Now Aiden could recognize Anje by the sound of the creaking wooden floor alone.
Her light, bouncy steps contrasted sharply with his heavy tread, reflecting her personality perfectly.
He deliberately approached his room’s door quietly and then swung it open without warning.
“Where are you going?”
“Woah!”
Dressed strangely in a nightgown and apron, she was so surprised that she sank to the floor.
“Just for a little walk.”
“A walk… Hmm, are you not tired of running away again?”
“How can I run away dressed like this?”
Aiden also knew that Anje’s attire was inappropriate for a long journey. He just wanted to tease her a bit.
“Then where are you going?”
Anje bit her lower lip with her upper teeth for a moment and then let go.
“To the flowerbed for a while.”
“Why to the flowerbed?”
“……To see if the sunflower seeds are doing well……”
Aiden sighed heavily on purpose. He knew she was an easy woman to read, but he didn’t expect her to act so predictably.
“Haven’t you seen them all day?”
It was no exaggeration that she went to check on the sunflowers almost every 30 minutes even while she was working.
She seemed worried about whether the sunflowers she had planted herself would bloom safely.
“I couldn’t see them at night!”
“Didn’t you go out again after dinner and not come back?”
“It was dinner then, and it’s night now.”
Anyway, they couldn’t agree. He shook his head and lifted her up from the floor.
“Stop talking nonsense and go inside and rest.”
“……They won’t be eaten by a deer during the night, will they?”
He regretted telling her that deer are nocturnal.
“Is there any reason for a deer to come and eat sunflower seeds that haven’t even sprouted yet when there’s grass all around?”
“That’s true too.”
Anje, who was being dragged along, clapped her hands together.
“There are no mice here, right?”
“There are none.”
He had never suffered from pest damage to his stored grain, thanks to the fact that he had thoroughly driven them out.
“Owls are…”
“Carnivores.”
“Thieves are…”
“Crazy enough to rob this remote house? Even if they did, they wouldn’t steal your sunflower seeds.”
She had an unconvinced expression on her face, but she nodded and returned to her room.
“Anyway, you’re so impatient.”
Aiden muttered to himself as he lay back down in bed.
“Sunflowers are the kind of flowers that bloom on their own if you leave them alone.”
He pulled the covers up to his chin and closed his eyes. The sound of tree branches rustling against each other in the wind drifted in from outside the window.
“……”
He turned to his left side, grimaced, and then tried lying on his right side. Something about the position was uncomfortable.
“Whew.”
For some reason, he couldn’t sleep. He patted the pillow to reshape it and then lay flat on his back, pulling the covers over his head.
‘Wait a minute.’
A vague feeling of unease took shape and flashed through his mind like lightning.
‘Did the princess water the flower bed in the evening?’
TL/N: LOOK WHO’S TALKING?!
Aiden sat up abruptly. He thought she had, but then again he wasn’t sure. He was suddenly confused.
Since it hadn’t rained much lately, the sprouts would be late if they didn’t get enough water.
Rustle-rustle
He grabbed his jacket and tiptoed carefully out to the backyard.
The soil near where she had planted the sunflowers was damp.
“I guess she did water them…”
It seemed that the princess’s unnecessary worry had spread to him as well. He scratched his head and quietly returned to the bedroom and lay down again.
“Sigh.”
He thought he could finally sleep comfortably, but his damn eyes were still wide open.
His overly active brain threw another question at him.
‘What if the seeds don’t sprout?’
Don’t worry about it. It’s the kind of flower that blooms well even if you just sprinkle it roughly. She’s sown plenty, even if one or two don’t sprout, it’ll be fine.
‘But those are seeds that have been stored in the attic for a long time. There’s a chance that none of them will sprout at all.’
The seeds are strong, so it’ll be fine. Even if they don’t sprout, so what? We can just transplant other flowers.
‘The princess will be heartbroken if they don’t sprout.’
So what if she’s heartbroken? What do you want me to do about it?
‘She’s been taking such good care of the flowerbed.’
He opened his eyes wide and ruffled his hair with his hands. If possible, he wanted to turn off his brain functions like turning a light on and off.
TL/N: LOL XD
Since that was impossible, there was only one way.
‘What if they don’t sprout, or something goes wrong and they wither away…’
Quickly come up with a countermeasure and go back to sleep at ease.
After much deliberation, he came up with a clever plan.
‘There are still a lot of seeds left in the attic, right? I can secretly grow a few plants in the barn without the princess knowing, and just swap them out quietly whenever there’s a problem, right?’
Phew, now I can sleep at ease. He closed his eyes gently with a peaceful mind.
‘But why am I so worried about sunflowers?’
Even though a new question popped up in his head just as he was about to fall asleep, Aiden was able to sleep soundly that night.
* * *
“Good morning.”
Anje greeted Aiden with an unusually bright face. She had good reason to be happy.
“The sunflower seeds finally sprouted today!”
“I see.”
In contrast to Anje’s excitement, Aiden looked downcast. He had been losing sleep for the past few days due to his worries.
Why was he even concerned about sunflowers? Was it because he was afraid the princess would be upset? What did it matter to him whether the princess was upset or not?
He finally came to a conclusion.
‘Maybe this is how people feel about their nieces and nephews.’
He didn’t have any relatives, so he had never experienced these feelings, but the soldiers he met in the army were especially fond of and took care of their nieces and nephews.
‘The princess is younger than me.’
So it was natural that he would develop an attachment to her as he took care of her.
The kind of attachment that an uncle feels for his niece, or an older brother for his younger sister, or a senior for his successor. Something like that.
“They’re still wearing their black seed coats on the tips of their leaves, which is so cute. I was worried that if I forced them off, they might get hurt, so I left them alone. Is that okay?”
“Yes, they’ll fall off on their own.”
A familiar scent of soap wafted from her as she approached to peel a potato. Even though they used the same soap, the scent mixed with her body odor smelled subtly different to him.
‘I guess she doesn’t wear perfume these days.’
After experiencing bees approaching several times, lured by the floral scent emanating from Anje’s body, it seemed she had finally decided to listen to his advice.
He realized that he was taking deep breaths as if he were standing in front of flowers and quickly started peeling the onion. The pungent, nose-stinging smell of the onion covered up the soap scent.
“When are we going to pick up the silverbells?”
The backyard, which was only filled with sunflower sprouts, looked a bit lonely. She wanted to make plant friends for her ‘babies’.
“It’s not that far, so let’s go after lunch.”
“In the forest?”
“Yes.”
Anje’s face clouded over as she answered.
“The forest is a bit… scary.”
“It’s okay if I go alone.”
“Then I won’t be able to pick the flowers I want.”
She had planned to transplant the prettiest flower among the ones that were already blooming there.
“You’re not going in alone, so what’s there to be afraid of?”
“Well, I’m not afraid as long as you’re with me.”
Aiden almost dropped the onion he was holding.
“If a bear appears, won’t it eat you first since you have more meat? Then I can just run away in the meantime.”
He picked up the onion again and brought the knife down. His nose was burning from the onion smell.
“I won’t let you run away alone.”
The ungrateful princess would be the appetizer, and he would be the main dish.
Namely, ‘Lunch Course for the Bear by The Fitzroys’. Dessert was omitted.
* * *
“Are you sure it’s safe?”
“Yes, it is safe.”
Animals rarely appear near hid house, but she was so worried that she brought a gun. Still, she held on tightly to the end of Aiden’s sleeve, as if she would never let go.
Only after arriving under the cedar trees, about ten minutes from home, did Anje’s anxious face relax.
“It’s silverbells, Sir Aiden!”
She tugged at his sleeve.
It was a place that could be called a village of silverbells. White bell-shaped flowers bloomed shyly in all directions, even under large rocks and between the roots of cedar trees.
The bells strung along the bowed stems swayed in the breeze, making a clear, inaudible ringing sound.
“That’s why it’s called the fairy’s teacup.”
Anje marveled as she gently touched a flower the size of a baby’s fingernail. It was even cuter than the ones she had seen in Nancy Dilton’s notebooks or storybooks.
And that wasn’t all. The spring-filled forest was full of flowers, including daffodils, violets, and dandelions that had proliferated and found their place on their own.
Butterflies of all colors flitted busily from flower to flower, seemingly busy enjoying the spring banquet.
Anje gazed at the forest scenery like a dream, her expression entranced, then looked up at Aiden with a look of slight admiration.
“How do you know all these places?”
“I grew up here, so of course I know them.”
He was not used to such compliments, so he rubbed his ticklish nose with his finger and answered gruffly.
“Now, choose the flowers you want. I’ll dig them up carefully so as not to damage the roots.”
Anje’s eyes sparkled like when she called a tailor to the mansion to shop.
“The silverbells are pretty, but the other flowers are pretty too. Pick this one and that one too.”
“I got it, so let go of my clothes. They’re going to stretch.”
Aiden pretended to be defeated and dug up a few roots of the purple violets, yellow daffodils, and white silverbells that she pointed to and put them in the basket.
* * * *
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