Guidelines for the Perfect Goodbye - Chapter 10
“No, no! I never said that!”
Margaret desperately denied it.
Cecilia laughed softly, like a sigh.
“Should I bring in the four people who overheard our conversation earlier?”
“!”
Margaret’s eyes widened in shock.
There were four people present at that time?
She was so preoccupied with arguing with Cecilia that she hadn’t noticed anyone else.
“…Margaret, did you spout such nonsense in front of the estate’s servants?”
The Count glared, his eyes bloodshot.
“Ah, Father. I, that was…”
“Answer properly!”
The Count’s shout thundered like a clap. Margaret squeaked and clutched her hands to her chest.
“Taking leniency for your youthfulness seems to have no end. Have you forgotten the dignity of nobility and the honor of our family?”
“I’m, I’m sorry! I didn’t know there were people around…!”
As if he could tolerate no more, the Count gripped his cane firmly.
“Your arms— now. You must pay for your reckless words.”
“Father!”
Margaret looked at Cecilia with an expression of injustice. Cecilia glanced at Margaret from the corner of her eye.
This child still hasn’t learned her lesson, and likely won’t ever in the future.
In that case, she must be reminded again and again until she admits defeat.
“Father, how about postponing the punishment?” Cecilia suggested unexpectedly.
“…?”
Margaret blinked in surprise at this unforeseen proposal. Cecilia responded to her doubtful gaze with a slight smile.
“I happened to meet Mr. Herbert on the way back. I heard there’s a math test today. If her hands are sore, wouldn’t it be difficult for her to write?”
***
Cecilia left a stunned Margaret behind and gracefully exited the office. As she closed the door and stepped into the central hall, a crisp voice greeted her.
“CECILIAAA!”
Cecilia covered her ears and looked up. There, at the top of the stairs, stood a woman glaring daggers at her.
It was Cecilia’s real birth mother, Lilith Dust.
A woman of gypsy descent who, for that reason, could never settle anywhere until her dying day.
The eternal guest of the Coffret Manor.
“Haa…”
All the resentment and longing she had harbored came out in one sigh. Cecilia steeled her expression and bowed formally, in stark contrast to her mother’s demeanor.
“Good morning, Miss Lilith.”
It was a rather twisted way to address the woman who carried her for nine months. But it couldn’t be helped. Legally, she was unmarried, and officially, she was listed as a servant in the Lasphilla household.
Of course, Lilith detested this fact. But she wasn’t crazy enough to want to be listed as the Count’s mistress in the occupation column.
“Ceci, what in the world have you done…!”
Lilith’s voice was laced with anxiety and unease, probably due to Cecilia’s impulsive actions after her return.
‘I can’t even have a normal reunion with you, Mother.’
How urgent must it have been for her to rush into the central hall, a place she normally wasn’t allowed?
Cecilia composed herself internally.
“What’s the matter? What have I done?”
“What do you mean! Is it true that you dismissed your nanny without the Count’s permission?”
Cecilia expected the friction with Margaret to be brought up first, but this was a surprise. It seemed her mother didn’t know about the other incident yet.
‘If she knew, she would have been foaming at the mouth. Should I be relieved…?’
“It wasn’t a dismissal. I simply suggested she could return to her original position.”
“How is that any different from being dismissed!”
Lilith hurried down the grand staircase.
Her blue satin dress, adorned with wave-like lace and a silver shawl, shimmered with each step, making her look like the belle of a ball – a reality far from her true identity as the mistress of a married man, never to be invited to any ball.
Lilith must be aware of her standing. Perhaps that’s why she clung to her appearance even more.
Cecilia understood, sympathized with, and pitied her mother.
A poor woman, born low and looking up at a tree she could never climb, like a weed.
Cecilia, who wished for revenge and turned back time, was fundamentally no different from her. Both were foolish and imperfect, yearning for what they couldn’t have – Lilith and Cecilia.
She understood her mother, but the inherited desires sometimes felt unbearably cruel.
“Father won’t mind.”
“How can you be so sure? You’re in no position to be loved, yet you’ve kicked away the care he’s extended to you… What if he stops looking after you?”
Lilith bit her lip anxiously, her face etched with worry.
