“If you’re well, go up and sleep.”
He gently patted her shoulder to wake her up, but Anje, who had collapsed from exhaustion, did not open her eyes.
“Princess, Princess Yorkie.”
“Hmm…”
“Princess Chihuahua.”
“……Ungg.”
“Are you really sleeping?”
The only answer was a mumble in her sleep.
There was nothing he could do. Aiden sighed, put the glass bottle down on the table, and quickly picked her up in his arms.
“If you were a dog, you’d at least be cute.”
Despite his harsh words, his steps towards the stairs were cautious, not wanting to wake her up.
Anje’s face, as peaceful as an angel’s in sleep, felt like a sanctuary that should not be disturbed. Unlike her usual self, she didn’t glare at him or growl, and even looked innocent for a moment.
After laying her down on the bed and placing her head on the pillow, he took out a thin blanket and carefully covered her body.
“You’ve worked hard, Princess.”
Aiden’s lips curled into a bitter smile, the same one he had just made.
‘If she always slept like this, she might even be a little cute.’
He headed back to the laundry room to wipe away the useless thought that had just begun to pop into his head, along with the stains.
* * *
As soon as she opened her eyes the next morning, Anje raised her body and exclaimed vigorously.
“Eureka!”
And she looked around with a dazed expression. It was clearly the back porch a moment ago, but it was now the room.
“……When did I come up?”
The last moment she remembered before falling asleep was leaning on a chair, contemplating ‘how to gain Aiden Fitzroy’s trust.’
“I guess I must have come here in a daze.”
Even to the point of neatly tucking herself into bed. She lay down, admiring her own progress, and then jumped up again.
“No time to procrastinate. Especially today.”
Cock-a-doodle-doo–
With the familiar sound of a rooster in the background, she quickly changed her clothes and prepared to go downstairs.
‘I can’t be later than Sir Aiden.’
By the time she went downstairs from the warm bed and into the kitchen, he had already almost finished preparing breakfast.
Today, Anje’s goal was to go downstairs in time for him to enter the kitchen. Anje, with her damp hair brushed back, quickly descended the stairs.
“Sir Aiden.”
The moment she entered the kitchen calling his name, Aiden, who had just arrived, raised his eyebrows.
“You’re up? Why did you wake up so early?”
He was about to casually pass it off, thinking that she must have been very hungry since she skipped dinner last night, but Anje approached him without hesitation.
Overwhelmed by her momentum, he took a step back towards the counter and asked.
“Is there anything I can do for you?”
He was wondering if she wanted a specific menu or if she was thirsty. A completely different answer than Aiden had expected came out of Anje’s mouth.
“Give me some work.”
“Work?”
“Work. Labor. You know, all the little things you do all the time.”
She had finally found a clue to making Aiden her side.
‘He said he started to think better of me when I said I would do the laundry and cleaning myself.’
Even though it was only a change from one master to another, she figured that if she wanted to win his favor, she should help him with chores like that.
‘I’ve been thinking about this for a long time, when there’s such an easy way.’
She had never considered the option of doing housework or farm work ‘like that’, but now that it came to mind, she couldn’t think of a better way.
Aiden, who was leaning against the counter, had a wary look in his eyes.
“What’s your sudden ulterior motive?”
“Ulterior motive?”
Anje felt inwardly flustered but answered as boldly as she could.
“I tried doing laundry yesterday, and it was surprisingly fun. I thought it would be better to do something rather than just sit around.”
“I don’t think you seemed to be having much fun, though…”
He stared intently into her green eyes, scrutinizing her like a detective searching for evidence of falsehood.
Anje quickly added another reason that came to mind.
“It’s tiring to have more tasks because of me. So I thought it might be nice to help out.”
“You wouldn’t have such noble thoughts. You live without even thinking, don’t you?”
“What are you talking about? I do more than you do!”
Oops, she shouldn’t raise her voice. Anje bit her lip and calmed down quietly.
This man was definitely trying to draw out her true feelings by gently scratching at her words.
“So even after all this, you’re still having all sorts of thoughts? I’m also thinking that I need to live together with you as your husband and wife in the future…”
“Hmm.”
Aiden put his hand in his pocket and looked at Anje, who was telling a clumsy lie.
“Are you pretending to be cooperative to win favor, then betray me and run away? Isn’t that your plan?”
Anje clenched her fist tightly to prevent herself from putting her finger to her lips.
“That’s not true. Misunderstanding my sincere intentions, that’s too much.”
She pretended to be hurt and teary-eyed, but Aiden still couldn’t shake his suspicions.
‘I’m doomed.’
Should she have changed her approach more gradually?
Just as Anje was about to start regretting in earnest, he finally spoke up.
“Fine. I’ll give you a task.”
“Yes?”
Perplexed, Anje received the basket made of wood that he handed her.
“Just go to the chicken coop and gather some eggs for breakfast.”
“Oh, okay.”
He gave her instructions to look carefully for the eggs that might be scattered here and there on the floor, and to close the door tightly so that the chickens don’t run out, and then he personally sent Anje out the back door.
“Oh, it’s better to take off those gloves. You never know what might stain them.”
Instead of answering, Anje nodded briefly and embarked on her short but eventful journey.
As Aiden watched her retreating figure for a moment, he crossed his arms over his chest. Lady Anje and chores.
‘It was a pretty obvious lie, though.’
Anyway, if he had to live in the same house, it was more to his advantage to give her something to do rather than leave her lazing around like this.
‘I don’t have any intention of believing her like she wants me to.’
As a lady, she was probably making unnecessary trouble for herself. Chuckling to himself, he pondered what task to give her when she returned.
* * *
Anje, who had gone out to gather eggs, returned panting with feathers stuck all over her head and body.
“H-here, here you go. Eggs.”
“…..What on earth happened?”
As he reached out and plucked a white feather from her hair, Anje finally noticed her own appearance and began to tidy herself up.
“Oh, there was a chicken that kept threatening me whenever I tried to gather eggs.”
The rooster with the biggest and reddest comb. He stared at her with bloodshot eyes, and when she lowered her head, he spread his wings and charged at her.
Anje instinctively felt that this cocky rooster who had startled her with its crowing on the first day was the same one.
“That’s strange. He wasn’t like that to me at all. Maybe it’s because he’s unfamiliar.”
It didn’t seem like she was injured anywhere, so there was no need for separate treatment.
“You’ll get used to him.”
“Used to him?”
“Yes, because you’ll be doing this every day.”
Seeing Anje’s face contort after returning from her ordeal, Aiden tilted his head as if on purpose.
“Didn’t you say you wanted to work?”
“Ah, yes, I do! Totally. Very much.”
“If you don’t like gathering eggs, you can clean the chicken coop―.”
“I love gathering eggs. It’s perfect for my personality.”
Anje quickly changed her stance. Rather than cleaning the smelly chicken coop, she preferred to deal with the cocky rooster while gathering eggs.
“Alright, then next task.”
“There’s another task…! Nice to meet you.”
Aiden held out a mixing bowl he had prepared in advance and gave another instruction.
“Just crack the eggs you brought and put them in here.”
Today’s breakfast menu was scrambled eggs with bacon and boiled potatoes.
He had decided to let her do the easiest and most convenient part of the food preparation process.
“Got it.”
Anje was about to put on her white gloves again, but she changed her mind and picked up an egg with her bare hand. If the egg got on her gloves, she would have to wash them again, and that would be her job.
Plop―
She threw the egg forcefully into the bowl. And as she looked at the cracked egg with a squishy sound, she realized something and gave Aiden a questioning look.
“Is this the right way to do it?”
She cracked the eggs into the bowl as he instructed, but wouldn’t the shells get mixed in?
Aiden didn’t say anything for a moment and covered his eyes with his hand.
‘Are his lips trembling a little, or is it because of his mood?’
Barely managing to hold back his laughter, he took the bowl and egg basket from her in a serious manner.
“I didn’t explain it well enough.”
The raw eggs, mixed with shells due to her clumsy cracking, were headed for the bin where food waste for the pigs was kept.
He showed her himself.
“You’re supposed to tap it like this on the edge?”
“More towards the center, harder. Yes, like that. When it’s cracked, you can hold both sides and pull.”
Her fingertips got sticky with egg whites from putting too much force on her hands while pulling the shells, but Anje was able to learn how to crack eggs under his guidance.
“You don’t even know how to crack eggs? What have you been watching me do when I cook all this time?”
If she had just observed a little from behind, she would have been able to learn it quickly. Anje’s lips pouted slightly.
“You’re big, so I couldn’t really see what you were doing from behind. You just do stuff like this and that, and before I know it, the cooking is done.”
As she pointed out, he was broad-shouldered and tall.
Plus, his skillful hands were so quick and he was used to handling two or three things at once, so Anje found it hard to tell how he was making the food.
“Then from now on, you’d better watch me from next to me. That way, you might learn something.”
He brought over a tall stool that he had kept against the wall and placed it next to the counter.
As he patted the seat with his hand, Anje hesitantly sat down on it.
****
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