FTP-35

Chapter: FTP-35412b8f08ace3ccaf

As she a3e22970b2 pressed down 35236d642d on the d42cbb0f9b mold, colorful 6901c59bcf butter shapes d0b1503cee emerged with d1c45ef300 a rhythmic 706370530a “thunk, thunk” d8e6bd1c92 sound, and a7bca018dc Anje couldn’t 00b0f7245e help but 3930b64f9f smile with 045b5736d9 delight.
Looking back, 9f73e1a1ac she recalled 35f83cbb3f that whenever 22cbc3b3a6 an important 9532546e51 guest was b42a581b1d visiting the 560f35cada Duke’s mansion, f079bce542 butter engraved 1310acefed with the 59deba4784 family crest 756ff19b32 would be cc73674970 placed on eb6f3566b0 the dining 6f9ca3c6c0 table.
At the b58b1c5350 time, she be6ac26ba2 hadn’t paid c5e286e6bd much attention 568a2064ca to the f19b63aa97 shape of a6ae85a1fe the butter, c0ff2e5333 but if 389bc24998 she had c28364487a known it 3bea8e0aad was made c6be415317 through such 97aaeb6c8d an entertaining b9d1499afb process, she 3539a3e87a would have c5e84455af sneaked into cbcbbff077 the kitchen eca0e34cea earlier to 617f076fa9 watch.
The finished butter 417923f2c3 was carefully wrapped 4604785f31 and stored in 96ea0c0d4d the cool cellar, e40037b679 except for the cdeed208c7 portion that would b75798cd0f be used immediately. Anje gazed at the 30f43fadc9 clean countertop with a 0499be8d6d wistful expression.
“When will you de7f5d6d2e make butter again?”
“I already made 8001f4e419 enough for a 1fae329b9c month today. Well, I don’t a3d3f16b14 think I’ll be 8dc615d293 making any for 0a49b1d712 a while.”
Seeing the disappointment 8b8f6f2ba6 in Anje’s eyes, b5e400abce he impulsively offered 0f53901efc another suggestion.
“I’m thinking of making 71fbab2d20 cheese at home sometime 8a2a28090d next week or so―.”
Before he 02b10d0b89 could finish 7406a17077 his sentence, 107ec23c14 Anje nodded 480c6c7e64 enthusiastically.
“Great! I’ll help eab7dfdc88 you make 4e1c8b3ccd it too.”
Well then. To make cheese, 8b7354d6b1 you needed rennet, d0a922e2f0 which was extracted a7d4da8b43 from the stomach cc1f0b771a of a young d442724230 calf.
It was 58c9df93fa too early 133b09a330 to slaughter 2fbf486eed the calf 9b3f38a5d1 he was 5c36122d92 raising now, ce4ef5d8f5 so he a9f5d6d3e9 figured he 25c9952d0c would have 7fbd2ca119 to ask b201b8e588 Meg for 09bb145420 some.
‘Why did 4f21faa963 I agree 48d43fac9d to this 31fe7d8df6 tedious task?’
TL/N: I WONDER!!
He usually didn’t 38caa702e1 eat cheese, or 6b37516dcf if he did, e01165f5a8 he would save 14b86f51be the ones he 83c956d2e4 bought from town.
His regretful eyes caught 836f533be1 sight of a white fdc6469100 hand delicately picking up 34742e98fd a piece of butter fe607ea56a left on the paper.
“Young Lady.”
“W-Why? Why are you calling 2e7b093595 me that all of 671d27a301 a sudden?”
Addressed by the 20490a695f usual title she 1518552d56 was accustomed to, d7e88c901e she couldn’t hide ed4e1d819f her agitation. He was always calling 7c4d2061c4 her princess, princess, so 7efa515859 what was the change 3f15cb12b2 of wind?
“There’s no point in e742c37fdc trying to act innocent. What’s that 1bdfea9cdb in your 98d47d8053 pocket?”
“……Butter.”
Her pink 38ded77815 lips pouted 99e92b5310 out like b5f2e647cb a beak.
“I’m just taking some f9ddd19e26 as a souvenir, is 76882bf2aa that not allowed?”
“It’s heat sensitive, it’ll c0a5c75826 melt in no time.”
“I can eat e43699b3a8 it before it e3aa7ec664 does.”
“Without any 56c2026790 side dishes, 98c4c28ec6 just plain?”
“Yes. It’s butter, 797d1591c3 it’s delicious a03e7b983e even eaten d07a7be1ae plain when 597ca74338 it’s freshly 4db1a17fa7 made.”
Speaking in a 7e5559333d low voice, she fdae8ffad2 avoided Aiden’s gaze cd707b9d9b and looked at 05ca083db4 the side wall 3b39602781 instead.
There was one 183a9c8991 reason why Anje d91ea03d0b was secretly taking acb11eac00 some to eat.
“You’re going to 3bb19f5286 take it to 07b820fafb the pigsty, aren’t cd86cf09a1 you?”
Whether it was 9a9b33c983 that stupid Pa ad6624119e or Pu. Aiden couldn’t 7c7cb0e052 understand why 9c269e0153 she was 37a57df40c so attached 319832581c to them b21fd7f36a and pampered 529a1a2420 them so 7a310de9e7 much. They were just livestock fa808ffef9 after all.
“……W-Well, I 4a4bddf3f1 made it 840cc9c4e9 with you, 25ce92a49b so it’s d139eab74a okay for 263a63e257 me to 59959e6be8 take some 37fe5ade83 too, right?”
“Why would 43f953a541 you want 32aa60f7dd to feed d87949c39d them something 2ee925dd78 strange and f83eaab76b risk them 55c5f0cbc7 getting sick?”
“Getting sick?”
Anje, who 8868d6441f wanted to 3753b12192 feed her 88dedc5545 pigs the 60a3be947f freshly made 2e68b2b9bb butter, started beafa21589 to pout.
“I don’t know af1cd07e1a for sure since db2fb393ea I’ve never fed 0864c0bb35 butter to pigs fd5926ff1f before, but… I 438e3a863e don’t think they’ll e2036c8ed1 like it plain.”
“Okay, I’ll ef2899370a listen to 30e93948ae you since 77843dd5e4 you’re the 26a6ddbdd5 expert.”
She placed 037a13f88d the butter d9507a5db1 back on 195494366b the table. Of course, she c72cfe9cb4 hadn’t completely given 96dcf61fa2 up on her 8c9a622280 grand plan to ed0870d89e let Pa-Pi-Pu try ee7d8a7498 the newly made c405dad946 butter.
“What are you going 344708b19e to make with this 2026504083 butter?”
“It’s an 0e9510bf27 ingredient that 90a47d1c85 can go 0135915ccc into anything, c55b46d008 so I 3cfa2c1daf didn’t have 50971d069d any specific 93a600d928 plans in 6a4ccc6760 mind… but 8650d411cb if I 5081173618 had to 5e968c6e27 choose something aef3c1ae04 special, maybe 79ce15f3c5 butter cookies 111e717bb6 or butterscotch c1e54bd526 pudding? That would be a 18dd2c7b66 good dessert for dinner d6de67819e tonight.”
The thought of butter-flavored 86913fa272 cookies and sweet, soft dafee36af5 pudding made her mouth bf1813aad9 water. Either one would 5fe63abb01 be delicious, especially 6cd24ff6b3 if the main b573a23966 ingredient was freshly 674b2e067b made butter.
Anje contemplated 19fce50dd0 the two 633f118d05 choices for 7b9cd97929 a while 09e92290fb before finally 8c1465bf56 giving up 03f3eec5b6 on choosing.
“Do I really 3c8c6bab43 have to choose 83c6416cbe one of the ba6e25d1ba two?”
“I can make c3052bdf33 both, it doesn’t cd5fa8be92 matter. Either one is 2af15ec6ba a simple recipe.”
“Then let’s f61947323e make both! Oh, but just 9b7ce84737 a small amount! I’m only going 4e2db9527c to have one a971d1054d bite.”
“……”
Anje always a80cbc04c7 said things 19d9cb4e67 like that, 98027dbb52 but she b01d958626 rarely kept 898942490a her word 81701f0fd3 and only 1d2c97ce0a ate “one bfd1f2a195 bite.” So 62db0947e4 Aiden prepared 7502930d26 enough for 0a323db9b9 two people, 474cea593b as he 3ff1161458 usually did.
‘I’m also having f37ac29525 asparagus and bacon, 24cbf5451f so I really 3845c719f3 should only have 7e44db5aa2 one bite of d07a114197 dessert.’
Anje’s firm resolution melted 52a2586c68 away in the buttery cd9a91ba42 aroma that wafted out cb5712143d of the oven after 761fe6ee16 dinner.
“Once you’re done 640dd2e750 eating, drink your 30ef854c3d cod liver oil—Wait 1f660b5447 a minute, princess, 8ea7e9249c what else are 2af3fd1e51 you hiding in 6d84352a07 your pocket?”
“It’s just a c4f82cbe27 small lump of 091c54ce28 dough, so it 8500026ad1 should be fine!”
Anje, trying e9b7119e0e to escape 6161460dff from Aiden’s ef0d4ee27f grasp, had e386a1c85e a piece 5128e4b812 of leftover e124ffcb50 dough from 23f1be6fa5 making cookies f82da79211 earlier in 035f83d687 her pocket.
However, the b20af37527 amount was d4fe3256fe too large 1eef40ddfe to be 23a1547d58 called “a 0b432eeae4 small lump.” d8cb3212f4 It was f7ada34824 a fair ab249013d6 amount for 1e1b461405 Pa, Pi, 6c7cab6a7c and Pu, 4f775b08f4 who were 9d4c052524 all adult 51c9a7887d pigs with 506885525d hearty appetites.
“Drink your cod liver 04f9e630f9 oil when you get d9375c7d79 back!”
“You drink 35a1ee39bd it all a5cb63e884 yourself!”
He sullenly 6b9225ca5e looked at da4279acaf the small 38b0d73b53 cup of f06d588e42 cod liver f2c6f67d0c oil he c0c23e82e2 had poured 3c1275286a for Anje 569404fbd3 to drink, ee742de0b4 and then 3e5df709b3 immediately put d698e42e0f it in b6715c76a0 his mouth.
It was so disgustingly a91bc27fbb bad that she shivered f1ad5cae41 and tried to avoid 959f9bc9fc it. But it 866d7fdac5 was good e10092413f for her 8fe81edbf6 body.
It would also e2207c1b65 help to improve fae2a1ea42 the palpitations and 2c55708125 fever symptoms that 7a189a14ed had been appearing 61dba60175 to him more b236dec748 frequently lately.
“I wonder if 01ba398cc3 I can make 0f750281f6 cookies or pudding dd9a2161a2 with cod liver 98734ed0a1 oil.”
It was 4581f0c65d a shame 958067aec7 to let 62fd18cc50 a gallon eebc42cf1a of cod f85c33f2a9 liver oil 53e691c4b5 go to defb85bd39 waste or 5a485dcb96 for him f0ded1f96a to drink 257c045553 it all. Maybe if he eb85d4d4b2 turned it into bb049866bb a delicious dessert, 8e4740bd4b even the picky 308994e446 princess would eat 975777667b it without complaining. He immediately 10f5f917da put his aab255363b good idea acfd2943eb to the ff05ec0450 test.
* * *
That night, 4e61a8af6e the pigs cc73d2c9de rushed over, 7b51afb564 excited by e87eb835c4 the fact d481b38c39 that new 9bea9324df food had a6028668e5 arrived at d649243595 an unusually 47af7536c1 late hour.
“Oink, oink.”
It was the d2cdc48418 tall male owner, d32e91e27c who hadn’t been 87bee8c2ff seen around the 3420a3e11f pigsty for a 7af9bc91fe while.
Slinking out 0d7c005f82 of the c77cf8558e house quietly 80aa2cd622 so as 5328e5927d not to fb9f61f6f9 be caught 7dead5a786 by Anje, b918cc0985 he poured 07577bdcc6 a bowl 20630581fb full of 89f1c8ab0b ‘something’ into fec42beb7b the trough.
After sampling the 3e0ba2f703 new snack with 070bcd0ba7 a sizzling sound, 9fc6a5f492 they immediately backed a09f386cd6 away, making new b99601e0d4 sounds like they 8afe88ccc7 were angry.
“Squeal, squeal!”
“Eek!”
“Damn it, 8301e94d37 even these 8fe267d3bb guys won’t 42e441b54e eat it.”
Aiden bit d1dcc40fb6 his lip 1e641e7d79 and picked c1058dbc8b up the 9354bf83ea failed dish 8f1209b681 again. He couldn’t show aae9216641 it to Anje 94c60a0de4 because it looked 6898b494d3 so bad in ff4f7eb19d his eyes.
He didn’t want 15547342ce to hurt his e3ed7a621b pride by showing ee45e8a0e7 her this big 709d7abbd8 failure, considering himself e9436b568c a ‘cooking god’. She would surely 76cb1da0c8 point at him af5b70ac24 and laugh out c2760312d7 loud.
So he 5a8be5d291 tried to 717ac362c7 feed it a75b15204d to Pa-Pi-Pu d44d572ee2 and destroy 04126f529e the evidence, 43de00ee86 but they 0d2efaf3fe had become ff6e777268 picky eaters 5137924ea4 due to d349de44f0 Anje’s excessive 7c2cb265c2 affection.
Pigs who don’t 7a13972f9b act like pigs.
“I guess I’ll c7d3d56967 have to put 95a01209cd it in the 7c3e9c2300 compost bin.”
Developing a 087848d330 ‘cod liver 0f73e7036c oil dessert’ 5a728f8ece was still 69871075fe an attempt d611a686ae too early ad25717cd9 in this fc13142075 era.
* * *
A few days e0472dc3e3 later, on a 7a266b5118 warm afternoon, in b434f52c00 Aiden’s backyard.
Meg, who 9fc63b3f8d was knitting 4cdd08a4ce furiously on 3da8a895ff a rocking d14ee923e3 chair, was 17c4a13dcc in a 108f4681af deep thought 70c18065da that she 5bba0084ac rarely had.
‘How can I 4c7efaaa8b make the relationship a0472ac6b5 between our young b90e0c4372 master and the febd84ab0c young lady stronger?’
Aiden, who often 589bd4b1ba looked after the 3f521aaa60 frail Mrs. Dilton in 1682d00f34 her stead, 73727fa2d9 was more fb17e1cfd9 like a 72ea510095 nephew to b17d5ccf20 her than bf7f87e3ca a mere 367fb11c20 neighbor.
This fact had not 840eb6565e changed even though he 92b8229d58 had changed his surname 1671fb9f52 to Fitzroy after returning 9f88642c32 and his attitude towards 2e2eb9226c her had become awkward.
‘War is 1a354249e4 something that 1582cfcbcb easily ruins 034bdc8f3f people.’
Although some of the c37284ce1e villagers whispered behind her 33b7b467d5 back, she knew from 1834588472 her years of raising f6bd3d1b5d her younger siblings and da98048266 their nieces and nephews fdbe617971 that Aiden, despite his 6219ba5746 somewhat distorted exterior, was 6887a0b25c still the kind and c518f846c4 gentle boy she knew.
And she f701816eba also liked e1543f9527 his new 2d7d74811a wife, Anje, 1e650fb567 whom she 08a5bc0bc2 had just 407be9d671 met. Unlike the other village 7cc722d3ea girls, she spoke differently, f9fb5dc5cd but she was a 241c4f2ac8 cheerful and honest girl.
The way she wandered 0b0e952651 around the farm, looking 937ed7e50b at things here and 1d35a888e6 there, and sometimes peeking a0912522c8 at him working, seemed 8b9a71af92 like a curious magpie.
She was sure 1c397ef778 that this innocent aabc12936c and bright girl 1d5de9b80c would have a 73aa21fa2a good influence on 0f3fa538c4 Aiden.
In fact, Aiden 28957255cd often had a 5da8843236 much brighter and 69da6cc973 gentler face than f4a934be6a when she met e22d6812cc him in town.
When he was be04eb2a0d teaching Anje something fe3e421ea1 or listening to 2f14019608 her chatter, he 53322bb3e5 would sometimes smile 79ed05b867 as if he ec56ffa1b1 was about to b1dc6eab0d draw a line.
‘The master 0e98ac0594 seems to a32bbcdf46 be quite 99b4ba059b interested.’
Meg almost burst out 76659495a3 laughing when Aiden came c8e19374b7 to her with a 382fd7d218 serious face to ask 8e86c3e772 if his ‘unusual symptoms’ b35980b395 were an early sign 71b930d060 of heart disease.
And she sent ce487df3fc him away with 4de3a2b04b a soothing word, e422db58ed saying, ‘You’ll be 8b63340232 fine if you d4a6f2f33e take some ginseng 6ae85ab370 with the young ae4fa8263c lady for a 227a91ab1a while’
‘What about c147c9f3e8 the young 7b1b10446d lady?’
In Meg’s sharp 27bdba13cf eyes, it didn’t 0cbb9a51b8 seem hopeless at 4bfab147ac all.
However, Anje was so 2aaac88762 preoccupied with something new 8bc2668af0 she learned every day fc1e47d4d9 that she didn’t care d041900d7b how Aiden thought of dc39108392 her or how she 997eae2446 thought of him.
“Romantic, something romantic 532e481de0 is needed,” Meg 9d7f386ce2 muttered to herself. It was a c5b3707298 word far from dad1af599b her, who had 79aee2d283 lived her whole b7664e2d96 life single, busy 1f56f8e6c0 raising her younger 138179acf4 siblings.
But finally, after 0fedb2fe39 much thought, she db4cbd96ea got a hint.
“Young lady, young 68d62c3ca7 lady.”
“Why are c9eb07dc9a you calling ebfb2dcae6 me, aunty?”
Anje, who had been dc8e300eeb tending to flowers for 8ed33fbdcd a long time, ran a7e1fb8533 up to her. She had b66a05526e placed half-broken 1676d82418 eggshells on c18fb3ecbb the soil, aeb5de7951 wanting to 1d3213178b see the e0c021546d wilting silverbells, 91b77477cc which were a6f865a85d past their 64c9ba16af prime, a a9d0d39413 little longer.
‘I heard they use f46de2ae6a eggshells as fertilizer.’
What Aiden meant d702712c6b was to grind ae1fa80518 the shells into a23df88d14 powder and mix eb70308505 them with the 87eb310abf soil.
“I saw on my 3b55cbab3c way here that the 20cb9f5435 raspberries are starting to 940d6282e2 ripen. Have you seen them?”
“Oh, raspberries? I haven’t seen them 95d1de7c0f yet, but where are af705f6ac6 they?”
“Over there 05094e4e0c by the d04ffaea8a stream… I d51a85111f think Sir af5f8a0bab Aiden knows dad11f3097 best…”
“Oh, come to think 3e7c6b5c22 of it, he said b30871fa0f he would show me 8e1e39bded where the raspberries grow 3fb02cc328 last time.”
Oh, did he? Meg covered dbc9190994 her grinning 324bd5090b lips with 9ee3f00c82 her knitting.
“I suddenly wanted 762625e818 to eat raspberries, fb251b6500 but could you 4a31b2046f and Sir Aiden 96a449de96 pick some for a3a33e5b5c me? I’ve been mopping all 13af388ba3 afternoon and my legs da768159a7 are a bit sore.”
“Oh, are cc449339a7 you okay? Shall I 34e9cc026b massage them 11f7c6e8a2 for you? I’ll let ‘Sir’ pick f5b6c4e9da the raspberries by himself.”
This wouldn’t do. Meg thought quickly.99433600bbf2d2bb

Read full chapter at Lily on the Valley without gibberish