The Villainess turns the Hourglass

Slightly disheveled and with a sweet smell of alcohol permeating about her, the countess was being served by her maids, who were removing her clothes and ornaments from her body. Then, she stretched out on her bed with nothing on. She was not asleep, so she had plenty of room for conversation.

“I have something to talk to my mother about, so everyone, get out.”

Aria, making all the servants who were massaging her body and face leave the room, sat by the countess’ head and fiddled with her shiny hair.

The countess, who knew she was affectionate only when she had a request, slowly blinked her drunken eyes and asked her reason, “… What’s the matter?”

“It’s not a big deal, but I think I should tell you because it happened under the Roscent name. I almost had a big accident earlier.”

“A big accident?”

“A carriage accident. I was almost hurt.”

The drunkenness on her mother’s face suddenly lifted, when she heard that her only daughter had nearly been into a major accident. There was still a flush on both of her cheeks, but the clear look in her eyes made Aria feel her mother’s affection, which had a mixture of anxiety and worry.

Aria smiled a little at this, and her mother frowned.

“Explain to me what you are saying. You almost had an accident?”

“I almost had a big accident. My stupid driver came home without his master’s permission and got food poisoning while eating lunch, and the driver who replaced the stupid one brought a broken carriage. It was as if he had done it on purpose.”

Thanks to that broken carriage, her hips and back were still tingling a little. The countess’ face showed a horrified expression when Aria said that they had been very rude and had not admitted their guilt.

“If that’s true, I can’t forgive them.”

“Nothing of it was reported to me. But, forget me. Mother, who is the master of the mansion, also did not receive any reports of the events.”

“…”

“Maybe the mansion still considers my mother and me to be useless beings. I’m terribly sad.”

Though needless to remind her of that, it was true enough to provoke the anger of the countess.

The countess dressed straight away and called for all the servants and maids of the mansion. Not long after her call, they gathered in the hall on the first floor. Unlike the usual languid looks that were directed at them, those who first saw the countess’ sharp and resolute eyes looked puzzled. Of course, some of them were even terrified, shaking uncontrollably, like the driver that had teased Aria earlier.

The countess’ mood was ominous, and all the servants and maids closed their mouths and looked down at the floor when they saw her. Breaking that silence, the countess began to tell everyone about what had happened that day and asked them whether it was true or not.

“… So, is it true that the driver named Yagi left his station without asking Aria for permission, and that another driver headed for the mansion on his behalf, but also made no report, even taking the broken carriage and nearly causing a major accident?”

The countess’ gaze reached Elect, and dozens of eyes fell on him because he was the only one to question.

Elect slowly began to make an excuse, as if he had prepared himself to handle all these questions and eyes alone.

“It-it happened so suddenly that I think I took the wrong carriage…”

“You took the wrong carriage… Then, the transportation manager who made you take the wrong one must have neglected his job.”

When the countess tried to pass the guilt onto the transportation manager, he jumped up and countered that it would’ve never happened that way. His face turned red, and he looked distraught by the false accusations.

“It couldn’t be! In the first place, we keep broken carriages in a different storage area! The carriage taken by Elect was stored away from the main building!”

“Is that true?”

“Yes! That’s been a rule since the inception of the family, and everyone on staff knows about it!”

With his impassioned response, those who supported his statement nodded, affirming that he was right. Everyone had known of it without even asking, so there would’ve been no need for it to be repeated.

The countess was driving the driver into a corner quite smoothly. Aria, who watched the situation quietly next to her, mentioned a man who was not involved in the matter to drive the driver into a swamp the driver would be unable to get out of.

“Mother, isn’t it the butler’s job to direct the servants to work, so wouldn’t he be the one who ordered it? Otherwise, the driver wouldn’t have taken the broken carriage.”

‘Did the butler really do that?’

Frank, the butler, was a man who had worked in the mansion for years and had devoted himself in body and mind to the family. Everyone thought Aria’s statement was ridiculous, but it wasn’t impossible, so they waited anxiously for his excuse.

“…”

Unfortunately, however, he soon failed to assert his innocence. ‘Is the butler involved?’ Based on her past experience, Aria had thought him to be a neutral party. Now, she was not sure he was not involved in this.

He was an unexpected participant. Even Aria looked at him with doubt, and in that instant, he spoke of his incompetence with a dark, dead face, “I’m ashamed to tell you, but I didn’t know of this until just a moment ago… even though it’s my job to know and manage everything that’s going on in the mansion. I just thought Yagi came here for lunch because Miss Aria gave him permission, and that Elect traded places with him in a fine carriage. Of course, I thought they hadn’t forgotten to make their reports. I didn’t doubt the events because it was the natural thing to do. I’m so sorry.”

After he finished speaking, he bowed deeply and admitted his faults, remaining bent over even as time passed.

“Did you have any idea about this? What should we do?” A lament came from someone’s mouth. It was not just one or two who were surprised by his mistakes, he who had always managed the mansion wisely.

Aria glared at him for some time. That was because she was worried about whether to let him go or save him, along with the drivers.

He was not a friendly man to Aria and her mother, but he was not neglectful of his work or partial to anyone. She thought that if he was at least neutral, he wouldn’t disturb her.

‘Shall I save him?’

Moreover, on the outside, it would be good if most people in the mansion to followed the butler and trusted him.

“He’s always been neat about his work, so there’s no question there. I can’t help but think that they purposely orchestrated this to avoid his eyes. I’m sure they did it because they don’t trust me. I’m so sad.”

When Aria finally uttered a word of defense for him, the butler trembled once. He didn’t seem to have thought that she would help himself.

The butler, who had been saved by Aria, was removed from this matter, and all the blame was placed on the drivers. Aria looked over at Mielle, who was standing hard faced in a corner a little away from the countess.

‘Now, Mielle, how are you going to respond to this?’

“I’d better call the Capital Guards.”

Inevitably, the countess asked back, surprised by Aria’s words, “The Capital Guards?”

“If the driver intentionally picked the broken carriage… There had to be a scheme to harm me. I returned safely to the mansion, but if things had gone wrong, the carriage could have collapsed, and I might have died. Besides…” Aria continued, looking around at the crowd in the hall, “If the butler didn’t know of it, that means they had planned to harm me on purpose.”

Everyone’s face looked shocked by the terrible conclusion. In fact, that was the most plausible conclusion. They didn’t like Aria, so it had all been planned.

Of course, there were only a few parts missing from the wagon and not enough to cause a major accident, but only a few people knew about that. In addition, there was an assumption that it had happened that way, so no one could plead for the driver, except for Mielle, who she assumed had orchestrated that situation.