The Villainess turns the Hourglass

Editor Group: Liber Reverie

‘If you are a maid of the Crown Princess and have a talented lover, it wouldn’t be weird if you act like Annie.’

She had been consistent from the past to the present. And Aria really liked it. ‘So how can I not bear a little trouble for your future?’ She wanted to explain everything, but there were a lot of listeners in the Imperial Castle. She stroked Jessie’s head, refraining from saying anything.

“… You don’t know how the future will change so be prepared. Besides, I want my maid to be the most beautiful in the world. Especially Jessie, my favorite girl, you must.”

“…”

‘How can I be so grumpy when she says things like that?’ Eventually, Jessie shut her mouth tight, and they continued to walk to the garden where the noble ladies were waiting.

“We see Your Highness the Crown Princess.”

As Aria entered the garden, the noble ladies hurried to pay their respects and bowed down. Unlike every day she had met other ladies, they were the same noble ladies she had seen last time. They were unable to hide their glowing faces as if they thought they had been favored by the Crown Princess to visit the Imperial Castle again.

It was not different from the faces of the nobles of the Aristocratic Party of the past. Although they were on the side of the Crown Prince, the nobleman was a nobleman. All of them were interested in following the tide and fulfilling their self-interest in seeking power.

As Aria sat down, the maids rushed to pour the tea. It was a natural and fast reaction as if the water were flowing. Aria, who had a sip of tea that had fallen to a good temperature after waiting for a while, opened her mouth to the noble ladies who had been bowing down, taking etiquette by then.

“Get up.”

“… Thank you.”

Instead of giving the usual greetings as soon as they took a courtesy, she told them to straighten up after a long time as if she had tortured them, and the women’s flushed faces were nowhere to be seen. As the noble ladies were unable to erase their faces stained with displeasure, Aria asked them with a puzzled look.

“The tea tastes good. Why are you not drinking it?”

“… Yes.”

Aria had a face she did not do anything wrong, and the noble ladies could not ask anything and had to bury what had just happened.

“How have you been?”

“Yes? Ah, yes. How have you been, Your Highness the Crown Princess?”

“I manage to get along.”

“…”

‘How can you react like that? We had barely driven out the Aristocratic Party, who had eaten away the empire for a long time and gathered together among those, who had a single heart.’ The faces of the noble ladies grew colder and colder to Aria, who treated them as if they were criminals of treason.

Aria, who didn’t even care about it, said, pointing to a prepared table a little away, “Annie, Jessie. You guys sit down there, too.”

“… Yes?”

“… Yes?”

“Don’t you think you should taste the sweet tea since it’s been here for a long time?”

Aria’s words hardened the noble ladies, stopping their movements. ‘How dare you let the maids sit at the table next to the meeting of the Crown Princess and the noble ladies?’

Of course, it was not unusual. This was because most of the maids were nobles, so there were also cases of sitting at the same table. Therefore, even though they were maids, they often received the treatment as a noblewoman. Such girls were treated completely differently than ordinary maids. It was not strange to sit at the next table as Aria said.

But Jessie and Annie were not. ‘Aren’t they really from humble origins?’ It was unparalleled to receive the same treatment as the nobility-born maids. To think so was the same as the maids of the Imperial Castle, and no one prepared refreshments even though Aria had already asked for it.

“What are you doing?”

“… Yes?”

“What are you doing not getting tea ready?”

“Ah, yes…”

Aria pointed to one of the maids and asked, and only then did the maids rush to prepare a table for Jessie and Annie.

In the end, Jessie and Annie sat at a table prepared for themselves. Therefore, the noble ladies, unable to control their facial expressions, closed their mouths and stared at them. Their expressions showed that it was hard to believe.

“All of you don’t have bright faces,” Aria said to the noble ladies.

It was because they expressed their feelings on their faces due to Aria’s rude behavior. They did not even think about taking care of the situation.

“…” ‘What else can we say?’ The noble ladies still remained silent and could not hide their discomfort.

Then Aria laughed in a low voice and asked them, “Are you doing this because my mother is of a humble origin?”

Of course, everyone who heard Aria’s question was stunned and gasped. As if it was insufficient that Aria mentioned her origin, she sought the answer from the noble ladies.

At this, the noble ladies hurriedly denied, shaking their heads. “That can’t be!”

“What makes you say that?”

“Who would dare have such impure thoughts on Your Highness the Crown Princess…?” They wanted to prove their innocence by opening their heads if they could.

‘But is that really what you want?’ Aria didn’t think so.

“Really? Then I’m glad. I must have misunderstood. I was wondering if you were very uncomfortable because my origin is not so good. It’s really weird, isn’t it? In the past, I never had a hateful look on my face at the folly acts that the late Princess Frederick did to me.”

Isis had once asked about tea to test Aria during a visit to the mansion of the former Count. It had been set up to laugh at the stupid villain. But Aria had turned the hourglass back to deal with it calmly, and in the end, she had been able to pass on quietly without being laughed at.

It was an ordinary world. A world in which those who truly held power must be treated well with a smile no matter what unfair treatment they received.

‘But what about now?’ The noble ladies clearly showed signs of displeasure in front of Aria, who they could say had reached the highest and noblest place among all women, despite it being a trivial thing.

All of the things they were displeased of were very trivial things, and they could smile and pass lightly. ‘If the Crown Princess were Princess Frederik, could they have taken such an action?’ Aria, who thought they would never have done it, continued, “But you were so honest about your feelings that I couldn’t help but think so.”

“…!”

“Look, you still can’t hide the look that you got pricked at, can you?” Aria, who said so, added a word after a leisurely sip of tea with a smile. “This makes me misunderstand.”

“…”

There was a silence in the garden. It was only then that they noticed Aria’s anger even though she was smiling. It was the same for not only the noble ladies but also the maids.

“I’ve been thinking about it lately after hearing some bad rumors.” As all of them were speechless, Aria spoke again, “If it had been the eldest daughter of the Frederick family, not me, would it have been this rumor even if her maids had done the same thing?”

‘Bad rumors?’ Everyone could think of one thing without having to ask.

‘Is that why you brought Jessie and Annie?’ Only then did they knew what Aria, who had brought the maids, who had been missing for a while, meant; the Crown Princess used them to test the cause of the rumor and warn them!

“… That’s, that’s a misunderstanding.”

It was not a misunderstanding. It was true. Contrary to the past rumors, she was no longer a villain but Aria herself, so she could show her dislike.

Of course, it was not very irrelevant to Aria’s origin. As she said, it was clear that no strange rumor would have circulated if Princess Frederik had been the Crown Princess, who had taken the elite course.

“I’m glad then. I was also wondering if my background and my fragile appearance had misled you.”

“…”

“I did it because I thought anyone would not spit on a friendly person, but I was about to change my mind because I didn’t think so. But as you said it’s a misunderstanding, I’m in conflict. What kind of attitude should I take?”

She told them to be wary of her and curry favor with her. She said that they would not try to climb up and eat quietly when she was good to them.