After much deliberation, Aiden felt he had made the right choice. It felt like he had upheld something more important than principles or money. It was a feeling he hadn’t felt in a long time.
“We’ll be heading home soon.”
Though she might not hear him clearly in her joy at their reunion, he informed her before pulling the reins.
“It might get bumpy, so it’s better if you sit between Pa-Pi-Pu.”
“Got it.”
The word “home” was always a comforting one. Anje sat between the pigs and patted their necks again.
“Oink oink oink.”
“Cute little guys.”
The smell, the warmth, the texture, and the sound—they had all been dearly missed, even if only for a short while.
Perhaps it was just her imagination, but now even the sound of the horse’s hooves and the creaking of the wagon sounded like cheerful music to Anje.
After a short drive, the wagon arrived at the farm, and Anje helped Aiden safely return the pigs to their pen.
“Here’s your bag too.”
Aiden handed back the handbag she had suddenly left with him. Anje shook her head and gave the bag back to him.
“No, you couldn’t sell Pa-Pi-Pu because of me. Please take it; it’s for their worth.”
“I’m really fine.”
His eyes softened as he refused again.
This was the second time Aiden had clearly smiled in front of her since she had given him a comforting donut.
“I didn’t sell them because I didn’t want to, princess. Pigs that understand human speech are rare; selling them carelessly would be a loss for Dilton Farm.”
“But…”
Anje didn’t know how to respond.
He hadn’t sold Pa-Pi-Pu out of consideration for her, yet he was refusing to take any compensation.
“Besides, we’ll be going to town soon, and there might be something you want to buy. It’s better to save the money for that.”
Aiden would cover most of the costs himself, but she might have personal things she wanted to buy without telling him.
Anje looked at him with moist eyes. She wanted to say something quickly, but it felt like her lips were sealed, and no proper words came out.
She wanted to express the gratitude and emotion she was feeling. But she didn’t know what to say to fully convey it.
What good were the dozens of hours of rhetoric lessons from her governess? No polite phrase or extravagant description seemed sufficient.
So, to convey her feelings, she took the most appropriate action she could think of, somewhat impulsively.
“Thank you so much.”
A soft, warm object brushed Aiden’s cheek. Before he realized what had happened, it was gone like dew under the sun.
“Then I’ll go ahead and prepare breakfast.”
Anje left him standing there like a statue and quickly disappeared.
The act that had just occurred between her lips and his cheek was what people commonly called…
A kiss.
Realizing what had just happened, Aiden covered his face with his hands as if worried someone might see.
His ears and neck, which he couldn’t hide, turned as red as poppies.
TL/N: MY CUTIE POTATO.
* * *
Meg, with her talkative personality and keen eye for people, couldn’t help but notice the subtle tension between Anje and Aiden.
‘Something’s up between those two.’
This time, the atmosphere wasn’t as cold and dark as before, but rather it was like a simmering jam, bubbling and fragrant.
Smiling to herself, she decided not to tease them and pretended not to notice.
Sometimes, there are things that old people shouldn’t pry into, just like you shouldn’t over-fertilize a healthy sprout.
“Young Master, when are you going to town?”
Of course, she didn’t forget to try to keep the tension going.
Aiden, who was busy peeling potatoes, flinched at Meg’s whisper.
“I-I don’t know, I suppose soon.”
“I heard the ring turned out beautifully. Don’t you want to see it quickly?”
When Meg had taken the ring to the shop, it was timely because a skilled jeweler, a relative of someone, happened to be in town.
The jeweler, who was tempted by the rare, high-quality stone in the rural village, subtly intervened in the commission process.
He suggested redesigning the ring by adding small stones around the green peridot, and Aiden expressed his agreement through Meg.
There was no reason to refuse, as it would make the ring more elegant for a small amount of money. If his mother, the original owner of the ring, were alive, she would have agreed.
“Yes, I’d like to see it.”
Meg narrowed her eyes suspiciously at his deflated voice.
“You’d better go find it soon. It’s a valuable item, so what if it gets stolen?”
“I’ll take care of it, Auntie.”
Aiden bowed his head deeper and just kept peeling the poor potatoes. Unnecessarily thick pieces of peel piled up in a small mountain in front of him.
He also remembered the ring well. But because of Anje’s ‘certain action’ a while ago, he was in a state of confusion both mentally and emotionally.
‘What did that mean?’
In the past, when he met the former emperor, he would greet him by kissing his ring or the back of his hand. This is because he had learned that it was a way to show respect to his father, the emperor.
There was a slight difference between the hand and the cheek, though.
‘Maybe it’s common among nobles to greet each other by kissing their cheeks…?’
It was something he couldn’t figure out no matter how much he thought about it. All he knew about nobles was what he had seen from afar, from the emperor’s bedroom window.
It was too late to regret it now, but it would have been nice if he could have learned other etiquette while he was staying in the imperial palace.
At the time, Aiden had barely managed to learn the minimum etiquette needed to serve the Emperor, missing out on other learning opportunities.
This was because Philip, who had held real power in place of the long-incapacitated Emperor, had not wanted Aiden to learn too much.
‘What good would it do for a bastard like him to learn too much? He’d just end up being an arrogant fool who doesn’t even know his own place. Whoever teaches that kid anything will never be able to wag their tongue again.’
As Aiden thought of Philip, he almost cut his finger with the potato knife. Anyway, the Crown Prince had never been of any help to him.
‘Maybe kissing on the cheek is a form of greeting among nobles.’
The princess could have done it to him as a way of showing her gratitude. And supposing it was just a way of saying thank you.
‘What if I give her a ring and she feels burdened?’
What if she despises him for suddenly getting serious after one kiss on the cheek and trying to tie her down with a ring?
He imagined the princess looking at the ring and grimacing, and he became sullen. A heavy sigh escaped his lips.
‘Ever since that incident, I’ve been so uneasy around her.’
Every time their eyes met or their fingers brushed by chance, he felt his chest tighten and a ticklish sensation arise.
The symptoms he’d felt, like heart palpitations and mild fever, only worsened since the incident.
Even increasing his daily cod liver oil intake from one cup to two cups didn’t help; it only made his stomach queasy without easing his symptoms.
‘Is it really normal to be this affected by a single touch?’
He felt pathetic for lacking immunity to such things and began cutting the already peeled potatoes into chunks.
“Why are you cutting so many potatoes, young master?”
“…I’m planning to make a full course meal with potatoes today.”
Embarrassed by the mountain of potatoes he had prepared while lost in thought, Aiden tried to mask his surprise and began contemplating various dishes.
Potato gratin, roasted potatoes with garlic, cheese potatoes, potato stew…
“Where’s the cheese…”
“Here, I brought it up from the cellar.”
“Oh, thank you.”
Anje slid the cheese onto the counter and stepped aside.
She busied herself rearranging the tablecloth and polishing already clean dishes while feeling Aiden’s gaze on her back.
‘Stop staring at me, Sir Aiden.’
She muttered to herself and began folding the napkins into rabbit shapes. It was a fashionable way that Mrs. Meg had taught her recently.
Despite trying not to show it, she was as unsettled by her previous action as Aiden was.
‘Why on earth did I do that?’
Her excitement over retrieving Pa-Pi-Pu had lasted for about a day, during which she felt as if she were floating on air like a drunken person.
But once that magical day passed and she regained her senses, she began to regret her actions.
‘You must be crazy, Anje Glasster. No matter how excited you were, how could you do something so outrageous to Sir Aiden?’
* * * *
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THEY ARE SO CUTE I CAN’T WITH THEM 😭😭