Guidelines for the Perfect Goodbye - Chapter 17
Margaret woke up earlier than usual due to the discomfort from her bruised palms, a result of repeated beatings.
“Lady Margaret, are you awake?”
“Ughh, nanny?”
Margaret and Nathan’s nanny, Mary, smiled kindly.
“Good morning. Come, sit at the vanity table. I’ll fix your hair.”
“Right after waking up? You should hug me first.”
“Oh, yes.”
As Margaret whined childishly, Mary quickly embraced her and patted her back, but the action felt rushed and insincere.
“…Nanny.”
Margaret became spiteful.
“Are you playing a joke? Are you really going to start my morning off this badly?”
Mary humbly lowered her eyebrows.
“I’m sorry, my lady.”
“I’m annoyed.”
“Ouch!”
Margaret pinched her arm.
“This is what you get for neglecting your duties to your master.”
“Yes, I’m sorry.”
While rubbing her sore arm, Mary suddenly snapped to attention.
“But you’re awake now, right? Come on, let me help you get ready.”
“Why are you in such a hurry today?”
“Oh, that… Master has assigned me to be Lady Cecilia’s personal maid.”
“What?”
Margaret’s face twisted with anger.
“Oh, it’s only temporary for now! I don’t know how it will turn out…”
“So now she’s taking my people too?!”
Mary tried to explain further, but Margaret wasn’t listening.
“I’m so annoyed! Ahh! I can’t stand it!”
She tore at her bedspread in frustration and then, unable to contain her rage, began hitting Mary’s back.
“Ow! Ouch— Milady, it hurts!”
“That wretch took what’s mine! That wretch!”
“Please, Miss, it really hurts…”
Tears formed in Mary’s eyes from the pain of the child’s unexpectedly strong hands.
Margaret, without even looking at Mary’s reddened arm, spoke accusingly.
“You went to Nathan’s room before coming to mine today, didn’t you?”
“Pardon? But, well…”
Mary looked down.
“Young Master Nathan is still very young. I have to check on him through the night…”
“Forget it.”
Margaret, previously seething with anger, suddenly burst into tears.
“I’m always second. Always.”
Her tears flowed incessantly, like a fountain.
“And now I have to share even with that lowborn. How is this fair?! Uh… Uwaaah…!”
“Don’t cry, my lady! Please don’t cry!”
When a superior cries, it’s the subordinate who suffers regardless of the reason. Mary knelt, pleading frantically.
“They’ll hear you outside, my lady! Please stop…! I’ll do anything, just stop crying…!”
“…Anything?”
Her crying stopped as if by magic.
“Yes, anything…”
Mary nodded like someone under a spell. Margaret, as if she had never cried, smiled brightly and held up her pinky finger.
“You promised, Nanny.”
***
In the Amethyst Room on the second floor of Coffret Manor.
“You’re late.”
Despite Cecilia’s calm and gentle tone, her presence was suffocating.
“Sorry…”
Mary, about to apologize out of habit, straightened up.
‘Nanny, when you go to that wretch, you have to do as I say.’
Margaret’s voice echoed in her ears like a hypnotist’s whisper.
‘Be as rude as possible. Mess up her hair, or better yet, ruin it completely.’
‘But won’t the Master be angry?’
‘Don’t worry. That wretch is too timid to say anything even if you’re blatantly disrespectful. Didn’t you see how she suffered under her old nanny for five years?’
‘Mrs. Hannah eventually got sent back to the attic…’
‘That was because she was too obvious for too long. Just be subtle, just enough.’
Mary swallowed hard.
This was a gamble.
Since her responsibilities as a servant had increased, Mary had to decide where her loyalties lay.
Excluding the young Nathan, both Margaret and Cecilia were like oil and water, impossible to mix. Pleasing both seemed an unattainable task.
‘Remember, Nanny, I am your owner. That will always be the case. Don’t care about that lowborn.’
That made sense. Serving Cecilia was just a temporary assignment. There was no telling when she might have to return to Margaret.
