Guidelines for the Perfect Goodbye - Chapter 129
“This is…”
“I wore it at my wedding with Adam.”
“Why… Why are you giving this to me?”
Lilith stared blankly at Evelyn. Suddenly, Evelyn’s earlier words flashed through her mind.
This woman is going to die soon. She said she was going to die.
Then after that…?
Evelyn couldn’t suppress a smile as she saw hope flickering in Lilith’s eyes.
“I’m saying this purely for your sake, don’t get your hopes up.”
“…I wasn’t thinking about anything.”
“Sure you weren’t.”
“…”
Lilith frowned and asked.
“Then why are you giving it to me?”
“This is the repayment of my debt.”
“Repayment…?”
“Yes. If you keep it, you might someday understand the meaning of this dress.”
“…Can’t you tell me what it means now?”
“Why should I do that?”
Evelyn opened her eyes wide in puzzlement.
“You are, after all, a shameless woman who wrecked a family, and I am the lady of the house that you wrecked. Do you think I should explain the meaning of this dress to you?”
“…”
“You should find the meaning yourself. If you’re lucky, it might bring you some benefit.”
“Do you think… I’ll be able to understand?”
“Hmm…”
Lilith herself knew she wasn’t particularly smart. In terms of knowledge, she was below average.
Evelyn pretended to think for a moment and then bluntly said,
“Well, it might be too much for you.”
“…”
“Why don’t you try raising a smart child? Adam might be a fool, but he’s not exactly stupid. If you combine that with your temper, the result might be quite decent.”
“Are you talking about Cecilia?”
Evelyn glanced sideways.
“That child is hopeless. Look at the environment she’s growing up in.”
Lilith’s face crumpled. Evelyn added in a consoling tone.
“It’s okay. All my children are hopeless too. This household is just like that.”
Lilith opened and closed her mouth, finding it hard to either agree or disagree. Evelyn handed her the box and then lay back down.
“Before you go, tell me an old story. I like those.”
“What kind…? Fairy tales?”
“No, stories about gypsies. You must have traveled a lot, right? Been to many places? Have you seen monkeys?”
“Once, when I was a dancer…”
“Really? How do they cry? Do they really look like people?”
“They look somewhat like ugly people…”
“Did you see elephants? Whales?”
“I haven’t seen those.”
“Then tell me another story. Anything. Stories from faraway places or back alleys are even better.”
Lilith hesitantly began to speak. After she had been talking for a while, she heard soft snoring.
Taking advantage of the moment, Lilith tried to quietly get up. She was about to turn the doorknob when Evelyn called her again.
“Do you know something?”
“Gah…!”
Startled, she turned around. It was now dusk.
“W-What is it?”
Evelyn answered with a smile.
“To be honest, I hate Adam.”
“……”
“I hate this household, and I hate being the Countess. So, Lilith Dust, you’ve been wasting your time all this while.”
Ah, this is how it ends. To say she was a kind person, as she claimed, would be a misstatement.
Her voice grew quieter, like a dying candle.
“I would have died anytime if you hadn’t hesitated. If you hadn’t broken the teacup, if you hadn’t cleaned my makeup, if you hadn’t discarded my perfume bottle…”
“……”
“That was truly a waste of time… You hesitated for too long…”
For too long…
She murmured.
“So… you were discarded.”
A few days later, Evelyn died.
The cause was a seizure.
* * *
Cecilia focused on the last sentence as she heard the whole story.
“Discarded?”
“Yes, I think she said something like that…”
Lilith’s recollection was neither as precise as the actual events nor complete, influenced by her vocabulary limitations.
But she seemed to grasp the general context.
‘The former Countess said this wedding dress would help Mother.’
Perhaps this could be a clue to understanding Lilith’s circumstances?
‘Even though it appears to be nothing on the surface…’
It might be different in the eyes of an expert.
For example, Gilbert Holt.
