Chapter 40. The Secret Of The Hourglass, Part I
Translator: Khan
Editor: SootyOwl
Aria, who opened the door and took out the well-hidden box inside, put the box on the table.
'My benefactor, savior of my life.'
When she opened the lid and touched the hourglass, she felt a little relieved.
'It's all right.'
That stupid woman who'd been decapitated in the past was no more. There was only a pioneer, who would kill the demons that would later kill her.
While she comforted herself for a moment, she heard Jessie's voice, followed by a careful knock on the door.
"Miss, I have someone ready to deliver the goods."
"Really? Come in. You prepared everything earlier than I thought."
The letter was not ready, so she took out the paper the owner of the jewelry shop enclosed with the brooches. There were as many as five sheets of paper in the case. Fortunately, without making any mistakes, Aria only used one of them. She briefly expressed her gratitude without writing anything profound.
[Oscar Frederik,
I don't know what to say for your gift of thanks for my handkerchief.
This is a small token of sincerity, so please accept it.
Aria Roscent.』
She wrote it all down briefly. The brooch was being sent by a poor young lady in plain clothes, so he would surely respond without accepting it.
"How's the handwriting?"
"You wrote it in a kind and beautiful style."
'When did she even practice handwriting like that?' Jessie's eyes widened because she hadn't seen Aria writing anything down before or practicing.
Her handwriting had become naturally calibrated as she had grown older, and it eventually became quite worthy to see. Of course, that meant that her handwriting was better than those of the young ladies of her age. It was still clumsy and sloppy when compared to adults, and that was when she remembered that she had always had someone to help her or to write for her as a ghostwriter
'It'll be weird if my calligraphy is too good.'
Aria contentedly ordered the envelope to be sealed.
"Please, deliver it with the gift."
"Yes, miss."
Jessie organized what was on the table and sealed the written letter in an envelope. She carefully packed the box with the gift so as to prevent it from being twisted or broken, and stamped the seal of the Roscents on the lid to announce the sender.
It was not a fancy package, so it would be seen as a simple and neat gift. Unlike the present he had sent, it was also small in size. No one would expect a very expensive brooch to be inside that package.
"Tell him to deliver it as soon as possible."
"Yes, miss."
That way, she would be able to see Mielle's distorted face as soon as possible.
Jessie left the room, and Aria pulled the hourglass out of the box. The thing was the size of her palm, and she wanted to see if it was OK.
It was perfect, without a grain of dust on it, thanks to the fact that she completely hid it in a box that no one could touch. Aria turned the hourglass over and put it on the table to make sure the sand was falling through well.
Then, the grains of sand, glistening as finely as snow, fell gently down. When she found out that the hourglass was operating safely, Aria was a little relieved and leaned against the back of the chair, breathing out a small sigh.
It was then that... "Shall I bring more tea?"
"... Huh?!"
It had just been a moment of relief, but when she turned her head, startled by the sudden voice, she found Jessie standing at the threshold of her room.
'Why? Why is she back inside when she just stepped out of the room? I never asked her to come in. I can't understand why she's back in here.'
"I didn't call you. What's going on? Did you forget something?"
Aria thought Jessie might have forgotten something. She could not have gone down to the first floor so quickly to have come back after delivering the package. When asked about it, Jessie looked puzzled.
"Yes? I was just waiting for you to write the letter."
"What are you talking about? You just took the letter."
"..."
Jessie didn't answer anything, just blinking instead. 'Are you out of your mind?'
Aria, who shook her head and looked away, suddenly realized that she had something in her hand.
'... A quill? Why?'
And the letterhead was on the table. There was a piece of paper with [Dear Oscar Frederik] written on it.
—————–
"This... What is it?"
'Why is this in my hand? And why is the letter paper on the table again? Didn't she just take it? Rather, why am I writing the same letter again?'
Aria looked at Jessie questioningly, but Jessie couldn't answer anything. Jessie was just looking at her master's sudden expression, unable to understand why Aria was saying that.
Pow!
Aria, who nervously slammed the quill down onto the table, waved Jessie out.
"Just deliver the goods as soon as possible."
".... But-but, I need a letter from you."
"You took the letter, didn't you?"
"... No. No, I didn't take it," Jessie answered with a flinch at Aria's biting reaction. It seemed that Jessie was remembering that Aria would find fault with everything in the past, making a lot of trouble for her.
"... Jessie."
Aria's eyes grew sharper. If Jessie talked back once more, Aria would start throwing things at her. Of course, the present Aria had no intention of doing that, but she was thinking that she should act as Jessie expected of her.
But, Jessie couldn't just go out. So, she gathered great courage to open her mouth to speak again, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry, miss... but you have to give me a letter so that I can send the gift."
'Even though she was young, was she already going senile?'
Aria sighed and took the quill back into her hand. Jessie, like she had been in the past, was very stubborn. So, even when she had been shaking with fear, Jessie had sometimes scolded Aria, who had truly been a wicked child.
"Hoo... OK."
Aria would like to enjoy that day's victory, and she didn't want to upset herself with such a trifle, so she wrote the letter again, thinking that Jessie must have gone mad all of a sudden.
Soon, Jessie, who sealed the envelope with a pale face and pocketed it with the gift, hurriedly left Aria's room. After she went out, Aria watched the hourglass drop its last grain of sand. As expected, there seemed to be nothing unusual.
She didn't like the messy things on the table, so she sorted them aside and suddenly she noticed something strange.
'By the way, why are there four pieces of letter paper left?'
Because Jessie had insisted that she had not taken the first letter, Aria had used up two pieces of letter paper. So, there should've been three pieces of letter paper left, as she had written on two of them. But no matter how many times she counted the letter paper pieces, there were four.
'Why? Why?'
She thought about it for a long time, but she couldn't find an answer. Then, she came to a conclusion: She might've counted the number of sheets wrong at first.
'... That's the only answer.'
But there was another strange thing. Obviously, Jessie, who had taken the brooch before, took it out of the drawer, where she had temporarily stored it, again.
That was extremely weird. 'Did she put it back in the drawer without me seeing it?'
Aria had only had one box prepared for the gift, but she saw it with her own eyes that Jessie had taken the brooch out again, even though she didn't see her put it back in the drawer.
'... What the hell is going on?'
She was so confused by things that she thought a ghost might be playing tricks on her, or something that she couldn't understand was happening.
'Maybe... Is it me, and not Jessie, who's crazy?'
It was strange, but she soon dismissed it as a mistake because she was tired. Sure enough, her mind went blank, her eyes closed, and there came a yawn.
'I guess it's because I'm tired. I need a little rest.'
There was nothing in a particular set for later. There would be no visits from her tutors, and there was quite a bit of time left before dinner.
'It would be OK if I got up after a short nap.' Aria lay herself on her soft bed without changing her clothes.
Aria, who closed her eyes to the beckoning of sleep, soon fell victim to it soundly.