Guidelines for the Perfect Goodbye - Chapter 93
How miserable and filled with resentment she must have been to blame Cecilia.
Why her?
Cecilia steadied her quivering lips. She suppressed her emotions and connected her thoughts.
‘Even then, Caroline had always kept Louise by her side.’
Rather, she clung even closer. Like thread following the needle, Louise had stayed by her side constantly.
Even when a governess was no longer necessary.
It was Louise who had held Caroline’s veil and accompanied her to the aisle.
‘Then… in a past life, after Caroline’s marriage, she must have seriously started using the drug.’
The time when Louise sprinkled ashes in the pure and refined garden of Caroline with a nameless vile drug must have been then.
A proverb akin to an old woman’s regret crossed her mind.
‘What’s meant to happen, will happen.’
It was just that after Cecilia’s regression, she changed her approach and increased her opportunities, whereas Louise had always intended Caroline’s infertility.
‘So, is Caroline the ultimate target, not Ulysses or Mother?’
If so, that’s somewhat of a relief. At least it means the worst-case scenario she briefly considered is avoided.
If Louise secretly envied Caroline and wanted to ruin her life, that might even be somewhat satisfying.
But…
‘It’s unsettling.’
She still felt like something was amiss. An eerie residue gnawed at her insides.
Cecilia shook her head. A chipped cup approached from the side.
It was Diana.
With a reluctant and sulky expression, she still handed the cup to her.
It seemed Cecilia had been standing listlessly for quite some time. Maybe in the meantime, Gil or Dane might have spoken to her. She hadn’t heard them.
In an awkward silence left to the others, she suddenly felt a bit sorry.
As Cecilia belatedly offered an awkward smile, Diana formed a furrow between her brows.
“Why? You don’t want to put your lips on such an old cup?”
Her skill in misinterpreting intentions was considerable. Life becomes twisted when it’s hard. Cecilia understood her. She had her own twisted judgments, after all.
“No, that’s not it. Thank you.”
She replied more kindly than usual, causing Diana’s expression to change. She seemed to stiffen like a plaster statue when flustered.
“…It’s not dirty water. I’ve filtered it thoroughly.”
“It’s fine even if it’s dirty.”
“You think it’s dirty?”
…Perhaps she’s a bit more twisted than Cecilia.
‘It must be because of the residue left in Lasphilla.’
They say not to ask about the guilt by association of adults, but humans are inevitably bound by it, from top to bottom. One cannot ignore the sins of the father.
He was both Diana’s and her own sinner.
And…
Cecilia thought of her mother.
Two mothers.
Her biological mother Lilith and her foster mother Evelyn alternately flashed through her mind. She sucked in a breath as if swallowing a vain hope and downed the entire cup of water she had taken.
Without a moment’s hesitation, Diana stared blankly as Cecilia drained all the water she had given.
“…What if I had put something in it?”
“Put something?”
“If I had?”
“I’d probably have a terrible stomachache later.”
Diana scrunched up her face at the bland response. A low murmur was heard. Disgusting.
Cecilia decided to pretend she hadn’t heard it.
Gil and Dane were listening intently to the conversation between the two women. No wonder they had been so quiet.
“It was nice seeing you again. I should be going now.”
“So soon?”
Dane scratched his tousled hair as he approached and asked, while Diana looked at him as if he were a fool.
“There’s someone waiting for me outside.”
Mary came to mind, sitting on a park bench, tapping her feet impatiently, and glancing around at the bustling street.
“Ah, if you need payment for today’s consultation…”
“It’s fine.”
Gil waved his hand dismissively at Cecilia, who was reaching for her pocket.
“I only take payment for medicines. If I started trading in information too, I wouldn’t live out my days.”
“Um, well…”
Cecilia looked at the wrinkled old man, hesitated with her words, then scattered them with a smile.
“Thank you.”
She replaced a potentially needless warning with a straightforward greeting.
“It was nice seeing your face today. See you next time.”
She also gave Dane a warm goodbye. He once again offered to walk her to the alley entrance, while Gil and Diana looked at him as if he were an idiot.
“Thanks.”
Cecilia didn’t refuse unnecessarily.
But as soon as she stepped out, Diana pulled her into the alley.
