Guidelines for the Perfect Goodbye - Chapter 3

Two years ago, on a day without warning.

It was the day Logan, who had left for battle without notice, returned home in the same unexpected manner.

Despite their long-awaited reunion, there was an awkwardness between them. The air in the bedroom was stiflingly hot, and Cecilia’s chest felt as tight as if she were wearing a wrong-sized corset.

That’s when Logan asked,

“Are you still in contact with your family?”

Cecilia replied timidly. She said she sent New Year’s greetings to her father but never received a reply, and she occasionally exchanged letters with her older sister.

As he removed the epaulettes from his uniform, he simply responded,

“Is that so?”

Their marriage had been tense since their bristling wedding, so she thought that was the end of their conversation. But then he suddenly turned his eyes to Cecilia, who was looking for a chance to leave.

“Don’t send them any more letters. It’s a waste of paper.”

Her husband was frugal. He didn’t demand her to be as thrifty as him, but he never spent a single Lis frivolously himself.

Despite inheriting a massive fortune, he fiercely increased it, amassing wealth he couldn’t spend in a lifetime. He had earned a knighthood through his merits and continued to serve in the hard military life, steadily increasing his salary.

At that time, Cecilia interpreted his words as such: ‘Don’t squander expensive paper when you had come into this marriage empty-handed. There’s no money for someone like you.’

She felt like bursting into tears but didn’t show it.

‘I must not cry now. I don’t even deserve to.’

From then on, she used low-quality paper left by the servants. When her sister Carolina received her letter, she sent a reply with a postscript,

[I almost threw it away, thinking it was a servant’s recommendation letter. Are you struggling these days?]

It was deeply shameful, but she pretended not to see it. ‘She must be concerned,’ Cecilia consoled herself, swallowing the bitterness.

But the malice was clear from the start, and the lies were vivid. She was just desperate for a shred of affection, blinding herself and blocking her ears.

She never knew the true intention behind her husband’s words. Perhaps she would never know. But she finally sympathized with his view on the wastefulness of paper.

How many gold-leafed sheets had she wasted every New Year, pretending to have a family? They would have been more valuable as kindling.

In this courtroom, not a single member of Cecilia’s family was present. Her real family, who would have taken her side, was long gone.

When her speech was rejected for the umpteenth time, Cecilia fell silent.

The game was rigged from the start.

She quietly left the plaintiff’s seat after the judge hammered the gavel.

The arrogant gaze of the Pierce Duchy and the cold sneer of the Count Lasphilla’s manor pierced her back.

She left with nothing, only stained with the blotches of betrayal deep in her heart.

“How pathetic.”

Someone in the gallery mocked her.

“She used to steal as a child, and now she’s been robbed. Is fraud a family trait?”

She might have lived among gypsies, but she was never a thief.

Yet, from the witness stand to the gallery, fabrications and accusations overflowed.

‘Have I lived such a sinful life? I may not have lived saintly, but I don’t think I was terribly wicked either.’

‘Perhaps I should have been wicked.’

Cecilia shook her head. The truth didn’t matter anyway. She was just confirming that fact on her way out.

***

Cecilia lost the case, and her property was implicitly confiscated. With the Harper family home sold during the estate proceedings, her only place to go was her parental home.

Returning to the Lasphilla family, she was immediately informed of her impending transfer to a convent. A common fate for a widow who had lost her husband and inheritance.

And then, her husband’s brother, Christian, visited her. He was dressed in much fancier and more flamboyant clothes than before.

“See, I told you you’d regret it.”

He laughed, his handsome appearance marred by his vile smile.

“Did you buy that with my husband’s money?”

Cecilia asked, and Christian’s face flushed. Had she hit a nerve? She couldn’t help but laugh.

“I’m glad you seem to have paid off your debts. But what will you do? They say you can’t quit gambling unless you cut off your wrists. Watch carefully how the hard-earned money is spent.”

“You dare…!”

Christian, about to raise his fist, exhaled sharply and unbuttoned his collar.

“Yes, it was hard-earned. I painstakingly did everything to ruin a certain someone.”

His face was flushed.

“You don’t believe all your misfortunes are just coincidences, do you?”

Christian gleefully revealed the truth of that day, like a child who had snatched a girl’s hair ribbon.

He detailed his relationship with Cecilia’s maid and the deeds she had done for him and his family.

“…….”

Cecilia remained silent for a long time before speaking.

“So, she was your person.”

Despite hearing the inside story, her demeanor remained unchanged.

Christian was taken aback by her calmness, unbecoming of a loser.

“You’re a woman without blood or tears!”

Cecilia scoffed through her nose.

It’s not that she lacked blood or tears. She had just shed too much of them already.

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