Guidelines for the Perfect Goodbye - Chapter 6
To clear her thoughts, Cecilia changed her clothes and stepped outside.
The early morning estate was shrouded in mist. The chilly air, laden with moisture, dampened her collar, and the smell of grass rising from the lawn tickled her nose.
It was the most common sight in central Caswick Kingdom.
Walking along the quiet path, Cecilia was lost in thought.
How to lead her new life. How to safely complete her revenge. How to achieve the ending she desired.
Just as her mind was about to be overrun by these spiraling worries, a jolt from behind abruptly snapped her out of her reverie.
“Ahh…!”
Fortunately, she only staggered a bit and didn’t fall. As Cecilia steadied herself, the culprit behind her exclaimed in annoyance.
“Ugh! Annoying! If someone pushes you, you’re supposed to fall over gracefully. Don’t you have any sense?”
“…Margaret?”
Cecilia blinked awkwardly, as if looking at something unfamiliar.
It was Margaret Lasphilla, the third child of the Lasphilla family.
It had been a long time since Cecilia had last seen her. After Margaret’s marriage in the previous life to a nobleman of a small neighboring country, communication with the family had ceased.
The count had two daughters from his first wife, his youngest—a son—from his second wife. And in between of course, an illegitimate child, Cecilia.
Margaret was notably the most temperamental among them.
“You! I told you not to call me by my name so casually!”
The ten-year-old girl, unaware of the future awaiting her, furiously scolded Cecilia.
“Why do I have to see your face first thing in the morning?”
Cecilia stared intently at the fuming Margaret.
Margaret’s mother was the first wife of Count Lasphilla, now deceased.
She had only two daughters; one was the eldest, Caroline, and the other was the third daughter, Margaret.
Caroline, resembling her mother, was quiet and gentle. In contrast, Margaret, though with her mother’s blonde hair and green eyes, had a far more fiery temperament.
Even as she grew older, her personality remained unchanged, leading to a perpetually low reputation in high society.
‘A harsh and peculiar woman, beast-like in nature.’
‘A younger sister who could never match the standards set by the elder sister.’
Such public opinions made it difficult for Count Lasphilla to arrange a marriage for her, even when the Lasphilla family was especially for producing good brides.
Eventually, Margaret had to leave the Caswick Kingdom for a distant land for marriage.
‘She reaped what she sowed, so I can’t say I pity her.’
Cecilia looked down at young Margaret with indifferent eyes. Even now, it was clear she had no hope from the beginning.
“Hey, are you deaf? You think my words aren’t worth listening to? Don’t get in my sight first thing in the morning and ruin my mood!”
Cecilia responded with a faint smile to Margaret, who was acting like an angry little colt.
“I also don’t particularly enjoy seeing your face first thing in the morning.”
“What…?”
Margaret’s face cracked like a chipped statue. Cecilia leisurely observed her expression.
“What did you just say, to me…?”
“I don’t want to look at you either.”
The words she had held back in her previous life now naturally flowed out.
“Did you think you’re the only one who hated the other until now?”
***
A few hours earlier.
Margaret had been in a bad mood since the morning.
‘In three hours, Mr. Herbert will be here…’
Herbert was Margaret’s math tutor. As she was weak in arithmetic, she particularly loathed the time spent with him.
Today was even more dreaded – the day of the big test.
Herbert, with his characteristically weak voice, had already issued a warning.
‘If you fail again like a dropout from a housekeeping academy, I can’t help you anymore.’
Meaning, if she failed the test, he would use the rod.
“A commoner without a title dares to…”
Margaret gritted her teeth and opened her math notebook. But as soon as she turned the page and saw the cascade of numbers, she shut the book within a minute.
She hated being hit, but she hated studying even more. She wished someone could just do it for her.
A shamelessly outrageous thought circled her mind.
‘Should I ask a math-savvy maid to do it?’
No. If her father ever found out, it would be her end.
Her father’s oak cane was physically less painful than the tutor’s birch rod.
‘But it would be twice as humiliating.’
“Really infuriating…”
She hadn’t done any real studying all night, just fiddling with her pencil and pages.
“I’m too sleepy to focus!”
This won’t do. She needed to wake up first.
After ringing the bell for a maid and getting dressed, Margaret set out for a walk earlier than usual.
However, the damp and gloomy morning weather only aggravated her mood.
‘Nothing’s going right!’
Annoyed and considering returning to the mansion, she suddenly noticed a familiar face.
‘Cecilia Lasphilla.’
The timid and pathetic half-sibling was wandering the estate grounds at dawn.
