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

"Oh," was all Lady had to say.

She doesn't even appear to be the tiniest bit embarrassed. She just looks down again, humming to herself, and begins to slip the pants on.

Weiss does a face-palm in fond exasperation. Lady has no self-awareness at all.

"Hey, why're you still looking?" he then muttered pointedly, having just noticed that Fallon had not turned away yet. 

"What? We used to see each other's underwear before," he said nonchalantly, and Weiss blushed harder. 

"Y-You two are still children back then!"

"Okay, okay. I'm not gonna look. Lady, make it quick."

She giggles at their antics, a bit amused. Once she's done putting the pants on, which is unsurprisingly too large, she asks for a belt. She works on it for a few more minutes, and as soon as she faces the boys once more, she's immediately met with expectant looks. 

"Thanks for what you did back there, guys…" Lady started, a little sheepish.

"You didn't have to go that far, though. I could see how scared those upperclassmen were. You'd really gone and did it, seriously."

"Those assholes deserve what they get. They better be scared…" Fallon huffed in annoyance.

"Right now, I'm still itching to smash that bastard's face."     

"Tell us everything that happened back there, Lady…" Weiss ordered sternly.

"We'll judge if what we've done is really enough, though I personally don't think it is – considering how they'd even resorted to violence."

Suddenly, a huge amount of pressure has been laid on Lady.     

Just from their grim expressions alone, she feels like suffocating. It's never a good thing when Fallon and Weiss are acting this way. Having been close to them for years now, she knows how it will always end up when they work together towards a goal. 

If they want to crush someone, they'll do it without mercy. 

'O-Of course, I'll tell you all about it, guys. It's just that I'm afraid Sarah will get roped into this matter, too. She's close with the SES, after all. Not to mention, she's present when it happened, and she's the reason why they treated me the way they did. Also…' she contemplated, letting a moment of silence reign over them as she thought about what to do from here on out.

'Also, I don't want you two to go to such lengths for me. Fallon is being expected to qualify for the SES just like the BRATS, and Weiss has to meet certain expectations of his own as the Chairman's son. What if joining the group gets compromised because you're in a fight with the current members? Knowing you, I have a strong feeling you're gonna turn this into a scandal.'

Lady remembers what Orion and Glenn talked about earlier.

Everyone in her circle of friends is already being seen as a probable candidate for the next line-up of student leaders. Since it's the academy's highest student organization, she's aware that being part of it will draw a lot of good opportunities in the future. That's why she can't let them ruin their chance to become a member and elevate their position.

'You can't get dragged on this one. Despite how I am, I can handle this kind of matter by myself. I mean, it may not be that big, but I have a fanbase too. So, yeah. No need to string you guys along-'

"Don't even think of keeping it all to yourself again, Lady."

She stiffened when Weiss suddenly said that. It's as if he'd just read her mind. 

"We know how you hate involving others, but there's really no use stopping us at this point – and there's only you to blame. If you're stubborn, we can be more stubborn. You can shake us off all you want, but we're more than capable of getting back at them on our own…" he continued before trailing off for a second, mouth curving into a foreboding, devious smirk.

"And if you don't tell us what happened, we'll just have to assume by ourselves and go with whatever kind of payback we come up with-"

"W-What gives you such ideas?! Of course, I-I'm gonna tell you…!" she hastily cut him off, fearing for her offenders' lives.

"I just don't want you to do anything that you might regret someday. This is the SES we're dealing with, you know! I know that you're more than capable. But these people are on the top rankings, too. You can't underestimate them!" 

"Really? That's what you're concerned about?"

"Uhhh… Y-Yes? I mean, yes!"

Lady wanted to confess the whole truth, but it's unlikely that Weiss would listen. 

His face lightens up, a beaming smile replacing his ominous smirk. He then strokes her head gently. She tries to grin back at him - if only to get rid of any suspicion he might have. But it comes out somewhat nervous and wobbly.

"Do not fret. Those flies are no match to us. We can handle them," Weiss assured.

"Perfect. This guy leads the campus newspaper, and you're one of the main writers there. We can use what you told the students earlier as a basis for a headliner," Fallon suggested, mentally drafting out a plan. 

"It's a good thing they're there to serve as witnesses. Since they're part of their fan club, people won't think it's made-up to defame the SES. We just have to be careful on how which angle we'll take."

"Well, even if they think that the story is biased or something, it will at least give rise to some doubts and suspicions on the SES. Let's see how the issue will escalate from there. They might come after Lady too, but before that happens, we've already taken control of the situation."

As they begin laying down a convoluted scheme, Lady is left with her plain, simple thoughts. She only watches from the side in dumbfounded silence, thinking that this is exactly why she can never match Weiss and Fallon's level.

'Uh-huh. I'm absolutely worried about this.'     

---

Nighttime had just fallen when Weiss had dropped Lady and Fallon home.

Dinner is about to be served by then. They have to go to the dining hall. 

But before that, Lady has to change first. She can't let Maximilian see her right now. If he finds her wearing Weiss's pants, he'll definitely ask about it.

And she's already had enough of that for today.

"Okay, Fallon. Go on and distract Father," she told her cousin. 

"Huh? Why would I?" he replied unflappably, a brow shot up.

"Just go! I have to change into my clothes!"

"Pants look good on you, though."

"Not the point! I have to hide this from him!"

"Whether you do that or not, you're still going to get scolded, you know."

"What do you mean?"

"I told him you went out to see Weiss, and he was not happy about it."

"Fallon!" 

She wonders why all the guys in her life are this hard to deal with.

But she can only do so briefly. Before she knows it, the inevitable has come.

"Lady."

And she froze, already feeling apprehensive from her father's call alone.

She turned around to find Maximilian walking down the stairs – like a god descending from heaven, she should add. He has his hands tucked coolly in his pockets, feet treading the marbled steps with class. She sees Fallon retreat to the side, leaving her alone in the center waiting for her judgment.

Lady gulps.

"H-Hello, Father," she tried not to stutter, but as it turned out, she stuttered.

"Are you not saying 'Good Evening' on purpose?" he asked, a sharp edge in his voice, while shooting her a pointed stare.

"E-Ermmm… Do you want me to say 'Good Evening' instead?" 

"Not really. I just thought that you may have forgotten the time."

"You see, F-Father, we're just working on some schoolwork." 

"I already told you to go to Fallon for that, didn't I?"

"B-But he's not in our club! Besides, what's wrong with Weiss?"

"He's not family. That's what's wrong." 

Fallon holds back a sigh. 

They still haven't gotten to the pants, and yet, it's already like this. It will no longer surprise him if dinner gets delayed for one hour. They're definitely going to take a while. 

"And what's with those pants…?" the father inquired with a dark expression, eyes narrowed at the nightmarish, horrendous thing she was wearing. 

"You… Just where did that shameless boy take you?"

"H-Huh? What…?" the daughter stammered out, not expecting his way of questioning – it was as though she got tricked into going to some motel. 

"Don't get any wrong ideas! We just went to a coffee shop, okay?"

"Oh, so coffee shops sell pants these days, huh?"

"It's true! I just had an accident, which was why Weiss lent me these. You can ask Fallon!"

Maximilian takes a deep breath. 

He'd spent hours meditating just so he'd be able to talk with her calmly. Raising one's voice is unbecoming of a Mireille. He needs to set the right example for her – like the mature grown-up he is, like a good father.

But then, just when Maximilian was about to say more, he noticed something strange on Lady.