Guidelines for the Perfect Goodbye - Chapter 80
The shoes Caroline wore today were not the soft-soled ones designed for dance practice, but rather dress shoes. It was fortunate she hadn’t worn outright high heels, but Cecilia’s feet, after being stepped on ten times with heavy shoes, were already a mess.
‘Why is she suddenly acting like Margaret?’
Could it be… she’s upset about the situation with Ulysses? Was she taking it out on her now?
She wanted to express her dissatisfaction, but without a mediator, it was difficult to speak up rashly.
Until Caroline had stepped on Cecilia’s foot about a dozen times, Louise had only been dryly praising Caroline.
On the other hand, Cecilia received nothing but scolding. Of course, it was partly because she couldn’t dance well from the start. But at least Cecilia didn’t brutally step on Caroline’s foot.
‘It’s just like before.’
When she was young, Cecilia attended Louise’s classes alongside Caroline. Since their age difference wasn’t much, she could keep up with the lesson content by diligently reviewing it.
Ironically, Caroline was slower to learn than her. So eventually, Cecilia had to forcibly adjust to her pace.
One day, a young Caroline burst into tears from feelings of inferiority, and Louise consoled her. Cecilia also gently patted her back.
At that moment, she should have realized there were already two sets of eyes glaring at her. They had been in cahoots since then.
The next day, Louise changed the lesson content unexpectedly. Cecilia was confused, and Louise scolded her for flipping through pages in search of content she hadn’t learned.
Then, an unexpected homework test began. When Cecilia hesitated, Louise asked.
‘Miss, I asked Miss Caroline to inform you about today’s homework. Did you perhaps not hear?’
Caroline blinked as if she had been waiting.
‘I’m sure I mentioned it… Ceci, did you perhaps forget?’
Forget? It was something she hadn’t heard in the first place. But at that time, Cecilia couldn’t say anything.
Back then, lacking confidence and prone to self-deprecation, she believed she had simply forgotten after hearing it. Because she trusted that the kind Caroline wouldn’t have intentionally omitted to inform her about the homework.
That day, Cecilia was punished for not doing her homework by being smacked on the palms.
Then came an unannounced field trip. Cecilia was excited about the picnic she would attend with Caroline from the morning.
However, Louise didn’t properly inform Cecilia of the meeting place, and she ended up standing stubbornly under the scorching sun for an hour, eventually fainting from the heat.
In retrospect, it was such a childish and petty form of bullying, something a child of that age might do. However, for a teacher to engage in such acts, it left a deep wound on Cecilia.
To think that she conspired with a child’s bullying to appease another child. Cecilia, who at the time couldn’t even bear to resent Caroline, felt hostility towards Louise.
Louise’s favoritism, while it originated from Caroline, was something Cecilia didn’t delve into its root. She deliberately ignored it and saw Louise as the only problem.
After breaking away from Louise, Cecilia studied a few subjects she liked and then secluded herself in the library.
As a result, her skills in literature and knowledge of history and politics were comparable to Adam’s, but she barely managed the basics in music and art.
After reaching a certain age, she almost didn’t learn oratory and dancing, which were typically taught formally.
Because Louise reported to Adam that Cecilia’s learning attitude was arrogant and she missed lessons, she couldn’t have another private tutor.
It was a terrible time.
“Oh no, I stepped on you again! I’m really sorry!”
“…It’s okay.”
That time was still ongoing. Caroline and Louise were still conspiring together. But Cecilia was different now. Watching the absurd teacher and student, she thought to herself,
‘Is Caroline testing me, or does she dislike me?’
If it was just jealousy during the learning process as before, she was willing to accept it. But if the underlying reason was hatred…
This was quite serious. Having such a trivial position and being hated by someone in the family meant her future wouldn’t be smooth.
And a few days later, her worries became reality.
“Ah, Miss! How did your clothes get…!”
Her only dance practice dress was torn to shreds.
Cecilia seriously looked at the dress and then sighed.
As expected. This wasn’t mere jealousy or envy. It was something that could tarnish her reputation if exposed.
Such a dangerous act wouldn’t be done without harboring strong malice.
Caroline hated her.
‘…There’s a high chance Louise stirred up my sister.’
She was originally a woman specialized in subtly agitating others like a schemer.
Was Louise trying to sow discord between her and Caroline because of what happened that night?
‘If I investigate step by step, the cause will become clear.’
Removing her veil would naturally allow her to escape the current predicament.
