Guidelines for the Perfect Goodbye - Chapter 217
Caroline wore a mask adorned with tassels, resembling a fox’s tail. The mask barely covered her eyes, allowing her to flaunt who she was to everyone around.
Since attending the dinner with Christian Pierce, Caroline’s confidence had not only recovered but was overflowing.
In fact, she had heard that Christian had met countless women, yet he’d never invited any of them to a family dinner. Clearly, she thought, she was meant to be Christian’s saintess, his savior, the one and only love who could correct his bad habits.
All of Christian’s maternal relatives were shallow and vulgar, but that wasn’t her concern.
The Duchess of Pierce, the eldest daughter of the Lope Viscountcy, had distanced herself from her family after marriage. If Caroline married Christian and cut ties with his maternal family, no one could say a word.
‘Marriage.’
A smile crept up Caroline’s lips as Christian’s words echoed in her ears like a dream:
‘You’re different from any woman I’ve met before, you know that? Lately, you’re the only one I’m seeing.’
That final line had put a perfect ending to her grand aspirations.
She felt certain now—certain that, in the end, he would choose her.
Certain that she was different from the others.
He had planted that certainty deep within her.
Any day now, he’d send flowers her way. Or perhaps he’d come in person. After all, a man proposing to his lady should seek her out himself, claiming her hand.
Caroline was waiting eagerly for that day. Waiting was tedious, but the reward that would come made her smile effortlessly. For the past few days, she’d felt as though she were walking on air.
At times, a creeping unease would rise up and threaten her bliss, but Louise was always there with timely counsel.
‘Why worry, Milady, when you’re so beautiful and exceptional? You hold so many things others envy, yet you remain humble. That, too, is a virtue, but you should learn to value yourself a bit more highly. If someone as extraordinary as you has so many worries, what hope do the rest of us have?’
Louise was right. Caroline had thought too little of herself until now.
She was the legitimate eldest daughter of Lasphilla, the heart of the central territories, yet she had spent her time fretting over a lesser match, scrutinizing her reflection daily, and comparing her beauty to that of Lilith and her offspring.
In hindsight, all of that had been pointless. That woman’s daughter would marry a commoner, while Caroline was destined to receive a proposal from the heir of a distinguished duchy.
Beauty alone wouldn’t allow a commoner to surpass a noble. She was of pure blood, and she had nothing to envy.
Through the slit of her mask, Caroline squinted at Cecilia, scrutinizing her half-sister.
‘She is beautiful.’
Even with a mask, Cecilia’s face was symmetrical and well-proportioned, a carefully crafted masterpiece more reminiscent of her mother than her father.
The face of a common gypsy.
‘All she has is beauty.’
One’s origins were impossible to conceal. To Caroline, her half-sister’s face, though bright as a jewel, was cheap like glass beads.
Even if people were momentarily drawn to that gaudy face, they’d soon recognize its false allure and feel repulsed.
Caroline no longer avoided her reflection out of envy for Cecilia’s striking face.
Her own features, though less dazzling, had a soft, gentle charm. Her nose, while not as pronounced as Cecilia’s, was delicately shaped and endearingly cute.
She hugged herself, recalling Louise’s endless reassurances and praise.
‘My face is the one that endures. People never tire of looking at me.’
Her governess always said she was honest, so all those compliments must have been genuine.
Otherwise, why would the highly skilled and capable Louise have stayed at her side for so long? The Lasphilla County didn’t even pay her significantly more.
The fact that Louise claimed loyalty to her only meant she possessed that much appeal.
That thought, which had been a quiet notion, had solidified after she met Christian.
‘Cecilia, I am not like you.’
‘I am much better than you.’
‘I will rise far above you…’
Caroline’s gaze lingered on Cecilia for a long time—so long that even she didn’t notice just how fixated she had become.
Perhaps because she had been watching Cecilia so intently, she suddenly realized that her half-sister’s attention was fixed somewhere, too.
Caroline’s gaze naturally followed Cecilia’s line of sight.
