Guidelines for the Perfect Goodbye - Chapter 111
Logan had never once expressed a desire for revenge against the Duke of Pierce, who had ensnared his innocent child’s fate.
‘If I were him, I wouldn’t have let it slide.’
Logan had never brought up Duke Pierce, or rather, his own father first. Though they were not a couple known for their communication, even considering that, he seemed too indifferent about his own background.
Unlike herself, who always glanced around warily, walking on thin ice, Logan always looked straight ahead.
As if his origin could not influence his life in any way.
Some might say he was foolish and cowardly for neglecting his rights and wandering away, while others might call him wise for not wasting his time blinded by revenge or power.
Cecilia was… neither.
Reflecting on his life, she marveled at how detached he could be, and yet, seeing what was left after his death, she was infuriated by his continuous detachment.
Ultimately, either sentiment was useless. Cecilia did not know what was in his heart at the time. She did not know the trajectory of his life.
He was her husband, but also the farthest from her in her life.
Thus, the only thing she could be sure of about his sincerity was the single confession he had shown her.
“Cecilia, I despise you.”
A confession as red and sticky as blood.
“Despise.”
You hated me.
That alone was the clear truth and his sincerity.
Cecilia climbed the staircase with a bitter smile, habitually turning towards the right side of the corridor to the guest room, then stopped.
‘This isn’t the right direction.’
Her habit-driven feet had unknowingly stopped in front of the Amethyst Room.
Cecilia inwardly scolded her own foolishness and turned around, intending to walk towards Caroline’s room.
Then…
…Rustle.
There was a disturbance from a room that should have been empty.
Cecilia checked the nameplate on the door.
The Garnet Room.
The room that Lilith Dust usually occupied.
‘Is it a maid who’s here to clean?’
Impossible. Lilith wouldn’t set foot in this room for another week, so who would clean it in advance?
But the rustling… the clanking… the sounds of someone rummaging continued to irritate her ears.
Cecilia held her breath and gently turned the doorknob. Through the slightly opened crack, she confirmed the back of a woman bustling about.
Hair tied up high. A black wool skirt.
Cecilia bit her lip hard.
She nearly screamed.
“Louise Cléon.”
The woman was frantically searching the empty room.
* * *
She opened the drawers.
‘Not here.’
She looked under the bed.
‘Not here.’
The closet as well.
‘Not here either!’
Louise panted anxiously, a single sweaty hair strand falling below her forehead.
The usual neat and dignified appearance was gone, replaced by a desperate and flustered expression.
She was looking for something—a thing she had secretly sought within the count’s house for years but had never found.
It might be in Lilith Dust’s room. She had long speculated it might be there, but until now, she hadn’t had the opportunity to search her room.
Lilith Dust. The count’s mistress was practically confined within the Coffret Manor.
Her daily life was confined to her room, with occasional outings with the count to the annex—if one could call them outings.
But those moments were brief, and during that time, Lilith could have easily accessed the Garnet Room. Besides, the Amethyst Room was right next door.
Even if Lilith was in the annex, as long as her daughter Cecilia occupied the next room, she couldn’t just search it freely.
So, she had been waiting.
For a moment when Cecilia and Lilith would both be out of their rooms.
Like today.
She had waited until the late hours before acting, carefully checking her surroundings as she entered.
‘One can’t carry everything when just staying somewhere temporarily.’
She would have only packed the essentials.
So, ‘it’ should still be there.
