Chapter 13. A New Meeting, Part V

Translator: Khan

Editor: SootyOwl

The miracle of the hourglass would never happen again, so eternal death would meet them. Aria, desperately imagining the end of the brother and sister pair of the Roscent family, calmed her stirred mind and body.

Moments later, the carriage arrived at a boutique that commoners visited often. It was an old and lonely place, where those who could afford the wares would visit frequently.

When Aria had announced her destination, the carriage driver and Jessie had stared at her, blinking as if they had misheard her. But, there was no mistake that this was the destination she wanted to go to. It was a boutique that dealt with middling clothes.

In order to part with the image of the cruel bitch, she couldn't be extravagant. On the contrary, it was better to show humility and frugality for the time being. It was clear that the rumors would spiral uncontrollably if she were to walk around in luxury. After all, her clothes had been burned.

The aim was to erase the rumors. From time to time, a noble needed to wear shabby clothes and stand before the public to shut the mouths of the people and make them reconsider their assessments of her personality and behavior.

"Oh, my! Contrary to rumors, it isn't Mielle, but rather, Aria who is poor. Look at that shabby outfit."

"She's finally realized her position. It looks great on her."

"Count Roscent must have been tired. Things have resolved well."

Even though Aria had risen in status, if people were to see Aria wear such clothes, it would help those who had criticized her to realize that the rumors were wrong. Of course, new rumors might arise about how she was neglected by the count, but all of that was done in order to remove her image as a wicked woman. It was clear that acting to that extreme would be effective to quell the rumors. She was only considering doing it for a short while, so she would be able to wear fancy clothes later on.

'For instance, I am supposed to appear in a very elegant and gracious dress at a debutante ball. Then, wouldn't everyone be surprised?'

In order for her to enjoy her distant future, she needed to bear the present with some patience.

It was also good to show those actions to the count. Thanks to her, the count would make a handsome profit, so he would be infuriated to see the poor attire of his benefactor. If she offered a confession of regret, saying that she was sorry for playing such a dangerous game, with tears in her eyes, he could sympathetically cry alongside his benefactor.

Since she was very excited with anticipation, her lips dried up. After Aria moistened her pink lips with her red tongue, she passed through the somewhat shabby entrance of the boutique.

"Wel...come."

The owner, who was about to greet his valuable customer, dropped the bread he was eating. Seeing the three people appear with a young girl in the middle made him realize that she was definitely a noblewoman.

After quickly wiping away the oil from the bread off his own clothes, he hurriedly greeted Aria with an affectionate face. If he were to make a mistake against a noblewoman, he would live a life full of pain for the rest of his life.

"These… May be insignificant, trifling items, but please look around slowly. "

"..."

Aria didn't care about the owner's greeting, but looked around the store. The store was filled with a wide variety of items, from shabby and ugly clothes to decent dresses.

After choosing a few clothes that were at least acceptable, she requested that all of them be wrapped. Before she entered into the family of the count, even if she had starved for three months and saved all the money in the meantime, she wouldn't have been able to buy the cheapest item in that place…

'Everyday, I walked across the storefront, admiring the clothes on the display window.'

But now, even if she bought that whole boutique, she would still have some pocket money left. Although it felt like a distant past, that all had happened only a year ago if she considered her real age. Her mother's life had turned upside-down after her wedding. Of course, although that had come at a great price, Aria still felt somewhat bitter for some reason.

On the table in the corner of the boutique, there was a tray with a steaming tea pot and cheap snacks prepared. The owner guided her to that spot and cautiously asked, "There are more high-quality clothes upstairs. Will it be alright if you don't look there?"

"It's fine. Let me just pay for what I have chosen."

"Yes, yes. It'll be ready right away. Then, please enjoy the refreshments and wait a moment."

Seeing the owner's back quickly disappear, Aria took a snack and bit it. Tasting that cheap, buttery taste, rather than hating it, she missed it. She thought it might have been better when she had been hungry, but she didn't know anything about that now, when she was being extravagant and doing whatever she wanted to do. Still, it caused her to reminisce about her past self.

The owner of the boutique did everything in his power not to make Aria wait too long, and he soon appeared with all ten items wrapped up. A knight received the packages, and Jessie paid for them.

The next stop was the general store where the hourglass was. The day's work would be done once she retrieved the completed hourglass from there and returned to the mansion.

'For some reason, I feel a bit sad.'

Looking back, she had no memory of a time when she had gone out like this in the past. All she could remember was that she had been lost in the thought of buying things. Before getting up on the carriage with a knight's help, she began to look at the people passing in front of the boutique.

Since the shop was located in a place frequently visited by ordinary people, she could see children shouting, running around in shabby, tacky outfits, and merchant stands loaded with goods from where merchants were shouting to be noticed, and several onlookers, who showed interest, were peering at the merchandise.

In the past, she used to also run and play there. She had been told not to go too far by herself, so she played in the vicinity. She had many memories of fighting with the other children, who would insult her prostitute mother, but even then, there were also fond memories of playing there.

'But how am I now?'

She was in the middle of a constant battle with those who pretended to be gracious and elegant on the outside, and who took their lives as collateral to hide their ugly selves on the battlefield. The battlefield was so horrible and painful that she wondered if there was ever a time when she felt happy.

When Aria didn't move, watching the people for a long time, one of the knights escorting her carefully asked, "Do you have another place you want to visit?"

"No, it's not that."

It was useless to look back on her old past when she could never return to it.

As she turned her head and attempted to get back on the carriage, she heard a very familiar voice, "Newspaper rent! Five shillings for ten minutes! It contains very important information, so be sure to check it out! Only five shillings!"

Aria stopped in her place and looked in the direction of the voice. There, she saw a boy holding a newspaper in his hand, shouting for customers in the streets. It was a child whom Aria knew very well; a child with whom she sometimes hung out.

Hans was the one renting the newspaper. The boy was able to feed his family with that single newspaper. He would purchase a newspaper on the first day of the month and rent it out from dawn until midnight every day after to earn a small sum of money.

Busy walking around, he always had blisters on his feet, and she later heard rumors that he ended up being run over by a carriage while working in spite of his illness.

'A newspaper.' Come to think of it, she needed some information.

Although newspapers were delivered count's household daily, the information was aimed toward the nobility, which was different from the information in newspapers targeted at commoners.