Guidelines for the Perfect Goodbye - Chapter 102
The man jumped down from the crow’s nest and stood at the front of the upper deck, looking forward again. The view tilted along with the hull. The rocking of the boat was almost like a laborer’s chant.
Of course, there were no musicians here. In the deadly Western Sea, entertainment was a luxury.
“An early riser today.”
A middle-aged man who had just woken up from a nap in the lower cabin spoke. His chinstrap beard was the same color as the hair atop his head, rough and yellowish, though his uniform was loose, the stars on his epaulettes shone particularly bright.
He was the captain of the Queen Vastolla.
The man turned to the captain with a cold gaze as the sun rose high behind them. Silver hair sparkled in the yellow light, and his skin, which seldom tanned, was as fair as it could be.
The captain opened his weathered mouth and exclaimed,
“Your face is splendid from the morning, Lieutenant Harper!”
* * *
Learning to dance hadn’t really changed anything. Cecilia still had two left feet.
“Miss, he is coming tomorrow…”
“Is that so?”
Cecilia was nonchalant, but Mary’s complexion was dark, like a worry doll carrying her master’s concerns.
“What should we do?”
“What?”
“Your… that…”
She couldn’t continue.
Cecilia scoffed cynically.
“Just do as we always do, what else.”
From the moment she began learning to dance from Louise Cléon, she had given up on proper etiquette. Her initial reason for asking for her teachings was impure.
It wasn’t the dance; it was the teacher herself.
Louise Cléon. A gypsy. The closest to Caroline, but a woman intent on harming her.
She thought for a moment.
‘Are we on the same side?’
She immediately denied it.
If Cecilia’s memories were not distorted, then the woman was clearly no saint.
…Of course, she wasn’t particularly saintly herself.
Louise Cléon was different from Mary, different from Diana. She was sinister.
A gypsy stuck to a woman for years trying to make her infertile.
‘Caroline, you’ve been cursed.’
Cecilia crinkled her nose with a cynical expression.
Even after discovering Poena’s Tears, the investigation into her continued without yielding any significant clues.
It was certain she was a gypsy…
‘Where do gypsies stay again?’
If it wasn’t within the Lasphillia estate, there was no way to obtain information. She still lacked the strength to leave Coffret Manor.
‘When did Guinevere say she would return…?’
Five months later? Six months later?
Adam had already forgotten his anger toward her. He was someone who enjoyed his grief short and intense, efficiently; cruel, indeed. It just makes the other party feel unjustly treated.
Although he still shows displeasure whenever the Rosencrantz family is mentioned, he no longer erupts in anger like before.
As more time passes, their relationship might slowly recover.
‘Recovering a relationship with a woman who tried to harm his child.’
It’s just Cecilia’s assumption, but it’s astonishing that it’s highly likely to actually happen.
In a way, it’s remarkable. The idea that everything can be converted into money.
‘Believing that the other person is like him is a fatal flaw and weakness.’
Guinevere certainly hasn’t forgotten the humiliation of that day.
Maybe getting hurt by the axe you trust once or twice will lead to some empathy.
Cecilia thought of Louise, reminisced about Guinevere, and then remembered Adam.
She forgot him as she chewed over those she should target with her blade. She just let him go as if it were nothing.
But she knows the truth.
If she doesn’t firmly decide now, she will waver. She will tear her own flesh repeatedly through the memories of the past, through him who has not yet hurt her.
Despite knowing it’s pointless, it was clear she would choose to endure such worthless pain.
She consciously tried to become indifferent, but she hadn’t yet reached her father’s level.
Because she was not innately able to.
If Adam was strategic, Cecilia was scheming. They seemed similar yet were different. Adam’s plans excluded relationships, while Cecilia’s schemes were based on relationships.
Therefore, the kind of schemes Cecilia made could never have originated from Adam’s mind, who is genuinely indifferent to others.
From a young age, she always observed others first, modifying herself unevenly based on their feelings.
Just because the shell is hard, it doesn’t mean the core changes.
She just pretends not to be affected.
Pretending to be stoic, pretending to be indifferent.
Because that’s how she can protect herself.
“Miss, do you feel nothing?”
“Uh-huh. Not really.”
Pretending not to care.
But on the other hand, she reiterates her initial goal, pondering what is best for both him and herself.
‘To break off this engagement.’
