The Villainess Turns the Hourglass

Chapter 3

The first thing Aria did after returning to the past was hire a tutor.

As Aria came from a commoner background, she had never been instructed in proper etiquette. While she had observed those around her for nearly ten years, she had enough experience to mimic the graceful mannerisms of a noblewoman, but she had refused. There wasn’t really any need. She resembled her mother, whose beauty had been enough to steal the count’s heart, and countless people lusted after her despite her lack of decorum. Her intoxicating beauty had been an essential element in making a party more entertaining, so she had always received social invitations.

Behind her back, everyone criticized her for getting more and more vulgar as time passed. However, despite the criticism, there were enough people who adored her good looks that she never felt the need to better herself.

Aria had been embarrassed at quite a few parties because of her lack of manners, but each time, a whole horde of men had been there to defend her. Now that she thought about it, however, they hadn’t actually helped her at all. Their goal had been to claim her for themselves at least once. They didn’t love or cherish her—they were simply drawn to her appearance like moths to a flame. As time passed, the men who hung on her every word each got married, some willingly and some not, to intelligent and elegant young noblewomen. In the end, not a single person was left at Aria’s side.

Aria thought back to the few men who had claimed to truly love her. There was no way for her to know whether they had been sincere. I suppose now I will be able to test those fools and find out, she thought.

At the time, she had refused to acknowledge that she had been left alone and had focused solely on making herself pretty. But now that she had been given another chance at life, she knew she had to act differently. There was nothing as foolish as considering one’s good looks an asset when they were bound to fade eventually.

“It’s nice to meet you, Lady Aria. My name is Sarah. I am the daughter of Viscount Loren.”

The new tutor, who looked to be about seventeen years old, held her skirt and curtsied politely. She was pretty in a fairly plain way. There was only one reason Aria had chosen Sarah above the other talented candidates, despite the fact that she had no experience teaching. While she was now just the daughter of a lowly viscount, she would one day catch the eye of Marquess Vincent and become his wife.

Aside from House Frederick, who shared the bloodline of the imperial family, Marquess Vincent was the most powerful nobleman there was. It was difficult to forge connections with those already at the top, but Aria considered it wise to befriend someone who would one day reach a much higher position as long as she could. Though a few other individuals fulfilled this condition, she had decided to start with Sarah, who was the easiest to approach. The innocent young woman looked easy enough to handle, like a docile lamb willing to be led to an altar to be sacrificed.

Aria, ignoring all proper etiquette, ran over to Sarah and hugged her around the waist. The young woman’s eyes widened in surprise. Aria looked up at her, her arms still wrapped tightly around her. She gave her a bright, childlike smile and began to welcome her enthusiastically. Sarah had to laugh at the girl’s cheerful behavior, which was only acceptable because Aria was still young—at least on the outside.

The countess, who was watching this happen, pried Aria off and apologized. “Please be patient with her, Miss Sarah. My daughter does not know much about etiquette yet.”

“It’s quite all right. Please do not worry about it.”

“I’ll leave her in your care.”

Sarah loved children. In Aria’s past life, she had loved them so much that she planned to have more children even after giving birth to a son, unlike many other noblewomen. Sarah believed that having many children was both a noble’s duty and responsibility, and she was famous for raising all of her children lovingly. That was why she was so forgiving toward Aria, despite the girl’s absolute lack of manners.

Once the countess left the room, Sarah and Aria sat down opposite each other and began to discuss their future lessons. “It is an honor to be able to teach you, Lady Aria. What would you like to learn the most?” Sarah asked.

Aria blinked, her long, lush eyelashes fluttering, and tilted her head. She sat in silence for a moment before fidgeting with her fingers and blushing as if she had just thought of something. Her shy mannerisms were so sweet that even Sarah felt her cheeks turning red.

“How to walk, sit, and dine properly, and… everything! I really want to become an elegant person like my younger sister Mielle, you see.”

Someone who was rotten to the core on the inside but appeared to be pure and elegant on the outside—to go up against a villainess, Aria’s only choice was to become just like her. No, I’ll be a better villainess, one who hides her true self behind a thick mask. That was how Aria had decided to live her new life.

Hearing her answer, Sarah immediately thought about Aria’s sister. Though she was still young, Mielle already had an impressive reputation for her dignity and grace. Due to the nature of the count’s work, he often invited high-ranking foreign dignitaries to the manor, which meant Mielle had been educated to become the perfect young noble lady since she could walk. As such, Sarah could understand exactly what Aria meant. It was only natural for her to want to emulate the perfect model of a lady she saw every day.

When it came down to appearances, Aria, with her more captivating eyes, clearly had the upper hand, but that was not all that mattered in high society. In this world, one’s reputation was based on their ability to display intelligence and effortless elegance.

Aria is fourteen now, right? Sarah thought. She has the exact same hair and eye color as her stepsister, yet they give off completely different impressions. Aria, despite being only a young teenager, already had a captivating charm about her. It was the kind of invaluable feature you couldn’t learn no matter how hard you tried. If the two sisters stood side by side, everyone’s eye would naturally be drawn to Aria first. It occurred to Sarah that if she was able to steadily learn proper etiquette and manners before her official debut, she could become an immensely influential woman in high society.

Sarah considered it a great honor to teach this young girl, so much so that she was extremely grateful to Aria for choosing her. Of course, Aria and Sarah were thinking along the same lines.

“It may take some time, but I will do my best,” Sarah said.

“That means I get to spend a lot of time with you, right? That makes me so happy!” Aria replied. I would love to be friends forever, future Marchioness. She smiled from ear to ear. She could tell by the way the young woman smiled back that she had made a very good impression. It wasn’t a bad start.

* * *

Aria picked up Sarah’s teachings very quickly. She had no difficulty with the lessons since she had already seen others follow the same etiquette hundreds of times before. At one point in her past life, she had secretly mimicked Mielle’s mannerisms, and since she had seen and experienced so much, it would have been stranger for her not to pick it up quickly. Only Aria knew this fact, of course. To everyone else, it looked as though the girl with absolutely no manners and decorum had suddenly learned etiquette in a very short timeframe.

As Aria sat down and rose as gracefully and lightly as a butterfly, Sarah broke out in applause. She looked ready to loudly cheer for her. “If you keep learning at this pace, you will be able to master basic etiquette by the end of this year,” she said.

“You flatter me, Miss.” Aria referred to Sarah as “Miss,” or “Miss Sarah.” There was no need for her to address the young woman so politely, seeing that Sarah was of a lower social status and had no experience as a tutor, but Aria insisted that she deserved to be respected as her teacher. With her friendly, kind, and diligent demeanor, Aria was able to capture Sarah’s heart quite quickly. She wasn’t actually very studious, but since she managed to master whatever she had been taught by the next lesson, it made her look incredibly hard-working.

Poor Lady Aria, Sarah thought. There were nasty rumors surrounding the girl. Before they had met, Sarah believed those rumors to be true without question. But now, she was embarrassed about ever listening to them. The rumors had clearly been fabricated by those who didn’t even know Aria and simply despised her for being the daughter of a former courtesan.

Sarah decided to do her best to clear Aria’s name. Although she wasn’t a social butterfly or eye-catching like the other young noblewomen, she was willing to help. There were too many nasty rumors floating around that such a young girl should never have to hear about herself.

“Lady Aria, once you’ve learned all the basics, would you like to go to a tea party?”

“A tea party?”

“Yes, tea parties are a good opportunity to expand your social circle and learn many new things.”

“But I don’t know many people, and I’m still very young…”

“Don’t worry about that. All of my friends are bound to like you, Lady Aria. And I am sure they will help you, too.”

“Miss Sarah…” Aria trailed off before hugging the young woman tightly around the waist.

As the girl sniffled into her stomach, Sarah patted her back comfortingly. She felt sorry for Aria. An innocent bud that hadn’t even bloomed couldn’t have done anything to deserve those terrible rumors.

Although it hadn’t been long since they started these lessons, Sarah found herself feeling protective whenever Aria showed signs of anxiety and self-deprecation as she compared herself to Mielle. It wasn’t as though she could be blamed for her background. Sarah thought it was terrible that such labels followed her around. It was more than a sweet, innocent girl could handle.

Sarah quickly changed the subject to something that might cheer Aria up. “How are your table manners? Have you been applying our lessons?”

“Of course! It’s all thanks to you, Miss Sarah!” Aria exclaimed with a bright smile as she looked up, her tears nowhere to be seen. Sarah had to smile as she listened to Aria talk about how she looked forward to meal times now. As she thought of the dinner from the previous evening, Aria continued to beam in return.