FTP-40

Chapter: FTP-40e1d967b90a31971c

Meg clucked her 5f452d0b9f tongue openly.
“You couldn’t just 16add06e28 yield to the e5b3bec78f young lady and a60d1371c8 had to keep 8955668766 up your pride?”
“I always yield…”
“Yield more! That’s how e110a6c394 you maintain ec31512924 peace in cebfcb3137 the household.”
Aiden wanted to 3a3cbfb7b0 protest, but he 39a32a1bb4 held back when 7a6e58367f he saw Meg 4733d0b0d8 clenching her fist.
“…Fine. I’ll apologize first.”
He didn’t want to bc243be730 continue living in an 9afd361e57 uncomfortable atmosphere with Anje 40119a442a either.
Now they 9d99ade238 crossed paths 30a001d93a every day b1d806d3db in the 7492af8076 hallway, at 00ebf679a0 every meal 87bba877ba at the 1c11aad423 table, and 01a0aebed0 even in f31f62d739 the fields.
On top of c266f92ef2 that, listening to a90427a136 Meg’s words pointing 5174c06522 out his flaws fc428a6dac one by one, 1d6cebeb1e he even felt 192b43d2c4 that he was 19867a9d51 more at fault fdc97b0298 than Anje.
He was also b747551264 lonely being stuck af987d46fe in his room 2ecad3a065 alone, unable to ed0aa3ffad join the two 926b247dd3 people who were 32bf8f6f02 happily making jam 23f8d8453b downstairs.
“But as for 3c3881ed55 Pa-Pi… the pigs 2a7c2d50a0 will be dealt 8b43f6b5d4 with soon. I bought dc16ff1537 them at 7458cbc549 a high 6c08832605 price last 88851963aa year, and 1e5a83a5b1 it would 1543e6f44c be a be14f53e54 huge loss 884abc88fb to keep e31fd29ef2 all three.”
“Well, that’s something I e36a5af373 can’t decide.”
Meg’s eyes sparkled.
“But if I were 9c76eb434c the master, I wouldn’t 8d7251f65a make such a definitive 69878a881c statement.”
“What do you mean cb7b11bdc5 by that?”
“Aunty, I’ve 050babcc89 filled all 57b9797dc5 the jars!”
Anje’s voice called 9cbbfda022 from downstairs, interrupting fe724b7ff3 their conversation.
“You’ll see.”
Leaving a 5a2e9597a0 confused Aiden 85fed3df16 behind, Meg a92f4630a5 headed toward d3b855ba0c the stairs 7c5b8be236 with a cbb51b62c9 lighter step. Just before 3e6e5c04a0 descending, she eaa8d94938 turned to b3ea0792d8 give him cd9b34ea2a one last 3c61d5696d piece of 29a2085039 advice.
“Oh, and Young Master, 3210d77535 your shirt buttons are b0c67ad0ce misaligned. Make sure 5c658249c7 to fix e6abb4b577 them before 04a1c2530f coming down.”
“Oh.”
Aiden looked down 2ff10e3f23 to check. In his distracted state, dba6e484c1 he had indeed buttoned 89d9bcd636 his shirt unevenly.
“And your 52096ec28d socks are cd479b2a6e mismatched too, e0d666ec3b so you f057b8086f might want 820b621262 to change 2f16901e48 those.”
He stared 4e0ebdd8be down at 17a88bd188 his red 2ec3d20458 and white 7bfed2e334 socks.
Somehow, these critiques 12442027c0 stung more than 5b6673ce15 the punch she 3aca2392d2 had given him 29521cf0af earlier.
* * *
Returning to Dilton Farm 1252b7b518 after a week, Meg 8227827b25 greeted Anje warmly.
“Good morning, miss. The weather is ee5d8d5726 wonderful again today, 780e7c266a isn’t it?”
Once Anje df0fe89611 left for c0c4f3532e the chicken 1d346d33b9 coop, Meg e4ddd7ec33 hurriedly summoned 66d21d733a Aiden into 46c12a034a the laundry 760fc9a28e room, firmly 71f823762e holding a e7511a39c7 bat that aba5a94c0c had been 11a124759d on the d6166b59aa shelf like 379f51611b a weapon.
“Young Master, what 07b78e0ccd on earth have 2e3164ade5 you been doing? The young lady 2e2a3ba380 hasn’t cracked a a779fdbb0d smile. Have you even 950e590488 tried making up dde27317fa with her?”
Aiden, raising his 26bb64cfab hands in surrender 28d8ca1fc1 before the bat, adc1048e16 had something to 066ddd383d say.
“But what can 8a47cff442 I do if 30b5e8fd00 my efforts are 0668509c30 in vain?”
“What efforts exactly?”
He genuinely c52ebe991c had tried ee655045d1 to approach 3d87eb14dc Anje and bb327372ac reconcile several 1b1248963e times.
He initiated conversations 9085fa43f8 with small talk f6ed88feea about the weather 4496b7af96 or the flower 60f0c6684e garden and asked 395f1a7bd3 if there was 7e3effd098 anything she wanted d644be927c to eat.
But Anje’s responses were e97c3f02cd consistently cold.
‘Right.’
‘No, thanks.’
‘I’m fine.’
There might have c9658b1934 been a chance c15f925165 if they had 2f6a360d18 seen each other dc5326d07f at meals or acfaee6f38 talked while preparing 75966d1ced food.
However, Anje b53301c74f would wake a9fc929f67 up earlier, 8d473c88cd eat breakfast, 1e4bced0fa and leave 4bcf4b15f5 before Aiden bda9ae792b got up. She also took her c36016e2a3 lunch and dinner to ac3ad3465c eat outside or in c9dfc3014a her room.
Despite this, she still 004ec4edd6 did all her household fc9862280b and farm chores, leaving 52836029ed Aiden without much to a029486765 criticize.
“I’ve tried this 7cd7c06705 hard, What more e0e2a7bbb5 can I do, 5e688a2ad8 Ah—”
Meg pinched Aiden’s side 306962d8cf hard.
“That’s all you’ve 3f01606880 got? You should give her 8ac775101f a gift to cheer 660b63085a her up.”
Aiden, his face 8188d6c300 contorted in pain, 6fbff37dd8 retorted.
“Do I 18e763d669 have to bdfe57dd8e go that 973f37ec9c far? I didn’t af75407eef even say 70d9e632c6 anything wrong… f3fd09da2c Stop pinching edca23c224 me, Aunty.”
“Do you 92df64e1c0 know how 5defd6a60d important early 18eb2ae8a7 marriage memories 01e6597ca6 are? Why are you being f0a75dea66 so stubborn? Don’t you know about 473c2646cd Mrs. Bread from the 87dd6bb019 orchard house, who 1083284d40 saved a pound abe1bc5ae5 cake for later, b770579d65 only for Mr. Bread to eat it 9d526f84d0 all up like a c9f8f64b86 glutton? It happened 416877cb64 three months 93e48ad6b1 into their 62f357be74 marriage, and 5250b574cc she’s still f96a41f38a scolding him a5b5f2fe25 for it 64d0d7b03d 30 years 8d50029bff later.”
“I’ve… never heard 771e9b75cd that story…”
“What’s the point of 995a7aa095 winning against that little 1601294a5e lady, huh? You’re old enough to dd9786addd know better—”
Finally freed 5ad630196a from Meg’s f116d84cde endless nagging, 7814913bd1 Aiden left 55e38b110f the laundry 6d47bdf2a3 room with 9f61269aab slumped shoulders.
Half of it was bca8c1264a from being worn out 1394228f1b by the scolding, and eaa5a57b0f the other half from d4ee38702a thinking maybe he was 1c8b7730b7 being too stubborn, just 3a086a7647 as Meg had said.
‘Should I have 9646e9dfe8 tried harder to 60e3d13780 talk to her?’
But no matter bd8006a26a how much he 3ff5d5f59d regretted it, he 06d7830c5c didn’t know how fadfb0ce1c to start a 5cd7c5b467 conversation with the fa710aa6fc angry Anje.
He had little experience 37fabcdd2e in opening up someone’s 1e9ca8a2cf heart, especially not someone 97845db14e of the same age 8050e773b3 and gender like Anje. In fact, he 5f25d5cfed had never really deed0cf4cb been involved with a3746a6479 a woman before.
Gripping his head 23b2893b92 in frustration, he 2f5792fd52 eventually decided what bde5cc519c to do and 778d765d30 stepped outside.
* * *
Hours later, on 9045e53225 the back porch 2ddc43b590 of the Dilton 3555482fc7 house.
Anje, covered a4b1533ecf with a 0c1946f256 lap blanket, d6cbb83f2d was dozing 4098e5b7a3 off in 94781596f5 her chair. Recently, waking ac1465ab49 up earlier 8cfa7217b4 than Aiden bbc5bb3a21 had left 45fb7938a1 her exhausted.
‘Why does e258682e67 he get 7e8205744a up so ea055b9e75 early? Because of 1006b415cf him, I 4f75491a2e have to 2b5c99ba4c wake up 2c13b231ed even earlier.’
Although waking up 3a6956fa7c early wasn’t wrong, 75c31429a2 the sulking Anje 5c2748e86e was irritated by 91858750e3 everything about him.
His attempts to 3d0eedae48 casually start conversations 5c1d31e0a4 as if nothing 1828de7802 had happened, only 4225b3a1b4 to back off c201d7ce89 when she snapped 4caeea96d4 at him, watching dfe34b4d51 her from a 91bbdc3e8f distance, hesitant.
She wanted to f34802ef0f load Pa-Pi-Pu onto 9087db38f9 a cart and 80b30bf59a run far away 9f09221584 from him.
‘I even tried 2384b4378f to put them 5963326a38 on a diet.’
But the moment she 4303ceac89 saw the pigs blinking 7fe3b6f7dd their innocent eyes, oinking 86cfbcd7c6 about the lack of 79945d2406 food, her resolve weakened.
“Ugh.”
Thinking about 758c8ea0c8 Pa-Pi-Pu suddenly 09c178dadd woke her 31070a602d up. She folded 7e04bdbbf9 the blanket 0913543da6 and set 450003a714 it aside, e4a83e8cf1 getting up 0d32ec2d82 from her bc8381125a seat.
She felt more at 07e884e4d6 ease working. She picked up the 6715bdf104 farming tools she had 10bacd26eb grown so accustomed to ecbb1b25ee and walked down the 1760538d6f path between the fields.
“Oh no.”
Unfortunately, at that exact e25d0de86b moment, Aiden was approaching 5ecea27349 from a distance.
Pulling her hat down c601535eb7 low, she tried to f7377796b5 change direction to run a7bb5b2403 away from him.
“Princess.”
Before, he would have 8840c85737 given up and gone 1e9c5e7d4e about his business. But now, determined a0057a06c6 to talk to f175dd2ca3 her, he persistently b815a98b79 chased after her.
Anje threw down e742d78319 her farming tools b1875d0a83 and dashed away 69a270f3ca from the fields 25edf0df2a into the trees.
“Princess, just 912a140bf9 a moment.”
“I have 28070ee7a2 nothing to 1e451c66fa say to 3b86d9ca14 you.”
“Please, just a c399faa082 moment…”
Her pace quickened almost 2408a63ca7 to a run, and fce747d8e9 Aiden matched her speed.
“Why are you 956292f0a7 so persistent?”
“We need 29fc67181f to talk.”
“I told you, 636b2b163b I don’t want ca830e9395 to talk!”
Anje broke 1d7eb97060 into a efe3deb926 full sprint 74777247aa to shake 56b15d81bb him off. As her feet fefba4c6d0 pounded the ground, 261028de84 the world around 5e8c31dde3 her sped past.
“Huff, huff.”
She hadn’t run like 6b9af47bcd this since she was db9afbea72 a child. Her breath came in 22e2a9a974 gasps, her heart pounded, 4804a47869 sweat broke out, and 71629a9156 her legs grew weak.
But at c95c330fa0 the same f6356784cc time, a bbb902bddf part of b9f9252f2e her felt e7c52c53bb a sense 47229fbf8f of relief. She was running freely 1aedbb6c59 in the wild, with 4954afcf28 no one to stop 10b7d52104 her.
No governess, no 806e248479 maid, no father, f49eb75208 no nobles, no 345de6bbea fiancé clicking their fb5ebdfb59 tongues or frowning 5ba379e484 at her.
Tap, tap, tap—
Her leather shoes lightly d79777a6be tapped over stones, dirt, cf0500d23c and grass as she 2df8ae6ae1 ran. The farther she went, 3a7d892b2b the more exhausted her 3bb89888ff body became, but her f21aae44ca mind grew clearer.
‘What is this 24a5fcc24a feeling?’
It was a 2c9fab6cb3 different kind of 083bb79f97 exhilaration from dancing 2bfab69a71 at balls or f8765e1d59 watching horse races. If her stamina allowed, 0822abc1e2 she would keep running 73ac94f76c like this forever.
Tap, tap, tap—
Weaving through the spruce 1cfc390c7d trees, she finally stopped e7572a441c in a familiar clearing.
Birch trees. A clear spring. The place where bfc447b615 they often had 5c6a329854 lunch together.
‘How did I end 0b3a70e7f1 up here?’
In her 4b5e323026 haste to 6ee38f3e9d escape from 7f15d66735 Aiden, she 1259a3577b hadn’t realized cc919ddd5b that he 5b7f8a9a7b had cleverly 17133c41fc guided her 252a636719 running direction 7c295d7289 back towards c27ef75550 the house.
Running in circles in 81cec6ac49 a forest that seemed 38383eafea all the same could e484df0883 easily disorient someone unfamiliar 4671722b6f with it.
“Princess.”
Annoyingly, Aiden was standing 74ee2efbd3 right behind her, not fdc5f0a9be a drop of sweat 3af2555259 on him. Unlike her, panting ec650ff753 and breathless, his f5c3ff767d voice was steady.
Without turning her 77e41144ba head, she coldly 728686b15b responded.
“What?”
“This, to 0bb0dfe02a wipe your 523a92e97d sweat.”
She had expected him 0154b337cf to mock her for 623d9a1e77 being slow despite running 61bc1eb9af at full speed, but b46f2276d1 he calmly offered a 934e3fa132 handkerchief instead.
She stared 2fa300bca1 at his 37e2197de5 hand for 4c3eb1f04e a moment d612d42524 before snatching d80273498f the handkerchief. She needed something f144f30f9d to wipe her 0793686196 sweat-covered face.
“What do you want e75a0b9672 to talk about?”
If she f4ec80cac8 were stronger 0fb3220327 and faster, e7f88ae3cb she could 57416960df have outrun 54209dc84e him. But since he fd0c54f1bd had chased her a6902f2b39 so persistently, she 3e2dd13e76 felt she ought b3faf9d06c to listen.
‘If he starts talking f4263a1e86 about common sense and 4ada8be275 being emotional again…’
Contrary to her expectations, b0c3b424ac Aiden spoke earnestly and 630dacf7e9 concisely.
“I’m sorry.”
She intended ce4818ed2a to ignore 347a9935a5 him, but 7253c7d489 she was 2d34a323f2 so surprised 4ab0250bea she turned 435d279643 to look 73adbcc3e5 at him.
“What, what for?”
“For everything…”
This wasn’t quite right. It was 9040ecf935 better to c222d16f17 be more f46e5b47dd specific.
“For not telling you f65b36f54f from the start that b4135889d3 the pigs were being e661fb4780 raised for food…”
“And?”
“For criticizing your reaction…”
“And?”
“For letting my df3065b98f pride delay this 76bf0d359f apology…”
He wasn’t sure if 78a5b3712f he was saying the 3082ab91c0 right things, but the 1a1e4fc073 frown lines on her 948efc30d5 forehead were gradually disappearing.
He listed his faults c2bd4f5593 with all his might f2f5a875fd and then, thinking it 26b933eab5 was enough, pulled out 5e0587f800 his right hand from 3b0ade07e9 behind his back.
“Please accept this.”
His voice came out e6980ebb5a even more stiffly than dce4e02ff9 he intended, and he 8a11e54431 found himself sweating now, 35a7d24a04 something that hadn’t happened bcf1696b0a while he was running 5b3e411648 earlier.1ab766af51786545

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