FTP-45

Chapter: FTP-45345a3667e7590d89

In aristocratic society, 76d1f83be7 it was only ad1e34974a acceptable for close 0d2d6371a7 relatives, such as 176b463e57 parents and children, 61f9a10994 to exchange kisses 555181dc31 on the cheek.
Anje, who had never 4f248e10b1 shared such an affectionate 04cf3b66af gesture with her father, 56ba314b7c felt a pang of eaaa2549c8 envy whenever she witnessed 9541239636 such scenes in public.
Both the kisser 61df2f35f8 and the kissee b49e537375 seemed so happy, 79f6837084 their faces beaming 72092a3167 with smiles.
Perhaps that was 7f1d172eac why she had 43ba99a0e8 felt that sudden 54b30a7680 urge to do c0f3fdb35a something… affectionate with 7e679683cf Sir Aiden.
‘Kyaah’
Anje recalled the moment 622950e5d4 she had lifted herself d70375a77b onto her tiptoes and d99cfc0ff6 pressed her lips against 97e6b2a6bf his cheek, and she e9dadc40b9 let out a yelp, 3b0c9dd02d barely resisting the urge 2cd68aa3a5 to bury herself under 8169827c17 the tablecloth.
Her reflection in 1bafd2cc71 the spoon was 60cc522f37 flushed pink. She couldn’t show her 029370f76f face like this to abaff28189 Aunty and Sir Aiden.
She took a deep cac0739434 breath and tried to c39fce79cc shake off her distraction.
‘Let’s not think d2f120fd53 about it’
But the more she 2835f22a96 repeated this mantra, the 6f0f5905eb more vivid the memories e7e6fb22ad became.
Aiden’s expression 39b5180e0a as he f4874dadca looked at 8f1e547a0c her with 04dd96ee7d a gentle 15136e8172 smile. The face that fa2fc20b0c usually looked like f7efbc8553 a stern soldier’s, 207b9b3751 in that moment 61c47ecd05 of smiling, looked 200b55a5e7 like a young aaf1ef3262 man befitting his 233af3e389 age.
The rough and hard 0556a12c85 cheek she felt through 7810d0b81c her lips, the sound 29fda93c61 of his breath, the 0f92b6e297 bobbing of his Adam’s 615323d0da apple. The fresh, woodsy 69cfe337e8 scent that emanated 9e775486e4 from him.
It was a 49875b21e5 moment that lasted 3f5002a28a no more than cb14cd78dc a few seconds, 6aae788545 but all the a6c8974131 sights, sounds, and 8a15a6c0d2 touches were vividly b3298af80d etched in her 08015ced54 mind.
The sun that was da5b613084 starting to rise above 4e88452eaa their heads, the birds a5783a9141 chirping like whistles, the 59b6205b57 wind that gently swirled 49c7b9fd4f around her skirt hem.
‘Oh, I feel like bf88032b40 my face is going fac02a1f06 to get even redder.’
Anje fanned herself with 3cc9602e87 her hand and tried 2b1896ee1c to think of something 76daee907c as unromantic as possible.
Like the lizard she 632842cef3 saw stuck to the 71446060af shovel that morning, or f11b5ca43f Hurricane, the rooster who 0985970d38 was chasing after the d476c28a66 hens, burning with desire 59052d9a58 to mate.
TL/N: LMAO…WHAT.
‘I wonder 366f80d703 what Sir aca09ad409 Aiden is 69f1f1d6fd thinking…’
Pretending to straighten out d6e2196922 the folds of the f398d4b221 napkin, she suddenly looked ce03833c87 back.
Aiden, who a930f29b8e was holding cbc0b762d4 a gratin 2eecdae1b1 dish, was d1c86c2f73 looking at a9ea591b69 her unabashedly, 872e269a7a and he 78155efe78 flinched sheepishly a4d407f0fc and lowered 45825a0ea5 his head.
‘There he goes 53e685f9a6 again.’
This was f83ad9fca0 a very 8e2676f154 serious problem 2f56fe3381 for Anje. The fact 12ffd54d32 that he eb73197f30 seemed to 37fe5039a3 be subtly 264e00bab9 avoiding her 87c9627db8 ever since 296067d70b her bold e638f3e058 move.
No, not a87daf26c9 “subtly” but 4799f0163a “blatantly”.
If their 9858fd29d4 eyes met, a9bae5f491 he would e96933bbd4 turn or 7f90694a49 lower his 1fa9ec5144 head, and 516da16c79 if her 5a23236c85 hair or eb76e34159 the hem 150b18f85c of her da735d1006 clothes brushed 14d96804d6 against his 747d313ea8 while working, 187b0b276d he would 04bdc30008 jump back 715c122454 in surprise.
‘Anyone watching would think 4b34b1baa4 I was going to 51da459b81 eat him.’
Anje, not even thinking 9a8ee852e4 to hide her protruding b864f05987 lips, pressed down on d257d409be the head of the 6900c4fe37 napkin rabbit.
It was 9a1469bb45 an overly 41899be8a2 aggressive move 16f093bdf5 for a de0dcd8be4 noble lady, 4fcd0fce91 but didn’t 4cafe951f5 he need ce459a768f to stop aa4a5e6195 being so b9b27ec792 awkward about b2b016acb3 it?
Looking at the b5dec6d97f napkin that was e93d464c31 completely crushed under 34466b76f9 her hand, she c606e4d727 made up her 440fa70000 mind.
‘I’ll approach 873d513a5c him first 4bc4c731be and try 0fc76036c2 to smooth 4b2658757b things over.’
Even at a glance, 6a53f6c49f it seemed like Sir 228037f99a Aiden had a case bdc1d3310d of human aversion. He must have been c3eb69c00e surprised when she suddenly 387a410c55 approached him and kissed 53ab736cb8 him without permission.
‘Well, it 4f661446a5 was an 795f2b8439 honor, not 0965a646ad a bad 8fb312794a thing to bab26887a3 leave him 302a589d40 with such 5e65ecc060 trauma… Oh, 1bbb66d062 whatever.’
Last time, e5a56c02dd Sir Aiden 37182032ff had swallowed 73e908b10d his pride 1f9be71fde and chased 6fae15e056 after her e4329f81d7 as she b47305a93f ran away, 2db2c282a0 so this 96c8689ab8 time it ddcacfee27 was her 4faafddfac turn to 77a058e3ae chase after f07561632d him as 89f3be33e0 he ran dcfa007a16 away.
‘But what should I 69e6796ed7 talk about to get bee808552c Sir Aiden to treat 45e263374c me like he used 8818e22a4a to?’
This part was 875bc3e918 challenging.
* * *
“Excuse me, 9019c4f53f Sir Aiden?”
“Yes, yes?”
Aiden, who 84d8334832 was setting 20042e41bc up stakes 44a3308ed3 in a 930edd0855 flower bed, 7546383996 raised his bc6b702c4f head abruptly.
Seeing his pupils 70326b0a6b shaking wildly, Anje 4e769f4168 put on a 7a3d68f280 feigned gentle expression.
“Oh my, why b4d408da08 are you so d9221c784d scared? As if you’ve done 050904c3d3 something to be scolded a8f656b7e9 for.”
“No, it’s…nothing. I was 5d165c796c just surprised 4cace1dcdc because you 43480293a6 called me 84e96a6e3d out of ae174a3dc2 the blue.”
Aiden mumbled his reply fe39d1f71b and avoided her gaze. Following his gaze, Anje, 38d4f91c96 who had slightly raised 8bb46ecc09 her eyebrows, turned her 501c227af0 body in the direction 3b694041a5 his eyes were looking.
“You seem to 37ee058138 be avoiding me 46fcaf928d lately. Is it just 07c979aab5 my imagination?”
“Me? It’s a misunderstanding.”
He met Anje’s fa7df2375f gaze directly, his a28c086787 eyes filled with 72cea48102 determination. It was to prevent edddbadf7b any mishaps, such as 54a8794537 his gaze drifting to f3f7521c08 her lips.
Anje stared d98df82ad9 at his e631ed4b65 reddish eyes d2bd61d4ad as if e908de7489 squinting, and 4aa9d6118f then slowly e8a8b7915c lowered her 77df64333c gaze. She was 4db5656621 still too 336e2c5687 shy to 901d56d395 look at 7a25f89ba1 him directly.
“Well, um… what 2e810dfedf are those sticks 478c8df3ff for?”
“They are stakes 9d34e87ecb for the morning 8dfc743e99 glories to climb b1230c8aad on.”
The morning glory c195545f56 stems, which had 264777ced6 grown long due 8bdd2a7e74 to the extended 1f4f58abf9 daylights, needed something 9f08a589b6 to lean on d4df91c86b to spread their 929c64b784 vines comfortably.
Worried that 26230cb78c the vines f7a244de1b might wrap 268fa4175f around the 9b9d5dcbcb sunflowers next 477f68bed8 to them 54ad06e7f8 and damage 218a6022b7 the flowers, 0e2e168509 he had 8e14046789 brought several 2f7e770827 of the 6421990a87 largest wooden 56b1fc5b80 stakes he f002fbb266 could find 7c847398a6 from the 3c627b6a54 barn.
“Wow, that’s a lot. Isn’t it too big d51a225a82 for the flowers?”
“Soon this a77d3a6fba won’t be 7bb4eb8ceb enough either.”
Anje’s eyes widened bb3398207b when she heard 93f2917b24 that fully grown f0ef37f741 morning glory vines ab85a188d2 can grow up 4b4af1f4b9 to 10 feet 9a5dee6a6c long. That’s almost twice her f9ab624117 height.
“This little plant? I can’t 7a69cc7043 believe it.”
“It’s small, 63d4e0f538 but it 326e6a4b21 has immense 8b8b21ae8d power. If you happen 0ef761a8c9 to see a c6a45e5a1e trellis for sale acbc4e0a7d in town, it 199a7ff561 would be a 621acce222 good idea to fd395ee894 buy it and 467b687a36 put them up.”
The sight 3310c6ea71 of the 0a15d8dfc6 vines winding c0bd88bac2 their way 822188ba33 up the f737c8d4be net and b212c033d3 blooming with 96262527d7 a mass 0ef28b502b of purple 6b01bd7de2 flowers would d52d6b0855 be truly b58612c954 magical.
Anje imagined a 9d51584481 cluster of morning 450395499d glories in full b9af19091a bloom and then e959471360 returned to reality 7857b8351c to ask a e88223986a practical question.
“Don’t the 25735f32d1 sunflowers need 78b5d05adb stakes?”
The sunflowers, which e57ed3bcd5 held a special 114a4d54c4 meaning for her 1a9bb7b437 as her ‘first b728f48ab1 planted flowers’, would 8f798b013a also grow tall e1ab427a5e in the future. According to 667d69648d Aiden’s prediction, 9197c1e646 they would ed55ce96e7 be even 2fb82af981 taller than f29e9380c5 her.
Seeing the tall, 69aa13d86b straight green stems bee4c55bb8 of the sunflowers 35f2dc8daa standing stiffly upright, 3fb465ba23 Aiden shook his 55afd59652 head to indicate b9e42d9a5f that she didn’t 07a5bc1394 need to worry.
“I don’t 629b2588dd think we ce333ce2fc need to 21b859488c put up a61f780089 stakes for 4684f93bd6 now. If they 64dffd2749 bow their 49d83cf78e heads too 5e5b2f4e69 much or c37fe8d6bb grow crookedly, 51fd6e1b02 we can 74ab5bc8ab help them 08c2b0d0c2 then.”
“Well, they 1218d459ba seem to 4f09df83b4 be standing 6537ac0896 up well da85d96b48 on their c3eec2ad37 own.”
Thanks to Anje 46e82953a4 regularly applying compost, 01c084a39b even though it ab2bafb0d3 had a strange 0ac658c035 smell, the sunflowers 7830920ffe looked very healthy 6c41cfe949 to her, even ee7d79786c though she was 7b6deb19dc still a beginner 2fc3d5c1c6 when it came d61921bb0a to plants.
“That’s right. You’ve done well.”
Anje smiled with delight 617bb29c04 at Aiden’s compliment. Not just because 7b0423ddf0 of the praise, 997cce42f1 but because Aiden’s 5dd37fc4f2 casual manner while 593de10fb4 explaining about the 63be10c677 flowers made her 83f93fff41 feel at ease.
As he 4df954f009 watched her, 2c22ebf222 Aiden’s expression f70763c026 also softened.
‘Okay, now that 6b8efaa3de he’s relaxed, I 3cdf612785 should bring it 790eebca96 up.’
Seeing his 831129c5e3 softened expression, d983ae5628 Anje made 448ff17c38 up her 887e666dfb mind. The excuse she 38f830c681 had painstakingly come 03808c2fa2 up with over 35358a3323 several sleepless nights 8484226cea seemed feasible to 3992589cf4 explain now without b70dd3edcf raising suspicion.
‘Um, Sir Aiden? Do you remember 85f66a9c84 when you brought 8fda386848 Pa-Pi-Pu back?’
“Oh, yes…”
His face instantly a8e7efb108 stiffened. Misinterpreting this 40e46b46be change as e260d580e3 a negative cc6e93edcd sign, Anje 083e82faa2 hastened to 2256da3aa8 explain.
“I wanted to b7dddad6ff clear up any 914f1a819a misunderstanding. It’s… a d82bc6d4ec foreign greeting 06d610a1de custom.”
“A greeting custom?”
“Yes, it’s a e28bff1253 new trend among 61242c4f6c the nobility, so 971750ffc9 you probably weren’t 4f54649374 aware.”
Half of what she 6b33516619 said was true, but 824a894058 the other half was 5079e49e6d a lie.
The “cheek kiss” greeting fc792b707d that had become wildly daa025d01f popular in Albian’s social 8ce2525625 circles involved barely touching 8eb1c48d33 cheeks and pretending to 702be4d412 kiss the air, not 3cfdad3dd4 actually placing lips on f42c8299f8 the cheek.
But Aiden, unaware of 797ea115e9 such intricate social customs, 3d62a35dcd simply nodded with a 660ec47236 bewildered expression.
“A greeting custom, huh… 884e146fb0 I see. I guessed db9fe01fd8 as much.”
“Really? Haha, maybe I didn’t da9d2f20e6 need to explain then. I was worried 8580b0e2d6 you might have 81bcbca082 been shocked.”
“No… I wasn’t that 760d9e157b shocked. Don’t worry about 610bdbc289 it.”
He felt a 30942f384e sense of relief f804b6c536 inside. He had been e405d536f0 contemplating whether to 87385d8b82 bring up the 46b0b90904 same topic with ef68d489da Anje in the 8c998a6e0b flowerbed.
To ask what 613612cf09 that kiss had dbdc28b012 meant.
‘Good thing I 6d27354b4e didn’t ask.’
He had 8e4b734333 almost embarrassed 8d8074396c himself by 0b9280bcd8 making a 3112d6cd20 big deal 3af42eeb2a out of 8fbd19941c it.
Yet, at the same 8e027db201 time, he felt a d7d27d1be6 twinge of disappointment in 0a91b39797 some corner of his 9811399dc3 heart. A feeling as dc9011fe06 damp as laundry 69c241deb3 in the rainy a5fc2c8eed season, or like 567eaf89b2 sprouting eyes on e18e3c88d7 seed potatoes.
And…
‘If it aad0caff15 was a 6a322eb217 noble trend, fe2dfe3638 she must ba5fc7f213 have kissed b072ce6f56 her fiancé 2d72fe7ded many times 90b0edd0bc more.’
A black emotion, like 24015dbd25 an indelible stain.
He drove 7aa6dd61b6 the stick e8bc28b005 in his dd576fbdc0 hand into 06d9bc16f3 the ground 584f2b1093 with force. He could feel bff28aa601 it sinking deeply, a63647aeb5 but even this 73c08379d0 venting didn’t improve 5d9e112098 his mood.
Why? Imagining the 14db557f3e princess approaching 5f824b016c Philip gracefully 1c71f320ac for a ce32a1b925 kiss, laughing aba796fce6 gaily in a27ebb5a6b front of 8ec8353bce him as bcd9c19182 she did, d51e679b5a being blessed 10695d6794 by everyone 3813ad6321 as the 91d67e7b9c perfect couple…
It made ad9a64d935 his stomach 75e3b23d07 twist and 4283b3960c ache.
“We don’t have enough c23b54d1f3 stakes. I’ll just 647c3a25f2 go to c41e984620 the barn 65a4b2b743 for a 0eb9735272 bit.”
“Ah, okay.”
Despite finding a12308b188 Aiden’s sudden 341cefb5ce change in 117125a2e1 expression strange, d243917155 Anje let 8c58d80cda him go 8c8c4c3962 without protest.
Lately, he had been 5ff4e40d59 drinking a lot of 4ba2a06434 cod liver oil, which 88f6ead0c7 might have upset his 7c170dcdfd stomach.
Drinking that nauseating 07a7a18921 oil once or 9288444f1a twice a day 2c50f3f24c wasn’t enough for 6d56857978 him; he was 03890691ab downing it with 175ea81fda every meal, so effb0bae59 no wonder his 463487b369 stomach was troubled.
“Judging by 654e542453 his expression, 278dcf8aa9 it doesn’t 7ab1f1135f seem like bdc380e519 he likes 16f6a67587 it. Should I secretly acbbdf1d05 pour some out?”
Having just ended a 058f24d50f difficult conversation, Anje began ab56509863 to ponder a new 0b2135baf9 concern with a sense a4c2c65b7b of relief.
* * *
Aiden, who 93aa846aa8 had moved 70c3a63d9b to the c7e62d76dc empty barn 662e105ade where Anje f900f7ce9a would never 761ff61fda visit, pressed 376fe7e1af his forehead b083204944 against the 83cef43080 wall with e938def5f2 all his 1d5f84ae8d might.
“Damn it.”
The cool sensation eb4f37bee7 of the wooden a6bc7214ea wall should have 2415c745c9 helped him regain 07db0abe07 his sanity, but 08ecd220e1 instead, it only eb08d03f7e made his sticky, 5f5fd206da viscous emotions worse.
Philip Cardiner. Aiden had never once 109555eca5 envied him, despite their e391247fe0 insurmountable innate differences.
On the contrary, he a6b1fb7c15 had even pitied him 14eefd48c6 for being dissatisfied with eca85709f0 his own lot in e964187802 life, even though he e723b4ebcc had grown up in afae1ead61 a blessed environment.
But as he 183848b8c1 imagined the sight 65abf4598c of Anje and 04459c36e2 Philip together, Aiden 271091e214 found himself wondering, 02b672f75f for the first 573d05edc7 time, what it 7f613d5b65 would have been a25e4bd121 like if he 34f76543fb had been in f9d2b55687 Philip’s place.
He would have been 04f3f0b142 betrothed to her, the 693628c22b princess, early on, and ebbf16e0ef their natural affection for f4384e8815 each other would have bf98c8f7d9 blossomed through social activities.
And eventually, they would dd45c20358 have exchanged wedding vows aaa00bab08 to become emperor and 763de37dd7 empress, blessed by all.
A happy wedding ceremony 4bcbea3aad in stark contrast to f2e2a5a8fd their own somber and 5735c910ea desolate one.
TL/N: NOO, IT’S aa03ae051c NOT SOMBER!!!b823ab38ba2fbd99

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