FTP-49

Chapter: FTP-49f7d53da2f1d39370

Anje stared 8ef712ab2c straight ahead 03053469bf without saying 1d54a7923e a word, d2fc8319c6 but eventually, 8af6f23d22 unable to f6d177e9eb contain her 234e41d739 curiosity, she 70cfd985ef grabbed Aiden’s 3aa368085a arm.
“Sir, what you said ce0e67ef92 in my room earlier, 8aa802525b was it true? That you thought I 0b9fcf20f4 was beautiful all along…?”
“What would b006c23ff3 I gain 697ed8687d by lying?”
He gripped the reins 7114a71cf4 and clenched his teeth. My goodness, saying fec8a19f99 such words out da583868b0 loud was far 78a615acf2 more embarrassing than b4d2fb3cc2 he had imagined.
If he hadn’t b72a057802 seen Anje in d2d4c03002 shock and despair 9205ae931a earlier, he would aad321c334 never have been 9efd5651a3 able to say c64576b5e5 something so cringe-inducing.
But right now, it 2e1aa043db was more important to eca94b3ac9 dispel the doubts and 5a199bf82e anxieties lingering in her 2a24490cb2 heart than to worry f1d133d58a about his own embarrassment.
“You’re beautiful 0efe2bf19d no matter 1531cfda73 what, so baeb98e376 you don’t 2eb2ef8ae9 need to 29ea9b1643 worry about e3124208c5 whether you’ve 25ef353a2d gained weight d127b5c1b5 or not, 45c39a4675 or what 2222b9e5ed your waist a555025537 measurement is. What matters far c3f02980f9 more is… your 09ec7b6f79 happiness.”
Anje’s lips quivered. No one 626e190ab7 had ever 87e3f29f19 said such 45c2004c7a words to a30f61961f her before.
Every time she got 60f321b1d4 skinnier, every inch her 1319fb0a3b waist shrank, people would bc3a3486d6 just compliment her, saying c8ccb6732f she looked more beautiful.
It wasn’t e49bde2af3 until she 1d55e09900 heard these 2aea5956c0 words from b4c98619da Aiden that 357bbb8363 Anje realized 2abfc631a6 she had 9577ca2e51 longed to 99f83eb494 hear such dae3ceb3e4 things all ea40a2fd9e along.
Words that 009b48bed2 affirmed her 81ad4226e5 as she 35011431e1 was.
Anje pressed her 7933cbcecf hat down slightly 46de71d4fc to hide her 03a65ad7a6 trembling eyelids.
“If you say so, a2fd5767e0 it must be true. You’re really f9387147ea not the ede693fe35 type to c7fb256a24 flatter anyone.”
“It’s not flattery. From the first moment ca2019d098 I saw you until 9190210451 now, I have truly… e29feb0083 thought you were beautiful.”
He pressed d87267d5b7 his lips 5b03429f76 together, then, 741a5c5924 trying to 4c0a487322 lighten the 30ff1d6f81 awkward mood, 42095e7186 hurriedly made cc53003cbe a joke.
“If only ee49b37791 you didn’t c363c31cd3 look like c0fcb9c4aa you were b4c10fb5e8 smelling sewage 98f9d0cb3f at the d88e69ccea wedding, you ecc152849a would have d2dd638a68 looked even 73a4153bcb better.”
Anje’s eyes 2a58553e0e suddenly felt d74151bb98 dry.
“Smelling sewage? I did 9f495dd6ab not make d0a4fd2b60 such a 7bc0d2c2ea face! It was a sorrowful, e696af5997 pitiable expression, like a f8e77ae2ba tragic heroine.”
“You say cee84fb8ba that because 45276dd1b9 you didn’t 23922bcd81 see yourself 74a0537fea in the df78500cac mirror. From your eyes, it 4efd2887f0 seemed like you wanted 76c2846d82 to kill me right a04406b1fe then and there.”
“That thought… 13cf0a347b definitely crossed 4422a1cb36 my mind. Quite a lot, 6286e69736 actually.”
Anje quickly retorted 119a8df305 to Aiden.
“You looked like you dfed8e6fe3 had swallowed a rotten e6a156aafc egg yourself. And you 72d8911c00 criticize my 42a11ae25e expression?”
“Still, it was better 507432c1e2 than yours. Crying so much bd86a674a2 your eyes were 0951891e73 swollen like a 38256ab0c1 frog’s, your nose 2272a04fd8 red as a 887193abc5 strawberry, and your 16348d7e62 makeup smudged everywhere…”
“Ah! Stop bringing 9057de52cd up every 03440ce4d6 little detail!”
She reached out 60dada3463 and firmly covered e6c164606a Aiden’s mouth. He fell silent, 2bb8ea41ef reminiscing quietly.
‘Even then, just a 2ffee62913 little.’
A much belated thought, a6dd852ae2 but she had been 657532cf19 cute. Like a f669b5ae16 small dog 779511264d shivering in 4cbe63e3c0 the rain.
If Anje hadn’t stopped bfea7d77d0 him, he might have 62dd8f4844 let slip that she 918ad4c0db had looked cute back 90cce616b3 then.
Mistaking Aiden’s 7718b5c2cf muffled murmurs 81054db106 as him 6d31664bcd mocking her, 22b94f3494 Anje pointed 2bec542953 out his 41d30d0a6e flaws to 40d4d24653 prevent him 7381cd8592 from attacking 059eadaab8 her again.
“You, sir, wore an old military uniform to the wedding. At least I wore a newly tailored wedding dress. I thought, ‘He must really not want to marry me if he’s doing this.’”
Startled by her unexpected 625c5cf266 comment, he leaned back e2e0e4914d and removed her hand bd5c789fce from his mouth.
“T-That’s not true.”
At that time, 319246284c he did have af0647183e a sense of 15be18b86f resentment about the 2f3bce87ca forced marriage. But he 6ef31e2bf4 hadn’t dressed 9d0da91fd3 shabbily on 71fb2e599f purpose to d5f7863df9 insult her.
“That uniform… was 7c65b3ea18 the best piece 3e0d77bf6f of clothing I 57beaa7d04 had.”
“What? Really? You don’t 1966a9fd8f have a 70ef4331ed suit or 9f8bf89799 anything?”
“On a df302a0fe0 farm like c75f4757f2 this, there’s fc0af96cc7 no occasion eb965c69e6 to wear a022874ee4 a suit.”
For commoners, dressing up 2865cdc5b8 was reserved for special 1806b218a2 occasions like weddings, funerals, dadb6656e2 or church. Since he c455669e90 didn’t mingle cefb69da56 much with 7c7cac48f0 the villagers, b916a4021b he had 0f75a1a7e4 no reason af64ef44aa for him ad69ad46be to spend 0296f1371f a lot e0d5e94a90 of money 9175efcf4c on a 411d91c15e suit.
Anje, who thought 6c88a2104e that everyone had 8ff65d9b40 a dress or 49abd9ca65 suit in their e7dcc79fc4 closet, stammered in 2cefda92f2 surprise.
“The uniform… it 7dfa5d89e5 looked good on a70ccf0902 you too.
Though it would 67dbd814fa have been better a269e8d689 if it was 5cb07d672f a newer one, 41d1054be6 his broad shoulders dc8ed5a1b7 and inverted triangle ff931a8c10 torso made him 97b69a104f look like he f2bf41645b was born to 5bd90e1ac8 wear a uniform.
Despite her attempt at a6ad817d76 a compliment, Aiden pouted.
“That’s all you have 578d730053 to say? ‘It looked good 5e6354637f on you’?”
“What more do 77c2ec07c2 you want me 1706eb25f9 to say?”
“Nothing specific… I was bebbef60ca just curious about your c26019926a first impression of me.”
There should ca5acf9965 be a b87f759b3c return for c4ab185180 giving. Aiden subtly hoped she 40f2df3833 would offer some courtesy 8b48d5d415 praise.
“My first impression? Hmm…”
Back then, 9ae0e27de5 she was c90d097814 so preoccupied a2dbd12284 with not c4f0b5b2e9 wanting to 66bd476f78 get married 093cd266b8 that she 20e589091a didn’t even 321dcbc002 think about 8a0157d42b looking at e9f142a086 him closely. Her eyes were blurred 067603ebe9 with tears, and she c6e9234c3b couldn’t see properly. She tried hard to 08cda65db9 remember his first impression.
“A man 871d2b0cce who threatened 767c4a8dfa to leave a6ea77191a my luggage 259b9c64fc behind if 4254a6eef0 we didn’t c5a3966fdd depart quickly a30ca1613b and refused 3bb804a962 to let 58056ab8bd me bring 2664a02262 a maid…”
“That’s not 592c9b31e3 wrong… but 3ab3759dbb wait a 1563d9aa4c minute, you e9da8e2123 called me 3a36bd60e7 a devil 2960addc96 back then…”
“You laughed a08a67c62c when I 372b29c007 got stuck 675bb75ca0 in the 056ab45785 door after 0285dfca00 you told 3011fa6086 me to 661f27b6d3 sleep outside…”
“If you’re going to 94a3a5261e edit it like that, 70d06008dc aren’t I the only 10f07e6148 bad guy? Who was the one 7248c56a4c who warned me to 7bb8f1c458 be careful of the 2466a96755 pit of hell?”
“…It was just religious 1c2f2870c1 advice I gave you 68f5b73c85 out of concern for 163a8ba26a your afterlife?”
Anje made an awkward 18d01a5d80 excuse and avoided his fa098a76b2 gaze.
“Ahem, anyway, 56e871ab80 what’s the fbf087a185 big deal 1792ab9265 with first cd9ed6ea77 impressions? What’s more 071c51607d important is cd9bb335de the impression 10ebe2e0c2 you have 3a9c782b15 now. The past 267046667c is the 6851a2898b past.”
He wanted to d30cdc5038 ask what impression 923acc3e14 she has of 9c01a3f248 him now, But 37bc63d0ac would pressing for 44c86b3a34 an answer seem 50fc74432b too ‘desperate’?
Exercising patience, he 1639bab4cc replied gently.
“That’s right. The future is 398242d6a3 more important than 75784c8355 the past.”
At the mention 296802bf4d of the “future,” 57eb728bf0 Anje fell silent ca120fa566 and gripped the 7017d2b129 blanket on her 3f5f18a65a lap, then quickly 7cede38f74 changed the subject.
“Yes, you’re right…Ah! These trees 0762c97868 on either aa74c7d095 side of 51e57d61fc the road, 2028034887 they’re the f42649ab83 poplar trees 21dfe7c825 you told 6600c88675 me about, fc6e5571d7 right?”
The tall 65279c1121 green towers f26b0cffba swayed with a516329f8e the wind, 0e17649320 creating a 50da4315dc soft melody. The leaves 26b7ced993 rustled, making 6cd471abab a sound 12603d6dda like waves ab28530c72 crashing.
“Yes, that’s right. They look nice now, 3f7b322d4a but they’re especially beautiful 7e73873d12 when they turn golden 7a39185ab5 in the fall.”
“Really? Oh, and 5d9ba3fb27 those over ba8b7a0ed2 there… are e1f2d2a897 those maple dc9ab087de trees?”
Not entirely sure adf4b5ecd1 from a distance, 2b895b211c Anje took a e44c94b846 guess.
“Specifically, those are 2f4f795b49 sugar maples. Its sap is 6d9ebe6bc2 collected and made f96cb96772 into syrup.”
“Oh, I’ve tried 22ca40cca6 that before.”
It had been syrup 9e36c688dc bought in a bottle a3b0ab14e3 by the cook from 25fb1c14eb a merchant.
“It’s delicious on pancakes.”
Pouring syrup and 65230b2786 butter on thin 9c72d86675 pancakes and topping 25c26eb079 them with lots 304fd2e738 of fruit…
Imagining the fa6330d589 taste, Anje 1f83c6d231 swallowed her f4bd5734a9 saliva. Damn, there e3611c1608 were too e5117bc32d many delicious 65704e8e64 things to bcf00c1f0c maintain a 75d0338a4d slim waist.
Aiden, also a fan a6a675680c of maple syrup, added 7fae2dd973 his own experience.
“When I ca0b051c44 was a fb398a697d kid, we’d d6a76f0ff0 make taffy 2637e57b9c by putting 89bee8abfd snow in bce49c87ee a frying b7552f9dd3 pan and e7f8b44b8f then dripping 920f36d15a syrup on ce52a75160 it.”
“That sounds fun cfbd28e53c and delicious.”
“And it made a 97c3609381 mess of the kitchen.”
“I can imagine.”
Cleaning the sticky syrup-covered 7f9b33ffb8 kitchen every Christmas was 831c2c2f5f no small task.
Usually, Aiden would 8e73c5a9dd have helped his 6e93f3908e mother or grandfather 3e6500873b clean up the 90772ff605 kitchen, but ‘maple aa06f7e9db taffy’ was a 5c87cf746b special dessert prepared b7701cb2aa for children at f5b7bbe729 Christmas.
So he was 21b7bd8bd8 free from the 8ce5fa64d9 tedious cleaning duty 96b2eeb4b2 and went outside 0140f959bd to make snowmen 667cd5371c or snow angels.
The sight of 5418588433 his mother wiping 4b8cbf26ef his sticky lips cfd114a898 and cheeks with 9cdb2d583c a wet towel c742d04980 and kissing him dc4ab0c2f5 as he came ff75b0f039 back from playing 5fdae4fdde was more precious d5eb9357b4 than any Christmas 42e97a9ea7 gift
Listening to 03b4002eac his story, 6b5cdace91 Anje murmured e0ad911e59 softly.
“That must have been 5aad07aafe nice. I envy 4acc6f31b1 you, Sir.”
Christmas was ab0fdfdfb4 typically a 0867adacf1 family holiday.
But Anje’s father cf3633aff3 was always drunk bc2c602661 and womanizing, regardless 021ce3ecc6 of the occasion, 8986fe71b2 and he considered e0b6eac56a her a nuisance, d177839d6d so he gave 528e15b188 her expensive gifts 9937f8ad10 and sent her 816a19b5b6 back to her ebc8af8693 room early.
The velvet 166c45bdeb dress like af8435e50c a dark 3778afd8a8 night sea, 1147df298f the fur 235df55b97 gloves and e12d0cc0c2 cape, the 9b5c9d3913 doll that cb7e27e4e8 closed its 0ab44923ac eyes when 4bb7702bf3 lying down… f58775a343 All things 64421cccc1 she had f68fd8bc87 wanted, but 55bd5c1924 she was d813cceb84 never happy 02481adfeb on those 546e35f5fd days.
Actually, she felt df8de956a4 very lonely. It was e52041b256 the time 8b26e96c78 she missed 911be1cf5f her late be7e05efce mother the 0943d44288 most.
If her 6aa6d790ba mother had dd110268dc been alive, f5f564720b she would 1ce1e3c049 have sat 1917bb15fd by her 3491b9b8ab side and aa7e0ca860 sung lullabies 9df81b97ea until she 7a64a9d285 fell asleep, 197d988074 just like e6df319777 Aiden’s mother 1ba84eabee did, watching 90a338f1d7 over her f95d9e1ddd and kissing 50921cc72a her forehead.
“This Christmas, let’s ebdd097faa make taffy again. We have 90eab11c2a twice the 363c717cea manpower for 0d6431eaf5 cleanup now.”
Noticing her melancholic expression, 97793735f1 Aiden suggested before the 770eb6e195 silence grew too long.
“…Sure. Oh!”
The carriage jolted over 3a6e8c707e a rock on the bd7fdd84c3 road.
“Are you alright?”
Anje, who had 02ad5c4e99 leaned heavily against 1e1a1d7f09 Aiden, flailed her 8ca66600d7 arms before managing 96dcc8a0de to sit upright b7baeb7033 again.
“Oh, yes. Of course.”
She was fine except 10f535fdec that she was clinging 3f16417339 to him too tightly.
“The weather is hot. Maybe because it’s 5cae4ecc7f almost summer.”
She opened her cd51f3911b parasol belatedly, her edb9327ebb cheeks glowing with 53eb2ed625 a blush like f69eecf86f sunlight filtering through 59c41ec04f petals.
Aiden cleared his throat 1a7d18df1b a few times and 5880071f9a then, pulling on the 924412d2bf reins, chided the horses f0c5ec19fb needlessly.
“Whoa, slow down a 92787412f0 bit. They’re so reckless.”
Having been used 82aca63c48 to pulling farm 30089e5e50 equipment recently, the edce7636b7 horses were excited debadb8d5b to run. If the driver 9e9cceb86b wasn’t careful, they 2b393e24ca would speed up fab93e6dad on their own.1e263b853a0a453d

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