Guidelines for the Perfect Goodbye - Chapter 199

Viscountess Lope chuckled knowingly but didn’t forget to say what was expected of her as an elder.

“How long will you keep indulging in your diversions? At your age, you should start thinking about marriage.”

“I’m still young and beautiful. It’s the perfect time to enjoy life.”

“Don’t be so full of yourself. Life is like that—you start walking, then running, and before you know it, you’re being dragged along. Sure, I’ll admit you inherited our family’s good looks, but growing old happens in an instant.”

“You’re still just as beautiful as you were in your prime, Grandmother.”

Christian only intended to quiet her with flattery, but his grandmother accepted it as if it were only natural, giving him a wink.

“Oh, I’m an exception. The other women my age are all wrinkled like prunes.”

She laughed, shaking her intricately styled hair.

“They’re always worried, that’s the problem. With issues about their children, money, and all that, there’s never a calm day in life. Their faces hollow out, and their jaws sag just from taking care of their husbands.”

With a sigh that seemed full of pity, she laid down a card.

“Fools, all of them. Trying so hard to build a great family. In the end, they won’t even enjoy it—they’ll grow old and collapse.”

“Do you really think that way, even with all those debts?”

His impudent question struck a nerve in her high-nosed demeanor.

Once, she had a slender figure and radiant beauty. In her mind, she was a perfect woman—except for the money issue.

“Of course! As long as I take care of myself, that’s all that matters!”

Her gruff reply, accompanied by a snort, came because she felt pricked by the reminder of her unpaid debts, making her forget the point she initially wanted to make.

Christian seized the opportunity.

“You’re absolutely right, Grandmother. So, as long as I take care of myself, that’s all that matters too, right?”

“Wait a minute, are you trying to use my words as an excuse?”

Christian laughed heartily.

“Excuse? I’m just trying to be a good grandson who listens to his grandmother.”

“Hey! If you waste your youth and end up with the wrong kind of woman, you’ll be the one to lose out! Fruits are best when they’re in season, and marriages are best at the right age.”

Despite her indulgence in pleasures, Viscountess Lope often said such conservative things, almost like a scolding elder.

Christian looked bored by her old-fashioned views.

“Is there really a ‘right age’ for men? For a man as handsome as I am, I’ll only grow more charming with age. I guarantee that when I’m older, there will be no shortage of women lining up to marry into the Pierce family.”

“…”

Viscountess Lope was at a loss for words. Whether or not he was right, it was difficult to argue with him when he brought up the Pierce family.

After all, there were undoubtedly countless noble ladies in high society eager to marry into the duchy. It was probably for that reason Christian could change his lovers so frequently.

While she was proud of his prestigious background, his arrogance—refusing to humble himself even before his grandmother—made her eyebrows furrow.

‘He’s my grandson, but… he really is insufferable sometimes…’

She truly cared for Christian, who was often said to resemble his maternal grandmother more than his own mother, but hearing him speak in a tone so much like hers felt like looking in a mirror, and not in a good way.

While she was speechless, the card game had already reached its conclusion.

Christian had won.

“I lost? That can’t be…”

Viscountess Lope planted her hands on either side of the table and stared intently at Christian’s cards.

“There’s no way.”

Christian wasn’t nearly as skilled at card games as she was. And surely, he hadn’t used tricks like her second daughter would.

“I won. As we agreed, no gambling for you this month.”

The sight of Christian gathering up the cards and tidying up the table made her more annoyed than ever.

“Where did you learn to play?”

“Why would I bother learning something like this?”

Although he occasionally played poker with the gentlemen at his club for fun, he never took gambling seriously.

“It’s all luck.”

Could a beginner really win three games in a row just by luck?

“This seems like talent…”

Maybe blood really does tell.

While Viscountess Lope was lost in thought, someone placed a hand on her shoulder from behind.

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