Guidelines for the Perfect Goodbye - Chapter 73
Caroline peeked through the curtains, watching the carriage procession depart.
‘I couldn’t change anything after all.’
Anger surged at her own helplessness, her grip tightening on the window frame.
…No, it was only natural for her to feel powerless. That’s why she needed Ulysses’s help.
‘If only I hadn’t run into Cecilia yesterday…’
Was it too much hope, or was it the remnants of expectation? The assumption that Ulysses would have accepted her and been persuaded easily was gradually turning into conviction.
‘It’s all ruined because of Cecilia…’
How would she face the social gatherings from now on? What about securing a new engagement? The faces of the ladies who would mock her flashed before her eyes.
“Hiic…”
Tears welled up, but there was no other recourse. The carriage had left. Caroline was now nothing to Ulysses.
She sobbed alone for a while before composing herself and leaving the room. She had to return the item she hadn’t even gotten to use last night.
She could have just thrown it away… but she didn’t. The item was too shameful to even look at, let alone keep. By returning it to its owner, she wanted to justify her actions.
“Madame, you left this behind.”
When Louise came for the lesson, Caroline presented the bottle as if she had been waiting.
“This is…”
Louise’s eyes narrowed at her.
“So it was in your room…”
“Yes. You left it that day.”
“You could have just thrown it away.”
Louise murmured, clutching Caroline’s hand and the bottle together.
“To have kept this for a whole day…”
“…”
“Were you unharmed last night, Miss?”
Caroline instinctively swallowed. Tension was evident in her breath.
“Nothing… happened.”
“I see.”
Louise took the perfume bottle from Caroline’s hand.
“I’ll dispose of this now.”
Caroline stared blankly at her empty hand.
“Is that… really a love potion?”
“Pardon?”
“…”
As Caroline remained silent, Louise put the bottle back into her pocket. An awkward silence followed. It was Caroline who broke it, as if slicing through the air with a knife.
“Actually… I went to Ulysses yesterday.”
“Oh my.”
Louise covered her mouth exaggeratedly.
“That’s quite shocking. For such a virtuous lady to venture out at such an ambiguous hour…”
“It’s not what you think! I just… wanted to talk…”
“You used the potion.”
“Ah…”
Caroline guiltily hung her head low and confessed.
“Yes. That’s right.”
“You didn’t actually go to Ulysses, did you?”
“How could I!”
“I always know more than most.”
Indeed, that was true. Louise was more astute and well-informed than any other noble family’s tutor or even the average academy student. Caroline had never seen her fail to answer a question.
“Why didn’t you go if you had set your mind to it?”
The tone was almost interrogatory, but Caroline did not take offense to Louise’s brashness. All that mattered was her own feelings and the current situation.
“It was… because I ran into Cecilia.”
“Cecilia?”
Louise tilted her head.
“Why would she be outside when she’s not fully recovered?”
“She couldn’t sleep and went out for some air. Luckily, she didn’t seem to know what I was about to do. She thought I was just going to the annex because she was occupying the bathroom…”
“That’s strange.”
Louise gently interrupted Caroline’s words.
“It’s strange, Milady.”
“What is?”
“Well, she must have been exhausted all day, but she suddenly took a bath?”
“But Cecilia definitely said she had taken a bath…”
Louise grasped her hand and leaned closer.
“Miss.”
Her heterochromatic eyes, accentuated by their bright voids, faced Caroline and asked,
“Was Miss Cecilia’s hair wet?”
“…”
Caroline reminisced. Cecila’s lush, blood-tinged purple hair, resembling Lilith’s. The tips fluttering in the wind appeared merely soft.
“…I-I don’t think it was.”
Caroline stuttered.
“I… I don’t remember well.”
“It wasn’t wet, was it?”
“I mean, I’m not sure…”
Was it? Or maybe it seemed like it was wet…
“It wasn’t wet.”
Louise asserted. Caroline, as if spellbound, nodded.
“Yes, that seems right.”
Her expression was vacant. Louise did not probe further and stepped back, smiling contentedly.
“Thank you for returning my item, Milady.”
“Madame, about what you just said…”
“Oh, that?”
Louise shrugged as if it was of no consequence.
“People can’t always speak the truth, can they? Miss Cecilia must have had her reasons.”
Then she smiled lightly and opened the textbook she had brought.
“So, where were we supposed to review today? From the history of Western trade, right?”
“Yes? Oh, yes. That’s right.”
“Let’s start from page 141. As you know, the shortest sea route to the Sutton archipelago is completely blocked by the monsters of Gatpolla. To bypass it, ships must either stop at the port of Odridge at the southwest end of the continent or at Rosencrantz port at the northwest end…”
The lesson proceeded as usual. However, the word ‘Rosencrantz’ couldn’t even enter Caroline’s ears.
The only thing roaming and echoing in her mind were Louise’s whispers.
