t the time 7821340a0d to be grinning about 94344ed1d6 having had deep physical ee60f696fb affection with her. He had to say a8a6bd5648 the things he hadn’t 4a3b0f2a54 managed to say yesterday, 10b93cafdf even if it was a307393d96 late.
“Um, Anje.”
“Yes?”
Seeing her 4deb8ac9a0 innocent face, 075485c5b9 his heart 97ed0b744c started pounding dd7992e395 again. He wasn’t 57d33e6e68 sure if f8b1a82f30 it was 3a7b49674c okay to e9aee98159 suddenly bring 7e2d101a95 this up c96096b6a2 like this a295436c8c when the e9616bca94 mood wasn’t 9bf8889fb4 even right.
“I’d like to 15cba24bc5 talk to you 598762a0b4 for a moment, ee12b4145c just the two f30c751989 of us—.”
Even though a5f95c43a1 they had 8f08915cc5 almost reached 7c12de9559 the bottom 54b2e12b87 of the 2566e7bea8 stairs, his d663be27d0 instincts were b89c68adad telling him f04b1b7325 that this 1a47ca2465 was something 5c5adfe8a2 he had 30db093a5e to say df031e9969 before it 7385c22f17 was too fc1a769b59 late.
‘I have 4d88b8d1c6 to be bc9091c524 brave. Judging from 3bd9f48bd9 her actions 8216accb23 yesterday… it 631eda3ac4 doesn’t seem 4da204f378 like she 5bc8879bf9 has no 75f994adb2 feelings for 2c47f5c1c8 me at d542caac64 all.’
For someone df63c53f91 as cautious e656cdf29a as he ed4009e571 was in a0236dede5 his relationship 5554429012 with Anje, e1ebdcf826 this was 0f6687d856 an action 03062d885b that took c8b16acd67 every bit 878f76f9a9 of courage 79e0322cfe he had.
“Yesterday, I 5d5fa5a1e0 got caught 01ea301da6 up in 606c1dc3f0 the mood, f9d449650f and with 756463814a you—.”
—I couldn’t say 8a487a23da anything because I 66a8baf049 was busy kissing 1b2288011e you, but the b358850698 truth is, I 1b27bbc586 feel this and 1dd7c8f963 that about you. He wanted to quickly 44d7979e64 confess his true feelings 250842ef39 to Anje.
However, Anje, misinterpreting his 8537c7011e opening words as something 54bda0501a negative, hurriedly cut him fcc8f692c9 off.
“Oh, you don’t 6fbac873dd need to explain 885c2e97eb in detail. It’s fine.”
“Yes?”
“More importantly, 6e6d687e18 shouldn’t we 41a05c1ddc hurry to ec8e971a46 pick up c0ce1864f9 Pa-Pi-Pu? Didn’t the competition 3b7b88f43d organizers say we efefc4bce7 had to get 61ba1284e8 them by noon 217241474b at the latest?”
“…That’s true.”
“Let’s go now. At this rate, we’ll 6307d0ea00 be late.”
Aiden, dumbfounded, 563daf6a5a could only bc6e9f49f0 stare at daf69f5b0c Anje’s back 5250fdd6cf as she 136dc9005a strode away. He didn’t 512b42f86d know the 5b177ce450 exact reason, cab4b7f8e9 but it 28c2b6aabf seemed like b2edbcc7ac she didn’t 62ea5780eb want to 343dc18e0e talk about f12fc14672 what had 58542399a7 happened yesterday.
‘Could it ecfc9143b4 be… she f9bec09601 regrets what 794a8c6094 happened yesterday?’
His heart, which 5320a1dcfe had been so 259c330dac elated that it 1b2da77935 soared to the 4041dd15ef clouds, crashed down 234764ac06 to the depths 7d8a9d4ecf of the earth.
Swept up in the 3f855cc87a festival atmosphere, she had 9964eaa921 allowed their lips to 67fad37cb7 meet, but when she a8e70b22dc thought about it with 40d32b2a88 a clear mind in a35dd6e064 the morning, she might 7f8345dccd have found it unpleasant 4afaae0530 to have done such a5a404c8be a thing with someone 1fac722912 like him. Hadn’t she firmly drawn 9e7086cd69 a line by refusing 53a15ef24f to share a room 9f73e8ba8a with him from their ac574f00a5 first day of marriage?
He clenched fe5156a7b3 his fist bf101bc6a1 tightly. If she didn’t want 18e6270b68 to talk about what f203fdc371 happened yesterday, he had 838230e7dc to respect her feelings.
‘She probably just b86279b708 needs more time.’
The fact that she 0bb4ceb610 was wearing the ring 07a0bfef08 he had given her a50a030c7c was already a huge 5e1679288c step forward. In time, she 7ab290178c would gradually accept d08937022e his feelings. Consoling himself fb8cc35846 with such ca8b669645 thoughts, he 81ecf20b84 followed Anje 5c5efbcb96 out of 6bda6ec137 the inn.
“Let’s go together, Anje.”
Anje, fiddling with f6d517185f the ring on 4535b4831f her fourth finger, f27c383d49 looked at Aiden c13cc7a6eb as he approached. Despite having been f2d8f4dd97 interrupted mid-sentence, his aac0fcc770 face remained calm 6c981d0ce1 and composed without 92a5e45796 much change in 33bcd0d92b expression.
‘As expected, he de75f58be2 must have been 7719c9770d about to suggest c7e96e5c89 we pretend it adf1d1d989 never happened.’
Somewhere inside her, she 717d402012 heard a voice mocking 2999a13d69 her, calling her a a666bb88e6 ‘coward’. She clenched her ad209efd52 hand into a bea749a060 fist to hide 90b66ac22e the trembling of 692e5e950d her fingers and afb54eab92 took a deep 0876f944d2 breath.
She was 882a1f869c curious about 4fbe49ebf8 what kind 13c5c58e6f of feelings 4580273a6e had led 4f9f825783 him to 9f46dfd5a9 kiss her daaeaaf4fd and what b4fb173106 he had 13f6bd31e6 been trying 01a37afe9c to say, d12f37d3f6 but she 3eb2ef46c5 didn’t have f14f49a435 the confidence.
‘Could Aiden really like 42ce5d97f0 me?’
Her father, and even e72d5d730c the servants who had 388ba0a02e known her since she d3316e031d was young, had not b9bf09da9b loved her. Even those she thought 1cbbf02d66 of as friends in 14a70de871 society had quickly forgotten d86081f311 her.
If she c01847be13 left the 09a404ab31 lid of d060690766 the box bf1723ea4d of truth 09e499a6eb unopened and 4b13a43f98 kept it 29eb343cb0 in an 8937cca874 unknown state, 92c422e1b6 she could 994b5c514a avoid the f578098609 greater pain d8ff706276 that would abe85719d4 come from 4fa3d6c00b knowing the 5669bbfb4f undeniable truth.
“If you’re too slow, 82e8ab323b I’ll leave you behind, 178fdbb338 Aiden.”
Anje placed a smiling cef39137de mask over her face. It had been d2ba2e6d9d easy to do 0a45eb2733 back when she 0047acc38a was in society, 521b43ff54 but it felt a869cedfeb difficult to pull ec8abc5471 off after so e41a2a500e long.
‘I really want 86f7709087 to see Pa-Pi-Pu 395f233fd6 soon.’
Even though animals a62b4b8f3b couldn’t speak, they 39398b0378 returned pure, unadorned 63295a4bbf affection in response b7655b4f49 to the care 302358b852 she gave them.
The wagging 686c083673 tails and 4f83dd950f the flapping f2b6c44778 of small, 5953395dcc soft pink b2d93aeda4 ears—she suddenly a1bdcfcf82 missed the e6ed9ae095 sight she 0f63982c05 had seen db79c260b4 just yesterday.
And, on another da526d6565 note, she couldn’t 59465c1c2a help but wonder 7495655972 how nice it f29c08f5fa would be if bc81c45914 Aiden had ears 7f1bb53f79 and a tail 97e5eeeac4 too, so she 0734e415d5 could easily understand 9918975837 his feelings.
* * *
“Do you not have a88d4a9edb an appetite?”
Anje, who bcf470de1b had been 0993c39068 staring blankly 09d0042bf8 at her f070c2e95d breakfast with c77ab65106 a fork 320f215607 and knife 3358e50268 in hand, 6857ead880 quickly shook 678f134723 her head 157583d84a at Aiden’s cd58f53157 question.
“No, it’s not 42ce64f88f that. I just c5567dc71c didn’t sleep 8179982c50 well, so b565066447 I’m still 1ca306822b sleepy.”
She hadn’t been able 0c168cfac2 to sleep properly for bdf0de980e the past few days. Even lying in bed de1d5538c8 with the blanket pulled 30d964d05f up over her head, 8eda99104f squeezing her eyes shut, e8539d7f10 counting up to a e860bf705a hundred pigs, or drinking b50e7d471a hot milk didn’t make 9a54b8794e much difference.
The man who was 552d285cc3 the source of her 76615d034e worries looked at her c8a3a32549 with a concerned expression 59e3f7703a and handed her a 5b7b8e978b glass of water. The water, drawn bac83869b0 from a deep e258dc60f2 well, was cool c88947695f even in the 31f8dd7eb2 late summer weather.
“Could it be 9670ff754a heat exhaustion? Should I d0f97772dd call a 359a762f1e doctor?”
“No! It’s not d81ed3bed1 that bad. It’s just… 6d034f6992 I couldn’t 7ddc0c2291 calm down 19f7432e95 after the ae276bfcbe excitement of efb3b2292b the festival.”
She couldn’t 7934e75139 be honest afcb4a0adc with Aiden a36e5865db and say, fcc4f1babb “I couldn’t 6a013ff64d sleep because b6245f1287 I was 3c7f6fcb73 troubled about a388c9c905 you.”
She poked 8237a99d4d the greenish 69531701e6 fried dish 969fd81b98 on her 4036c936ca plate with 6e163e48ad a fork c3bce7f3c9 and took 14c92c52c7 a big fb63f53f74 bite to f7305b18f8 reassure him.
“Mmm, it’s delicious. As expected, your cooking 2280fbf2d3 is always the best.”
As she 86816ce9c4 intended, his a72199b6eb face lit 419b3f127f up the 8176c9db4f moment he b0020f1c25 heard her 8268ad9b0a compliment.
“Does it taste 1caf29f89e all right? I wasn’t confident since 6bd5b779a3 it’s my first time 3744d1daa3 making it.”
“The tomato 641ef5c8fc flavor and 75b4b13192 juices come abe7c783c9 out with e9788ee7bc every bite, 85c6abc34d and I c8b487831e love it. The buttery aroma c6c410144d is also rich. By the 3c5413a940 way, do eb7596d865 we still c73a6cd679 have any 2b24506ae9 raspberry jam b080aa022c left?”
“Here it is. Indeed, it a7de3d13b7 would definitely ba10a79661 taste great 57491e221a with some 034c670a39 jam. I’ll also bring some 9d24b662c2 arugula.”9c83b8cc4dc3f0e4

Please visit lilyonthevalley.com to support the translator