The Villainess turns the Hourglass
chapter-32

The meeting took as long as five hours because of a small boat ride by the lake. Nevertheless, Aria, who had kept her soft expression the whole time, suddenly felt a strange feeling as she climbed onto the carriage, receiving an escort after the meeting had barely ended.

“… Who are you?”

“Yes?”

“That’s not the same coachman. Why has the driver changed?”

It was not the driver who had accompanied her when she had left the mansion. It wasn’t the face she had seen at a glance during the day. Perhaps not aware of the fact, Jessie’s eyes widened.

Aria pulled her feet off the stairs to carriage and headed around to the driver’s seat. With his back bent beside the horse, he did not raise his face, so she stared unspokenly at him.

He was shivering slightly. The escort knights also looked perplexed, as if they had not noticed him.

As the eyes of the three turned to him, the driver flinched once and replied as if he was going to wither away, “Su-suddenly, he said he had a stomach ache, so I’m here to replace him…”

“He had a stomach ache? Suddenly?”

“Yes, yes…”

“The man who had a stomach ache went back to the mansion and traded places with you?”

When she pointed that out sharply, he waved his hand and strongly denied that, “Oh, no! I heard it happened after he went home for lunch!”

“… So, you’re saying that he went home without my permission. I’m sure he should’ve eaten the lunch provided by the mansion.”

“Well, well, that’s… I’m not sure either. I’m just here to pick you up on his behalf because his wife informed the mansion in a hurry…”

The driver’s back became damp, and the color of his clothes became darker. The new driver didn’t seem to be ill, but he was sweating too much, so she wondered if he was. It was weird. The situation was weird, and the excuses were strange. She couldn’t help but wonder.

Aria ordered the two escort knights and Jessie to check the face of the driver. “Make sure he is a driver from the mansion.”

“He is. His name is Elect. He’s been working in the mansion for over thirty years. He’s worked long enough to reach retirement.”

“Really?”

When she heard Jessie’s words, she slowly revived her memories of the past, and she felt like she had seen him once or twice when she had passed by the stable, although she had never met him in person. Her feeling that something was odd was clouding her memories, so she couldn’t remember him.

This ensured his status, so she knew he was not suspicious, but…

“Why didn’t either of you report to me first?”

‘By the way, why didn’t they report it to me?’

Aria was their master now, no matter how urgent or important their affairs. They should have asked her to be excused. Furthermore, even if they had traded places due to unavoidable circumstances, they should have reported it to Aria before doing it.

If she hadn’t had a good eye, she wouldn’t have known that the driver had changed and would have entered the carriage. If it hadn’t been a driver that had worked in the mansion for thirty years, and it had been an assassin… Aria shook her head faintly at the supposition that she hated to imagine.

‘What on earth is the purpose and intention of this man? Was it simply a trick to deceive his master?’

It was an incomprehensible act no matter how she thought about it.

Aria’s expression lost in thought grew colder and colder, and the driver’s voice grew more panicked.

“It-it was very urgent…”

“Oh, really? That means that if something urgent happens, you can throw away your master and run away.”

“Would you guys do that?” When Aria asked the knights and Jessie, they desperately denied it, saying they would never do that.

Aria’s mouth twisted.

“They say they wouldn’t do that, so the drivers must be very unusual.”

‘How could the two drivers behave the same way?’

She handed a handkerchief to the driver, who was dripping with sweat as if he had been soaked in sweat or caught in the rain. Aria smiled so sweetly that his vision blurred, as if he had been charmed.

“When you go back, tell the countess of your sins clearly. You as well,” Aria added after turning to the guards.

Because both her speech and expression were soft, they belatedly realized that they were being reprimanded.

Those who watched her party from afar would think that they were talking warmly to each other, though the content of their conversation was unknown.

“Why didn’t you know that the driver had changed? Who the hell are you escorting? Do you think you’re on a picnic?”

They had not known that the driver had changed thought they should always be on alert, watching the surroundings to help keep Aria out of danger. The knights, who had nothing to say and could not answer, kept their eyes on the ground.

‘Why are the knights we employ so useless?’

She wanted to be angry in her own personality, but she could not, so she got on the carriage, suppressing her irritation. There were enough slaves to make fools of two knights. After her, they followed, and Jessie climbed into the carriage as well.

‘… Miss, shall I take you to the jewelry store?’ Jessie asked her carefully in that harsh atmosphere.

Aria nodded silently, looking out the window. The carriage began to move slowly after Jessie’s delivery of the destination.

Somehow, its movements were rough, which was unusual. It also seemed to be creaking. They had sent a fool who didn’t even know how to drive a carriage! A sigh of frustration escaped her chest and rang in the quiet carriage.

Once the count returned, she would ask him to change the knights immediately.

‘Why was every one of her escorts incompetent?’

When there was danger, the rug was pulled from underneath them, and they weren’t even able to detect changes in their surroundings. She thought it would be safer to have a private escort.

‘I don’t think anyone sent this driver on purpose.’

At the moment, such a thought came into her mind, and Aria’s eyes opened a little wider.

‘… Don’t tell me. It wasn’t intentional, or was it? Why didn’t I think about that? So far, Mielle has eaten her heart out with anxiety, but it would be strange and out of character for her to remain that way.’

Although the methods were slightly different, it wouldn’t be strange at all for that to be her doing, even if she moved things up by a few months.

No matter how much Aria had changed, they would not hold good feelings toward her. They were not just servants in charge of cleaning and managing the mansion. They were servants directly under Mielle’s control.

They knew exactly who had caused their master to sigh. Even if they hadn’t known, Mielle would certainly create a reason for their animosity with a single drop of one of her tears.

They who supported Mielle were the most capable and influential figures of the mansion, and it would not be difficult for them to win the butler over to their side to make sure he picked stupid escorts for Aria if they wanted to.

Aria went through the guards sitting opposite her. They had straight postures and firm mouths, and their intelligent eyes proved that they were valiant knights.

Sometimes, however, the way their eyes shook made her wonder if they were emotionally unstable.

‘Have I really been playing in Mielle’s hands without even realizing it?’

Mielle was playing dangerously, not like the carefree bullying of the past.

Not everyone would be intelligent and able enough to be a knight. Some of them might be excellent, but some might be emotionally unstable, and others might be distracted by their surroundings. Some might even perform poorly.

‘What if my escorts are those types of people?’

If she didn’t face any particular danger, it would not matter, so she would end up just letting it pass, but if she did, she might lose her life. They might throw her away like two knights who had done that after being threatened not too long ago.

Her whole body was horrified when her thoughts got that far.

‘… Mielle, what a bitch you are!’

If her prediction was correct, Mielle was the worst among the bad bitches. Aria had thought Mielle had been filled with anxiety from her silence, but she had slowly planned putting Aria’s life in jeopardy, little by little.