“Just let me do it.”
“No. I’ll do it. Give it to me.”
Anje now tugged forcefully at the basket in Aiden’s hands. She didn’t particularly want to do laundry, but she couldn’t let him paw at her undergarments.
However, the veteran’s arms, tanned from years of working in the fields, were like an unshakeable rock compared to her frail arms. After a long struggle, she burst into tears.
“Even if it’s other clothes… at least please give me back my undergarments.”
“Ah.”
The confusion on Aiden’s scowling face subsided.
“So that’s how it is. I thought you were strangely trying to be helpful.”
He finally put the basket down on the floor. Anje took her undergarments out of it and quickly crumpled them into her arms.
She snapped at the man.
“What are you doing touching other people’s clothes without permission? I have something called privacy.”
“I saw the laundry piled up like a mountain on the floor, so I took it as a signal that you wanted me to take care of it.”
“It’s not just anything, it’s a lady’s undergarments….”
“I guess I made a mistake there.”
He readily admitted his blunder while adding an excuse.
“I never thought of you as a lady….”
Anje furrowed her brow.
“Then what did you think of me? Did you think of me as a gentleman?”
“To be honest, I didn’t even think of you as a human being.”
“What?”
“In my eyes, you’re at the level of an animal….”
If she wasn’t holding an armful of laundry, she might have made a more angry gesture. But with her arms out of commission, she could only glare at him fiercely.
Aiden, who had been staring at her intently, came up with an appropriate analogy.
“That expression. It’s like a dog’s.”
“Like a dog?”
So, you want me to stay still and you’re going to insult me? Anje took one stocking out of the pile of laundry and threw it at him.
He dodged it skillfully and added an explanation.
“I didn’t mean ‘like a dog’ in that way. I meant you look like one of those little dogs that city people carry around.”
“A little dog?”
Anje felt a bit of relief now. She had to admit, she did look kind of cute and grumpy like a puppy.
Considering her fluffy bouncy hair that was so tempting to stroke, maybe she resembled a Cocker Spaniel?
Lost in thought, he began to explain.
“A breed recently imported from foreign countries… one with bulging eyes and a body that often shakes… what was the name again?”
“Chihuahua?”
He nodded vigorously as she finally got the correct name.
“Yes, especially when it bares its teeth and growls… You look just like one… like this.”
The other side of the rolled-up stocking flew straight into his chest and stuck.
“They say they’re fiercely aggressive, then I guess so”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
He turned his back and gestured for her to follow, ignoring her trembling with anger.
“Come on, Chihuahua princess.”
She was about to object to the title when she hurriedly followed behind him.
“Where are you going?”
“To the laundry room.”
A laundry room? Did this house even have one? Just as Anje was thinking this with a sense of dread, the door to the laundry room, which was connected directly to the kitchen, opened.
Creak-
A pot for boiling hot water, firewood, a shelf stocked with lye soap made from ash, a large tub, and a washboard attached to it – all kinds of unfamiliar sights unfolded before Anje’s eyes.
Anje looked up at Aiden, who had guided her here.
“What am I supposed to do here?”
“It’s a laundry room, so you do laundry.”
“…….”
Aiden had seen this expression many times before. It was the look a new recruit makes when they don’t understand an order but can’t bring themselves to ask.
“I’ll teach you how to do it, just follow along.”
Anje bit her lip again. It hurt her pride to ask him to teach her something, but she had no choice.
She raised her chin proudly and said.
“Alright, show me already.”
“Watch your tone.”
Anyway, it’s a good thing if she has one less thing to do. After all, there’s a saying that even a chick’s wing is borrowed during the farming season.
Aiden decided to start by explaining the most important tool, the washing tub.
* * *
Splash Splash–
The sound of hot water splashing and the squeaking of a machine turning mingled in the air.
“Do I still have to do more?”
Aiden, who was peering into the tub, nodded silently.
Now, with her shoulders slumped, she turned the lever again.
‘My arms hurt.’
Her arms, which had never done anything more strenuous than holding a fan or a champagne glass, were starting to tremble slightly.
“Shouldn’t this be enough by now?”
“More.”
This devil. Anje suppressed her bubbling anger and moved her arms as he instructed.
Only after a long time, when her arm strength was waning, did he finally tell her that it was okay to hang the laundry out to dry.
“So I can just leave it like this to dry?”
“You have to wring out the water, what are you talking about?”
“I see…”
With a sullen expression, Anje put the wet clothes into the wringer according to his instructions. To use the wringer, she had to turn another large wheel attached to the side.
“Once the clothes are dehydrated, you can hang them on the clothesline here.”
He explained that white clothes need to be soaked in plenty of sunlight to turn white, but Anje, who was exhausted, couldn’t hear him well.
‘I’m going to die.’
Aiden clicked his tongue at the sight of her. To be this tired after doing such a small amount of laundry, she must have the strength of a bird’s wing, not even a chick’s wing.
‘I guess we’re lucky we have these machines.’
She probably didn’t realize it, but this house was relatively well-equipped with the latest laundry tools compared to other rural homes.
The machines, which moved the washboard and pulley automatically when you turned the handle, were much less labor-intensive than the traditional method of using a large bat.
She was benefiting from the new appliances that Aiden had installed when he renovated the abandoned house to make it comfortable for himself to live in alone.
‘All I have to do is hang them up to dry.’
She struggled to move her arms and hung the clothes that were completely dry on the line.
“Don’t just put them up all wrinkled, spread them out properly.”
“I got it, I got it.”
Although her skills were lacking in Aiden’s eyes, who was well-versed in housework, the laundry was finally finished. The dazzlingly white clothes swayed in the breeze.
“Phew, that was hard.”
Anje plopped down on a chair.
‘Do commoners do this kind of thing every week?’
How on earth do they all live? Even the maids who worked in the mansion were washing the countless clothes she changed every now and then.
“I’ll have to raise the maids’ wages when I get back to the mansion. Especially the laundry lady.”
She was slumped in a chair when he asked her a question.
“Are you going to wash your outerwear yourself now?”
“……I’ll leave that to you.”
She literally couldn’t lift a finger. But even in her jellyfish-like state, she had to say what she had to say.
“I appreciate you doing my laundry, but please never touch my undergarments again.”
He nodded obediently.
“If that’s what you want, then I’m fine with it.”
He didn’t particularly want to touch her drawers or chemises. He just couldn’t stand the messy room any longer.
“Will you take care of cleaning the room too?”
“Oh, I’ll do that too. Don’t come into my room anymore. I’ll just leave what needs to be washed in the hallway.”
Aiden looked surprised.
“It’s amazing progress that you’re taking the initiative to work on your own.”
“It’s not progress, it’s a fall.”
Anje, who had grown up with the value that labor is something only the lowly do, lamented how she had come to this.
“The Dilton farm welcomes those who work. Thanks to your comment, you’ve been ranked up from a Chihuahua to a Yorkshire terrier in my mind.”
TL/N: I’M HOWLING XD
“What’s the difference?”
Anje couldn’t help but ask, even though she knew she would regret the answer.
“Both are breeds that bark a lot, but the Yorkshire terrier is good at catching mice, so it’s a useful breed for farmers.”
“I shouldn’t have asked. Why did I do that?”
She grumbled, rubbing her arms.
“This is all because you don’t have servants. Why don’t I have even one maid? Are you that poor?”
Aiden didn’t answer and went back into the house. It was to avoid answering a difficult question.
She was naive about the ways of the world and didn’t know it, but even people of lower status than her often hired servants depending on their circumstances.
Those who had fields and houses of the same size as his usually had at least one maid.
Especially since he was financially much better off than the average farmer in the area, it would not be strange for him to have more employees.
‘But…….’
He wanted complete solitude. And yet he got married. And to a woman who was as demanding as a princess. He chuckled and rummaged through the basket.
‘I guess it’s an advantage that I don’t have time to indulge in useless memories.’
As he was sorting Anje’s clothes by fabric type, he noticed a sleeve stained with ink and narrowed his eyes.
‘I’ll have to get this stain out first.’
Typical princess, always getting dirty. He needed buttermilk to remove the ink stain.
Since he was going to teach her how to wash clothes anyway, he decided to let her know about this in advance.
He took a bottle of buttermilk from the pantry and went out to the back porch.
“Princess?”
All he could see was a shimmering thread, but it was the reflection of her fiery red hair, cascading like a waterfall, shimmering in the sunlight.
“……Are you sleeping here?”
In response to his question, she tilted her head and fell fast asleep in her chair, as if she might roll over at any moment.
****
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