THE VILLAINESS TURNS THE HOURGLASS

Translator: Khan

Editor Group: Liber Reverie

It was too much pain for a young girl who had run with only the hope of delusion. So, if she waited as if she were dead, she could get out of this prison only with a bad feeling, so she shut up and waited for the conversation to end.

‘… I have to go back quickly and meet my elder sister, Aria.’

‘I couldn’t help it now, but if Aria knew this wrong treatment, she wouldn’t let it pass. She must be sad, and she would bitterly scold Annie. While saying she was a presumptuous maid, Aria might kick Annie out of the mansion.’

‘Now Aria and I are both commoners, but in the past, we were both nobles and were attended by Annie.’ Aria had saved Mielle and her brother, Cain, who had committed treason, and she would punish Annie and take her side again. It was clear because Aria was her only elder sister.

“Let’s go, Mielle.”

“…”

After the conversation with the guard, Annie started to walk elegantly with her back straightened up as if she were a noblewoman. She was following Aria’s example but in a much shallower movement. Her anger and fear disappeared and a laugh came out.

‘Aria was not that much. No, in retrospect, Aria was elegant enough to admire. Who dare would be so elegant and would catch her? No one could find fault with her elegance.’ Even though they were both commoners, Annie was far different and Mielle furrowed her forehead.

‘If I just go back…! I will tell Aria all about it, and let the stupid maid who imitates the aristocrat taste reality.’ Pledging again, Mielle quietly followed Annie. Fortunately, Annie’s footsteps were a bit slow to imitate the noble steps, so there was no need to suffer when she walked.

As she walked away from the terrible prison, a gorgeous wagon she could not even dare to make was waiting for Mielle. Naturally, Mielle, surprised by seeing Annie get on the carriage, opened her eyes wide and asked, “… Annie, did you ride this when you came here? ”

“Well, what else did I ride?”

She didn’t care about Annie, who replied as if she disregarded her. The carriage was gorgeous and shocking. What a gorgeous carriage it was! There had been no such carriage in the carriages of the Roscent family. No, to be exact, she had not thought of decorating it that much.

‘Why did Aria give Annie such a carriage…?’

At best, she was a maid. Obviously, it was too much for a maid to ride. No, most aristocrats couldn’t afford such a carriage. It was not a carriage for a maid. ‘But why…? Why did Aria give it to Annie…?’

“Miss Aria is waiting for us, so we have to go back quickly… but I feel a little bit uncomfortable riding with you.”

At Annie’s words, Mielle felt some unknown displeasure and had a lot on her mind. At that moment, Annie spoke suddenly to Mielle as she was about to climb into the wagon. Annie furrowed her forehead and looked at her with a face that seemed to not like something.

“It’s a little bit displeasing to get on the same carriage with you… Mielle, you should sit next to the driver,” Annie said something ridiculous.

With this, Mielle was surprised and asked, “What do you mean? Why should I sit next to the driver? Didn’t you come to pick me up?”

“You’ll have to lower your head and check your appearance, Mielle. What if you dirty this fancy carriage? This is a carriage provided by Miss Aria, and is it all right if you get it dirty?”

Annie pointed to Mielle’s dress, which was like a rag. She seemed to be displeased, even pointing at her with her finger.

Mielle had already checked her dirty, miserable appearance, so even if she didn’t lower her head, she could guess her condition and her face became red. It was no different from a beggar on the street, but she didn’t want to sit next to the driver, so she made an excuse.

“… Someone can clean up the carriage later.”

“Who? You? You don’t mean to let a servant do it, do you? There’s no servant left to do such work for you anymore.”

“…!”

“Of course, it’s the same if you sit in the driver’s seat. Wipe out the dirt from your body by yourself. All the commoners do that. I’ll excuse you first because you smell terrible.”

Annie, who said those words, left Mielle and got into the carriage alone. It meant that Annie would not permit Mielle to get in the carriage, no matter what she said.

“How dare you say it without going crazy…!”

As she could not let it go any longer, Mielle, who was about to open the door of the carriage and go wild, suddenly stopped. She was afraid that Annie might want to put her back in jail here.

Without Annie, she could not get out of jail. She had to go to Aria for now, whatever she did. If she went back and informed Aria and accused Annie of her arrogance, she could not help but solve this ridiculous thing.

“Would, would you like to ride next to me?” The driver carefully asked Mielle, who was struggling to calm herself down. He had also worked in the Count’s mansion and came to Carin’s mansion, and so he remembered her character so well when she had been a noblewoman. She was not a girl to be treated like this. As a result, he couldn’t talk down to her like Annie. He took off his hat, which he had been wearing, and responded in a polite manner.

“… I would.”

Mielle responded with a deep sigh. She seemed to soften her anger a little by his polite treatment. Very kindly, he made a place for Mielle, laying his old handkerchief himself, and since she had no choice, she sat on it.

Perhaps because Mielle sat by, the wagon started to run very slowly and smoothly because the wagon was quite uncomfortable as compared to the inside of the wagon, surrounded by soft cushions. It was even more so for the unfamiliar Mielle to sit. That was why he continued to watch Mielle’s complexion.

“Are you okay?”

“… I’m fine. So please drive the wagon a little… no, very fast.”

Mielle, however, did not care about that. To return to Carin’s mansion, she had to go through the square, and on the way through the square, a large crowd looked at her with hostility.

“You b*tch!”

“Ugh. Lady Aria has taken you out of prison.”

“You tried to sell our country, and you are the worst and the most wicked woman in history. Chut chut!”

“Look at that and who thinks you were a noble in the past? It’s so ugly.”

“Why are you alive?”

Mielle lowered her head, closing her eyes because of the unbearable insults. No matter how shabby she was now, she could not hide her original features and hair. In addition, it was also known that the dazzling and colorful carriage was Aria’s. So the people’s eyes gathered by themselves, and they did not hesitate to blame and swear at Mielle, so it was more uncomfortable to slow down the wagon to get a little easier, but it was better to speed up and avoid it.

“Ah… Alright. You might fall, so hold on tight.”

The driver seemed to have noticed that, and only then did he sped up the wagon and quickly exited the square. Therefore, their swears were buried in the noisy sounds of the wheels and hooves of the carriage, and she no longer heard the people’s insulting words.

* * *

“… This is my sister’s new house?”

“Exactly, it is Mrs. Carin’s residence.”

“Carin…?”

“I heard it was the real name of the Countess. She is no longer the Countess, and we now call her Mrs. Carin.”

“Ah…”

Mielle’s eyes shook upon seeing the beautiful mansion that was getting closer. She did not hear the voice of the driver, explaining that Mrs. Carin had brought all the servants from the Count’s mansion.

It was simply unbelievable that the frivolous whore lived with so much wealth. Apparently, all the Count’s property must have been taken, and where had she collected it?

“Oh my gosh. It’s Lady Mielle.”

“No, she is not a lady anymore. It is Mrs. Carin who has hired us.”

“That’s right… But it’s been over fifteen years since I’ve called her Miss, and it’s weird to suddenly talk down to her.”

“Right… Though she became a commoner, it’s a bit strange to talk down to her all of a sudden.”

“But look at her appearance. How can that be?”

“It’s more comparable because she’s next to Annie.”

“She committed treason, and it’s natural even if she gets like that.”

“Shh! She’s looking at us. Turn your eyes!”