Guidelines for the Perfect Goodbye - Chapter 205

The vice captain of the royal guard was much rougher than usual today. He had been sparring barehanded with the knights in the training yard, defeating them one by one.

As he threw off his sweat-soaked shirt, he turned his head sharply.

“That bastard skipped again, didn’t he?”

Within the order, ‘that bastard’ generally referred to two people. When Nigel was present, it meant Christian Pierce, and when Christian was absent, it referred to Nigel himself.

The knights, sensing the atmosphere, cautiously answered.

“He said he’ll be here this afternoon.”

“This afternoon?”

He bared his teeth in a grin. The bastard probably intended to show his face once Nigel wasn’t around in the afternoon.

‘Not a chance.’

The reason he had left Christian Pierce alone at the Pierce family’s party was simply because Christian hadn’t been his focus that night. His attention had been solely on Cecilia. Christian hadn’t even crossed his mind.

But today was different.

“If he keeps this up, tell him to quit. It’s not like he won’t live comfortably without his knight’s badge.”

The knights laughed awkwardly. No one dared to respond directly.

Nigel, like the captain, could write recommendations for new knights but couldn’t fire them on a whim. Once knighted, they were part of the royal order, and their status was under the jurisdiction of the monarch.

That was precisely why, despite Nigel’s hatred for Christian, he couldn’t dismiss him or complain to the captain. The Pierce family had deep ties with the royal family.

Still, letting that loafer off the hook didn’t sit well with him.

“You, there.”

Nigel pointed at one of his subordinates.

“Yes, sir! What are your orders, sir!”

“When that bastard shows up, come running to me.”

“Sir? But you’re supposed to be off this afternoon…”

Nigel cracked his neck from side to side and flexed his hands.

“Overtime isn’t so bad.”

“…”

The knight bit his tongue.

‘But sir, weren’t you supposed to meet your fiancée today?’

Was putting Christian Pierce in his place really more important than a meeting with his fiancée?

The knight couldn’t help but feel sorry for Nigel’s fiancée.

Though, of course, he kept that thought to himself.

“Yes, sir!”

All the knight could do was answer back energetically.

* * *

By the time Cecilia finished changing, Ulysses was still at the Rosencrantz estate.

“Don’t you have a tutoring session today?”

Cecilia had spent enough time with him to know his schedule.

“It was canceled.”

Canceled? That didn’t seem right.

At first, it had surprised her that Ulysses tutored others, but soon enough, she realized he had a knack for it. Ulysses was a popular tutor.

With his exceptional skills and distinguished family background, who would cancel a lesson with such a man?

“So, you’re free today?”

“Yes.”

It was a lie. His expression didn’t change, but the way he avoided her gaze made it obvious.

So different from his mother. He’s terrible at lying.

There was no need to treat Ulysses too coldly for canceling his plans and staying here. As she had already considered, maintaining the right amount of distance with him would be best.

“If that’s the case, come in with me.”

“Come in?”

His eyes widened slightly.

“There will be a lot of people in the drawing room. It’ll be better if you’re with me.”

“With you?”

“Yes. And with Aunt Guinevere.”

At the mention of Guinevere, Ulysses stiffened.

He let out a sigh.

“…Are you sure that’s enough?”

“It’s more than enough.”

I don’t need you to be more than just family, Cecilia thought, burying her true feelings deep inside.

* * *

She selected two men.

They were the first two to arrive. She sent the rest away, using the excuse that she was quite fatigued and that the drawing room was too small.

It wasn’t an unreasonable excuse. She couldn’t really knock down the walls of the drawing room to accommodate everyone, now could she?

But perhaps because she had chosen them based on order of arrival, the two she picked were utterly lacking.

Their compliments were banal, and their inquiries about the weather led to tiresome conversations.

Even Guinevere, who had been listening from a distance, stifled a yawn.

Meanwhile, Ulysses, seated across from Guinevere, glared intensely at the sofa where Cecilia sat with the gentlemen. Cecilia had asked him to come in with her, but his stare was much more blatant than she had expected.

Cecilia continued to engage with the gentlemen out of habit while observing Guinevere.

Guinevere, who usually noticed everything, didn’t even glance at her son, who was openly staring at Cecilia. Instead, she sat there yawning.

‘Could she already know?’

Cecilia had no idea how the party had progressed after she left the night before. But if Ulysses had shown any signs of change to Guinevere…

‘No, if that were the case, Guinevere’s attitude toward me would have already changed.’

Does she not know? Or does she not care?

Or… and this was almost unthinkable…

Could it be that she didn’t find her son’s behavior strange at all?