The Villainess turns the Hourglass

Editor Group: Liber Reverie

“Mr. Lohan! Why? What the hell is going on…?”

Mielle dared not speak properly due to the sharp eyes pouring from all sides. She had been always loved by others and well grown, and she could not imagine it. She had been in prison, but until then she had been treated as a noble lady, but not now. She had to be treated less than the street bums and had to be looked at coldly.

“How dare you call my name? You don’t know who you are. I hate people like you the most, who sell their families and country to save their lives.”

With the cold eyes and tone, Mielle spared herself and looked up again and gave him a pitiful look. It had been a little while ago that he had praised that she was a very knowledgeable and intelligent woman, and he had looked at her with his warm and lovely eyes.

She had been comforted and acknowledged, and for a moment she had felt happy. It was not like she’d been obsessed with Oscar because she had thought he was the right person for her. Although she had been trusted to sell information, she had thought Lohan was a friendly person who saved her in crisis.

‘But was it all fake?’ The cold face of the present and the warm face of the past overlapped, and tears seemed to flow. It was even more incredible that all the words and actions he had said to her were false as he had set a trap.

“Mr. Lohan!”

So Mielle called out his name again, but it was still a cold look that came back. In addition to that, a warning followed to Mielle who kept calling his name, as if he was unpleasant.

“If you call my name any more, I won’t let you go.”

“Boo-hoo…”

All that remained was Mielle’s crying, and Isis, who had been listening to the conversations, trying to figure out and sort things out, looked up in a flash, recalling the letters and papers that had been exchanged with Lohan.

“Well, I have the papers I have exchanged with me…”

They were documents with the king’s seal, and as long as it was a trap, and even if there were papers with a seal, he could be a conspirator of this matter. So Isis insisted that he quickly took her side and stopped this foolishness, but at the nonsense, Lohan laughed and replied,

“You think it’s a real seal, don’t you?”

“…!”

‘The official documents from the Kingdom of Croa had the same seal on them!’ She remembered that she had even made a handful of comparisons in case.

“It was a definite match…! I obviously checked it with Vika…!”

“Really? Then, I have to ask the person who checked with you.”

He waved behind him because she was still unbelievable. Strangely, Vika, who had been helping the Aristocratic Party for a very long time and had offered this work to her, walked out slowly.

“You’ve put your trust in me, you’ve been through this, but you should have kept a little more people.” Vika said, looking a little too sorry. “I’m sorry, but all the papers I brought you are made of fake seals.”

“… what, what…?”

She realized that the person she had trusted most was a traitor, and what kind of reaction could she take? She just stared at Vika, as if she could not believe it. He had been a great help and an advisor to the nobles of the Aristocratic Party for a long time, and she could not imagine that he would dare to betray.

It was the same for Mielle that it was difficult to accept the situation, and her crying became stronger. For a moment, Mielle’s cry spread in the square, and Isis, who had been stupidly lost in thought in the meantime, seemed to have found the answer again and asked,

“Even if the seal is fake, it has the same effect as Mr. Lohan has taken and returned them yourself!”

She said as if it was the last hope. It had the same effect because he had written it himself and sent it out with a seal.

“Ha, don’t you understand yet? It was a small thing to catch traitors of another country, and why did I do such a bothersome work? Eh, Vika?”

“Yes, I didn’t spend much time and send a person to Croa, but I replied to your letters myself.”

After recognizing it was a perfect trap, Mielle stopped crying and turned pale. The same was true of Isis. She realized that Asher had framed her up and she had played in it, as well as she was finally caught in a trap that she could not escape.

“I don’t know why you keep obsessing about these little things without repenting of your own sins. Even if they were letters from Lohan, what does it matter if it was a process to find out the traitors in the first place?”

Aria, who had watched them go to hell, asked as if she was weird, and Asher praised her for being so clever.

“You’re right. If I forgive him without asking for responsibility, everything is done, but I don’t know why she cares about it. Maybe she is not aware of the situation, or it is only her natural level.”

“I’m disappointed, Asterope, and you’ve used me to this insignificant thing. I thought something big happened and gladly broke up my busy time and helped you.”

“Don’t emphasize the favor you have done to me as you’ve got a lot from me.”

“Well, yes, I’ve got a lot more than I’ve done, and so did other people,” said Lohan, smiling meaningfully, and turned to look at Aria.

Aria, who did not know the details, frowned again and cocked her head, and Asher glared at him and became annoyed.

“Don’t say useless words anymore, and go back as it’s over. Leave everything about Mielle in writing, and I will send someone if I need something more.”

“… Okay, I’ll do it, and I think it’s time to break up, as wagons carrying other sinners are coming in.”

As soon as his words were finished, loud-sounding carriages arrived at the square. They were steel carriages carrying sinners. The carriage, made of hard iron that sinners could not escape, had a wall of iron bars, so they could see inside.

“They’re late because there are so many sinners.”

The spectators began to speak in surprise, seeing nobles in the carriage, where the reputed noblemen of the empire were shaped as sinners. And Cain, who was in it, saw Aria staring at him, and began to scream as if he had not overcome his anger.

“Aria! Why are you there? Why?”

It was like he’d been taken away.

“You don’t know what situation you are in,” Asher murmured and got nervous.

“That’s a strange question. Why is he making a fuss when it is natural for Lady Aria to be with me as a lover? Shut him up.”

As if waiting for Asher’s order, a knight gagged Cain, but he was still screaming and struggling, and finally lost his mind after several hits in his face.

“Brother!”

Mielle cried out when she first saw Cain be treated harshly, and Isis turned her head, with her eyes closed, as the Duke stared at her from earlier.

“You don’t have to turn your head, Lady Isis, because you have to get in there, and the bill you gave to Lohan was adopted as evidence. It was neatly arranged, and I am glad to have it. I would save my time and energy due to it.”

As Asher said so and motioned to the knights, and the knights, as if waiting, stood near Mielle and Isis. They couldn’t stand up properly, but a knight pushed her back and Mielle fell flat on her face to the ground.

“Yaaah!”

If it had been only a few months ago, all the people who had gathered would have reached out for poor Mielle, but unfortunately, it was Aria who held out her hand for her.

“Mielle, are you all right?”

Asher thought that Aria was here to mock, and when she bit his lower lip, Asher shot her a hard, hostile look. The sympathy she received from her was nothing but shame and insult.

“Lady Aria, you seem too much tender-hearted. You are so kind to those who have set you up a few times.”

Asher said disgruntledly and motioned for her to return quickly, but it was not her answer that came back.

“I need a favor from you.”

“A favor?”

“Yes, it’s about Mielle, and I hope you’ll hear it, though it’s hard.”

‘What is it that you ask me earnestly? Anyway, Mielle will be executed.’ Not only Asher, but also Mielle, Lohan, and everyone who gathered in the square, was waiting for Aria to say the next word.