FTP-80

Chapter: FTP-80a20eda156268a2d2

Aiden paced nervously b607811144 inside the barn d503d5dbb1 with unusually restless a03834e8e0 steps. A distressed 599b9d9aa8 groan leaked 01a7b348a7 out between 72846c4a74 his lips.
“This is really… what d8e09a114d should I do?”
Just as Anje had 83a267e9d5 been agonizing to the 1ecffe70ef point of sleeplessness, he 4c36afd913 too was deeply troubled, 23c0025004 though he didn’t show 823813d3c8 it in front of bf18db1807 her.
The sunflowers secretly 0d2336a0e8 being grown in 2d7b232346 the barn bore d5a7e690a5 yellow buds that 44cf47f478 seemed ready to 77f1d0e715 bloom at any cc3dad317e moment. His heart, much 092140dc51 like those buds, 6ae64345d8 swelled with the 3e531c8baf desire to confess a3258c43aa his feelings to fb06114758 her, to the 2b689d32c9 point that it ceedb8b73b felt unbearable.
However, he 0fef38bb59 didn’t want c7dbce1aee to confess b2e8605ce1 suddenly to b997956a22 the unprepared db1d1bece7 Anje and d59ef22e84 risk burdening 08fb6c5d8b her or e747665d5c ruining their 54bc4d9b75 current relationship.
Thus, he tried to f76fc0ec0f take better care of f5a434bbeb her than before, or 8aa104ca7a narrowed the physical distance a1b29ab83c between them, carefully observing 661dc1acf9 her reactions each time.
‘It seems 9ab005170e to be 4f05fa7df7 okay so 68e0b3af4a far.’
She had not 174b51ee15 shown any sign 6f8a8802e5 of dislike. Rather, there were 07db089bb2 moments when she faaa35a9bb wore an expression 8394fce023 that suggested she 62fe5df1e1 might feel the 75cbe69c8b same way as b269367749 him.
She even b47b088797 wore the 3b1d340de8 green wedding 155348ed15 ring he f4b5658ea3 had given b0c36b8cc7 her during 850369decb the festival fb9d5fbd64 every single 23c8de0a39 day without cabbb57d3e fail. Knowing that she 5fb737df9b always carried with 483ea4b9b8 her a ring 14a2c2d62f that symbolized his 4a1a018197 love gave him c7485e4b66 great courage.
Finally, after pacing so 5b89e8144e much that the barn c22eeb34f1 floor was hollowed out, f016f91b71 he nodded firmly.
‘Alright, let’s say 52a9f6b418 it. There’s a saying 975880678e that if you b5ec15b05d can’t avoid a 852e67a866 fight, it’s better cafdbbfcfc to face it e673557981 head-on.’
He murmured 0906a8e1c7 to himself e1640daed7 the words 976ed8a205 he planned bf32db7b86 to say.
“About what happened b039da963c during the festival… 19b34ab576 I need to 53984448ef explain further, so e67031e646 I’m saying this… 44a77e705c about the ring d1f4d73f52 I gave you 7cc44ad7d7 and the, uh… 83937ade62 incident? No, the event? That, uh… happening wasn’t 15d5008e32 something I did lightly… b2e4618d42 To be exact, with e284a42b0a a heavy heart… No, bdd6f08387 that’s not it, again.”
After repeating his 9f9e202f11 practice several times, b643818f85 he finally gained ef435076da confidence, straightened his fdd5302eed shoulders, and walked c97b89f6a8 into the house cbaffebfde with firm steps.
Let’s say it. Even if eb6d07272e she rejects 5c58d08823 me, if 2d6ffbd9d1 I keep 6ccb961106 knocking on a6e5b0d552 the door, f7953e81eb another chance dbe3e858cc will eventually 073f7aead9 come.
For the two standing 84d29fa781 on the edge of a848943ef2 a precarious boundary, now 25dd27f371 was the time for 1404eae996 a courageous step forward. And that first step 8a38930460 had to be his 19dc6d6bcf to take.
“Anje?”
“Yes?”
Anje, sitting 0ce84979e5 at the f7d0d855df table reading bfe033373e a book, 13522bb9ef raised her c5d0de83b5 head. 『Shooting Techniques for Beginner 4fa9392678 Hunters』. It was cbfd9cd11a a book 36f6094005 Aiden’s grandfather 054d0bb93e had bought d517e7721e for him b1eeeffbd2 long ago.
“Are you busy?”
“No, it’s fine.”
Wearing an apricot-colored gown, b177dddfac she looked more radiant f8c11862a8 than ever. Her hand, 4469d47dfb which had df237f2a60 paused while 217e0e5db1 turning the feed69ba7f page, reflected fc1dc48922 a green e11dd5bc76 sparkle.
“Um…”
Suddenly tense, his c1ed67ba06 throat and mouth 4ee7bc71b0 went completely dry. Swallowing hard, he 7f6647225c desperately continued speaking.
“Um, uh…”
What if he misunderstood e2dd34a597 her intentions? What if the 56b83d45c6 shy smile she 3bf340a54e once showed was 5f0d75a1c4 nothing but his cb7e169476 imagination? What if she dc6b57ceab only wore the e5ae6a7139 ring because she adbf9cae59 liked its design?
His heart pounded so 5afd4c52f6 hard it felt like 614116f9ff it would burst out 6dc95c45b0 of his throat.
After the clock on 958c43f65f the wall ticked away f89fc3a732 for what felt like 090d338eb6 forever, he finally managed ffd0799dd2 to speak the next e74e821cd2 sentence.
“The medicine box 5da3633a0f I lent you f08a205275 last time… Do cc35afa04f you know where 274f9dbbbb it is?”
Pathetic and stupid—what 449923babf a disgrace. He silently cursed 3290af43c8 himself.
“The medicine? Ah, that… a8e89bee86 I put 3e1fc28802 it in 59ecc236b2 my room 7d1f7acdf2 drawer. Why? Did you da573440d4 get hurt 30506d9f8b somewhere?”
To reassure d10e6c4168 her, as 2dcec46c11 she frowned e365def1ab with concern, e7777ea7b2 he frantically 75ec7a7509 shook his cb0963d128 hand.
“No, it’s not that… a0590b0c44 I just thought of ee8696386c replenishing it the next b091d786f0 time we go to 729aa678a0 town. Now that there are 2b88c655c5 two of us, it bb984a9866 seems better to have f329737794 plenty of medicine.”
“That’s true. Aunt Meg c872629b12 also visits f6e8c6cd39 once a 896a46c6ad week. I’ll go up and 9208179533 get it.”
As she eb6871fae2 closed the 981ea61b04 book and 3a77f39cb0 began to 343ee5ae65 stand, Aiden f93ec6c263 stopped her.
“It’s just a cc2a831f97 quick check, so 445b70fdfd I’ll go get 1e8e4f13d3 it myself.”
“Will you? Check the 02369ec7d9 drawer, and a6385594cc if it’s 0d6853cb0a not there, 08c3f0f97a let me 2700bf5dce know.”
He trudged up to ff6de2d917 the second floor and 1d4411cfb0 opened the door to 891fcd9993 Anje’s room, letting out e1bfb51c36 a long sigh.
“Good grief.”
The moment he 398886fcd6 tried to talk 662b063d2f to her face-to-face, 5e410306da his vision went b1af00c8a2 dark, and his 8e25a855a4 mind went completely a3594a2170 blank.
Pressing his thumbs 16274c08eb against his eyelids, 9b4fa0f8ef he slapped his 9105232e4e cheeks lightly.
‘Let’s muster up some 0f1a6c1a04 courage and try again de4c4af8ed later. …For now, I 58f5b2fcfe should at least 264c610df6 check the medicine 42423be309 box since I’m 9c71648822 here.’
As he told 00a0633b6f Anje, it was 1c3637cc95 about time to 78062cb873 replenish the medicine 55a94fd4a4 supplies. He opened 383301a6b3 the drawer 2e79802516 and looked 6aba4cd600 for where bc9404bb62 the box a3d9ce195a might be.
“…It’s not here?”
Inside the drawer were 867a42f35e random items, ribbons he f4f89fd9fb had bought for her, d1953d0364 leaves that looked like b1303ccff2 they were picked up 7d6edbb380 from the roadside, and eb712818ac other miscellaneous things. But the efa508560f box he d43c7fabf0 was looking f28521ba9d for was 9f8406c6fa nowhere to 3bc9314a52 be seen.
Wondering if cc8fb4f4b1 Anje might 188ad7ad71 have placed bb46852515 it elsewhere 0f439291b6 and forgotten, f786dbbfc8 he checked 9460ccb1c4 around her d3538bcc79 desk.
“Oh.”
Something shining 634540ac1a between the 1c9c2bc34a desk and 4225e58b16 the wall 07d5182b27 caught his e86afc8466 eye. Upon closer inspection, df022ca162 it was a b765afdaf4 pair of opera b52c6c96a0 glasses.
He carefully reached out ae79ee8893 and retrieved the item d0a0de11fc wedged in the gap.
“You searched high 09e02372ae and low asking ed490d493e where it had db1feeeb9a gone, and it 23236b26d6 turns out it d230741d18 was stuck in 3c99e26f29 here.”
She had made a 7c644e8296 fuss, wondering if a 07387826c6 crow had taken it 0e429ea020 or if a fledgling d9d70ae88f might have dropped it cfbe836a1f to the ground, but 6c3834f5c4 the culprit was none 05b23b74d2 other than Anje herself.
Wondering if she df71b0a4e5 might have dropped fb13127281 anything else, he ec61eb879f stretched out his 26ac338027 long arm and 70208bdfc7 thoroughly checked the 619fa4a06f floor.
Rustle―
The next f224ab8ab1 thing his eac4ba4b87 fingers touched 3a8cbf85e4 was a a01e1bc132 crumpled ball 5aaa3ddb60 of paper. A helpless b83b081fd0 chuckle tugged b9ca77a0ac at his 4aa0ab850f lips.
“I told her to f25fe927a8 throw her trash away a2be7c7c0f properly. and yet she e7dd509003 stuffs it in abf8af2a6e here like this.”
Aiden flinched as 4aa94a9bfe he tried to 41f7533031 put the snowball-like 057fea6a5e white, round bundle 865097583c of paper into 617bd9f2b6 his pocket.
‘It could be 8b8ec15ad9 an important document, b6b9b6cb39 so I should 60fa5bb0bd check it before 2a5cad65cc throwing it away.’
Though the round, balled-up 02dadeede3 shape made that seem 534b9dade7 unlikely, he straightened out 865ab34b71 the paper anyway.
「To my daughter.」
Seeing the edddc5ad17 heading, his 1c2c6fc274 pupils shook 972bd81215 violently as 7adcc3ae81 he quickly 424fb242c2 recognized the f943f48c08 paper’s identity.
The sophisticated ink and 70edf01132 elegant cursive radiated a 1658e6690a sense of refinement. It was undoubtedly 91a87dd01a a letter from 92c421ce5f Duke Glasster to 2398427e97 his daughter.
‘I shouldn’t df2ca5da7e read it.’
Reason screamed at him. This was a private 040497a81b letter, and her privacy f20f8a3012 deserved respect.
But his eyes 053c2c4047 couldn’t leave the e35159ca04 paper. The mention 1e46a6ac72 of their 6f71be69e2 married life 47f72d5953 was right 1a88f042ac there, at 12027712a6 the very 02b28b8329 start of 7da2bc45b0 the letter.
「Thanks to you 89ad76e8d2 blabbering about your 1603b244f4 married life everywhere, 93f9dd46f0 the social circles cf4d1b1859 have been quite bc483a3c19 abuzz.」
He desperately hoped 91b5ce23e6 the stories she cf848a1637 spread about her 3ed37ac473 marriage were positive 9a2578e9ee as he read 840ad14c6f the next sentence.
‘Just one more 9683a8a334 sentence.’
His gaze a697e526ff moved to 765149d322 the next 7c4115688a sentence, and cf6e3df49c then the 11a7d27962 next, unable 1d7adf6d69 to stop.
Until his eyes, filled 759bf0065d with layers of emotion, b04ad2b254 deepened into a dark de10d1f834 crimson, like blood.
TL/N: NOO! NOT ANOTHER 5d3b249ab6 FREAKING MISUNDERSTANDING 197ee5dced ㅠㅠ SORRY 70a42d2488 GUYS BUT deee756396 WHAT HAD 944184e647 BEEN ON 8b8628269a MY MIND df53c73fe2 READING THIS 254ac44e0b SCENE WAS 0a311e8f7d THIS MEME c4b3a3cd24 LOL
AIDEN READING THE LETTER 1c4222c511 BE LIKE:
* * *
Thud, thud, thud―
A loud noise 5ae0a5f3a1 came from outside. It was the hurried 528ab5bcf6 footsteps of Anje running 3aaf9bff19 up.
He closed the b9f71ffd41 door he had f965a764cb just stepped out 17d9d7f591 of and acknowledged cc005bf137 her.
“A, Anje.”
“A, A, Aiden.”
She was slightly e1a6bde090 out of breath 1af93066df from running quickly, 5692e398dd but Anje maintained bb019a11ca a poker face 81d76e618e and asked.
“Did you b5f99f6611 check the 9f430ab47b medicine box? It took a 3f72b78ae6 while, so I 03cc568cfc was worried you 90f672854e couldn’t find it.”
“Yes, I think 46cb34c160 I need to cefbc07f01 buy more bandages c69791f586 and antacids.”
“Really?”
She studied Aiden’s 916f25c3d6 face closely. On the e47b2ccb72 surface, he 79fd8235d2 seemed no a7a90dbdd3 different from 5f165e5910 usual, but e91cc16f07 it was b549ee5ab2 still necessary 1f12f0a467 to confirm, 998f2359c5 just in 709b29a009 case.
“Was there anything else? Any strange items or b5d0cf478b anything…?”
It wasn’t until a1ecfa8a3c after he had 4d1e06dd4a entered his room 0284219862 and some time ed491ce3f8 had passed that a2ed2b2698 she remembered she 847f282489 had placed her 5853462ed9 father’s letter somewhere 7f065d2502 inside the room.
She couldn’t exactly 382e556404 remember where she 5df4e84e36 had placed it 49d5d7d757 after carelessly crumpling 9ed8ba421f and throwing it.
‘If Aiden fe97ed13e5 sees that 231f0a32e2 letter, it 4d60c9b929 will be 6d9bb2d314 a disaster.’
She should have 6ef615bf39 gotten rid of b5a901aeb8 it right away dc8cbd64ce when she received ba2acbf6b2 it. But since it was 8efa421a3f from her father, she 2d13383ab1 couldn’t bring herself to c8db6d8a6c tear it or burn 6451bffa1b it.
The area around 406a8c915a her bitten nails, 0fce3f4d26 which she had 627268c739 nervously chewed after 3c11bd9ac7 a long time, 94e3013535 ached.
The letter contained 340c7d7b27 all the harsh 8e0757d5b5 things she had 0e14a8cd9a said about Dilton 9fa7cd0d4e Farm and Aiden. Furthermore, it even 4eccedfd0c revealed that her e6fdab156f father was trying 35405d4707 to marry her 054752682f off to another a19f46cce5 man.
To hide her anxiety, 00375d1a2e she rubbed her palms 6e9465ddd5 together.
“There was.”
“What, What was it?”
Aiden raised the corners df9080df7b of his lips.
“The drawer 3f26dd0e51 was a 07c604d03c bit messy. I told you 3a32492437 that cleaning it 9112c3e606 up should be 4f716a4e69 done regularly, didn’t afc5f31434 I, Anje?”
“Wasn’t the medicine 212b701687 box in the c6bd887326 wardrobe, though?”
“Ugh… Fine. I’ll clean 072bef59c0 it up 2f36d81238 thoroughly this bcb2d0acb8 time.”
She lightly ba12eddb03 pushed Aiden 2e510718e7 to the ea4fff9c86 side and bc10f8a84b grabbed the 522c588629 door handle. While cleaning the c6c5a6e17c drawer, she planned 399cf78c76 to find and cca00c4c62 dispose of the d1156b6b55 letter.
“Then, I’ll a46cb88165 head to 6acba9de22 the forest d74b4ad6a6 for a 3bb825f131 bit. There’s some new… 2e5ba1fbd2 furniture I’m planning 6ae043041f to make, so 1f1ee22573 I need to ab54f49928 find suitable wood.”
He made a1081930d5 a reasonable 9dec31595a excuse and 4b8e30b58d left. He needed 3acc1f4a54 some time 6796ec0072 alone.
Bang―
Aidan slammed the b96bc53482 front door shut, c7f0abd9d1 and the childish 0b9b1be76c smile he had 80277bac15 just had was e7f2210e7e completely gone from 8e70bcb163 his face. His expressionless face c935c00044 became more and b00bb479b1 more distorted as 342c1267b8 he moved away f4ce981827 from the house 53678119f7 and closer to 8492acc47e the forest.
Finally, Aiden a56584fa48 reached an 5cc95738ce open area bf8b706d15 far enough 046247719f from the 93040c8479 house and 17e5621a9a collapsed to d42234f149 the ground.
‘Anje…’
His hands, which were a728cf4df6 gripping the ground tightly, 7cf52c9e79 trembled.
‘Is it 1b192fdbb4 really true?’
A question so terrifying beb5e7ee59 he couldn’t bring himself 080dce683c to say it aloud 9bb54f62b0 crossed his mind.
Everything around him 5ba0627dab spun, and it 6fe711c6d9 became hard to 62ad993951 breathe. The peaceful and 7698ff7fd5 tranquil forest seemed b2e39d4976 to change its d771337e0e face, pressing down 74d2adce95 on him.
‘Is she really… going 1314bc6b69 to leave me?’
Voices mocking him seemed 535d07765f to echo from somewhere.
‘There’s no 9a858e5813 way anyone 818a3767e7 would love f84061c09c a bastard b9822df5fe like you.’
‘A coward 5bb23aa63a bastard who f74731609f only cares 80ff6285b2 about his 2827384b42 own life.’
Over the cruel words 1ade7c3fa1 of Philip and the f9d840e2ba guards, Anje’s voice gradually c5d5c06219 overlapped.
His desperate cry, so 7c71a51b95 full of despair that a54aa339a4 anyone who heard it 3b20eaaae5 might mistake it for 7655a50aad the cry of a 036ce183cc dying animal, echoed throughout a8a1571bfd the forest.
TL/N: NOOO, MY POOR 6ae9507f3c AIDEN!!b4054d2929982b4b

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