History YMMV / TheVillainessTurnsTheHourglass

* ViewerGenderConfusion: Many readers of the manwha STILL think Lippe is a boy and declare incorrectly that she and Bliss are fraternal mixed-gender twins or think the manwha changed “his” gender. This is in spite of the source novel clearly using female pronouns for her, references to them as “sisters”, [[UsefulNotes/KoreanSiblingTerminology Lippe calling Bliss “eonni”]], her royal title being “princess”, and this continuing into even the official English adaptations of the novel and manwha. To be clear, Lippe dresses very masculine and her short black hair makes her look [[GenerationXerox especially similar to her father]] [[spoiler: Asher]] so it’s understandable that readers of the manwha in particular would think she’s a boy especially before she’s properly introduced into the story. Early fan-created machine translations of the novel side story also tended to include errors in pronouns that are common to such automated translations which would mean non-Korean speaking readers that were trying to read the novel this way during the chapters original release could legitimately have read a version where masculine pronouns were used for Lippe.

** Aria. Being a self-proclaimed VillainProtagonist in a revenge-themed romance-fantasy should get her some leeway, but as she’s one of the rare examples of a “villainess” protagonist who is in fact an admitted and proud *villainess* instead of a poor innocent isekai’d protagonist in a novel, she surprisingly takes heat for, well, acting the part. Either people get invested early in her crafty revenge fantasy and watching her slowly improve herself to the point of BecomingTheMask or they find her petty and overpowered. Since she’s a reincarnated adult in the body of a child, it’s up in the air how people feel when she does some of her more childish revenge antics against Mielle, now an actual child. Since Mielle is so awful it can still be satisfying or it can come off as Aria wasting time on pointless things. The third season in particular seems to pile on Aria’s successes without her doing anything though it could be argued she only got to that point where her success is east because of her intense hard work in the earlier two seasons where she struggles more, making her last plan against Mielle more of a victory lap.

* ViewerGenderConfusion: Many readers of the manwha STILL think Lippe is a boy and declare incorrectly that she and Bliss are fraternal mixed-gender twins or think the manwha changed “his” gender. This is in spite of the source novel clearly using female pronouns for her, references to them as “sisters”, them referring to each other with female honorifics, her royal title being “princess”, and this continuing into even the official English adaptations of the novel and manwha. To be clear, Lippe dresses very masculine and her black hair makes her look especially similar to her father [[spoiler: Asher]] so it’s understandable that readers of the manwha in particular would think she’s a boy especially before she’s properly introduced into the story. Early MTLs of the novel side story also tended to include errors in pronouns that are common to such automated translations which would mean non-Korean speaking readers that were trying to read the novel this way during the chapters original release could legitimately have read a version where masculine pronouns were used for Lippe.

** Mielle. Yes, she caused Aria's death in her previous life. Yes, she's a SpoiledBrat bordering on sociopathic. Yes, she does a lot of terrible things in current timeline as well. Everyone agrees she’s bad, but the base-breaking comes from how much culpability she should have for her actions. She’s thirteen in the start of the new timeline and fifteen by the end. It becomes apparent she was being raised with intense entitlement and her own mother figure Emma suggests it’s fine to kill Aria and her mother for not knowing their places, as does her mentor Lady Isis. So this side argues the story is too harsh because Mielle would understandably act the way she does because her young age makes her easy to influence. The other side is that even at thirteen you’re expected to have basic morals and know that *murdering commoners for annoying you* is wrong. In a flashback where she first meets Aria and her mother, Mielle, at age 12, is already planning to kill them and in the first timeline, she succeeds. Even if it’s rational for a child to hate their new step family, Mielle takes this far beyond merely disliking them. Furthermore this excuse of Mielle’s age ignores that story holds Aria equally responsible for her own actions in the first timeline despite also having been deliberately given bad influences from a young age. Aria herself knows she deserved what happened to her before, that she took bad advice because of her own failings, and she has to change to fix this.

* UnintentionallySympathetic: Count Roscent. He's not a very good person - he treated his loyal and good first wife abominably because she was too "boring" for him, cheated on her with prostitutes, and left the care of their children to the household maids. When he remarried, it's to another prostitute with the explicit understanding the relationship is purely transactional and he will continue to visit brothels and largely ignore her, while in exchange she will have access to his wealth and home to raise her child as long as she keeps his home in order. Then he allows his children and staff to openly bully his new wife and stepdaughter because he still looks down on their social class. And taking the first timeline into account his neglect leads to the murder of Aria’s mother, Aria bullying Mielle seemingly unchecked, and eventually Aria’s execution. Given all of this Count Roscent would seem irredeemably awful but he actually does not seem to actively hate Aria or his new wife and he is really only grossly negligent as opposed to villainous. After he becomes [[spoiler:disabled thanks to Mielle's murder attempt]] he becomes easy to be sympathetic to as he legitimately believes Aria and her mother care for him while they plot to rob him blind and abandon him. By the end of the story [[spoiler:he's divorced, his ex-wife has run off with his entire fortune, and he now lives abandoned in a nursing home. Cain's murder and Mielle's execution for said murder finally drives him to suicide.]] This fate is so dark even Aria is shocked, suggesting the reader is allowed to feel sympathy should they choose to.

** Aria. While it's fun watching her character learn and develop in the early chapters, fandom's biggest gripe with her is how as the story goes on she basically gets everything handed to her on a silver platter, while suffering from virtually no setbacks whatsoever. She has the advantage of both past-life memories and her [[StoryBreakerPower hourglass]], which already make her overpowered within the setting, and after teaming up with Asher, who's both the crown prince and has powers of his own, easily defeating Isis, being considered WorldsMostBeautifulWoman, becoming filthy rich, turning out to have royal blood after all, thwarting rebellion, etc. etc., she reaches ridiculous levels of OP.
** Asher. Plenty of people consider him either too bland, too overpowered, be a SpotlightStealingSquad to Aria, or find his sudden {{Yandere}} attitude towards her in the second half of the story jarring.
** Mielle. Yes, she caused Aria's death in her previous life. Yes, she's a SpoiledBrat bordering on sociopathic. Yes, she does a lot of terrible things in current timeline as well. However, plenty of people point out to her wanting to murder Aria and her mother right off the bat as proof of her being completely irredeemable, while forgetting Mielle was 11/12 at the time and kids at that age are prone to extreme emotional reactions, especially when they're being encouraged by adults, which Mielle was. Not to mention how a daughter of a count in a feudal society where sex workers are looked down upon would react to getting an ex-prostitute stepmother with a daughter on her own when just getting a stepmother is difficult for a child in the first place. There's also the fact that because Aria travels back in time to when Mielle is only 13 while Aria has the mind of a 24-year-old and there’s an obvious question of how fair it is for basically an adult to conduct sometimes very petty revenge on a teenager. Of course others would argue these statements completely ignore that Mielle has plenty of agency in the choices she makes and never shows true concern for anyone except for when they’re useful to her. The story makes clear that while Emma helps Mielle out, she is the one to order her to do things and she’s perfectly happy to [[spoiler:let Emma die for a crime she ordered her to do]]. Furthermore, there’s having an extreme emotional reaction and ''planning to kill your stepsister and stepmother the first time you meet them'' and this is not simply an idea planted into Mielle’s head by adults. Looking down on sex workers isn’t a good trait regardless of societal conventions allowing it. A big theme of the story is taking responsibility for your own life - Aria acknowledges from the beginning that she was her own worst enemy and Mielle was easily able to manipulate her into her own downfall in the original timeline. Aria accepts that she must change ''herself'' if she is to avoid her previous fate and that her second chance is an opportunity. Meanwhile Mielle even to the very end is unable to accept responsibility for her own actions and always has excuses for being “forced” to do things. When actually given second chances, she chooses of her own will to sabotage them. The plan that first does her in ([[spoiler:pushing her own father down the stairs with the full intent of killing him]]) was entirely of her own design without Aria’s input or manipulation. Aria hadn’t even been directly focusing on her at this part of the story and she was actually doing well for herself because of her engagement to Oscar. And of course Aria didn’t force her to [[spoiler: dump so much poison in the tea pot that anyone drinking it would immediately die and then refuse to admit what she’d done when she still had a chance to stop her brother from drinking it.]]

* UnintentionallySympathetic: The Count. He married a prostitute single mother (implied to be a mere [[{{Streetwalker}} streetwalker]] instead of a [[HighClassCallGirl courtesan]]) despite all societal consequences of such marriage, and adopted her daughter, bringing them to his home to live alongside his children. He treats them well, providing them with the same luxuries as he does his children; during his absence his wife is the head of the household. He provides tutors for Aria when she asks for them, and while he clearly doesn't care for her as much as he does for his kids, he treats her well. At one point he misattributes Aria's idea to Mielle which is all Aria needs to swear her revenge on him. She then uses his money to built her own wealth and then covertly financially ruin him. Later [[spoiler: he refuses to side with his daughter against Aria, which is why Mielle tries to kill him. While he's bedridden and his family is ruined, his wife takes his money and leaves him to be with her wealthier and more aristocratic OldFlame. The Count's children are poisoned (Cain) and executed (Mielle) and he ends up [[DrivenToSuicide committing suicide]]. ]]Ironically, from aristocratic point of view, this entire story is a perfect example why you shouldn't ever get involved with commoners. Though from a logical perspective, all he had to do to avoid this was treat his family better.

** From a broader perspective, though, the Count only uses his wife as a prop to keep his house in order while he cheats relentlessly on her with more prostitutes and she is aware that this marriage is purely transactional for both of them. He is also shown to have treated his previous wife who actually did love him extremely poorly, being bored by her devotion, and still only treats Aria (as well as his children) well when it benefits him. His lack of attention to his family is why Mielle ends up closer to Emma and becoming as dangerous and sociopathic as she is and Cain grows up utterly incapable of handling the responsibilities of running an aristocratic household. He’s hardly guilt-free in his downfall and Aris is only a part of it.

* TheWoobie: It’s hard not to feel bad for Oscar by the end. He’s used as a pawn by his family, horrendously abused by them, and forced into a loveless marriage. He doesn’t make an attempt to stand up to them until the very end, where his refusal to join the plot spares him their fates. [[spoiler: He still loses his house and becomes an exiled commoner, though it’s implied he’ll likely be better suited to this life.]] In his final appearance he understands that his lack of courage cost him everything but is content that Aria is happy.

%%* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter: Isis. See below for more details.
* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: After Aria seems to defeat Miele after a failed plot to frame Aria, it seems like Isis and her Aristocratic Party will finally be more compelling antagonists for Aria and Asher, and provide some actual conflict in the story. Except Isis, who was supposed to be a mastermind behind Aria's downfall (to the point where Aria wasn't even aware of it) and easily overshadowed Asher in their previous life, catches a massive IdiotBall in the current timeline and holds onto it for dear life despite all the red flags around her, getting easily and anticlimatically defeated in the end without Aria even having to do anything. It makes for a lengthy part of the story that doesn’t really go anywhere and then Mielle is brought back for Aria to finally get her full vengeance on.

TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter: Isis. See below for more details.

* DesignatedHero: As noted by some readers, Aria herself wasn't a good person in her previous life, and while she was unjustly executed, she's not exactly the case of an innocent persecuted person. After being reborn she's basically a 24 year-old woman in a teenager's body (and later, due to RapidAging, in an adult body) getting revenge on a teenage Mielle, who had not yet done anything particularly heinous. Even after realising Mielle was just a child manipulated by her nanny and Isis, Aria still continues to bully and humiliate her. The fact that Mielle herself is revealed to not be a very bright girl makes Aria being duped by someone like her in her previous life, and taking revenge on Mielle in her current life reflect rather badly on her.
** In fact, several readers pointed out that Mielle herself would be a prime candidate for a PeggySue story of her own, where Aria would be considered an outright villain.
* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter: Isis. See below for more details.

** Mielle. Yes, she caused Aria's death in her previous life. Yes, she's a SpoiledBrat. Yes, she does a lot of terrible things in current timeline as well. However, plenty of people point out to her wanting to murder Aria and her mother right off the bat as a supposed proof of her being completely irredeemable, while forgetting Mielle was 11/12 at the time and kids at that age are both prone to extreme emotional reactions, especially when they're being manipulated by adults, which Mielle was. Not to mention how a daughter of a count in a feudal society where sex workers are looked down upon would react to getting an ex-prostitute stepmother with a daughter on her own when just getting a stepmother is difficult for a child in general.
*** There's also the fact that Aria keeps avenging herself on Mielle long before Mielle managed to do anything to her that wasn't the idea of Emma or Isis.
*** Of course others would argue these statements completely ignore that Mielle has plenty of agency in the choices she makes and never shows true concern for anyone except for when they’re useful to her. Furthermore, there’s having an extreme emotional reaction and ''planning to kill your stepsister and stepmother the first time you meet them'' and this is not simply an idea planted into Mielle’s head by adults. Looking down on sex workers isn’t a good trait regardless of societal conventions allowing it. A big theme of the story is taking responsibility for your own life - Aria acknowledges from the beginning that she was her own worst enemy and Mielle was easily able to manipulate her into her own downfall in the original timeline. Aria accepts that she must change ''herself'' if she is to avoid her previous fate and that her second chance is an opportunity. Meanwhile Mielle even to the very end is unable to accept responsibility for her own actions and always has excuses for being “forced” to do things. When actually given second chances, she chooses of her own will to sabotage them. The plan that first does her in ([[spoiler:pushing her own father down the stairs with the full intent of killing him]]) was entirely of her own design without Aria’s input or manipulation. Aria hadn’t even been directly focusing on her at this part of the story and she was actually doing well for herself because of her engagement to Oscar. And of course Aria didn’t force her to [[spoiler: dump so much poison in the tea pot that anyone drinking it would immediately die and then refuse to admit what she’d done when she still had a chance to stop her brother from drinking it.]]

*** Of course others would argue these statements completely ignore that Mielle has plenty of agency in the choices she makes and never shows true concern for anyone except for when they’re useful to her. Furthermore, there’s having an extreme emotional reaction and ''planning to kill your stepsister and stepmother the first time you meet them'' and this is not simply an idea planted into Mielle’s head by adults. Looking down on sex workers isn’t a good trait regardless of societal conventions allowing it. A big theme of the story is taking responsibility for your own life - Aria acknowledges from the beginning that she was her own worst enemy and Mielle was easily able to manipulate her into her own downfall in the original timeline. Aria accepts that she must change ''herself'' if she is to avoid her previous fate and that her second chance is an opportunity. Meanwhile Mielle even to the very end is unable to accept responsibility for her own actions and always has excuses for being “forced” to do things. When actually given second chances, she chooses of her own will to sabotage them. The plan that first does her in ([[spoiler: pushing her own father down the stairs with the full intent of killing him]]) was entirely of her own design without Aria’s input or manipulation. Aria hadn’t even been directly focusing on her at this part of the story and she was actually doing well for herself because of her engagement to Oscar. And of course Aria didn’t force her to [[spoiler: dump so much poison in the tea pot that anyone drinking it would immediately die and then refuse to admit what she’d done when she still had a chance to stop her brother from drinking it.]]

*** That said, Mielle has plenty of agency in the choices she makes and never shows true concern for anyone except for when they’re useful to her. The plan that does her in [[spoiler: pushing her own father down the stairs with the full intent of killing him]]) was entirely of her own design without Aria’s input or manipulation. Aria hadn’t even been directly focusing on her at this part of the story and she was actually doing well for herself because of her engagement.
* ProtagonistCenteredMorality: As noted by some readers, Aria herself wasn't a good person in her previous life, and while she was unjustly executed, she's not exactly the case of an innocent persecuted person. After being reborn she's basically a 24 year-old woman in a teenager's body (and later, due to RapidAging, in an adult body) getting revenge on a teenage Mielle, who had not yet done anything particularly heinous. Even after realising Mielle was just a child manipulated by her nanny and Isis, Aria still continues to bully and humiliate her. The fact that Mielle herself is revealed to not be a very bright girl makes Aria being duped by someone like her in her previous life, and taking revenge on Mielle in her current life reflect rather badly on her.
** In fact, several readers pointed out that Mielle herself would be a prime candidate for a PeggySue story of her own, where Aria would be considered an outright villain.
* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter: Isis. See below for more details.
* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: After Aria realizes Mielle was a just a pawn for her head maid and Isis, and executing the head maid, it seems like Isis and her Aristocratic Party will finally be more compelling antagonists for Aria and Asher, and provide some actual conflict in the story. Except Isis, who was supposed to be a mastermind behind Aria's downfall (to the point where Aria wasn't even aware of it) and easily overshadowed Asher in their previous life, catches a massive IdiotBall in the current timeline and holds onto it for dear life despite all the red flags around her, getting easily and anticlimatically defeated in the end.
* UnintentionallySympathetic: The Count. He married a prostitute single mother (implied to be a mere [[{{Streetwalker}} streetwalker]] instead of a [[HighClassCallGirl courtesan]]) despite all societal consequences of such marriage, and adopted her daughter, bringing them to his home to live alongside his children. He treats them well, providing them with the same luxuries as he does his children; during his absence his wife is the head of the household. He provides tutors for Aria when she asks for them, and while he clearly doesn't care for her as much as he does for his kids, he treats her well. At one point he misattributes Aria's idea to Mielle which is all Aria needs to swear her revenge on him. She then uses his money to built her own wealth and then covertly financially ruin him. Later [[spoiler: he refuses to side with his daughter against Aria, which is why Mielle tries to kill him. While he's bedridden and his family is ruined, his wife takes his money and leaves him to be with her wealthier and more aristocratic OldFlame. The Count's children are poisoned (Cain) and executed (Mielle) and he ends up [[DrivenToSuicide committing suicide]]. ]]Ironically, from aristocratic point of view, this entire story is a perfect example why you shouldn't ever get involved with commoners.
** That said, the Count only uses his wife as a prop to keep his house in order while he cheats relentlessly on her with more prostitutes and she is aware that this marriage is purely transactional for both of them. He is also shown to have treated his previous wife who actually did love him extremely poorly, being bored by her devotion, and still only treats Aria (as well as his children) well when it benefits him. His lack of attention to his family is why Mielle ends up closer to Emma and becoming as dangerous and sociopathic as she is and Cain grows up utterly incapable of handling the responsibilities of running an aristocratic household. He’s hardly guilt-free in his downfall and Aris is only a part of it.

* UnintentionallySympathetic: The Count. He married a prostitute single mother (implied to be a mere [[{{Streetwalker}} streetwalker]] instead of a [[HighClassCallGirl courtesan]]) despite all societal consequences of such marriage, and adopted her daughter, bringing them to his home to live alongside his children. He treats them well, providing them with the same luxuries as he does his children; during his absence his wife is the head of the household. He provides tutors for Aria when she asks for them, and while he clearly doesn't care for her as much as he does for his kids, he treats her well. At one point he misattributes Aria's idea to Mielle which is all Aria needs to swear her revenge on him. She then uses his money to built her own wealth and then covertly financially ruin him. Later he refuses to side with his daughter against Aria, which is why Mielle tries to kill him. While he's bedridden and his family is ruined, his wife takes his money and leaves him to be with her wealthier and more aristocratic OldFlame. The Count's children are executed and he ends up [[DrivenToSuicide committing suicide]]. Ironically, from aristocratic point of view, this entire story is a perfect example why you shouldn't ever get involved with commoners.

* UnintentionallySympathetic: The Count. He married a prostitute single mother (implied to be a mere [[{{Streetwalker}} streetwalker]] instead of a [[HighClassCallGirl courtesan]]) despite all societal consequences of such marriage, and adopted her daughter, bringing them to his home to live alongside his children. He treats them well, providing them with the same luxuries as he does his children; during his absence his wife is the head of the household. He provides tutors for Aria when she asks for them, and while he clearly doesn't care for her as much as he does for his kids, he treats her well. At one point he misattributes Aria's idea to Mielle which is all Aria needs to swear her revenge on him. She then uses his money to built her own wealth and then covertly financially ruin him. Later he refuses to side with his daughter against Aria, which is why Mielle tries to kill him. While he's bedridden and his family is ruined, his wife takes his money and leaves him to be with her wealthier and more aristocratic OldFlame. The Count's children are executed and he ends up [[DrivenToSuicide committing suicide]]. Ironically, from aristocratic point of view, this entire story is a perfect example why you shouldn't ever get involved with commoners.
** Had he actually treated Aria and Carin, with respect, genuine affection and had stopped his children from belittling and abusing them, things would have turned out much more differently.
*** Carin was given full control of the household every time the Count was away, which was often, and she definitely wasn't afraid to use it (see the coachman incident). Cain was shown to be disdainful of her at best (and he spent most of the time away from home as well), while Mielle never openly disrespected her in front of her father. In fact, Carin didn't even bother to scold Aria for deliberately setting fire to her own wardrobe because new Aria didn't like the garish dresses her previous self asked the Count to buy her, and immediately suggested Mielle should borrow Aria something to wear.

*** Carin was given full control of the household every time the Count was away, which was often, and she definitely wasn't afraid to use it (see the coachman incident). Cain was shown to be disdainful of her at best (and he spent most of the time away from home as well), while Mielle never openly disrespected her in front of her father. In fact, Carin didn't even bother to scold Aria for deliberately setting fire to her own wardrobe because Aria didn't like the garish dresses her previous self asked the count to buy her, and immediately went to Mielle to ask her to borrow Aria something to wear.

** Carin was given full control of the household every time the Count was away, which was often, and she definitely wasn't afraid to use it (see the coachman incident). Cain was shown to be disdainful of her at best (and he spent most of the time away from home as well), while Mielle never openly disrespected her in front of her father. In fact, Carin didn't even bother to scold Aria for deliberately setting fire to her own wardrobe because Aria didn't like the garish dresses her previous self asked the count to buy her, and immediately went to Mielle to ask her to borrow Aria something to wear.

** Had he actually treated Aria and Carin, with respect, genuine affection and had stopped his children from belittling and abusing them, things would have turned out much more differently.

* UnintentionallySympathetic: The Count. He married a prostitute single mother (implied to be a mere [[{{Streetwalker}} streetwalker]] instead of a [[HighClassCallGirl courtesan]]) despite all societal consequences of such marriage, and adopted her daughter, bringing them to his home to live alongside his children. He treats them well, providing them with the same luxuries as he does his children; during his absence his wife is the head of the household. He provides tutors for Aria when she asks for them, and while he clearly doesn't care for her as much as he does for his kids, he treats her well. At one point he misattributes Aria's idea to Mielle which is all Aria needs to swear her revenge on him. She then uses his money to built her own wealth and then covertly financially ruin him. Later he refuses to side with his daughter against Aria, which is why Mielle tries to kill him. While he's bedridden and his family is ruined, his wife takes his money and leaves him to be with her wealthier and more aristocratic OldFlame. The Count's children are executed and he ends up [[DrivenToSuicide committing suicide]]. Ironically, from aristocratic point of view, this entire story is a perfect example why you shouldn't ever get involved with commoners.

** Aria. While it's fun watching her character learn and develop in the early chapters, fandom's biggest gripe with her is how as the story goes on she basically gets everything handed to her on a silver platter, while suffering from virtually no setbacks whatsoever. She has the advantage of both past-life memories and her [[StoryBreakerPower hourglass]], which already make her overpowered within the setting, and after teaming up with Asher, who's both the crown prince and has powers of his own, easily defeating Isis, being considered WorldsMostBeautifulWoman, becoming filthy rich on her own, turning out to have royal blood after all, thwarting rebellion, etc. etc.

* UnintentionallySympathetic: The Count. He married a prostitute single mother (implied to be a mere [[{{Streetwalker}} streetwalker]] instead of a [[HighClassCallGirl courtesan]]) despite all societal consequences of such marriage, and adopted her daughter, bringing them to his home to live alongside his children. He treats them well, providing them with the same luxuries as he does his children; during his absence his wife is the head of the household. He provides tutors for Aria when she asks for them, and while he clearly doesn't care for her as much as he does for his kids, he treats her well. At one point he misattributes Aria's idea to Mielle which is all Aria needs to swear her revenge on him. She then uses his money to built her own wealth and then covertly financially ruin him. Later he refuses to side with his daughter against Aria, which is why Mielle tries to kill him. While he's bedridden and his family is ruined, his wife leaves him to be with her wealthier and more aristocratic OldFlame. The Count's children are executed and he ends up [[DrivenToSuicide committing suicide]]. Ironically, from aristocratic point of view, this entire story is a perfect example why you shouldn't ever get involved with commoners.

** Aria. While it's fun watching her character learn and develop in the early chapters, fandom's biggest gripe with her is how as the story goes on she basically gets everything handed to her on a silver platter, while suffering from virtually no setbacks whatsoever. She has the advantage of both past-life memories and her [[StoryBreakerPower hourglass]], which already make her overpowered within the setting, and after teaming up with Asher, who's both the crown prince and has powers of his own, easily defeating Isis, being considered WorldsMostBeautifulWoman, becoming filthy rich on her own, turning out to have royal blood after all, thwarting rebellion, etc. etc. she reaches MarySue levels of OP.

* UnintentionallySympathetic: The Count. He married a prostitute single mother (implied to be a mere [[{{Streetwalker}} streetwalker]] instead of a [[HighClassCallGirl courtesan]]) despite all societal consequences of such marriage, and adopted her daughter, bringing them to his home to live alongside his children. He treats them well, providing them with the same luxuries as he does his children; during his absence his wife is the head of the household. He provides tutors for Aria when she asks for them, and while he clearly doesn't care for her as much as he does for his kids, he treats her well. At one point he misattributes Aria's idea to Mielle which is all Aria needs to swear her revenge on him. She then uses his money to built her own wealth and then covertly financially ruin him. Later he refuses to side with his daughter against Aria, which is why Mielle tries to kill him. While he's bedridden and his family is ruined, his wife leaves him to be with her wealthier and more aristocratic OldFlame. Ironically, from aristocratic point of view, this entire story is a perfect example why you shouldn't ever marry lower class people.

** Aria. While it's fun watching her character learn and develop in the early chapters, fandom's biggest gripe with her is how as the story goes on she basically gets everything handed to her on a silver platter, while suffering from virtually no setbacks whatsoever. She has the advantage of both past-life memories and her [[StoryBreakerPower hourglass]], which already make her overpowered within the setting, and after teaming up with Asher, who's both the crown prince and has powers of his own, easily defeating Isis, being considered WorldsMostBeautifulWoman, becoming filthy rich on her own, thwarting rebellion, etc. etc. she reaches MarySue levels of OP.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: After Aria realizes Mielle was a just a pawn for her head maid and Isis, and executing the head maid, it seems like Isis and her Aristocratic Party will finally be more compelling antagonists for Aria and Asher, and provide some actual conflict in the story. Except Isis, who was supposed to be a mastermind behind Aria's downfall (to the point where Aria wasn't even aware of it) and easily overshadowed Asher in their previous life, catches a massive IdiotBall in the current timeline and holds onto it for dear life despite all the red flags around her, getting easily and anticlimatically defeated in the end.

** Mielle. Yes, she caused Aria's death in her previous life. Yes, she's a SpoiledBrat. Yes, she does a lot of terrible things in current timeline as well. However, plenty of people point out to her wanting to murder Aria and her mother right off the bat, while forgetting Mielle was 11/12 at the time and kids at that age are both prone to extreme emotional reactions, especially when they're being manipulated by adults, which Mielle was.
* ProtagonistCenteredMorality: As noted by some readers, Aria herself wasn't a good person in her previous life, and while she was unjustly executed, she's not exactly the case of an innocent persecuted person. After being reborn she's basically a 24 year-old woman in a teenager's body (and later, due to RapidAging, in an adult body) getting revenge on a teenage Mielle, who had not yet done anything particularly heinous. Even after realising Mielle was just a child manipulated by her nanny and Isis, Aria still continues to bully and humiliate her. The fact that Mielle herself is revealed to not be a very bright girl makes Aria being duped by someone like her in her previous life, and taking revenge on Mielle in her current life reflect rather badly on her.