Guidelines for the Perfect Goodbye - Chapter 240
Nigel casually wrapped up their conversation.
“Well then, you have no right to question me any further. Relationships are personal matters, aren’t they? Let’s leave it at that.”
Relationships. Lover.
Each time Nigel uttered those words, Ulysses felt incredulous. Was he being serious?
‘No, there’s no way he’s serious.’
Ulysses clenched and unclenched his teeth before speaking.
“Don’t toy with her.”
The emotions he had been suppressing came bursting out.
“Are you planning to hurt her again?”
He quickly followed up.
“Are you going to look down on her like before?”
His questions came rapid-fire, like bullets.
“Did you even apologize for the way you treated her—hitting her, insulting her?”
By now, his questions weren’t really questions anymore.
“If you’re going to keep acting like this, then you might as well…”
You might as well… At that moment, his voice caught, and he couldn’t continue.
“……”
Ulysses turned his head away. Nigel was no longer smiling, either.
In a voice heavy as a rain-soaked wool coat, Nigel finally said,
“I never hit her.”
Roughly brushing his bangs back, he added,
“Damn it… I have no memory of doing that.”
In truth, Nigel had often hurled verbal abuse and insults at Cecilia—violence that might have cut deeper than physical blows. But he swore to any god that he had never laid a hand on her.
Yet Ulysses shook his head.
“Cecilia would have said she wasn’t hit. She always hid those things from others.”
“I’m telling you, I never…”
“Don’t deny it. I saw it myself.”
Ulysses dredged up a memory he had replayed so many times it had frayed like a well-thumbed piece of yellowed paper.
A young boy and girl. The boy was pummeling the girl. She was curled up tightly like a cocoon, shielding her head with both hands.
The boy screamed.
“Die, you mongrel! Just die!”
The girl stayed silent. No, she stayed eerily calm, holding her breath as if even that might draw further punishment.
“…I saw it clearly.”
Ulysses closed his eyes as the wind tapped against the window, as if weary of their quarrel.
Nigel didn’t try to provoke him further. His earlier plan had been to dredge up stories about Cecilia to unsettle Ulysses, goading him into violence that Nigel could then showcase to their father.
But that resolve had crumbled. The faint sense of victory he’d felt earlier had entirely evaporated, replaced by a suffocating weight in his chest, like a landslide pressing down on his heart.
Knock, knock.
At that moment, a servant knocked on the door to the reception room.
“Young Master Nigel, your belongings have been packed. Shall we load them onto the carriage?”
“Yes. Let’s get going.”
Without looking back, Nigel left the Rosencrantz estate.
***
The news that Nigel had shielded Cecilia in front of the Marquis spread quickly, stirring polarized reactions. Publicly, people criticized the scandal, but privately, they were fascinated by the story of two lovers defying familial constraints.
Bernarda was among the first to hear about it. After all, she had sent Cecilia to the Rosencrantz estate for precisely this purpose.
“It seems Nigel Rosencrantz has truly taken an interest in Cecilia.”
As Bernarda spoke, she stirred milk into her tea with a teaspoon. The liquid swirled into a soft, creamy shade as she continued.
“With this, His Excellency will likely choose to escalate the matter rather than contain it. Considering Nathan’s future, it’s not a bad outcome. The Rosencrantz family is worth keeping as an ally, after all. And frankly, I was sick of tolerating that shameless, vile woman.”
Standing behind her, Louise hesitated before cautiously speaking up.
“But are we sure they’re truly lovers? Miss Cecilia might have lied.”
“Oh, why would she tell such an easily disproven lie? Cecilia might be overly timid, but she isn’t foolish enough to come up with something like that.”
It seemed even that timidity was now in question. After all, this was not something a timid girl could have orchestrated.
Bernarda chuckled.
“To think I underestimated her as a quiet little kitten. She’s really outdone herself this time.”
Louise still looked troubled.
“I can’t believe Sir Nigel defended Miss Cecilia. Isn’t he known to detest illegitimate children?”
Bernarda shot her a pitying glance, eyebrows furrowing slightly.
“That just shows your inexperience with men.”
