“No, I told you, I’m fine.”
Anje waved her hands in a gesture of refusal to Aiden, whom she met at the entrance of the stairs.
She didn’t expect him to offer to ‘carry’ her downstairs first, as he had been staring at her limping. It was okay because it was a dark night yesterday, but it was already morning with the sun rising now. She thought it was not appropriate to have such close contact.
“If you think I’m doing this because I care about you, you’re mistaken. I’m just trying to get you out of the way because you’re blocking the only staircase.”
“You can go down first. Ah, wait!”
Regardless of whether she was embarrassed or not, Aiden picked her up and went downstairs. Anje covered her face with both hands, but her neck, which she couldn’t cover, turned red.
“I’m fine with just going down the stairs, please put me down?”
Aiden, who had finally managed to get a rare reaction from the princess, carried her all the way to the kitchen and solemnly replied as he put her down on a chair.
“I’ve decided to never take my eyes off of you from now on. And don’t run away, it’ll be difficult.”
“I can’t go anywhere with this foot anyway.”
Anje looked down at her ankle, which was even more swollen than yesterday, and muttered gloomily. She wondered if it was really broken. Aiden’s face, looking at the injured area, also darkened. Compared to the normal ankle, it was almost twice as swollen and it looked seriously bruised.
“Let’s try to put a compress on it and if it doesn’t get better, we’ll call a doctor.”
“A doctor?”
“Why, didn’t you ask me to call one last time?”
Aiden asked, recalling Anje rolling around on the kitchen floor. At that time, he didn’t even pretend to hear it, but this kind of situation where she was really injured was an exception.
“How can I see a doctor like this?”
Anje shrugged and shook her head. Even the slightest movement made her ankle ache so much, she was still in her pajamas with only a thick sweater on. Her feet were, of course, bare.
A doctor would definitely be a man, and she couldn’t show herself like this to a stranger. It was even embarrassing to show herself to Aiden.
He scratched the back of his neck once more.
“What’s wrong with a sick person being half-dressed?”
Aiden seemed to ignore her and disappeared to get some well water.
Anje was relieved that he didn’t seem to care, but on the other hand, she felt strange.
‘Does he not see me as a woman at all?’
It didn’t matter though. Anje scratched her cheek and waited for him to come back.
“Ouch, it’s cold!”
The towel soaked in the well water that Aiden had just brought was as cold as a brass doorknob in the middle of winter.
Anje shivered at the cold touch on her ankle, but she was also happy with the relieved heat.
“Thank you. It feels much better.”
Once she started saying thank you once, the second time came out easily. But she still felt awkward, so she tried to blow away the awkwardness and asked in a cheerful voice.
“What’s for breakfast today?”
“A traditional breakfast menu.”
“A traditional menu? What’s that?”
“Eggs, sausage, grilled mushrooms, black pudding, and baked beans from a can.”
Anje, who had lost some energy excessively yesterday, was satisfied with the list of food that followed.
“Make the eggs sunny side up, please.”
Aiden shrugged at Anje’s words. It meant ‘eat whatever I give you’. Anje tapped the table with her spoon.
“I almost died yesterday! Eaten by a bear! Shouldn’t you be a little kinder to me?”
“Is there any reason to be kind to a fool who jumps into a bear’s mouth on her own?”
He mixed the yolks and whites in the bowl without hesitation. While he didn’t particularly regret not making the eggs sunny side up, today he would make scrambled eggs, which he wanted to eat.
Crack crack―
Anje, who had been chirping about how she preferred the sunny-side up eggs, ended up devouring the scrambled eggs and sausages as if she had always wanted them when breakfast was ready.
She briefly thought she should pay attention to her waistline, but rationalized, ‘I’m a patient, I need to eat well to get better.’
For the same reason, she didn’t wear a corset today. Therefore, the food went down even better.
Poking the empty plate needlessly, Anje asked, “Do we have any leftover bread from yesterday?”
It would taste great dipped in the leftover yolks.
“The black bread you couldn’t eat, so I gave it to the pigs.”
Aiden replied in a tone of disbelief. He thought he was doing good by giving leftover food to the pigs every day, but apparently not.
Anje’s cheeks flushed as if reflecting off the tablecloth.
“Oh, it wasn’t that bad. I just prefer white bread.”
She added hesitantly, “Everything is delicious.”
“…Would you like some crackers?”
“Yes! …Uh, yes. If there are any leftovers left from the pigs.”
She didn’t want to look like a glutton, but Anje’s stomach was still empty.
Anje happily dipped the crackers into the yolks, leaving no drop behind. She sighed contentedly.
Now it was time to enjoy the after-dinner tea.
“Tea?”
“We only have cheap black tea, which is not suitable for a noblewoman like you.”
“Ah, don’t be such a snob.”
These days, she could be as cunning as she needed to be. So she lowered her eyes and spoke in a sweet voice, just like she had done with the nobles she met at the banquets, but Aiden instead wrinkled his face and shivered.
“I’ll give you as much tea as you want, so can you please stop using that affected voice?It’s making my stomach churn.”
The princess Anje he knew was a straightforward woman who would either scold him, rebel harshly, or cry like a child.
Seeing her act like a ‘lady of the manor’ was awkward and uncomfortable.
Anje erased her smile from her face and slammed the table with her fist. It only made a light clicking sound.
“What do you mean? Everyone says I have a voice like a nightingale!”
“The nobles don’t know how the nightingales sing. Well, all the city people are like that.”
He said that while putting the kettle on the stove. Was it his mood? He felt more comfortable dealing with the princess than before. Maybe it was because her tone had changed a bit.
“Your tone is different today.”
“What’s wrong with my tone?”
Aiden looked for an appropriate expression as he poured tea into the cup that Anje offered.
“You’re less annoying than usual.”
Anje, who was drinking tea, choked on hearing the joke.
“My tone was annoying…?”
“Yes.”
In fact, her tone was quite haughty, although she was not aware of it. Especially to those whom she considered lower than herself.
So this was a truthful expression, but Anje, who had never heard such an honest criticism, did not agree.
“It’s just too aristocratic for you to adapt.”
“Hmm, I’ve stayed in the palace for a while, but I don’t know. Some of them were as annoying as you, but not all of them, as far as I remember.”
“Stop saying annoying, annoying at the end of every sentence… Wait, you stayed in the palace?”
“Yes, I worked there for a while…”
Aiden didn’t seem to want to say more, and he stirred his tea with a spoon for no reason.
Anje was curious and wanted to ask more.
Extramarital affairs were not uncommon for nobles or royals.
In particular, men of high status, including Anje’s father, often had several concubines or took advantage of maids, governesses, and other servants.
Naturally, many illegitimate children were born of them, but it was extremely rare for a child to be recognized unless the mother was also a noble.
As far as she knew, Aiden’s mother was a commoner. And yet, the late emperor had not only recognized him as his son and granted him the title of knight, but had even summoned him to the palace?
This was an exceptional treatment considering his circumstances.
Why did the former emperor treat him so well? Was that why Philip hated him so much?
She wondered, but this was a difficult area to ask.
“Let’s go out if you’re done.”
Aiden cleared the dishes in front of Anje, cutting off her thoughts. Anje was surprised and retorted.
“Go out? Me too?”
“Yes, you too.”
He spoke with his hand on his waist, and there was no sign of joking in him.
“I told you. I won’t take my eyes off you.”
He planned to keep her in his sight for a while.
“That’s ridiculous! You’re telling me to go outside now? My skin will burn in the sun, and my hair will get frizzy in the wind.”
She had always been told by her father and those around her that a woman’s greatest asset was her appearance.
To protect it, she had done her best to avoid the sun and had even refrained from going to the resort towns that other young ladies and gentlemen went to.
“Whether it makes sense or not, that’s what I’ve decided.”
Aiden picked her up again.
“Um, at least a parasol.”
Anje, who was cuddled by Aiden, exclaimed. She remembered that she had lost her parasol yesterday. It was a precious parasol that she had only brought one.
“No, please let me wear a hat.”
“A hat? Do you mean something like that?”
Anje frowned when she saw the straw hat he was pointing to. It was a rustic hat that farmers would wear, it was ridiculous.
“Are you kidding me? I have a white bonnet in my room, not that.”
It would look ridiculous with this outfit today, but she figured that even if she wore any hat, it wouldn’t match, so protecting her skin was the priority.
“Seriously, I think it would suit you well.”
He muttered, and it seemed like there was a hint of laughter in his voice, but was it my illusion? There was no trace of a smile on his face when I looked down at him.
Anje tilted her head and thought, then she started to wonder where she had left her spare gloves.
She hadn’t noticed yet that her muddy gloves had magically disappeared to the laundry room yesterday.
