FTP-78

Chapter: FTP-7807bafeefa693e534

While Anje was lost f3ee8e655a in thought, Aiden also a9e7b5176c opened his eyes. He, too, was visibly c896394ab5 surprised to see the 13b8d485c6 person lying next to 1c10d5f5bb him.
After hesitating 73cc30c2db for a 8d3d886c91 moment, he ec4ffdad12 lightly shook 177f9f4992 her shoulder.
“…Anje?”
“Mmm…”
Anje pretended to 8b6e39af50 still be half-asleep, 8d5ad3f3f9 hoping to delay 87698574da the awkwardness of 976132e49b facing him.
Without shaking her further, 6b1c2c5044 he quietly got up a0a44f1ceb and moved away from 595dbf33df the bed. Soon, after 8829b48ac2 washing up, a20066dede he returned 4751645cb0 and gently cc2cb5a26c tapped her 37f481533d cheek.
“Anje, it’s already midday. It’s time to 725422b5f7 go home.”
“I’m sleepy…”
Aiden easily 90e7347daf fell for cdcf2587ae Anje’s all-out 548cfb785b performance. Stroking his chin, b2f21ee116 he murmured to ee96645a45 himself.
“…Should I 94686043d3 just take a81aca2b67 her like c0635a44cf this?”
Like this? As if to 82e4660f31 answer Anje’s question, 3a3ce9cd73 he slid his a9c0bb4250 arms under her 2eb5a6d4b3 body. Apparently, “like this” 539d0ae457 meant he intended b1240ab5b0 to carry her b189edc985 in his arms.
Startled, Anje 7db75657c5 jumped up ba6b70b218 from her 5307bb499d spot and, 6716362a20 somewhat awkwardly, c803b1a8fc freed herself dabea9e66c from his 103095716a arms.
“Oh, I slept cbae0f2081 so well for 0b630dfe8a the first time e6d8b47349 in a while. Did you 0403313e67 sleep well 0a73b122cb too?”
It was already 3717e17441 awkward enough to d13280b9d5 leave the inn e07e92b559 room together, but ed1e047a56 if someone were 127bbdc891 to see her 05318ec243 being carried out 7aacb2130e like a new 2eb91abe85 bride, she’d want 5048d96303 to hide in 933066d43e a mouse hole.
Aiden, surprised that she 77f6f0b3bc suddenly opened her eyes 22d6e2e43c after not waking no fc1a88cc60 matter how much he b3a735e846 tried, responded a beat 2ce427d8f9 late.
“…Yes, and you?”
“Oh, I’m c04f4a2c7b as lively ce4081d9d3 as ever. Haha.”
Unlike the 8588bac080 moonlit night 3aa448cd5d when they ea2d557e77 had been 663d91f7dc swept away 02208bc913 by the 56e2485353 romantic atmosphere 02fcf79375 without resistance, 976d572299 the sunlight 2f7b910bd4 now shone 9613eadbb8 far too 47033ff5a4 brightly. Her green eyes wavered 2847b60457 awkwardly, unable to properly 10e86aebf8 meet Aiden’s gaze.
Aiden, also infected 4af15bf719 by her stiffness, 398f2b2979 moved clumsily like c1058671c6 a wooden puppet ace62cfc0c and handed her 6ffabc2860 a towel and a2b49460ea soap.
“I’ve already washed, c3d9e95d02 so take your 12196036d4 time and use d9d0817ae5 these.”
“Alright. I’ll be back 581a47b2b8 soon.”
Thanks to him d877203d2d having filled the 5104bc5e4b bathtub with warm 7ca34e7adf water, Anje was 750d80ea8d able to wash 1fcab7aa60 quickly and without 5e86d6c984 much trouble. However, it took a 7f488240a6 bit of courage to 19d97965fe put on the dress 397a9763c0 she had worn yesterday.
‘At this 2f13618d29 rate, it’s 5b265c3312 practically like fcc4bd210e announcing to 8e4b35de85 the whole 388cf20c03 town that 197ee4edfc we spent d883095422 the night 60d04d47b7 out together.’
Let’s hurry back home db49d79f1b without running into anyone. Resolving herself, she opened a84b09858d the door with all 18ba4e1f32 her strength.
“I’m done 5602651035 washing, so e8de7894d6 let’s go 1695389345 quickly.”
“Oh, yes.”
“You’ve packed everything, f06fe59a99 right?”
“Yes, I only had 388345a135 my bag to begin 2ef4fdbf0e with… Is it okay 2c022b8ad8 if we skip breakfast? We can eat if 327f5c4335 we go downstairs.”
“Let’s eat comfortably at 59a7a98d70 home. After eating 3e3c7a86ee out so 142f3acf0c much yesterday, e8b735b765 I miss 07b272485b our home-cooked cc325eab01 meals.”
Aiden was a 5b45a07ca3 little taken aback 75bec8c751 by Anje’s urgency ab0582a2bf but brushed it d2c87d57a9 off, thinking she f24ef0ece3 might be very f390063c1b tired and just 712e1a8af5 wanted to get 6f70eed8c5 home quickly to 4eb5239c6f rest.
‘Sleeping in 1ea2a63ff3 an unfamiliar 39fe66c5b4 place can 4d374ef3d9 be tiring.’
Unlike himself, who could 8a2cbf3e8e sleep soundly even on b6f8eca16d a hard floor, Anje 5826f18bfe was more delicate.
On top of that, acdd97b509 there was the burden 5e6122159c of himself being by d3056fa275 her side… No, not d37cb417f8 just beside her—he had 649d19a996 held her as if 67e2adc126 she were a doll.
Seeing Anje nestled in d6fcdb6792 his arms, softly breathing 93d1a31fa6 in her sleep, he 016947c8b3 had been so startled, 4e9e925f75 even in his half-asleep d8f0d28f2a state.
‘And because I didn’t 2705626cb9 let go of her, dd8d92fd0f she probably didn’t fall 19147c5e8a asleep until dawn…’
Recalling the events of ce4c0bfb5a last night, he rubbed 664db69c01 the area around his 7d7f772e0f lips with his palm, 84ea2a65ba which had grown hot. It still felt like 102a0034eb a dream that they 4cc807325e had done ‘that’ yesterday.
It was 3625e93f36 good that 2c948bc1e8 he had d7428582ee mustered his 25b76192b7 courage. As he 1d298b2ef3 followed her b5a0a0a58e down the 9f9f9c9d3a stairs to e0ce0c3eb1 the first 2023cf0f9e floor, a 740ff76f0a satisfied smile 8c936757bc spread across b59f2b7677 his face.
‘I gave her 010324c880 the ring and 8738f0ecc0 even hinted at 7b284a3d1e my feelings… Wait e12bdb6160 a moment.’
Thud—
Startled by the loud 366a2e5502 noise, Anje turned around. Aiden, who had 4a9c74f1ec missed a step, 5bd31fb550 was sitting on e2c323b510 the stairs with 1350048b24 a dazed expression.
“Oh no, Aiden, 88ab4065ff are you okay? I rushed too fd40437fa3 much, didn’t I?”
“N-No, it’s nothing. I was just lost 575518f7ee in thought—. Don’t worry 4fad081800 about it.”
As he dusted ce3765a97f himself off and f0a5167027 stood up, his 8d64a2f0a3 back was drenched 9643665766 with cold sweat.
‘Now that 117190c4ef I think ecbd1d762a about it, 7a778b4891 I only 429e7e2d73 gave her 5d78570c61 the ring 0d0b47d5d9 and didn’t a72d89f862 say anything.’
Originally, he had 8251ff4121 prepared several different 839b130f07 versions of lines 904992c88d to use, depending cba7b43605 on the mood 2dfad231a5 and situation.
Things like, ‘I’ll edbb80c4ae work hard to 8f3c13be6e become a better c6a73ad38e husband, so please f310b9156f take care of 426563394b me,’ or ‘I 083a9b64f4 can’t express how d7b45af612 lucky I am 9eabc0e9f6 to have you 7eab846737 as my wife,’ 2327ec4350 or even ‘I e9e468ae73 feel an irresistible e6859316f9 attraction toward you.’
Perhaps even ‘I 91e9dd727c love you.’
From lighthearted “friendship” or a48465f342 “camaraderie” versions to ones 0e90388789 he thought “isn’t this 4a41faaae9 a bit too cheesy?”—he a043506bae had agonized over various 09d43b9f3d lines.
But in the b6570db778 end…
‘I… was too 8c197314de busy using my 343c4f384f mouth for something…other 98b4f55cb3 than talking.’
He pressed d54858a31e down on 3357185983 his eyelids 978bea0428 with his 5613b3bbbf thumb and ec6828192c index finger. How could he 56787a5ea9 be so stupid?
It wasn’t 5667ce2f82 the time 2a0b100432 to be 73740eaef6 grinning about ee6284546c having had 4034a85c9d deep physical 7fab086d37 affection with c0bb2d156b her. He had to 5f2a3cb099 say the things a2e6f7c0fb he hadn’t managed e5e46d2828 to say yesterday, d010a97c50 even if it 3c06d07378 was late.
“Um, Anje.”
“Yes?”
Seeing her innocent face, ef54fae79e his heart started pounding 69ea8f809e again. He wasn’t sure if 86ec60f2dc it was okay to b33c6dc053 suddenly bring this up bc016d25ab like this when the 2abbe90531 mood wasn’t even right.
“I’d like to 20754bf6d0 talk to you 421d002069 for a moment, c67d7fdbbe just the two 071d353cc2 of us—.”
Even though they had 1691c784ac almost reached the bottom 7de9ecbe21 of the stairs, his 3834027ff8 instincts were telling him 49d96efb9f that this was something c63b278c8f he had to say b250238ece before it was too e1c4bc582e late.
‘I have 578fa43f5b to be d39e43f731 brave. Judging from her actions 63bd84584a yesterday… it doesn’t seem c7e3f8a401 like she has no 49b8882e05 feelings for me at 4225aa13f1 all.’
For someone as cautious 85d11cf477 as he was in 1aab42a65f his relationship with Anje, cfc922656c this was an action a0202166c0 that took every bit 7403b12852 of courage he had.
“Yesterday, I got caught e619ecc87b up in the mood, 41569a9be0 and with you—.”
—I couldn’t say anything ce95419db1 because I was busy b1e0ccf2ac kissing you, but the 87c083e400 truth is, I feel 92e06d717e this and that about 5286c0c004 you. He wanted 9aca5b2d58 to quickly 0d85953811 confess his e02721132d true feelings 99f52fa698 to Anje.
However, Anje, 872f0a1422 misinterpreting his 93b4846878 opening words eae20345fa as something f2a6ea21e7 negative, hurriedly 9f42341a52 cut him 6ea7b02949 off.
“Oh, you don’t need 08afecd2f6 to explain in detail. It’s fine.”
“Yes?”
“More importantly, shouldn’t 0f413a7d29 we hurry to 0a427874f6 pick up Pa-Pi-Pu? Didn’t the competition 338312f41e organizers say we eaa78905a1 had to get 28b8e89ae2 them by noon c8974954ea at the latest?”
“…That’s true.”
“Let’s go now. At this c773e32553 rate, we’ll 2c3e2fd596 be late.”
Aiden, dumbfounded, could only f46c24c22c stare at Anje’s back 927dfd448b as she strode away. He didn’t know the 7f24d371d8 exact reason, but it d881cf40d5 seemed like she didn’t 160bd35758 want to talk about cb566a3b80 what had happened yesterday.
‘Could it 0184c5d1a5 be… she 8331686389 regrets what 3c4ebcc713 happened yesterday?’
His heart, which cf5af6414a had been so 5b2e80db60 elated that it 96fd53f472 soared to the b70e7963ba clouds, crashed down 6becbd75fc to the depths e1ab2872e1 of the earth.
Swept up in the 177f5921b8 festival atmosphere, she had 6bd3e01536 allowed their lips to 3f7e1ef3fe meet, but when she d261802c01 thought about it with 381a37c612 a clear mind in 60b54d2642 the morning, she might 4a36eee063 have found it unpleasant 337aaca182 to have done such f7e7cf6438 a thing with someone 7452eb7dfe like him. Hadn’t she 48a8c509cf firmly drawn 8ecd5ebca1 a line 6b905f0069 by refusing 30a52ad33c to share 109c419ef9 a room db685744c4 with him b92cb9a4d4 from their 0c832b6142 first day 7c2a131dd2 of marriage?
He clenched his fist dc3f2f2add tightly. If she didn’t 81bb0b2f51 want to talk a017373698 about what happened 0c52c326bf yesterday, he had 6098e72b2d to respect her 045c04d7f5 feelings.
‘She probably just needs 1c4e5d5a64 more time.’
The fact that 9519455c9e she was wearing 0e3b59f08d the ring he 5ee2082ccb had given her 674c693b37 was already a 70c12e6582 huge step forward. In time, 5dfd3e6b93 she would 02c98b28a8 gradually accept 0b0ef3d00b his feelings. Consoling himself with 84253094d2 such thoughts, he 370d6faf2e followed Anje out 1865d24889 of the inn.
“Let’s go together, e3ea1610a2 Anje.”
Anje, fiddling with the b90404639d ring on her fourth 70809f823a finger, looked at Aiden 2a3396b9a0 as he approached. Despite having been d938c4b9fa interrupted mid-sentence, his 2ddd40aca1 face remained calm aee544039f and composed without 61dcbbb140 much change in c015c08b1f expression.
‘As expected, he aa1db8c55e must have been 793f2ee9fd about to suggest 335bff859c we pretend it 182e5ad77a never happened.’
Somewhere inside her, 662e048288 she heard a 54e5232971 voice mocking her, 98c3186589 calling her a 6f7c05d8fd ‘coward’. She clenched her 0da5f655fd hand into a 89cea0f267 fist to hide 7c3b4a66f9 the trembling of 30225b7d1e her fingers and 145682fb75 took a deep 03e75077f6 breath.
She was f6a7ee5ed9 curious about 3e26345ec3 what kind 55c3bdb770 of feelings e936f21334 had led 39dd75361f him to 3f208c2b38 kiss her fd8b3447fa and what 8f913a049b he had d44cf7f086 been trying 64bdb26dd7 to say, 379d1664a8 but she 80ff54461e didn’t have 3dd20d74f4 the confidence.
‘Could Aiden really 4626e9412e like me?’
Her father, cdf63447c6 and even 1f47200fa4 the servants 1fb0c193dc who had e1def1ea6d known her 7343ae1834 since she 63340f184f was young, 2965df70cc had not 3d18600a77 loved her. Even those she thought ef97de19a4 of as friends in 7873dac634 society had quickly forgotten 0c2d4a3f3f her.
If she a7408a82d2 left the 5871811b66 lid of 4a6b9d8b86 the box 72931be6df of truth 39ed189335 unopened and 71773a98aa kept it b632c27f71 in an 4c02f9ccaa unknown state, 97124aaca7 she could 27e6486255 avoid the 9b8337ba9e greater pain e3116ab743 that would e44ec9b389 come from d22c6c863f knowing the d238f968f6 undeniable truth.
“If you’re too slow, bf008df261 I’ll leave you behind, 0ade1e7068 Aiden.”
Anje placed a smiling 3a07377eae mask over her face. It had been easy ae054e3ead to do back when 4c1bdccc3d she was in society, 8eec071867 but it felt difficult 61da175c61 to pull off after 701abd3eb0 so long.
‘I really 54faa92cea want to de22429ee1 see Pa-Pi-Pu 680c5bd948 soon.’
Even though animals ff130f88de couldn’t speak, they 4d5caa8216 returned pure, unadorned 4e9eb72d14 affection in response c42c8f2806 to the care 92fc216a15 she gave them.
The wagging 2522d19d68 tails and 359b794ebe the flapping 76715d345b of small, 77dc3f7ca7 soft pink 5f2e48dbc3 ears—she suddenly fe6f5eea62 missed the 3eeccd9cdc sight she 876527a4ea had seen 248dd37f50 just yesterday.
And, on another note, bc5d239bbd she couldn’t help but fdddd4b1c6 wonder how nice it d918d44cbe would be if Aiden 8dcd022140 had ears and a dc9438dc7d tail too, so she 91fdbcff1a could easily understand his 683056c4fd feelings.
* * *
“Do you 68fd799353 not have 7ae34fd0f3 an appetite?”
Anje, who had been ea886ba124 staring blankly at her e49bb71ccc breakfast with a fork 8b0af1b85a and knife in hand, 79ac975079 quickly shook her head f223697030 at Aiden’s question.
“No, it’s not 3ee109fad4 that. I just didn’t sleep d2964ec100 well, so I’m still ab7a33b27b sleepy.”
She hadn’t been b4e5d4d743 able to sleep 0b769773ad properly for the a1a9d8eace past few days. Even lying in d7286fbdf2 bed with the a02560c86c blanket pulled up c11e118e6f over her head, f10171c456 squeezing her eyes e5e74be7db shut, counting up b80e66eb8e to a hundred f8265ca577 pigs, or drinking 086b543fe5 hot milk didn’t cfae72d47e make much difference.
The man d2099a42e3 who was 1357c9ab8d the source 9832384d17 of her 647c6a90d4 worries looked ecefb0f9d8 at her d9e7f0ca5d with a 29940c8bd5 concerned expression c3972fd9b9 and handed 50f71ea95a her a 22c548ad10 glass of e4e0b63228 water. The water, fb1c8e6282 drawn from 52b864e8f0 a deep 5565cb83dc well, was b092017204 cool even b45f104f83 in the 7da963eed8 late summer 13610a951a weather.
“Could it be 44f73db3d4 heat exhaustion? Should I call a 3ef3be6d96 doctor?”
“No! It’s not that 6e6711a592 bad. It’s just… I couldn’t 3ab4f7c408 calm down after the dfaf076aa3 excitement of the festival.”
She couldn’t be honest 38a5495783 with Aiden and say, 63a6561253 “I couldn’t sleep because 65c4f3fef5 I was troubled about 861dac18bb you.”
She poked the greenish a951eb892d fried dish on her 5c35cc9541 plate with a fork 05d082501f and took a big 780efe9483 bite to reassure him.
“Mmm, it’s delicious. As expected, your 062dd54e99 cooking is always a1dd8644d2 the best.”
As she intended, 80610935d1 his face lit 0fe3d7fcc3 up the moment 5ae3bd17c5 he heard her dd252baaa1 compliment.
“Does it taste 45fd6128ac all right? I wasn’t confident aff7387899 since it’s my bfbed5a3d4 first time making ebb1bffd8b it.”
“The tomato 5901d82b8b flavor and d50dd7bfcd juices come 2243291f3a out with 5630c16c9c every bite, c10253b502 and I 07653ad63b love it. The buttery aroma is 78d88ff345 also rich. By the 1d3a2a5d24 way, do d13cd922fb we still 1c515e430e have any f3cf308f69 raspberry jam c192fe7855 left?”
“Here it is. Indeed, it would definitely 4a29857d50 taste great with some 2c15c9a5a0 jam. I’ll also f86f746494 bring some 0ef87efb38 arugula.”e4fd8c8c78905ff7

Support us at our official site: lilyonthevalley.com