Guidelines for the Perfect Goodbye - Chapter 149
He seemed flustered by the unexpected encounter. Caroline played with her hair and said,
“I apologize for coming without an invitation. But since it’s the afternoon… I thought we could have tea together.”
She could have announced her visit. She knew that would have been the proper thing to do. But if she did, she felt it would be Guinevere waiting for her instead of Ulysses.
She wanted to have a private conversation with Ulysses.
“Ceci, sorry, but could you go inside?”
She didn’t intend to embarrass Cecilia openly. She couldn’t help that Cecilia had stayed home on such a sunny day instead of going out.
‘Especially with Ulysses.’
Cecilia went into her room without a word. Caroline didn’t invite her to join, which seemed to make her face light up with relief.
Until that moment, Caroline hadn’t realized that Ulysses hadn’t agreed to her suggestion.
No, she mistakenly thought he had already said, “Alright, let’s do that.”
“I’m sorry,” Ulysses began. “But I don’t think it’s a good idea for us to be together, considering our broken engagement.”
Caroline responded anxiously,
“But that was because of our parents. It wasn’t a decision we made.”
“Of course, our wishes weren’t involved.”
“Right?”
“But even if they had asked me, I wouldn’t have gone against their wishes either way.”
A shadow crossed his face as he recalled the past from six months ago.
“That incident was clearly… our family’s fault.”
“But that’s all in the past. Hannah Linfitt was punished, so it’s over. It has nothing to do with you.”
“No, even if she avoided punishment, wrong is still wrong.”
If Guinevere had been there, she would have dragged him by the collar and scolded him.
Caroline wanted to do the same.
“But, but…” she stammered with a confused look. “Our feelings aren’t settled yet…”
“…”
Caroline was on the verge of tears, and Ulysses hesitated, his lips twitching.
But instead of repeating this situation over and over, he decided it was a conversation they needed to have eventually.
Ulysses spoke.
“I think you’re misunderstanding something.”
“…What?”
Caroline looked up with tearful eyes.
Ulysses continued.
“I have no intention of settling anything.”
“…”
Caroline’s lips, painted red, opened and closed meaninglessly. Then she stammered,
“Then, you… never once…?”
Ulysses gave a troubled smile.
“As you said, it was all because of our parents.”
* * *
“…”
Caroline stood there in a daze.
Louise tried to comfort her, but it didn’t work this time. Caroline, standing in front of the Rosencrantz townhouse in a daze for a long time, finally spoke.
“That can’t be.”
“Pardon…?”
It was rare for Caroline to speak on her own before Louise prompted her.
But she had already made a judgment, and it led her to speak.
“Our engagement lasted so long… There’s no way he didn’t have any feelings for me even for a moment.”
Caroline shook her head slowly.
“It must be a lie.”
“…”
Louise simply observed Caroline. Even without encouragement, Caroline was grinding her teeth.
“There must be another reason. Another reason…”
Caroline’s gaze turned toward the townhouse. She glared at it fiercely.
She wanted to talk to Ulysses alone at least once. She finally got that chance today.
But inside that house… there was a woman who could be with him alone without any effort.
“Cecilia, that girl…”
Caroline bit her lower lip. Her eyes, holding back tears, turned red.
“Madame, I left something inside.”
Louise responded tactfully.
“In that case, we must go back and retrieve it.”
* * *
Caroline visited the Rosencrantz townhouse again in the early evening, under the pretext of retrieving a forgotten item.
She no longer looked at Ulysses with longing, nor did she feel ashamed or angry.
On the contrary, she was cheerful.
“I’m really sorry! I forgot something. I’ll just grab it and be on my way.”
She acted as if she had forgotten the conversation from a few hours earlier.
