Guidelines for the Perfect Goodbye - Chapter 191
‘No relationship at all?’
Nothing between them? Not lovers, not even a special relationship with a promise of marriage… just friends or colleagues, nothing more?
‘Then why were you so cold to me back then?’
Setting aside the realistic question of whether men and women can even be friends, there was so much to say. Too many question marks were swirling in her mind, so much so that she couldn’t even focus on one.
As Cecilia repeatedly opened and closed her lips without saying anything, Logan glanced at her and continued speaking.
Sienna Port’s name was no longer mentioned here. As if there was nothing more to he needed to say about her, Logan deliberately excluded Sienna while explaining the events.
Back then, Logan personally saved Viscount Odridge, who was half swallowed by the maw of a monster. The viscount considered him a life-saver and invited him to a banquet, and perhaps taking a liking to Logan’s quiet demeanor, suggested they become friends right there at the table.
“To be completely honest with you, I don’t remember specifically trying to save anyone in particular. I just cut down the monster, and the viscount happened to fall out of its mouth.”
If Viscount Odridge heard that, he might have felt betrayed. Of course, by now, the viscount had already built up so much affection for Logan that he would likely brush it off with some grumbling to himself.
Additionally, the reason Logan was staying at Viscount Odridge’s estate instead of the Harper townhouse was due to interference from his maternal grandfather.
Logan and his grandfather were as close as any blood relatives could be, but their personalities and values couldn’t have been more different. If his grandfather discovered that Logan was on land during the social season, who knew what kind of nagging he’d have to endure?
Logan smiled as he recounted how he had dramatically escaped from his grandfather, who had tried to tie him down with a rope to prevent him from returning to the navy.
“It felt like I was a spy attempting to stow away.”
It was a story he told hoping to make Cecilia laugh, who had been stiff the entire time. But she remained rigid, not offering even a perfunctory smile.
“I see.”
“Yes. I feel a bit embarrassed, as if the answer to the riddle I gave you was too bland.”
“No, it was amusing.”
She said with a face that looked more appropriate for entering a funeral hall.
The atmosphere had cooled drastically compared to the beginning.
“…”
Logan, too, gradually spoke less, until he eventually fell silent. He bent down again and reached out his hand toward Cecilia. She flinched and recoiled in surprise.
Logan gave a bitter smile.
“You act as if you’ve touched an insect.”
“…”
“I was simply offering my hand. It seems your carriage has arrived.”
“If that’s the case, you should’ve told me in advance. If a gentleman approaches without warning, of course I’d be startled.”
“My apologies. I thought you’d be accustomed to such gestures, since you’re fond of social gatherings.”
“…!”
When Cecilia furrowed her brows deeply, Logan mimicked her expression as if to tease.
“Are you disappointed that I don’t have a lover? Because it took away your reason to break off the engagement?”
“That’s not it…”
She still found it hard to fully trust his words. However, when someone repeats the same thing over and over, it tends to stick in your mind, even if it isn’t sincere. Besides, Logan wasn’t the type to be skilled at lying…
Cecilia shifted her line of thinking.
‘Then, who could his lover from my past life have been?’
If it wasn’t Sienna Port, was it some other woman?
The idea that he had no lover felt too cruel to her.
If the hatred and contempt she’d received from him in her past life would just evaporate without a reason, she wasn’t sure she could mentally withstand it.
There had to be a reason for everything.
A reason she could accept.
Logan Harper, why did you despise me so much?
Did you hate me at first sight?
Was I too gloomy, too shallow of a woman for you? Now that I’ve changed, do I finally seem human to you?
Or am I still just a toy, but my face is appealing enough that you think I’m worth playing with for a while?
…Are you like your brother?
Her twisted heart lashed out at him, and in turn, lashed out at herself. It felt like fresh wounds were forming over her bruised soul.
‘Anyone… Anyone would be fine.’
But aside from Sienna Port, there were only a handful of women who had crossed paths with him. The only woman who had died by her mother’s hand was Sienna Port.
‘Mother, did you really take the life of a woman who meant nothing to him?’
For the sake of your daughter’s happiness?
It was something that completely robbed me of my happiness. It was a truly, truly, truly terrible act.
It felt as if the blood that had stained my mother’s hands was now clinging to my palms.
Heavy, agonizing.
