THE VILLAINESS TURNS THE HOURGLASS

Translator: Khan

Editor Group: Liber Reverie

“What!? Where are you going? You were ordered to take a bath!”

“… Didn’t I tell you? I’ll go to my elder sister.”

“Are you going to Miss Aria with that dirty, miserable appearance? Are you sure?”

The maid blatantly looked over Mielle and asked. Mielle’s face was reddened by her dirty and ugly appearance.

“You are shameless. You don’t even know it gets dirty every time you walk.”

“Even the stable keeper won’t be as messy as you.”

“Miss Aria is busy, but you are rude to interrupt her.”

Mielle, accustomed to the elegant narration of the aristocracy, trembled with shame at the maids’ one-sided insults. ‘You do not know who you are.’

It was the maids, not herself, who had to know their own self. So she was going to be angry but realized that she was not in a position to confront these vulgar maids and cleared her face.

“That’s not a matter for you to care. Besides, I’ve been so annoyed that you have talked down to me even if I was downgraded to a commoner. I was your master, and I am even the younger sister of Aria. You’ll definitely be punished if my sister knows of this.”

She shouted as if she was above the maids, and the maids hardened like ice water in the bathroom for a while.

Mielle calmed herself as if she thought she had given a fatal blow at them and regained her lofty look, which did not suit her appearance. But she was mistaken. The maids looked at each other and soon laughed as if it was ridiculous.

“Did you hear that? Oh my god, she must be crazy.”

“Did she say she is Mrs. Carin’s daughter and the younger sister of Miss Aria? She is just talking about the story of the past.”

“You’re still saying that with that dirty, miserable appearance… Excuse me, Mielle, have you forgotten that Mrs. Carin has divorced the former Count?”

Then, as if waiting, the mockery followed, and it meant that the Count and Mrs. Carin had divorced, and she had no relationship with them now; before Mielle retorted, the maids spoke again, “You believe the rumor in public, don’t you?”

“… Rumor?” Mielle asked, being agitated without her recognition at the evil face.

“The rumor that Mrs. Carin temporarily divorced the former Count to protect his property.”

“…!”

“It wasn’t absolutely true. Mrs. Carin is still young, beautiful and rich, so why would she marry the sick old Count again? There’s nothing left for the former Count.”

Another maid agreed with those words, which were perfectly reasonable.

“He’s sick, and he has children who committed the heavy sin of treason. One of them is right in front of us.”

“She is an evil being who can be called the source of all this,” said a maid, pointing her finger at Mielle.

No one could deny it; all the Count could have boasted of was property and title, and now that he had lost all and even his health, who else would stay with him? And it was Mielle who had made him lost everything; her stupid behavior had led the family of Count Roscent to be torn apart, and the former Count also lost his health.

“This wouldn’t have been the case if the former Count hadn’t been pushed down the stairs.”

If Mielle hadn’t pushed the Count down the stairs, the situation would not have gone this far.

When the maids agreed, Mielle’s complexion was pale because the source of all this was really her. What she knew for herself and what she heard from someone were quite different. The latter was much more shocking to her.

“That, that…”

When they asked for the responsibility she had intentionally turned away from, she stammered.

‘What else can I say?’

They didn’t have to hear her excuses because it had clearly come to light. So it was about the time when the maids, who had taken the side of Aria and was hostile against Mielle, began to mock again.

“What are you doing?” Annie, who had been gone for a moment, appeared and asked. She looked at the maids that gathered and frowned at Mielle, who was still unwashed and dirty.

“What are you doing here? What about your bath?”

“Well, she used to be so clean before, but now she may not. We don’t know what she wants as she complained about the water.”

The maids pretended not to know, and Annie, who had made the ridiculous situation by giving a word in advance, clapped her hands and said, “Ah, I suppose she doesn’t know how to wash herself after she’s become a commoner, so why don’t you help her?”

“… What?”

‘Do you mean to attend me?’ The maids, who didn’t understand Annie’s intention because they didn’t hear her since she was far away, looked at Annie. Mielle, not knowing what she was doing, looked at her, too.

“What are you doing? Miss Aria is waiting.” Annie, laughing, took Mielle’s arm and dragged her to the bathroom.

“Wait, wait!” Mielle shouted. She was surprised, but it was after Annie had already held a small basin in her hand.

“Wait! Wait! Annie! You! You! With that water…!”

She had not said what she was going to do! Annie, who pretended not to see Mielle’s embarrassment, immediately poured the cold water over Mielle’s head without hesitation.

“Yaaah!” Mielle, surprised by the sudden cold water baptism, sat down and screamed. It was the same with the maids, and they swallowed their breath out of surprise.

Cold water in this cold weather! In fact, no matter how common a person was, it was common to use warm water on such a cold day. Moreover, there was more firewood than needed in the mansion, so they could heat the bathwater at any time.

If it was not hot, it would be better to postpone the bath because it was easier to get sick when they bathe using cold water.

So the maids, who expected Mielle to take a bath slowly, watched the situation with their mouths covered in surprise when Annie had put the cold water on Mielle’s head. It was also a difficult situation to interfere.

“What are you doing, guys? Help Mielle, who can’t even bathe alone.”

“… Annie…”

Annie was pushing Mielle hard as if she was a real villain, and the maids hesitated because of what Annie was doing. They were quite reluctant to do something bad against someone, apart from what Mielle had committed the sin and become a commoner. It was not even comparable to hurt her a little bit with words.

“What are you doing?” Annie asked again, but the maids still lingered and were not active.

Annie, who sighed loudly that the bathroom sounded, filled the small basin again and urged the maids.

“Miss Aria is waiting.”

“…”

But how could they ignore the name ‘Aria’?

They had also heard that Aria asked them to take care of Mielle, so they came to Mielle, who had sunk down, reading Annie’s complexion.

“I thought it would be a lot sooner for a lot of people to do than wash her alone.”

Annie said, smiling broadly, and Mielle, who was shaking because of shock and the cold water baptism, shouted, “Stop it.”

“I’ll, I’ll do it! So please…” She no longer said she would go to Aria. No, she seemed to have decided she would wash herself because she realized that she could not go without the harassment of the maids.

Annie put down the basin in her hand for Mielle’s wise choice, and the maids, who almost baptized her with the cold water, had a sigh of relief.

“All right, I hope you will not bother us any further, Mielle. You have to get dressed up and visit Miss Aria. Besides, Mr. Cain… No, he should only be called Cain now. Miss Aria called Cain, so please clean yourself up.”

At the words that Aria had called Cain, Mielle’s hand, which was trembling, grabbed the basin. Annie saw Mielle rubbing her body with her other hand, and she was soon satisfied, and the maids who had squinted at Mielle followed Annie out of the bathroom.

* * *

Unlike Mielle’s expectation that she would see Aria after taking a bath, she could not easily meet her because she was busy.

“Well, Cain… is coming to see Miss Aria tonight, and she said that she would meet the two of you at the same time. She has a lot of work to do.”

If it was Mielle who was still young and small, it was fine to talk down to her, but it was still awkward to call Cain without his title. Annie paused for a moment and then went on.