Work Text:
Her head is throbbing.
Adeline sighs as she slams her fountain pen down on her file-covered desk. Normally, the leader-in-waiting enjoys the thoroughness of official papers. With the New Year’s Eve celebration coming up, she had been busy ordering supplies for the manor and planning for small activities for the townsfolk to partake in at the party. Recently, however, she’s found it hard to focus with her slothful mind always stumbling back to the farmer.
The farmer, for whom all they do, still finds the time to sit down and have tea with her. The farmer, despite having an endless list of arduous tasks, of which require thousands of tesserae, seemingly set aside the budget to give Adeline peaches & cream once every week to “celebrate her many accomplishments.”
They will do almost everything that she asks of them.
And every time, speaking quietly enough for only Adeline to hear, they whisper:
“As you wish.”
It’s that very phrase that makes her knees weak.
Maybe it’s been a while since Adeline has thought of pursuing someone romantically-- she ascertains that she pushes away the feelings as she hasn’t yet known the farmer for a year, and she’s not even certain they return said feelings. However, with the gentle sprinkling of snow against the window of her office, it reminds her that a year is coming up. And it has become much, much harder to mask her feelings.
She begrudgingly recalls the previous day when the farmer made their usual rounds to the manor, stopping by her office with the sweetest grin gracing their features. The bite of winter frost made the tips of their nose and round of their cheeks a pleasant pink. Bundled up in winter attire, Adeline didn’t think it was possible to be more endearing, but her most trusted ally had a way of surprising her.
“Lady Adeline, I’ve completed your request for the shipments of Poinsettias,” They exclaimed, unwrapping their snow-flecked scarf to reveal their face, “you just give me the signal for when you want me to ‘deck the halls’ for the party, so to speak.”
Looking up from her mass of papers, she sighed dejectedly, “I told you to call me Adeline,” she shook her head with a gentle grin. “Thank you, though. I believe they will bring some much-needed color to the foyer and ballroom.”
Even if Adeline said nothing of importance of all, the farmer permanently held a sparkle in their eyes as she talked to them. Maybe her sleep deprivation was getting to her, though. Were those snowflakes on their eyelashes?
Perhaps she was staring too long in silence, because the farmer looked down bashfully. Her face heated. Did she make it awkward?
“It would be rude if I said otherwise, Lady Adeline,” and before the baroness could scoff and repeat her wishes more firmly, the farmer continued, “I also came to gift you this…”
The farmer shyly revealed a bouquet-- jasmine, crocus, snapdragon, and even a few twigs of plum blossom, all wonderfully arranged and wrapped in a pink paper and tied together with a white ribbon.
Adeline could feel her breath get caught in her throat as her face refused to cool down. A bouquet? Flowers, specifically a few that the farmer knew she liked? For a moment, it felt like time stopped, with only her erratic heartbeat pounding in her ears. This was a romantic gesture, was it not? A few moments had passed, but it felt like an eternity. She needed to respond.
“I--I don’t even know what to say! But in a good way. Not in a bad way! It would never be in a bad way with you-- it’s always perfect. You’re just perfect--”
Oh my god. Bad. Bad response.
She mentally slapped her forehead. Did her years of speech lessons not teach her how to speak eloquently? She didn’t even know it was possible to blush more, she thought nervously, wringing her clammy hands together to compose herself.
The farmer’s face was red as well (from the cold or from second-hand embarrassment, she wasn’t sure), but they still had a comforting smile on their face.
She cleared her throat, gently taking the bouquet in an embarrassingly robotic manner. She brought them closer to her face (totally not to hide from shame, that would be undignified), the sweet fragrance wafting in the air.
“Thank you. They are beautiful.”
Their smile softened more, their eyes pouring into Adeline’s. “Of course. I’m glad you like them,”
They kept their gaze on her for another moment, perhaps maybe a second longer than they should have. With one last tick from the clock on her wall, they turned to leave.
“Well, it’s always a pleasure, Lady Adeline.” She shivered, and clutched the bouquet tightly.
Adeline panicked.
“Wait!”
They looked back with a curious tilt of the head.
“You will be attending the New Year's Eve party, won’t you?” She said quietly, with a desperate amount of hope, she might add.
They took a second to formulate a response, looking to the ground for an answer. With a breath, they set their gaze confidently back on her. “Do you wish me to attend?”
She swallowed thickly.
“I expect you to attend, dear farmer.”
They grinned, “As you wish.”