Translator: Khan
Editor Group: Liber Reverie
Until just a year ago, she had been a cheerful girl who had been covered in freckles, but now she was far from the past as a real Baroness.
Of course, there were the maids who were envious, and they also added commitment to their loyalty to Aria in order to live a better life like Annie. It was to be picked up. But Aria no longer intended to take care of the thin-eared maids who had helped Mielle in the past and laughed off the insidious behavior of the maids who did not know that.
Mielle, who was watching this from the corner without saying a word, sighed and turned her eyes out of the window. In the past, Aria’s place had been for her, but now it was not, so she had a burning feeling.
Now no one gave Mielle that look. No, rather, they treated her as an invisible human being who was nowhere to be found. They had used to flatter in front of her that Aria was vulgar.
In the eyes of Mielle, a splendid carriage entered the mansion, which must be the Crown Prince’s that had tried to somehow show off his presence with Aria from the past.
“Uh, the carriage of His Highness has arrived!”
Other maids also raised their voices with their eyes wide open as they were leaving the window open. As a result, the touch of the last decoration had quickened, and Aria was able to get ready and leave the room before he got off the wagon.
“Have you come?”
“… I thought you were coming down from the sky.”
Aria laughed a little in his response that seemed sincere and not as an exaggeration. Unlike the pretentious smile she just made, it was a sincere one.
“Oh, my God, look at the clothes worn by His Highness the Crown Prince…”
A maid, who was watching the scene from afar, spoke in a very low voice to another maid next to her.
“Did he arrange them as a set? It’s just like a set.”
“I think so. The embroidery on the collar is the same.”
“So did he send it as a gift to our lady?”
“Oh, my God, with those splendid appearances, guests will get confused about who’s getting married.”
As the maids said, the clothes of Asher had the same embroidery as Aria. Whether Aria also noticed it, she passed Asher’s hand, which politely reached out, and touched his collar.
A beautiful embroidered gold thread without any misalignment was touched by Aria’s fingertips. As she liked it, and made a gentle smile, Asher’s smile deepened, too.
“Shall we go?”
When asked again with his hand out, Aria nodded and held him gently this time. When he was about to escort her straight to the carriage and leave the mansion, Aria stopped, as if there was something she had forgotten.
“Wait a minute.”
“Do you have anything you’ve forgotten?”
“No, it’s not an item, but it’s a person.”
Aria’s eyes headed toward Mielle, who was located a little distance away. Then, as if waiting, Mielle, who came forward, bowed her head in front of Asher.
“I’ve decided to go with Mielle. It’s for a change for my mood.”
“…”
As a natural result, Asher’s face, which had just been filled with joy and satisfaction, stiffened. His face showed why this criminal interrupted his time with her.”
It was not only Asher that thought so, but the servants around them also took a sigh and cursed Mielle, who was trying to intervene between Aria and Asher.
No matter how much Aria had recommended, she should have rejected it with keen notice. ‘How dare you intervene between us even if we meet in a long time?’ At Asher’s cold blue eyes, Mielle shrunk . It was only then that she regretted that she would attend the wedding.
Aria, who had expected this from the beginning, called out Asher’s name as if she did not know.
“… Mr. Asher?”
“Do you really have to ride with her in the same wagon? I wanted to go alone with you.”
So far, only two people had moved, and the maids had used a separate carriage or they had not taken any maid at all. Asher appealed her with his eyes. Aria, who was speechless with surprise because she didn’t create the situation to see him like this, suddenly came to her senses and brought up what she had prepared to do when she heard him calling her name.
“Lady Aria?”
“I must have been a little careless. I’ve never done that before. I’m sorry, Mielle, but would you like to take Annie’s wagon? I’ve ordered them to give Annie the most spectacular carriage in the mansion, so it shouldn’t be uncomfortable. Besides, you had to move with Annie anyway.”
Aria was sure that the Baron Burboom would come to pick up Annie, but Aria smiled and said, pretending not to know it. The sudden load made Annie’s face look gray, but only her lips clenched and muzzled.
‘How can I complain about her giving the most splendid carriage in the mansion?’ Even if she did not give such a carriage, she could not vent any complaints on Asher’s face as if he were very satisfied. It was Mielle, not Aria and Asher, where Annie’s irritation headed, who would ruin her date in a long time, was directed.
“Then Annie, please take care of Mielle well.”
Aria, who smiled as if she didn’t know Annie’s irritation as Annie was surprised and couldn’t speak, got into the carriage with Asher. Annie and Mielle, both of them looked stunned by the shock. Asher, who thought strangely of Aria who glanced out the window with a significant smile, asked her if anything good had happened.
“Yes, I’ve only had good things lately. I think it’ll continue to be like that in the future. I think something fun will happen soon,” said Aria. And Asher smiled and laughed as he was flushed by her words.
“Is it related to me?”
Then he asked with a certain look of expectation. He expected that when it came to Aria’s ‘future,’ he would naturally be included.
Asher would be in the joy of her future, but he had nothing to do with this work at all, so when Aria refused to give an answer, a question came to his face. ‘What makes you so happy?’
“It has nothing to do with you, but I think my long-awaited work will finally come to an end.”
“If it’s something you’ve been looking forward to…”
As he knew all about Aria’s situation, he omitted his words. For some reason, he thought it might have something to do with keeping Mielle alive.
Aria continued, “It is as you guess. It’s revenge for the woman who put me to death. The last thing I’ve ever wished for is coming.”
“… I see. May I ask what you’re going to do?”
“There’s nothing special. I’m just giving it back the way Mielle did to me. Just like she did to me, I’m going to return it back to her.”
Aria’s words reminded Asher of the past she had confessed to and what misfortune Mielle had inflicted on Aria. In the past, Aria, who had been horribly killed, was only at the end of death to see that the nature of Mielle and the whole situation that cost her own life had been set up by Mielle.
It was the past when she had crawled into a trap without even knowing she was going to destroy herself. As soon as he realized that such was what Aria had prepared and expected, he held her hand gently with some regret.
“Is there anything I can do to help?”
“… No, I just want you not to hate me like this.”
Although she had lost her life by Mielle, she was still alive at this moment. However, it didn’t mean that what she had experienced was gone, but she could have mercy on Mielle, who had nothing more to lose and had nowhere to fall. But Aria didn’t want to do that. Although the frequency was lower than before, she used to wake up even when she was sleeping with a cold sensation around her neck. She wondered if this moment was a lie, and she doubted that it was a dream.
So she had to give back Mielle the same pain to prove that this moment was not a lie. Simply losing her life was not enough. She had to see clearly that it was none other than Mielle who was tricked by the maids and would make her crazy.
That was how she felt her life would be in the original place, not as a wicked woman who had ended her life stupidly in the past, but as a newly born and recognized Aria.