Lady Misfortune: Daddy, I'll Be A Righteous Villainess!

For the past year, all that Lady and Sarah would do was argue.

Everyone in the academy already knows about their steamy rivalry by this point. They even caused a huge portion of the student populace to split into two groups – a whole fan club dedicated to Sarah, and an entire army that fights alongside Lady. It may seem like an absurd exaggeration. But it's definitely a beef that's starting to turn into some evergreen headliner in the school publication.

While all of these are happening, Weiss and Fallon would work in the shadows. They make sure that their fight isn't going to attract the faculty staff's concerns. It was so that Lady wouldn't have to earn Maximilian's wrath again. They also didn't want Sarah to try to summon Regina once more.

"How long will this continue? Until we graduate?" Weiss wondered out loud. 

"Maybe until she's fully convinced that none of this is going according to what she wants," Fallon said, nodding in Lady's direction.

"The only thing that has seemed to line up is their vendetta against each other, though I don't think it's truly helping either of them. Even that advice column isn't showing progress. Lady said she's playing matchmaker. But even now, she isn't able to hook her up with any of the boys yet. If anything, she's only getting better in flirting and messing around."

"Oh, right. That love advice thingy. You think she even reads that crap?"

"Most likely. I recall her asking me about it once. Also, don't call it crap."

"What did she ask?"

"Just like the others, she wanted to know the real name of the student behind the column. I didn't tell her, of course. She looked quite determined to find out, though. So, I made sure that those who knew won't say a thing." 

Fallon turned to look at Weiss, then.

Now that he said it, he remembered having a similar experience. Sarah had approached him one time, too. She had made the same inquiry – if he knew who 'Claudia' really is. He figured that she decided to go to him because he's close with Weiss, the editor-in-chief of the school publication. Pretending to be just as oblivious, he only shrugged the question away. 

He had thought that she would try to interrogate Lady after that. Yet, knowing those two, he had doubted that Sarah would even attempt to. 

"Speaking of which, aren't you two supposed to be working on that column?"

"Well, yeah. That's the plan. But as you can see, it might get called off."

"Hmm… In that case, won't it be a bad idea if Lady stays there longer?"

"What do you mean?"

"That idiot is a clumsy and forgetful idiot, Weiss. She's risking exposing herself at this very moment."

And as if Fallon had just jinxed it, Sarah caught sight of the letter that Lady had been reading. 

It's an email, displayed on the screen of her laptop. She was too busy drinking her second cup of coffee when she got a glimpse of the content. It's a message, asking for some sort of love advice. She didn't get to read too much since the monitor had already shut off.

Curiosity piqued, she scanned the folder on Lady's table next. She recognized that what's inside was a printed copy of the latest issue of the campus newspaper. 

"Hey, you…" she called out to Lady, narrowing her eyes in suspicion. 

"By any chance, are you part of the-"

Then, the doors slammed open, causing both of them to jolt in surprise. 

Lady almost spat out her coffee while Sarah flinched in her seat. The two swerved around to see who just barged in – and there, they found a group of upperclassmen they're familiar with. The first ones they recognized were Orion and Glenn.

And with them are the other members of the Student Elite Society.

'Oh, heck no,' they thought then, sharing the same reaction. 

Lady tried to hide her disdain with a plain, blank expression. Sarah, on the other hand, made a look of displeasure.

"And now, there's one more reason for her to get out of there," Weiss muttered, eyes trailing after Orion and Glenn.

"Oh, it's the SES. How unusual of them to come together like this," Fallon commented.

"They go here every once in a while to study – some of them, at least. This is the first time that those two, in particular, had come along, though."

"How did you know? You often get coffee here?"

Weiss stiffened at that. 'I make coffee here rather than get one,' was what he thought. Of course, he couldn't say that to Fallon, so he just nodded. He raised a brow.

"You didn't tell us you know a cool place like this. We could've hung out here from time to time…" Fallon said, smirking.

"Don't get me wrong. The bakery's pretty cool too. But this café may be a nice change of setting, especially since Lady's been addicted to coffee lately."

"R-Right…" Weiss blurted out a bit nervously, finding that a bad idea.

"Let's put that aside for now, though. We still have a situation to deal with."

Back inside the coffee shop, Lady and Sarah, being the only customers there just a moment ago, were instantly noticed. Their upperclassmen were just about to order at the register by then. Yet, as soon as Orion saw them, it was only a matter of time before Glenn and the others saw too.

"Sarah? And Ms. Mireille?" he breathed out, astonished to find the both of them together – alone.

Lady quickly looked away, pretending she didn't see or hear anything. For once, Sarah envied her nerve.

'To treat an upperclassman like a total stranger, how bold.'

She could not do that – not when she knew she had a past with this guy. He was close to winning her heart back then. She even let him act like her boyfriend for some time even though their relationship was not official yet. It was just too bad that she changed her mind – she realized he was not her type after all.

"Hello, Orion. It's been a while, hasn't it?" Sarah greeted. 

She has to be nice.

Even though she only sees him as nothing more than a friend now, she still has an image to uphold in front of these people. To her relief, she isn't known a charmer for nothing –

Which is, apparently, still true even for someone whose heart she had broken. Orion is blushing. Just from that simple greeting alone, he's already blushing. Sarah forced herself to smile, ignoring it. 

"Sarah?! Is it really Sarah?!"

Then comes another guy on her 'Rejected' list. 

Glenn rushed to their table and stood beside Orion. Through the corners of her eyes, she could see that Lady was more than ready to pack up and leave that place – or so she thought. Sarah was flummoxed when she saw the look of pity on her face. 

'Huh? What the?'

She expected that she'd be annoyed to see all these boys trying to hog her attention – that, or she'd find their loud voices so vexing that she just wanted to get out of there. But what Lady had to offer instead was sympathy. Sarah didn't see wrong. She even checked again to make sure.

Sarah didn't get to stare at it for too long, though. Once Lady realized that she just caught her looking with that expression, she turned in the opposite direction again.

"Hmm? Oh, you're here too…" Glenn scoffed upon recognizing Lady, stealing back Sarah's attention in the process. 

"Here I was wondering if Sarah brought her maid along. Turned out it's just the auction girl from last year's Acquaintance Party."

"The auction girl…?" Orion said, turning to check Lady out. 

"Was she the one you told us about? The thirty-thousand-dollar girl?" 

"Yeah. I regret bidding on her, really. She wasn't worth it at all."

"That's a bit too much, Glenn."

"What? It's true! Between her and Sarah, who's prettier?"

"S-Sarah, of course."

"Right?! Sarah's the prettiest! The one and only!"

"Then, why did you bid?"

"I was just bored. I wasn't serious."

"That's so like you."

Lady felt her blood start to boil right then. It's not because they think that Sarah is more beautiful than her – even she agrees to that, though she won't say it out loud. What's truly maddening about this situation is how Glenn and Orion seem to be picking on her while trying to look cool in front of Sarah. 

'Yikes, are these really the male leads?' Lady cringed, pitying Sarah even more. 

Perhaps, they're doing this because Sarah hates her – and because Lady likes to harass her. Maybe they want to show her that they're on her side. Orion and Glenn are part of the Student Elite Society. They won't do anything to make a fellow student hate them for no reason. 

And so, she just decided to pay them no mind. This wasn't the first time she's been treated like this, anyway. 

'If you think that you're going to score a point with the heroine if you do this, then so be it.. At least, it'll help your love story progress in some way,' Lady thought, not giving a damn anymore.