The Villainess turns the Hourglass

Editor Group: Liber Reverie

“Mother… are you going to a party somewhere?”

At the question of Aria, she replied, laughing loudly.

“Then what else would it be?”

“You are right.”

‘Yes, yes, I am going to the place where Isis would mourn loudly and disappear, whom I had to turn the hourglass to be able to talk when I first met. Isis would be beheaded so ugly, like my old self.’ Aria, who smiled a little and affirmed this, climbed into the carriage with Carin, and a splendid, luxurious carriage, which could not be considered a commoner’s, ran quickly toward her destination.

The mansion was located near the busy street, and it was not long before it arrived in the square. There was still a little time until the beginning, but a crowd of people surged toward it, and each one started to look at the colorful carriage that did not have a stamp on.

“Oh, my God, it’s Miss Aria!”

“I thought I’d see her when I come here, but I can’t believe she really came!”

“How beautiful she is!”

“I can’t believe she’s a commoner now.”

“What do you mean? She’s a commoner for a while, for she’s so well with the Crown Prince! Soon she’ll be the Crown Princess!”

And as she got out of the wagon, the bystanders raised their voices and couldn’t hide their admiration as if their guesses were correct. Aria waved and greeted them with a big, happy smile, and their voices grew louder and her ears ached.

“Huh…”

So Carin laughed, covering her mouth with her fan, and was about to follow the knights who were waiting in advance.

“You’re here. I was waiting. How can you make a king of a country wait?”

A familiar voice sounded and Aria turned her head, and there was Lohan, smiling and standing there.

“… Mr. Lohan?… didn’t you go back to Croa?”

“I can’t help but come on such an important day.”

It was Lohan who answered so, but he smiled a faint smile as if he was planning something else. And…

“… Chloe” murmured Carin with a surprise, who stood beside Aria, looking after Lohan.

‘Chloe? I’ve heard of the name somewhere…’ So Aria also turned, following Carin and she hardened as if time had stopped.

He looked so beautiful enough to admire. ‘Why? Why does someone exist who resembles me so much?’

It was strange indeed. Their gender and age were different, but it was as if she was looking at herself in the mirror. Aria was staring at him with a shock, lost her words for a moment, and carefully asked Chloe’s identity.

“… who are you?”

“Well…”

Carin, who was beside her, hesitated to answer as if it hadn’t been planned in advance, and Chloe, the person directly involved, looked a little embarrassed.

Lohan asked Chloe, furrowing his forehead. “Did you come to tell her?”

“… I told you before, but I didn’t mean to talk about it on the street.”

It was a space where they had prepared to help Aria to park her wagon, and had arranged knights, but it was open without being closed, and the gaze of the spectators followed.

And even though she was a humble woman, she had a great success which would last long in history and had a scandal with the Crown Prince. Therefore, they were paying much attention to her every insignificant move.

“I never meant to rush out like this.”

“That’s because Lady Aria showed up but you were just watching from afar.”

“… Your Majesty, as I said, I was going to ask for her understanding and move to the other place.”

So when he answered with a tone that said he’d ruined, he twisted his eyebrows subtly.

“Yes, I see. You mean, I’m not needed now that you’ve found her.”

“…”

“That’s too much! I found her!”

When Chloe didn’t answer as if it was true, Lohan was angry, but none of them was soothing him, and he had to remit his anger himself.

“…no way, I don’t suppose.”

Aria couldn’t hide her surprised face, as if she had guessed, after hearing their conversation. It was because she had just remembered the story of her biological father Carin had asked.

“Mother…?”

Aria called Carin to get her confirmation. Even though the answer was fixed, she hesitated to answer, because she didn’t want to say it so suddenly. As she hesitated to answer, Chloe also dared not to speak.

There was no answer, but Aria was convinced that she did not deny, tried to say something, paused and looked around in strangely silent surroundings.

“… yes, that’s right. If I’m right, it’s not something we should talk about here.”

Everyone was listening, even the knights who were waiting on a little distance. They might have the same thoughts about Chloe and Aria, who looked so much alike.

“Well, you’ll have to talk about going back to Croa, so it’s hard to tell the story here.”

“… going back to Croa? Who?”

“Who else could it be, except you two?”

“Me and my mother…? Why?”

Lohan, who had delayed the answer, smiled lightly and Aria frowned, and now she realized that Lohan had called Chloe as an heir of someone.

‘Is he a nobleman? He moves with a king of a country and is he of quite a high status? But why is he called an heir, not by his title? It is common to inherit a title, after five to ten years since someone becomes an adult.’

‘So, did Carin ask me what if I had my biological father who would help me?’ It seemed more complicated than she had thought. She was curious enough to want to postpone seeing the end of Isis.

“Lady Aria? What are you doing here?”

As she passed the time, Asher approached her as if he had arrived in advance, because despite the fact that the protagonist of the day was not her, but the crowd was looking at her.

Asher, who had been waiting impatiently for this day with great expectation, approached Aria with a very pleasant face, and quickly hardened his face when he found Chloe and Lohan. And Aria realized that he also knew everything.

“… Mr. Asher, you even knew it, too.”

Asher swallowed, embarrassed by the cold words of Aria, and Carin hurriedly defended him.

“I asked him to pretend not to know it, as I’ll tell you. I think you should hear this kind of story from me.”

“… I suppose so.”

It was better to hear the secret family story from her mother than her lover. Aria understood the situation that when Carin had worried about when to speak and had only set a date, but Lohan, who could not bear it, had come out and created this fuss. Her mother had been busy with a lot of work in the meanwhile, so she had to worry and be careful enough.

“Okay, I’ve finished guessing, but after seeing the end of the bad guys who I have waited for years, we’ll talk about it. I think our new mansion would be good for it.”

Chloe’s face brightened at that, because of the joy of visiting the place where the woman and his daughter he had so painted, lived.

“May I come with you?” Asher asked cautiously, looking quite worried.

He seemed to be worried about Aria, who suddenly had a biological father, and about what she would do after hearing that. Perhaps Aria would go to the Kingdom of Croa like Lohan’s wish.

“Yes, if you have time, as long as you don’t care. You are also involved in this matter.”

‘You might soon be a family.’ As she affirmed, Asher’s expression brightened.

“Now the sentence will be executed soon, so you’d better move.”

As Asher said, they could see wagons carrying sinners, and the crowd of spectators threw stones and cursed, but there was no sound from inside as if they had suffered a great deal of hardship in prison.

“There are some people who will be executed, and will you leave first, after seeing the sentence?”

Asher asked her because the sight of another’s head falling might later be a trauma. Among the knights, there were several who saw someone die and suffered from mental suffering.

“No, I appreciate your concern, but I’m as excited as you are about it, so I can’t leave first.”

‘I had an experience that my head was cut off, but what is the big deal?’ After Aria’s answer, they moved to a place where they could see the execution well.

* * *

It was decided to publicly punish the sinners without informing them of what punishment they would have. The execution was carried out at the same time, to inform the rebels that the miserable end was waiting.