THE VILLAINESS TURNS THE HOURGLASS

Chapter 9. A New Meeting, Part I

Chapter 9. A New Meeting, Part I

Translator: Khan

Editor: SootyOwl

In the meantime, Sarah’s embroidered handkerchief was handed over to Mielle. She didn’t respond to the embroidery of the lily, which was so beautiful that it seemed as if a butterfly would fly out of it at any moment. This led to an increase in the number of visitors to her room. For days, Aria laughed silently as she watched all of those unfamiliar guests visit Mielle.

‘No matter how hard you try, there’s no use. It’s time for you to experience it.’

In the past, Mielle might have been superior to her since she had learned everything ahead of time, but now, it was different. Since God had gifted Aria the memories of her past and a new future, Aria was now able to present Miele the pain that she had suffered in the past.

***

Aria, who had now learned how to walk gracefully, was now so elegant that she would immediately be able to assimilate to high society if she were to go out. Considering her age, she would be quite well received. Compared to her peers of the same age, she deserved the praise of her growth.

It was the countess, Aria’s mother, who was most proud. She was very proud of her little daughter, who had previously been a mess, for her growth and change.

She didn’t wonder why she had suddenly changed because it would feel hypocritical and insecure of her to have such thoughts in her current position. She just wished that Aria would learn more than her and be married into a household that was better than hers, becoming a marquess or a duchess, perhaps.

“What do you think?”

“If you’re referring to Marquis Vicent, he has a potential suitor.”

That was precisely her teacher. Enjoying lunch in the garden for the first time in a long time, mother and daughter chatted over green tea served with dessert. The countess asked Aria repeatedly about potential husbands, but Aria would recall each time the women that they would later marry. Though it wasn’t like she couldn’t take them away, she had not thought of wanting them in the first place, so she rejected all of them.

The countess, unsatisfied with her response, admonished her. “There’s no such thing as the best partner. It’s all up to those who try. Look at your mother.”

She was the product of her efforts. However beautiful she was, it was not easy to melt the icy heart of the count. It was safe to say that there was no one who had worked harder than her. Aria laughed faintly and said, “I’m still young. I’m only fourteen.”

“About to be fifteen. A woman’s youth goes by very quickly.”

Although the countess was merely thirty-two years of age, she stared into the air as if she were reflecting on her youth.

She had been abandoned on the street as a baby, and had grown up doing all kinds of dirty work. She had taken to the brothel before her monthly period had started and worked her way up, receiving countless customers.

There had only been one way to escape that hell, and that had been to catch a rich and powerful man. Other than that, there had been no other way for her to be rescued. She had realized that at the mere age of fifteen. Afterward, she had used all means and methods possible, and played the coquette toward those with power, some of which promised ardent love for her but never returned after a single meeting. When she was seventeen years old, she met a man who wanted to take her out of the brothel. It was a baron who managed a very small plot of land, but to her, who had nothing, he was like a god.