Guidelines for the Perfect Goodbye - Chapter 94
When Dane cluelessly followed, Diana quelled him with a fiery look and pushed Cecilia against the wall.
“…”
“…”
A sharp silence passed like a blade. Cecilia faced her.
“What’s wrong?”
“…”
Diana twitched her lips uncomfortably. Cecilia waited patiently for her, and soon Diana found her voice.
“Why did you help me back then?”
A mix of obvious suspicion and incomprehension revealed her complex feelings.
“I was trying to bring down your family. I still feel the same. So…”
She pressed her stomach as if nauseated.
“We’re practically enemies.”
Enemies. Enemies, huh?
You and me?
Just that much?
Cecilia chuckled softly. Diana’s face crumpled visibly. It was a clearly intentional sneer.
But her voice was kept pleasant.
“I told you before. I don’t like seeing someone from our house die. It’s scary, watching people die.”
“Lies.”
Diana scoffed.
“And a girl like that buys poison in the back alleys?”
She was no fool. She had the patience to wait for years and the judgment to consider cause and effect.
This was distinctly different from Mary’s reaction. Indeed, this girl was useful. Cecilia was internally satisfied.
“About that incident last time…”
Diana suddenly turned around to check behind her. A few steps back, Dane was standing with his hands behind his back, whistling but clearly eavesdropping.
“…”
Instead of approaching Cecilia, Diana pulled her closer. Cecilia let herself be led willingly. Diana grabbed the collar of Cecilia’s dress and whispered in her ear.
“You’re the one who brought the Rosencrantz family to that state, aren’t you?”
“…”
The breath on her ear was more stinging than ticklish.
“And you’re the one who put poison in that sachet.”
“…”
“And you’re the one who left Young Count Rosencrantz in that state…”
Cecilia drew in a long breath. The corners of her mouth lifted like a scythe as she exhaled.
‘Clever.’
Satisfactory. I really made the right choice with you.
“What would Adam Lasphilla’s face look like if he found out you were involved in that incident?”
“…!”
Cecilia suppressed her delight and even gratitude at her rudeness and threats.
Cecilia cheerfully engaged in the conversation.
“He would be unable to control his rage.”
“Yes.”
“He would tremble with a sense of betrayal.”
“Right.”
“And he would try to throw me out of the mansion immediately.”
“…”
“That’s all.”
Cecilia grinned broadly.
“My father would probably forget about me soon. The times are chaotic, investment opportunities change constantly, and there are mountains of ledgers to deal with every day.”
“…”
“Diana Hollings.”
Don’t be mistaken.
My father is different from yours.
He would not take on the burden of life himself and leave, not passing on any blame to his children.
My father, you see…
“My father.”
Adam, he.
“Does not.”
Love anyone else.
“Love me.”
“…”
Cecilia’s eyebrows drooped. She managed a sad expression. Still, no tears came.
Honestly, she thought she’d manage to squeeze out some tears here, but not a single drop fell.
The delicate skin under her eyelids stung because it was dry. The whites of her eyes turned red, scratched up by the dust in the alleyway, with visible blood vessels.
It’s not that she held back tears. They were red because they were dry.
It’s not that she was embarrassed to say tears came; they truly didn’t. They were so dry it blurred my vision.
Eventually, she just laughed.
She laughed because her eyes hurt. She squinted painfully and then just closed them.
When she looked up after her laughter, only shock was apparent on the onlooker’s face.
It was pitiful. Pathetic. How unfortunate that one’s bloodline did not have the temperament to achieve revenge through family betrayal.
It’s quite complicated, isn’t it? I know.
If Cecilia could have wrecked her father’s ship solely with the tumult of emotions, she would not have made Guinevere so miserable.
Just as cold water has its depths, there’s an order to revenge, isn’t there? It’s still far off. Still distant because of inadequacy.
And for such inadequacy, revenge of this level is, yes, severely lacking. The total of all abstract things in the world is calculated by the conceptual and subjective perceptions of each individual.
