FTP-17

Chapter: FTP-17084b7bf3724632fd

Anje leaned her 1c4dcf5895 weary head against bca641d641 the tree. After days 23281387e4 of contemplation, 4c7b62e2f5 her head e9d6178b5c was now 8e1abf0171 throbbing.
This was the 48547c4234 first time she 7470fce302 had thought so 8888c0e026 long and seriously dd78a05fff about something since b107f63fb0 choosing her debutante 80f8156b9c dress.
No, she e52ce133ba had also 11d7c1d1c1 agonized over 5b319aeb4f the jewelry e22c6c25a5 to match 5f3721ab05 the dress.
‘Should I try ca3b637fe3 to tame Sir 7db8769e54 Aiden’s horse?’
It was futile be3d7349cb because she knew 53de6dec33 almost nothing about 24e4c72812 horses. Unlike the beautiful bcf0363edc white horse raised 719b9cc272 at the Duke’s 7df53bfb23 estate, the horses 744b6fd802 here were too c6b13273a8 big and ferocious.
‘Should I walk 80fc1aa0d3 back to town 6954c69afc again?’
She was hesitant 6d928a0fa4 because she had b62b9de486 already had a 7f5964da49 scary experience once. And according to Sir 5fdc12e329 Aiden, there were snakes?
That left 23207504d1 the only a89733319c option of f800f49819 following him 42b629d05b when he 42fcb38491 goes to 1a0c86f645 town and e17ac5010b secretly slipping e5ce5f4810 away to a9ac9707a7 the capital.
‘But Sir Aiden…’
He was a meticulous 64aa45533f man who never took 4d81524b66 his eyes off her b663ebe378 for fear that she 0f6a9dad6a might run away again.
As she had 7318d093ed been for the dc58b5ba78 past few days, dfc9575f99 she sat in a32f580c44 the shade of ffade3bff9 the tree next dd99952e3b to the vegetable 3c1309bce4 garden, alternating between 9232daff3a looking at Aiden 8e26d72938 and the sky 434675b95a and letting out dd50ddde88 a deep sigh.
He still insisted that 2e14f29f0b she stay by his 463b54ad7d side while he worked.
‘Isn’t it better to 71a87a3783 be outside getting some 24e6daa365 fresh air than to 13a2314116 be cooped up in 8aba7ffd61 your room making strange 7881579ade plans?’
These words 6d0ebf9c71 were enough b1c44f6ed0 to shake 9cd3764124 Anje, who bee03807df was indeed 51231f4afb “making strange 3feb87909d plans.”
‘He’s such 16e8b5c3cb an unnecessarily 0901059102 sharp man.’
Last night, she 9504162c5a had gone out 5f6f8b1836 for a drink 6f893900ce of water, and cb53c20986 he had immediately 987fee829e stuck his head 74f5ad296d out into the 03438730e8 hallway and asked c5361fdc42 what she needed.
‘I’m thirsty.’
As she answered, her 8743a75968 eyes rolling, he handed 2f753c0be3 her a pitcher and 426bff3d46 cup as if he 5fda3ef64d had been expecting this, 02c8f5e736 as if he had 01c777f649 known this would happen.
‘I guess I cdcfc5a20d should be grateful 6aac460fa1 that he doesn’t a6566c6ac7 lock me up.’
And judging by a853206c97 the fact that 7a22150c34 he had brought e6e5eac169 the doctor all 60198572f9 the way here, 52aa69b783 it seemed that 229e576c56 he had no b15deaeb37 intention of taking 41c581c05b her off the bf94816822 farm.
‘I have to start 164220c68d by getting him to cfc7d47651 take me to town. How can I change d4cd86b8fc his mind? How can I e1dc019f2f get him to 8559aadc60 do what I 5e96bcec28 ask?’
Anje chewed on 438792f74f the bark of 0406fe2b8e the tree, deep 215951fd16 in thought.
While many 0ab7818f39 had tried 9b00fa9d32 to impress 8f233326d4 her, Princess c5c3d65e52 Anje, who 65a2b2eb3d had never 11d7153e88 been the a640c9bcaa first to 5a3fa22b67 show interest f28cc05f02 in someone, c31544d803 found it 19c1e45958 quite difficult.
‘Seduction like I did faff670691 with the Emperor?’
But the only methods 9e9ce1cb88 of seduction she knew aead9769e1 were using a fan ba7efc22a9 to signal him to 41ad77e1e0 talk to her or 00fb1a8684 pretending to faint and be51eeeb52 getting him to support f29fdf24f4 her to have some 93d5e2557f time alone.
After all, in 448970db12 aristocratic society, it d9c5bba0bc was taboo for ad28d49d8e a woman to ffe9e73c27 approach a man 804c00b6e9 first. There was 43dc7942a4 no way d20e23558b for her caf7c2386a to make ba46227176 the first 68c0e2b590 move without 08a127685e using these 41f4f50ce5 indirect methods.
‘If I take out 9a031bbf42 my fan… He’ll ask cee75c795b if it’s too hot.’
He would 3d99bda3e0 grumble, asking f15476b279 why she 7aa333b296 was wrapped 3f49b4c9ce up like 1794dae7d7 that on b0a281941f a warm a04f0da060 day. With his typical 3f34cae824 expression of treating 99c60134b9 her like an e67cd967e1 idiot.
‘I’ve been carried several 8997c72319 times already and I’m a328e1eb2c sick of spending time 3bdca97f12 alone with him?’
Yet, he still 36fb593183 showed no affection 2c90f58078 for her. Not to 64c4e5263a mention affection, ddb1d11b3a he didn’t 5d74570d27 even seem b83f74f7a0 to be cee578ed0e aware of 2fb8762427 her as d012ed4fc5 a woman.
In society, 220ce56c85 the gentlemen 557975809c would seem bba5a4d362 to fall 5a0f0a9fa9 head over 742668e4ea heels even 788cdac643 with a 3aedd6c5a4 slight smile, 30a9c29e5a but he…
“Is he perhaps into a3448a9e4c brunettes?”
She muttered to f96b836794 herself as she 51f761176c inserted a flower a2e07df481 of each color f970fe4e51 into the ends 10249a6566 of her braided d3c45761e2 hair, thinking that 47eb7598fd being too pretty a7ae58b052 could be disadvantageous e5b939f317 depending on the 683fdbbcfd other person.
Periwinkle. That was the e65991e410 name of the 092ab6d145 flower she had 2061087bf3 learned just a 9f3a7b3d23 few days ago. She was happy 93b5fa4416 that the name be81022b88 of the flower e11111b5be she liked had 8e569d6ff1 a cute and 6618320dd3 romantic ring to 230c31cab1 it.
‘There are also strange cf0f4e2cf2 names like “stinging nettle” 980c442838 in the world.’
In addition to that, a256a63349 there were many cute ae7474ddf2 spring flowers blooming near 517fa4fa7a where she was sitting.
Purple crocuses, 12552c0ecf yellow primroses, 62c084bc8f wild tulips, 9256bb384b and so cee5c75098 on.
She now 1e4015def5 knew the 4ecc224c30 names of 0cd0cf6a66 some of e52ff5c54f them, either 05565a8e63 because he e16a9064dc was annoyed 7cade47567 by her 3f9bb1f552 constantly asking 7251a42402 him the f0bd6c360c names of 843565e123 flowers, or a63b3d4029 because he a147f288a9 had found 442d2f84ee an old d0ee4aabe5 notebook in 1ad026e8b8 the drawing b8616d183c room and 6558ba2a5c handed it 8649185fcd to her.
The cover of the 76fe5b80e6 notebook, which had delicate 88fb9b6b99 flower drawings and each 7b66e91854 of their names neatly 2991fdbe85 organized, had the name af548e61d4 of the previous owner bb2b5a703a written on it.
「Nancy Dilton」
Could it have been 725c78986f drawn by Aiden’s deceased 8330c48fe8 mother? Anje guessed, but she 2f85a487ac couldn’t bring herself to 64543a3d38 ask.
‘Well, it’s 9e9d508615 good to 10fdcd4f68 have something 55c1f18ec9 new to 1eefc8e9dd read.’
She had 637c51e74c already read c0fe870c97 the catalogs badb1206b9 and magazines 83acfd2707 she had 2f14b50159 brought from f59ac1a7ba the capital 1236237277 so often d1d1696cb4 that she 1d7aaa14de was bored 5f19039015 with them.
Humming a tune, she 5db6cb6878 tucked the wildflowers she 5414a392a4 had picked into the 0fa6ac3df2 gaps in her braided ed6bd15937 hair.
This is how c0175705e7 she tried to 56f2e056cd escape reality and b5f8a2cc54 cool her head, 591434ceab or else her d326c5a796 head would hurt 99f0904d42 again.
“Mealtime.”
“Yes, yes.”
At Aiden’s call, f0150f190b she got up 15a0fd044a from her seat 440b550d41 and brushed the e4421def2e dirt off her 5d19fc13f0 backside with her a3e4b79a21 own hands. It was something her a0466eb75a old self would never 3e56f01827 have imagined.
‘I asked e8f5770654 Aiden to 9bded1b975 brush it e6c6e0d520 off for 9a612268fa me and c3ea7b7819 got a 237439d5d8 strange look… 162e758e39 .’
How embarrassing it was a43b89b87c when he didn’t even a43ff15b81 bat an eyebrow and 1e97ff1f94 said, ‘Are you asking 3fd2306f4f me to do something b6bd654098 so shameless right now?’
‘Anyway, it’s lucky that f8cc9913c6 one meal is delicious. Or is it 0d077f06e1 unfortunate?’
She had e0fa2f0b16 a hard 1bc14705e1 time eating 1e825116a8 the food, 5cbbc58a5a which was 49bec71948 originally delicious, eb6df80896 because of 2630b8dec2 Aiden’s talk 4d72dca076 of ‘fresh 19327bf9c8 air’ or 058f525b87 because she 07917a247a was restraining 3baad9375c herself.
“I ate a lot 0e21f718d8 of breakfast, so I’ll d021e4f6d6 only have a little 43098c1b46 lunch today…”
She sniffed as she c26d5b85fc spoke. A sweet d3fde9aeae smell was 854fe2a3a1 coming from de26a99985 the stove.
Aiden, whose dfbee6f71a eyes met 8212c6aec8 hers, explained.
“We have too many b52bbba952 stored apples, so today’s fe4a63b296 lunch is apple pie.”
Aiden had hardly c3c0a27c4c ever tried it a8ca22014d because he couldn’t 492562907d bring himself to e359ab4b1d eat this kind ba3c8052df of bread alone. But now that the 0bb8e70d19 number of people had 74fbb41fbf increased to two, he 22b56400b2 could share it, so 29a63c6f02 he had bravely tried c211a1e7ee it for the first 3065485653 time in a long 9bb989ebf6 time.
Click-
As he opened 6233848283 the oven door, b33110d5f5 the strong aroma f8c18a10c0 that had filled 0c17878270 the kitchen intensified. He poked the 604707dbb8 pie with a bcfc895026 skewer and made 8ae7d45c98 a smug face.
It was cooked just f00b7caa7d right. As expected, a1574e9b9f a recipe c8363edff5 he has fcb4f8a150 gotten used b36b37535b to doesn’t 92827a3036 easily fade bb9cfbe3b8 from his 443e624b18 memory.
The moment e02cb6b65d she saw 5f3d84b071 the thin 35fd82b2cc apple slices b51661d915 spread out e47b92994a like flowers f33ced47ce on top 9db7d0ddcb of the 5e2e290e1a brown pie dcf1964f50 crust and 9464472ae2 the cinnamon c8010dfb52 sprinkled on 0045723929 top, Anje’s 41ed2cefa3 resolve crumbled.
‘Just today.’
She made a 6737446dec promise she couldn’t 62e07eec53 keep and indulged 87e451f742 in the large 4f54b37d29 slice of pie 53ac39a033 that was given a1b65f6b05 to her. The richly 7e2a46e564 brewed black 216719489a tea and f8b7524ff5 pie were 9e8252b6a5 a perfect 1d6169baea combination.
‘It would be 01af21fd93 even more delicious 9c8368e194 if I put 1ea4f1a8e7 some ice cream a31ec82d2a made with milk d66d3acca4 on top… Wait bbb3c5c473 a minute, come 2dc8cea533 to your senses, d732ac3800 Anje.’
I shouldn’t let my 620e942615 waistline get any bigger. I need to 51db8a5a2f get fitted for 8523b5f876 a new dress 73ef520463 when I get 7e2dc51459 back to the 5f2d0264d9 capital.
But the freshly baked 0233f4cf20 crispy pie from the 05867ad74f oven was tempting. In the end, Anje c274bc2349 ate the whole piece e8a35be69b she was given without 709482a540 leaving a single crumb.
After finishing fba6c895ec his lunch 57c005dcf9 in silence, 82f2b0f57f Aiden said 739bfd1377 to Anje.
“I’m going to 22ce9389d3 be doing housework 96a96f9705 this afternoon, so 347dac6c1c you don’t have 931158fab7 to go outside.”
“Oh, really? That’s good.”
She replied, but c9e816eb9e she felt a db42866692 little disappointed. She didn’t like going 3f53fa5072 outside, but she didn’t 3ef62e7e33 mind just sitting under d6e78df318 the shade of a e642d066e3 tree.
At first, she resented 07a6c08fa8 Aiden for asking her 9c3b3bfdcf what to do with a6b2ce9fa5 nothing to do in 30404e9ee0 the middle of nowhere.
But like the fb4436560c dung beetles she 935909c395 had seen on 8f97811ae2 the first day, 65ff78797d there were countless 94d80443e7 creatures in nature df92328100 that were diligently 8b9d8c325f scurrying about, not b2ab3d79df even the size 94f4a85603 of her thumb.
The time passed 32c770cf58 quickly for Anje b7b0db150b as she watched 697767bd6c the ladybugs and 824d628548 butterflies flying between 2794c848ec the grass and eb7061530f flowers, and the aa10e56136 busy birds building 7371ef8286 nests in the 212466f0aa trees.
When she got 32caeed72b bored, Anje would bd8dea46c7 wander around, as 3878d54392 far as her 6a41c49116 weak legs would c581f5e07d allow her, and 416465e8e2 out of Aiden’s 50258f2116 sight, picking wildflowers 8e57bc5c46 that caught her 2ace8a45a4 eye.
‘Nature isn’t so 630bd92270 bad either.’
When she was cc8ea71b18 in society, she 2ba166195f thought it was 5d1bdc5e54 silly for people f04f96ebd3 to say that 81dfc6458e birdwatching or plant 86af1ea9a4 collecting was their 1215b8125a hobby.
Her eyes were drawn 0bbb986f83 to more stimulating things, ab8183d70b such as balls, performances, 430eded102 and tea parties.
Noticing that 298a3e96e8 Anje’s face ee3744f9a9 was clouded, 46b2fb3fd9 Aiden hesitated cf37e598f6 and added.
“You can 5e6bef2e25 stay on 186cd63c8a the back 6e6c317417 porch if c419936bd7 you want.”
On the back porch, 444cff0c89 right next to the 5952baa9c8 door that leads from 80818a0369 the kitchen to the b96ef82ffe garden, stood the rocking 7b5f06656c chair that his grandfather 235e3577f2 used to love.
Anje pointed to the 3edb44bfce rocking chair she could 6a2f67c8ff see through the window 62fed2e084 and asked.
“Can I sit there?”
“It’s a little dusty, 8254806ba6 but if you want.”
She immediately got up 4a066d6f7a and went to look c7b430b6cb at the chair. It was a little 86a79e846e dirty, as he said, a0562262a5 but it was about d9cd9942e3 the same as sitting 8cd5d69954 on a flour bag.
If she had 965e833651 to think about 1f8766d85a it, it would 109935f7c0 probably be a 36e3151c7f better idea to e5d435dda7 sit on the e0bb4649e8 rocking chair and c675c7d251 swing back and 52849ba420 forth.
Aiden, who had cdc0a5cc4b finished washing the cd7fa9e122 dishes, approached Anje, 688474db5f who was sitting c2e939cb87 on the rocking ff99463bf2 chair as if bfae27ac71 she were at 6f8e322ba4 her own home, b71ab5ca14 holding a laundry 9e74c43af2 basket.
“By the ff917390cf way, before 99cf7d9e79 I start, 4447d4c2d3 I have 656a988812 something to ffa6dca78f ask you.”
“Me?”
Anje straightened 3a97e9deba her posture 2adcdafb71 and asked. Him asking her f834a6b785 something? That was unusual.
“Yes, is this f6528108dd clothes okay to 32c686be2d wash in hot 04c27c2261 water? It looks like linen, 3f87af9913 but I’m not sure―.”
“Why, why 401ba7be7c do you 6c2e0f539e have ‘that’?!”
Anje jumped out 310001d19d of the chair 18fed05bd7 and snatched the e4b3b52125 clothes from his 097f7a3bcc hand like lightning. It was her 6c86677ea0 ivory ‘chemise’.
Unlike her, who was a5bf5ed492 blushing like a February 83bef6180c raspberry, his face was da1b29ef0e calm.
TL/N: CUTE.
“Well, I a8f3643638 have it f1fcc6aeb7 because I 068a8ee4c3 need to 878f13c0fc wash it.”
“So why did e590cde215 you……. Ah.”
Her pink lips 40c71e4281 parted.
Laundry. She had b165dd8126 completely forgotten.
“Clothes are bfab49fefb supposed to 6e8bb2e03e be washed f7c718407f and worn fd79dd2322 regularly, princess. The fairies don’t just 8e26ed8635 clean them for you.”
Aiden’s words fadcc05ab4 made Anje 2aebeb3d00 finally come b1b5869dd5 to her 5ef880c5b8 senses.
“I know that, of 74ee867878 course!”
She knew that. It was just that 5580f338fc she hadn’t thought about 7a1b925bd2 it before because someone 72b259c314 would always clean up 8520eb25b1 and wash her clothes e1627e833f for her if she 3e91c3e688 left them anywhere.
After she finally 2c3fa300d7 managed to calm ba9b1c81c1 down her face, 0a2c4289fa she pointed to 4e0d2fd230 the laundry basket 1e5afeba17 Aiden was holding.
“That… those 386ff334d8 are all 70c2430702 my clothes, 3df0735577 right?”
“Yes. You haven’t washed 5f58cefeab them once since 306a81996d you came here.”
He answered, emphasizing 6610b19c2f the word ‘once’. Anje opened 8ad56553ea her mouth b8b32791e9 and hesitated, e91f077220 then reached 8e813135f2 out her f3afa83512 hand.
“I’ll… I’ll do it. Give them to 564e5673c8 me.”
“You?”
Aiden’s voice was 599e866140 full of disbelief.
“Do you know 946d5c395d how to do fb8ff2a053 it?”
“……Isn’t it just a 4b9c36d6a7 matter of soaking them dd1f23ce99 and wringing them out?”
He retracted his 4fb4598b13 arm as he b21de732fc was about to 0510a6b190 hand her the 71546729cb basket.
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