The Villainess turns the Hourglass

Editor Group: Liber Reverie

The question was how to take her next to him for what reason, or to which position.

Giving a job to a woman was unusual and more likely to have a counterattack later. Aria, moreover, had no particular accomplishments or learning. There was no reason to hire her.

The only way left, then, was to keep her as a woman beside him. However, if he thought about her origin, he was sure that they would be quite noisy. If she had some support, she could stand it, but could she survive with nothing?

‘What am I thinking?’

Then he suddenly realized that he was thinking nonsense. He couldn’t believe that he would try to put Aria beside himself when he was too busy getting engaged to the princess. And he was shocked that he liked it very much.

‘I thought I am the type of man who is not bewitched by a face… but I keep coming up with her face.’

Come to think of it, it was. Her face came up to his mind at any time. It was not a situation where her face would come to his mind, but it had come up, like, right before bed, or wake up in the morning. Sometimes it even popped out in his dreams.

‘The mere sight of the princess annoyed me; it’s amazing.’

Then, when his thoughts reached Princess Isis, he judged that all of her thoughts and minds were useless. When he thought about it, the reality was that he played a tug-of-war with the Aristocratic Party led by the princess. It was impossible to even put Aria in the selection list in the first place.

Asher shook his head to come out of his thoughts. And he lifted Vika’s report again in his hand. This was not the time to think like that.

* * *

Since she had turned over the hourglass three times in a row and did not sleep properly, Aria had to rest for three days. Even though she woke up after a whole day’s sleep, it was hard to move her body. Anyway, if there was such a consequence after using the hourglass, it would be better to take a rest the next day.

When she visited the casino again, two casino employees followed her. This was because the amount of chips that she had was large. Fortunately, no one recognized her by wearing a wig and thickening her make-up, but there was an occasional look at her because two employees followed her. Nevertheless, she never suffered from mishaps thanks to her casual behavior.

“Oh, my God… Miss! 50,000 Gold is collected! I can’t believe it!”

On the wagon back to the mansion, Annie raised her voice without even touching a 50,000-gold check. Although the amount was still far short, she exchanged all the chips with a check, judging that it was hard to make any more money at the casino.

“Aren’t you going to the casino anymore?”

“Yes, it’s not a bad start.”

It would not be possible to buy the whole amount, but she could buy it enough. Sugar, which would become a luxury and necessity for aristocrats after the trade route was blocked, prices would soar. At that time, she was planning to make a profit by releasing supplies.

“So, did you say your brother was working in an inn?”

“Yes? Yes, miss.”

“Can I hire your brother? I’ll give him enough money. Of course, I’ll pay you an honorarium for helping.”

Annie nodded with a look of anticipation at the word “honorarium.”

“Of course! He used to say that the job at the inn was boring! When do you want me to call him?”

“Bring him right away. There’s so much to do.”

“Yes! Miss!”

It was the very next day that Annie, who had answered courageously, brought her brother.

His name was Andrew. He looked similar to Annie, but he was tall with clean skin without freckles. It was a good appearance to deal with people. Aria offered him to double the salary he had received at the inn. Andrew’s face turned red as well, whether he seemed to have been treated fairly well at the inn.

Of course, keeping a secret was a prerequisite. When Aria said that if he didn’t keep it a secret, his sister would be in trouble, Andrew’s face was briefly lost in the dark, but as she said if he kept it well in secret, she would guarantee his future that he didn’t regret, his face returned to the original state.

“Do you want me to buy sugar?”

“Yes. Buy as much sugar as you can. The more you get at a lower price, the better, but you don’t have to bargain if you can’t afford it.”

“If that’s the case, I’m the expert! Don’t worry.”

It was not otherwise difficult that he was able to complete the mission shortly. It seemed that the word “expert” in the field was true, and he contracted for a large amount of sugar at a lower price than the market price, which had been on the verge of being delivered directly to the store by the wholesaler.

It was because he had coaxed an employee secretly without the owner’s recognition. Andrew said that he had been able to buy most of the sugar in the warehouse, as he had advised the employee to take the difference and quickly smuggle it in. Maybe Andrew had done the same work at the inn.

‘Maybe the employee thought he could bring it in soon. Can he really do that?’

So Aria gave Andrew a very small amount of grace. She only gave him a present for one of her jewels, but he was delighted as if he had the whole world like Annie. He seemed as easy to handle as his sister.

After storing the collected sugar in a rented warehouse, she waited for the right time, that day when everyone would be thirsty for sugar. Aria put a cake with sweet syrup in her mouth, recalling the past when the import had been blocked and it had soon become a reality. It was dessert after dinner. There would have been a huge amount of sugar in it, too.

From time to time, the merchants had to supply it to the aristocrats who consumed a lot of sugar every day, but sooner or later, it would all run out soon. Since she had bought it from a wholesaler, if the store ran out of everything they were selling, there wouldn’t be any more supply.

And the count was very kind enough to tell her the beginning himself.

“And it turns out… we’ve had quite a headache lately.”

“What’s going on, honey?”

“There’s a rumor going around that foreign business groups have not contacted us one by one.”

“Oh, my God. What do you mean?”

The countess asked back with an exaggerated look of surprise. Despite not knowing the details, she was giving an appropriate response. As expected, she looked like a woman who had risen from prostitute to the countess. Mielle, who had hidden her true nature and hoovered his love up alone, also showed her concern. She had always inspired the count into opening his mouth.

“So it’s a big deal, isn’t it? How can they do such a rude thing?”

“That’s why I’m so worried. I guess some of the aristocrats who have been doing business with me have also been in the situation.”

‘Alas, you should have been good to me earlier. Why did you lie to me? You have been hated by me who has the most information.’

Aria thought, licking the syrup on her lips.

‘No matter how much sugar they put in, can this syrup be so sweet? Perhaps the count’s anguish is added in it and is it sweeter? So, can I enjoy this sweet dessert every day if I make him always painful?’

Aria asked, with a somber look on her face. “Well, what happens now? If it were imported from a foreign country, it would have been almost in a monopoly… Do you think that there will be a mishap like a loss of supply?”

The count smiled affectionately at her, as it was pessimistic but she pointed out the future fairly well.

“Maybe. I think it’s likely to be the case. If it were simply a change of account, the worst would not happen.”

“I hope you can find a solution soon and get out of the crisis even if the worst happens.”

“If you help me, I might be able to solve it soon.”

The count seemed to be quite trusting and counting on Aria. He even said, “Please help me.” But Aria had no intention of helping him at all. She wanted to see his face that would be distorted by her interference.

“So, not long ago, Mr. Oscar sent me another present.”