Guidelines for the Perfect Goodbye - Chapter 141
A lady finally managed to speak.
“I-Illegitimate child…?”
“A mistress’s child.”
Thud.
An awkward silence fell like a metal ball. Everyone fell silent at once and focused their gazes on one point.
An illegitimate child. The daughter of a man who had played around while having a legitimate wife!
All kinds of disgrace that a woman could feel crossed their minds.
Cecilia met the stinging gazes piercing her cheeks.
‘They look like they could eat me alive.’
She scoffed inwardly and walked forward.
Just then, a footman arrived with an extra chair.
“Your Ladyships, could you please scoot in a bit to make room?”
The butler requested.
“…”
“…”
The ladies didn’t budge, as if they had made a pact. Despite the butler and footman sweating and pleading, they remained haughtily silent with their heads held high.
“Miss, are you alright?”
Mary looked at Cecilia with a pounding heart.
Those noblewomen might not know, but Mary knew the real Cecilia Lasphilla. The memory of Cecilia harshly scolding her from the first day was still vivid in her mind.
There was no way someone with her personality would tolerate such an insult. Soon, with a wicked expression, she would probably say,
‘Oh my, did you all self-study manners?’
Mary held her breath, waiting like a fox backed by a tiger. She felt the moment when Cecilia would strike back was near.
Ah, if only she had known, she would have brought some popcorn to enjoy the show.
“Everyone…”
Finally, Cecilia spoke. Mary’s eyes sparkled. The group trying to exclude Cecilia also swallowed nervously.
“Everyone, do you dislike me that much?”
It was a direct hit. Mary gaped, blinking in surprise.
The young lady of Lasphilla, who she feared the most, was now sniffling like an innocent child.
***
“Miss Cecilia, that’s quite rude.”
A lady with orange hair tied up said. She was the wife of a count from a relatively prestigious family.
“R-Rude?”
Cecilia bit her lip and looked aggrieved.
“Yes. Have we ever met before? It’s upsetting that you’re making us out to be bad people right from the start when we’re all strangers to each other.”
“I… I didn’t mean it that way…”
“Think about how the listeners might feel when you speak, Miss.”
“Hiic…”
Cecilia wiped her tears with the back of her hand. The ladies collectively let out low sighs. Her origin was no longer the issue.
Where did such an imbecile come from?
The orange-haired lady shook her head and stood up. Then, as if doing a favor, she moved her chair aside.
“One more thing, it’s beyond rude and pathetic for someone so young to address their elders without an introduction.”
“I-I didn’t know…”
“Of course you didn’t. You had no one to teach you.”
“…”
“Well, with such impure blood, could she have absorbed anything even if taught properly?”
The ladies’ fans quietly went up. Everyone seemed to be holding back their laughter. Mary watched them in disbelief before turning her eyes back to Cecilia.
Cecilia, who had been on the verge of tears, brightened up and squeezed into the newly created space.
The emotions Mary felt were too complex to put into words.
‘Calm down. I’m just a maid.’
She forced herself to hold back.
‘But Milady, today she’s… how should I put it…’
She knew it was wrong to think this way about her master, but Cecilia seemed utterly spineless and oblivious today.
‘Why is she acting like this? If she acted even half as sternly as she does with me, they’d all fall in line.’
Regardless of Mary’s thoughts, the conversation resumed.
The noblewomen continued their trivial chatter, and the atmosphere grew even more cheerful when Viscountess Helena Lope joined in.
Throughout all this, Cecilia remained thoroughly excluded.
She laughed a few times at jokes, clapped, and added comments, but she couldn’t shake the feeling of being out of place.
The questions she bravely asked were all ignored, and no one initiated a conversation with her.
Cecilia became completely invisible at the party.
It would have been nice if the host had stepped in to help, but Helena Lope was not the type to offer a warm hand to an unwelcome guest.
Casey Heens, who had caused this situation, occasionally looked at Cecilia with guilt-filled eyes, but that was all.
Casey was too young to rescue Cecilia from the seasoned noblewomen.
“Um… I’ll just step out to the restroom for a moment.”
Cecilia eventually stood up awkwardly.
“Oh, alright…”
“Shh, be quiet, Lady Casey.”
“Oh…”
In the end, no one properly responded to Cecilia.
