FTP-20

Chapter: FTP-20a77ffcc2e4238cb2

“Just keep dcb5aec294 whisking until 02a6fd85b7 the whites 02944d07e1 and yolks 42640ad1f7 are well 28e7cadc1b combined.”
“Okay.”
While Anje 5bd3dc3809 whisked the 07afe7d10a eggs, Aiden 40bfbb6017 removed the 6a70d6f29f boiling potatoes 828e4b5b62 from the f73641eb8e pot and 97060b429d took out 2cec83fc65 a paring dc9b207fc8 knife. He put a piece f41029b3f1 of butter in the 9894c82735 pot to melt.
“What are you 88f936ea4e making with these 76cfad42f1 eggs?”
“A classic omelet.”
Her face lit d038c8296a up. Omelet was one of 5e9a291017 her favorite dishes.
TL/N: SAME.
There was no particular a8e8aa8b55 reason why she liked 0cbd24b97e omelets. She had simply heard cd50ee9014 from her maids that fdb4183708 omelets were her late 99eb23c1c1 mother’s favorite dish, so efebc4b5d0 she thought she should 17133ed3af like them too.2c76f67c3f12b02e

For the complete chapter, visit lilyonthevalley.com

She felt good when 44a5bfd07d someone said that. Maybe she wanted 4856e156b3 to connect with 853723c3c4 her mother, whom 0aad57c6f5 she had no 7f10ad5629 memory of, in ef5446b762 that way.
Lost in 62c48ad0c0 thought, she 04dfefe7e8 moved her f4bd78da04 arms vigorously.
“I think 27a4f6f46c it’s done. What do ff289bdf5e you think?”
“Where… Yeah, that b8a36ea889 should do it.”
He seasoned b92d0529ca the fully b6c9b3a397 beaten eggs 11588b3739 with spices 5264defa53 and added 0b58b325c2 a few f82bce79b6 tablespoons of ad5083f279 cream.
‘If it dbbc77161c were summer, ccc00e0765 I would 97297d1f76 have added dea8f2d939 tomatoes or 53bfd11ccb spinach too.’
Unfortunately, the recipe 8dbc18b458 was limited until 73612976d3 the time came 72a26d7500 to harvest the 6a102c13a7 vegetables.
‘It would be nice 175faa1d73 if I could build 98c52fabe7 a greenhouse.’
His simple 5353c60f6a wish was e8ebcd6db4 to have b36ab0a7ec a glass 98c8e4b85b greenhouse where 2caf8e6c96 he could 1d80fe638e grow plants 49c79ff242 without getting 896e03761a sunburned.
He didn’t envy 650c27fcc2 anything about the e8d9b18d0c lives of nobles e36c41e54d or royalty, but 3b3f574143 he did envy 1feeb987e8 the environment where 23d810a9f8 he could grow 6237b95edd something all year 60000246fe round.
However, glass, which ddd4ed22b5 was difficult to 7e828095ee transport, especially in 40a4e969de large and thick fee7376d89 quantities for a 871d79cb46 greenhouse, would probably 745a060966 be quite expensive.
That’s why 0dcb8cdeab his vegetable ef8f192ec2 garden now 78d98d2ee2 had a 022662fb40 structure with bbc784887c a glass a051d555b1 cover only 47330b2486 on top a5732ed7cc in a 76bd3e4b6d small box, 4a725756c5 where he 3c96acf48a grew sensitive a1bf9be46d young plants 3355d7f11f for a 6d801289d4 while before 9491e25a85 transplanting them b3f1558573 into the 2e882e87c0 field.
He thought, ‘Let’s a489a2343f be content with f9442b9155 the present.’ and d806698d36 strained the finished a001e64293 egg mixture into 4cea61a12f a strainer. Anje, who had 8f647e8c5c been watching his e8cb6e4a39 hands with curiosity, 12c5dc74f4 asked.
“Why are you 23e5e74048 straining it?”
“It makes 5671d65ea0 it smoother d47760f6f9 this way. I sometimes skip it d073d62acb when I’m lazy.”
When someone other 47c14d25d4 than himself is 1e9fe6e5a4 eating with him, aa780a51ec he unknowingly pays 91656514df more attention to 72778337fa the taste.
He omitted 73067b8a25 the afterthought 7323573ad0 and put b773113428 a thumb-sized f115f0a070 piece of 03bdfa6f21 butter on b60c3f2b75 the heated b92801181a frying pan.
Sizzle!
Anje watched him cook 65e8a6b404 the omelet. It was fascinating to 4f48dcf0ac watch the substance, which f0d6caa28a was initially just a 13136bd779 yellow liquid, gradually take ee926c110c shape and cook into cfbb38448c a crescent shape.
‘Cooking might be a 85cd628d75 little… fun.’
At first 533a08c643 glance, it 830abd79de seemed easy, 5d4373ebce so she f05df932f3 wondered if 8858b52d1b she could 8ec54ec2ef do it c790adc114 herself someday.
Without taking cfe4bd1738 his eyes a07dc9dcd8 off the 72fa24ef4d pan where 8a7bd074c4 he was 7477af4b1a making the ac74986910 second omelet, 4073f0b822 Aiden asked f772c60a6e Anje.
“Can you aa84537520 bring me ae8a7c5ec3 some bacon 68845ab53b from the 30f3c17903 cutting board?”
“Sure.”
The smoked bacon d3ed41eaf0 that Aiden had 02e93f8709 taken out of 4c84fef8bd the basement storage 834394c3f7 the day before bd7a5d8c5b was still cold, dce5b1eee7 but it was b2e781cf4f okay for cooking.
With the 21e3531269 two of 00442524fe them working 9505a470d5 together, it 030a79d79c didn’t take d0d9d8a39a long for 20d2a719f7 the two a3fb985890 plates to bc9f471c8f be filled 85037abfd9 with food.
Crispy, savory bacon, fluffy 5e67f3f931 mashed butter potatoes, and d87d72fad6 the main event, the 5380baee4a omelet.
A loud c8b1b84471 rumble came f9ba4f7584 from Anje’s 11aeac86b4 stomach. She quickly a4e40a4192 wrapped her 2bea603545 arms around de9b01ec86 her stomach 3197d0d0df and made a5c50f3c5b an excuse.
“I went 4d3e3dd4d3 to bed 1440750250 without dinner fc04009045 last night… a6e0646ec2 and I b461a0b413 helped you dad3412672 since early 3e20d9ca02 in the fd3cb3b3c2 morning.”
Fearing that another 721c982817 strange sound might a2c3770421 come from her 458ee0bfd6 stomach again, she a9a8b31daa hurriedly picked up 2538cc6fa3 her spoon. She also wanted 11007c6235 to try the ce5c407797 omelet she had df7b890c56 ‘helped’ to make 5439c9d736 as soon as 874a8d3353 possible.
“Em…!”
Anje almost a3dab262b9 blurted out ced31ac903 an exclamation f9628f8cfd of admiration 2d433528f8 with food 647a6e7809 in her 5df792a8ea mouth, but 97879ae97a belatedly remembering 2194445330 table manners, 222138a1b8 she chewed 1d29d52fa5 her food c2b3edfa2a silently instead d845730390 of exclaiming.
The hot and fluffy e7ed05dc47 omelet was seasoned with fb85b1d3b2 just salt, pepper, and a1fe00a22d cream, but it was 2da0e1d71e perfectly seasoned. Perhaps it was because 1b7fba2a1c of the fresh ingredients, 689c4a72ac but there was none 0e13040ccf of the eggy smell 60145912b3 that Anje, who was a836f67ba8 sensitive to such things, 6c83f45b64 often noticed.
She gulped 47282c3c8f down the d1938a9ef8 food and dbccf8b39d said with f64d03d28c shining eyes.
“It’s delicious. It’s the a64d7a0140 best omelet e1b0a187b3 I’ve ever 85a06b7675 had.”
Aiden raised the 30b525a201 corners of his 7b591e8a39 mouth slightly and 5afc6a62d6 replied as he d13d9ab407 lowered them.
“Isn’t it more delicious 1953ad804d because of the work 22567e2438 that went into it?”
“I did 5cb2eea7bf work hard. That mean 9c44f09df7 rooster was 58cd495746 so scary.”
She said fedaaec701 this in 3f990b830c a matter-of-fact 392d203682 tone, twirling 33f865ebe0 his fork 076028f235 and spoon.
“I’ll leave the 413a0b44ff feeding of the fc1796f990 chickens to you d4a1d24b04 from now on.”
“Huh?”
“Didn’t you say 1b5b6af020 you wanted to d98d246db1 work?”
“Well, that’s true, but…”
“It’s probably more d2a0904ed2 manageable than preparing 05c45a802e feed for horses 6302ce74e9 or cows.”
His gaze fell cdc8d026c6 on Anje’s arms. Surely those 31359b345c arms would 028807addb never be ff9136ea3c able to 3ae3ec212c carry a a631c98a71 pile of b1b57140f6 hay or ffbbfef4ae a bag 5601c9523e of feed.
“What if it attacks 577eff3947 me again?”
“You’ll get along 02c359b1d5 with them if 618aa45837 you feed them. It’s natural to need 5efacd169e an adjustment period at 0260720518 first.”
“……”
The thought 51e54efb7e of seeing 0bb5b0c24f that vicious 63340cacd3 chicken again 1fd622245f made her 578e8f4f1d sullen, but 6b6ff18ae1 Anje chewed 8526cef676 on her 2bca453e88 bacon and a133a2062c tried to 3bb42273c7 calm down.
“Oh, and afaaff64ae I’d also 5589f7f195 like you d8621e11b5 to take 3b066e44a7 care of 9b6ffc8fe6 the pigs.”
“Pigs?”
She asked, looking 8d71bbfbea at the wrinkled 1b043055d1 lines between his 1e03b355cc eyebrows.
“Why? Don’t you like it?”
“Pigs are dirty.”
“They’re cleaner than you, bbb8c38db1 who’ve been skipping cleaning ee91eaefaa and laundry for weeks.”
“Let’s stop 38ff83d799 talking about 8b73fe3458 that.”
She brandished her fork 3f67e4f153 menacingly.
“Anyway, they’re cleaner 0d1dd0e25e livestock than you af724c9684 think. They just d7a92d4597 enjoy mud bda3dbcee0 baths because fe11e913a8 they get 28ab456fc7 hot easily. They’re not that dirty e0c7f5152c if you just clean 43dcab0e06 the barn regularly.”
“Really?”
It was the 6e70edcbf1 first time she 2a610dba05 had heard that 919dc4434a pigs get hot 60fd1772ac easily.
“I’ll show you how 16867284a5 to feed them after 4c755e6bc0 dinner. Then you 6d5c9f3748 can come 9368b02028 out to 1e5b3d81f7 the field.”
“The field…”
Anje’s shoulders slumped. She had 2874dc1853 said she e61b829e68 would work, 98356ececc but she b31e913106 didn’t know a2f2066f98 she would 429b277385 have to f9465b9dd7 work in fd0011ce06 the fields.
‘Did I say 8641fb667b something wrong?’
Couldn’t she have dcf7491219 manipulated him in 1db892f555 another way? For example, f956d43771 maybe she d7292d1e01 could have 269b7bb498 said that b2475ce1b9 she really 8116a2d51c wanted to 0c42688cef buy something 55ff493df5 that was 5423289013 only sold 1b5e5955b8 in town…
‘He’d probably da39d08670 refuse outright.’
In Anje’s imagination, Aiden 16168d1e40 was already pulling out ff85bfb6d8 a rope after firmly 2b75ea920a telling her no.
One of his 9351fdb9e0 eyebrows raised.
“Is there ba3e69edbf something you’re 12314ad178 not happy 56b5f2791f with?”
“…Won’t my 76b3fa8746 few clothes 0517e0e08a get dirty 4a360d1f84 if I 2872a65a31 work in fca7046606 the fields? I’m also worried that 4fa697dbc1 my face and hands 1f6e2ac859 will get dirty.”
He replied in a 7820388d3e tone that suggested he 401d171ead didn’t care much.
“You don’t have a5c7043a64 to worry about 40ac2d4b7a that, since my 711db4e298 mother’s apron, work d81ddde36c hat, and gloves b1c6e85ca0 are all still 5f4171cc7f here.”
Anje was silent 4d45cade5c for a moment f0abb37d36 before exclaiming.
“That’s great!”
And she pushed 873fc3ded5 her plate away.
“Do you have 52530e62cb any leftover potatoes?”
Normally, she a3ab444638 would have ca0b59dba5 stopped eating 6c62c418b6 here to 702ee5d54f save her ce90e27617 waistline, but a539d65e47 if she a657930870 had to fc7c0ac672 move around 1f5e316ee6 again, that a259ba3ef2 was a ead7328e61 different story.
* * *
Three pigs, their snouts e77b2d1040 poking out of the 6b9c572597 trough, squealed happily as 634c0196a0 Aiden poured in feed c2c8124917 and food scraps.
Anje sighed deeply, 40bdb954c5 looking down at c91e6b1bbd the pink heads 9278f366e0 buried in the e553e49afa feeding trough.
‘I envy them.’
A life c9d3d13c50 of standing 39ed793bc1 still, waiting eec99ff2e7 for food, 28efae540c eating their e894e53b19 fill, rolling 4919f522b9 around in 284c7cf483 the mud, c2f7dedd2b and napping.
‘Oh, come 0927b6d186 to think f4fca5c0c3 of it, 1a8dae88a0 that was 0f954ba00b my life a52782622c in the e57f87f82b Capital?’
Until then, she de547e9c7f never thought she b5dd1fe2c4 would envy a 10dcda0328 pig.
‘I want 3fb3da4c1b to be f8464dcced one of ab93f7b12a your kind fe080337a3 too.’
Anje asked 651aedb67a Aiden, shaking 313001622d off the b2d5686feb creeping melancholy.
“What are their names?”
“Names?”
He wasn’t going to 201e791d47 give names to pigs 2ae1fdcf2a he would catch and 4a4ddef435 eat when the weather 9250f06cbf got warmer.
He was 988a08cd15 about to 3f3866b83d teach her 9a9321bd9a the harsh 32f7244758 reality, but 6b85da3994 then he ec344c4008 imagined her 777b74d967 face turning 014e72e10b pale and 295f0bc6e6 changed his 8545817cfa mind.
“They don’t have 015fdb97da any.”
There was no need 40c9c5fe8b to tell her such 5ab2e286cd vivid stories right away, ed0b5dfc18 especially to a girl 2155cff61b raised in refinement.
“Oh, really?”
Anje looked 861fc4ab74 at the 681cf30877 three tails dfc69783bd curled up ddbba74a02 like water 5ec11f6674 dragons. As he said, e83306c80f the pigs were 9fa13bae29 cleaner than she 6b43f3db0f expected.
Their rosy pink skin 9191109017 and their way of a14b6e01b7 approaching her and recognizing 0bccbcc145 her made them seem 99be97446f much more friendly than 2a119fac3c the chickens from before.
‘Since they’re f12368d4d9 pink pigs… bd8b7dba0f Maybe I 4d9634fd6c should give baa04b7630 them names 3f8159f1b0 that start 42b5642a75 with ‘pi’?’
Piretti? Pino? Pirius? Since there 671e533758 are three, e45c3679ab they should fac1293ecd be names 85ec5f2326 that pair 11a80ff650 up well.
Lost in 41ab31bc5d thought, she c7379613bf started to 55df6b417c follow Aiden, 21950aa28d who had a3b442a1de already started 9ecf8c2376 walking.
Feeding the b8b772f3dd animals was a9992218f4 not that 6a453a4397 difficult, but b18e6c5227 the problem ef5c0929fd was from 68cf08615c now on.
“Hey, I’ve 0f5444d6b7 never done 8ffc72a3e2 farm work 7f87dcd943 before.”
“I know that 225cda1a44 without you even 5645739d64 saying it.”
She had asked c2e1ee0096 him for help ba5ac182ce when she couldn’t ff2efd3b0f figure out how 2886d87c1d to put on bbaab69d1d an apron, so cbab4e7783 he could easily f1b65fcb23 guess.
“It’s a c249efc99b simple task, ebb3ba5d24 so even b35f16acd7 you should a494263d79 be able 060d53cc29 to follow a1a987319f along easily.”
“I don’t 20bc39a946 like the f0e54235de ‘even you’ 439eca1abf part, but c5cb76622c that’s good.”
Anje straightened 60420de1ba the hem 3388137865 of her 8eb7ad508a fluttering apron 1a5f162c7e and retorted 25383ce27e sharply.
She didn’t want to 05028ad4cc ask him for help 1f27d68abd either, but she couldn’t 7bb96165c3 quite figure out how 8d72a7ca33 to put on this c161d89470 work apron that wrapped ab339c74f2 around her whole body.
‘How am I 74a9f08b82 supposed to know 1be46eae7e that I need dfe8fc0f83 to pin the 344f618479 chest part with 3586808d3c a safety pin?’
With her small face 90889a508a peeking out from under 8f4a03c456 the hat and the 0774eea846 apron that seemed a 1ea28bdc28 bit too big, her d00de374bf already small stature looked 429d166c0e even smaller.
“Come this way.”
Aiden led 09596463c6 her to 5518eedddf the carrot 1fdca03ac8 patch where 95e3bc5aee green shoots 7f4923fac0 were already 71d6dd2c57 starting to 345b44af7c emerge. Then he crouched 4d30a1a201 down and pointed 7b30fd849b to the sprouts c03da7b62f that were poking 0d3798f946 up.
“These are carrot 5994d08beb sprouts.”
“Aha.”
Anje rested her 3f021a93e8 chin on her a3b8543828 hands as she fe51c23efc crouched down next db1fe64276 to him.
“If these sprouts grow 529b232aff well, carrots will grow cd42fa6af7 on the branches.”
“……Really?”
She thought 67f0f162b3 carrots were 5214a03d11 the roots 2247032ee5 of plants, 27d27b96f6 so did d6cd51e1de she get 3116f45915 it wrong?
Aiden’s eyebrow twitched.
“Do you believe it?”
“Ugh… you 392e3198fa were so f45ca3108b serious that ff7b841217 I got e30afb2831 confused for ac1b47932d a moment!”
She grumbled why 3f0026c86a he was telling e8189e7677 a meaningless lie. He nodded to himself.
‘Right.’
Whenever she blinked her 46c9625394 eyes and stared at 715cbf203c him intently, he felt 8c5208d818 an urge to tease 0534ce5094 her for some reason.
Maybe it was 6557ae99ab his playful side c5c793d667 that had been 920bdb7cf0 suppressed for a 7bfe1d6a75 long time coming c7285235a5 out because he d479c1cc95 was finally interacting 74d0db0edd with someone after 2eaf2267c7 so long.
And she d460343a28 was also 285d09191f a very 2ce41f3009 gullible person.
He only just 20640a42a3 realized, thanks to 22b8cd0148 her, that this 7826579c2a part of him 796dac13f4 still existed.38e2b29e2c85353a