The Villainess turns the Hourglass

Editor Group: Liber Reverie

Jessie, who brought Berry’s letter, didn’t look bright. She still seemed displeased to have let Berry go the same way. Aria, who roughly read a letter signed with a seal that she had sent from the Kingdom of Croa, said soothingly,

“Jessie, you don’t have to be so angry.”

“But I still can’t believe she went abroad safely after she did that terrible thing to you.”

‘How can I not love Jessie for her sake?’ Aria, determined to give her a very big present when all was done, left the room for Emma’s judgment today. The Countess looked a little dark when she saw Aria on the first floor.

“Aria, since the results are fixed anyway, I don’t think you need to go… Are you sure it’s okay?”

“… Yes, they may need my testimony.”

It was already a set result. The Countess discouraged her because the victim did not have to attend, but Aria’s determination to see Emma’s end was firm.

Mielle’s eyes were red and they were also swollen as if she had cried for days. She must have tried to cover them with her hat as much as she could, but she could not escape the eyes of Aria, who had watched her with the hawk’s eyes.

‘You want to scream that she didn’t do it.’

It was obvious to see that she sometimes bit her lips and trembled. She might see Emma’s neck cut off. And the main enemy was right in front of her.

“… I’m not feeling well so I’ll leave in a little while.”

‘Yeah, I guess you don’t want to ride a carriage with me.’

Emma had been taking care of Mielle since birth, and the Count understood her feelings and nodded to do it.

As soon as he returned from the academy, a terrible thing happened, and Cain turned around and looked at Mielle and clicked his tongue. It was nowhere to be seen that he had cared so much about his sister in the past.

The Count spoke to Aria in a friendly way that might be only for Mielle, “Aria, it’s going to be hard, but hang in there a little.”

“Thank you…”

Inside, she wanted to hold a party and drink a toast, but ended up quietly answering, with a gentle smile. Thanks to Aria’s acting of a poor girl, the road to the court was silent. Even after her arrival, she was able to play the heroine of the perfect tragedy with Cain’s desperate escort.

“Oh, my God, the victim, Lady Roscent is here.”

“Where…? No, Lady Roscent is so beautiful?!”

“It must be jealousy too, as it is rumored. She was really beautiful.”

Aria’s appearance made a noise in the audience’s seat. Her unadorned beauty added weight to her sorrow.

Cain, who glances at her, asked with a very friendly face, “Are you all right?”

“… Yes? Oh, yes. Of course.”

In the past, Cain’s contemptuous eyes had been on her. The look in his eyes, which he had treated as if she had been a filth defaming the family’s reputation.

Aria, who shed tears that didn’t seem to come, in everyone’s sympathy, waited for the trial to begin. It took some time to start as she arrived a little early, and Mielle, who had a late start, appeared just before the trial began.

“Your eyes are red… are you all right?”

‘Who did you cry that way for?’

When Aria asked, Mielle closed her eyes and answered whether she didn’t want to look at her.

“… it’s all right.”

The Count and Cain, who knew the reason for her tears, sighed and looked away. The Countess held Aria’s hand and gritted her teeth. Public opinion was so inclined that she could express her feelings.

Aria understood that Emma was precious to Mielle, but it was incomprehensible to cover up the woman who went so far as to kill her in front of the victim.

‘Foolishly, you’ve ruined what you’ve accomplished yourself. Isn’t she like her past self? This is her past self! Who knew she could not be recognized by anyone but could not control herself from being perverse.’

But in the eyes of the audience, Mielle’s gloom and silence were seen as a result of her anxiety for her sister, Aria.

Emma was very thin when she saw her face after a long time. Seeing bruises and wounds visible in places, there seemed to have been violence in the course of interrogation. Her legs were limping, though feeble.

The judge appeared as soon as she stood in the middle of the courtroom, with a puzzled look on her face. Aria didn’t know the face and the name, but the judge was someone who succeeded in the blood of the Imperial family. Other royal families, not related to the power struggle, had been holding high-ranking government posts in the capital due to lack of land. It was also aimed at the Aristocratic Party in check.

The judge, who was seated, looked over the documents that had already been filed, and at the same time informed them of the beginning of the trial, and asked about her guilt. It was already due to the obvious results.

“Do you admit the sin of murdering Lady Roscent Aria?”

“….”

With her mouth shut, Emma had no answer or movement. She just stared at the floor with her head down a little. Her attitude of refusing to acknowledge both evidence and witnesses chilled the judge’s eyes.

“Let me ask you again. Do you admit it?”

“…”

She again gave no answer this time, so the judge shook her head with a sigh. It seemed that she was not happy to take the time because the trial had an evident result anyway.

“… OK, then I have to deal with it as it is on the document.”

She lifted her head when she signed something on the document. There was no reason to delay the trial anymore because the criminal’s guilt was confirmed. So Aria thought it was over, but the judge looked around the hall and opened her mouth.

“Is Lady Roscent Aria here?”

Aria answered in a quiet voice, when her name was suddenly called,

“Yes? Oh, yes…”

Then the judge, who looked at Aria, stopped trying to say something and slowly frowned. When Aria cocked her head in wonder, the judge, who was staring at her for a long time, shook her head and began to ask some questions,

“Is it true that you have been harmed by Emma, the sinner?”

“Oh, yes… I heard so.”

“Then do you intend to absolve her of her sins?”

Aria, who pretended to be sad about the ridiculous question, opened her eyes wide. The audience also stared at the judge with a face asking what kind of question she was asking. Aria was surprised not to answer, and the judge explained why,

“The dozens of petitions arrived in a short period of time. It was a petition for the forgiveness of the sinner sent by an anonymous majority. It was the first time I had received so many petitions, so I just asked if there was any other reason.

She was also dumbfounded as she laughed, saying ‘no.’ There were dozens of petitions for the sinner who were already well-assured. If she doubted that they were another accomplice, there was no problem. That was why she said it on purpose. There was some hope in Emma’s face.

If it were Mielle, she would definitely forgive her sin in this situation. Even if she would forgive her sin, anyway, she would be severely punished for, according to the law. But she could avoid the death penalty, if Aria, who was the victim and an aristocrat, pardoned her.

Aria, however, was different. She was not a kind of stupid, wicked woman who pretended to be blind and good.

“No, I don’t intend to forgive Emma’s sins. She tried to hurt me for no reason… so I thought someone else might be the victim again… I just want her to pay the price.”

When Aria answered with a very sad face, some of the audience in their seat forgot about the time and place and gave admiration due to her strong emotions. The majority made a look as if it was right. And from among them, she saw Emma in despair.

“Then I’ll have to do so as the victim, Lady Roscent, says.”

The judge pronounced Emma’s death, raising her mouth as if she had heard a very satisfactory answer. It was a very quick decision.

“To the sinner, Emma, I sentence her to hang.”

With those words, Emma sank into her seat. What did she expect, even though it was a natural result? Aria identified the face of Mielle, who was sitting next to the Count.