The Villainess turns the Hourglass
chapter-123

Editor Group: Liber Reverie

That was the reality. She understood what Asher was saying, but it was only a wild dream. Those who sympathized with Aria nodded. Most of them were self-made after difficulties, so there were quite a few who knew the lives of the really poor ones.

“That’s why I knew it wasn’t really worth discussing.”

Aria, who briefly shed her melancholy mood in the past she didn’t want to recall, again she wore a mask of pride. At her cold words, their gaze towards Asher was not good. There was even a hint of why Investor A might have picked such an idea.

In the atmosphere of such criticism, Asher did not lose his composure. Rather, it seemed normal for him to get the thorns on himself. He took some papers out of his arms. They were documents with lots of letters on them. He lifted and showed them to the people for an explanation.

“Don’t worry. We are going to give them jobs along with their studies.”

To sum up, the plan was to provide a fixed amount of work and pay salaries in the name of a scholarship student, without hiring extra workers after constructing a school. He also explained that several people would share simple tasks in less than four hours a day so that they would not interfere with their studies.

“And we are going to be commissioned a professional job from outside and make the able students work. We will waive tuition fees based on grades and receive external investment. Ah, some people have already expressed their intention to invest.”

He continued his explanation quite plausible. There seemed to be someone to invest, even if not Aria. Moreover, given the wealth he had sent to Mielle before, he seemed to be able to do it alone, even without the investment. Someone asked, who was listening to his story.

“Do you intend to build a new school?”

“Yes, we’ve already secured the amount.”

If necessary, the budget would be organized in the imperial family, and without doing so, they would have accumulated a lot of money from what they had already done last year

The building would cost quite a lot of money to build, but the conference room was in a quandary when it was said that it had been secured. It was also because they were not as desperate to start as they had been.

Doubtfully, Mrs. Clean asked Asher, “If you have that much capital, why do you have to do this business? The idea sounds great, but you want to give the common people a chance rather than a business, and I don’t think it’s a business. Personally, I think it’s better for you to invest in other businesses.”

“That’s…”

The gaze of Asher, who was about to answer her question, went to Aria. His eyes facing her seemed to be getting thicker and thicker. Still, there was emotion in her tender eyes.

Because of that, Aria’s shoulders trembled once. ‘Why are you looking at me without answering questions?’ It was embarrassing, but on the other hand, she had a guess, which made her face flushed.

‘Don’t tell me, it’s not about me.’

Disappointment soon turned into expectation. It was Asher who had overestimated her, who was a lowly position among the common people. He had praised her for her intelligence and invited her to the meeting. He might not know the fact that she was the Investor A, but in any case, he was different from the others who neglected her without any reason.

Breaking the long, long silence, Asher answered the question. “Because I need talented people who are unspoiled. Fresh talented people, not infatuated with a desire for power.”

But the answer from Asher’s mouth was a different one than she expected. Aria’s heart, which had swelled with subtle expectations, moderated down. Her eyes were cold.

The other wife asked again, “You seem to have capital, but what’s your intention to get investment? You’re going to lose the commission again from a small profit.”

“Maybe you’ll be in the deficit. Can you cover the fee?”

No matter how much flourished the crowd gathered here with the help of Aria, the fees they were paying were much higher than usual standards.

Nevertheless, the reason they continued to praise and respect Aria, and get investment from her was that she had given support to their future projects without asking anything. ‘However, is it necessary for Asher, who has strong capital and has investors other than Aria, to be invested?’ A question came into everyone’s mind.

“I’m interested in this meeting and with the Investor A. Where can I meet these young and passionate businessmen? I’m sure you won’t lose it. You’ll be honored to have rescued the common people. And I think it will be a big contribution to your business.”

Everyone seemed to sympathize with him because they were mobilizing their family and they could not find the right talented people. Most people showed great interest when Asher added an explanation that even those who already had a job could take classes over a short period of time to learn insufficient knowledge, if necessary.

“I’d like to meet and tell Investor A about the details. There are a lot of things I haven’t told you yet.”

“… Ah.”

They put on a sour face to hear that he wanted to meet and talk with the Investor A. Investor A was an unknown figure whom no one but Baron Burboom had ever met. No information, including age and status, was available. Burboom didn’t let them know when they asked, and they couldn’t ask him because he was so angry.

“Well… I think it’ll work.”

The meeting began in earnest with a word from the Baroness Clean. Each made a recent report on his or her current business or expressed difficulties. It was very nice to see them putting their heads together to find a solution or cheering for a solution, but Aria only kept her seat quietly with an unidentified sense of disappointment.

So after the first meeting, she was in a hurry to get back to the mansion because she was in a bad mood otherwise, she heard the voice of Asher who was approaching.

“Lady, I haven’t seen you in a long time.”

As she turned around, she saw Asher smiling. When he first came in, she thought he had a really good face, but now she didn’t. Somehow his expression of indifference irritated her a little.

“I was going to look for you, but I met you like fate. Can you spare me a moment?”

Mrs. Clean, who was waiting for Aria, said, blushing her cheeks, by his big hand,

“I’ll go first. I’ll try to get back to you at the next meeting.”

Aria tried to make an excuse because she seemed to have misunderstood the relationship between Asher and herself, but the Baroness had already disappeared. The Baron of Burboom watched nervously from the entrance to the conference room where all the people had left.

“Are you offended that I hid my name?”

She tried to answer him ‘yes’, but she thought it was not the only thing. If she were offended by hiding his name, she should have asked him the truth first. But the feelings she felt were simply not enough to express that she was offended. It was because she felt disappointed that she did not know the cause.

“Would you like to take a walk and talk with me?”

He took Aria by the hand and asked. She couldn’t say no when he asked her so nicely. Moreover, she wondered how he had been doing. ‘Are you doing well or are you busy? And what’s the real identity?’

“… if you can answer my questions honestly without any further hiding.”

Asher smiled at Aria, who looked askance at him, and nodded.

Baron Burboom looked very embarrassed as he watched Aria and Asher go out hand in hand from beginning to end. It might look good on the surface, but he thought Aria was better than Asher.

“I look forward to seeing Investor A. He won’t regret it.”

Asher, who left a significant word for Baron Burboom, left the store with Aria. As soon as she came out to the eyes of the people, Aria shook off his hand coldly, and he smiled bitterly at the sight of her.

“In fact, I didn’t mean to tell you today.”

“… what?”

‘What the hell are you going to do? After you had done all this, do you still want to hide your identity?’ She was wondering if it was the trick to hide it, but Asher hurried on speaking,

“I never thought I’d meet you here in the first place. But I wanted to tell you one day. Of course, it isn’t the day I expected, but…”

Aria was shaken by his first self-mocking look. However, she was able to calm down her mind quickly because she was more curious than pity.