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

Lady may have heard it wrong, but it seemed that Sylvia just really said that Maximilian was jealous – of Weiss, apparently. 

Her brows furrowed together in disbelief. With a big question mark popping up above her head, she turned around and blurted out, "Father is jealous?"

That cannot be it. That's just too far-fetched. 

She had once speculated that Maximilian was only insisting that she should stay away from Weiss simply because he was out of her league. Lady does agree to that, but if she had been bothered about it, she would have long distanced herself from Fallon too.

On another note, Maximilian mentioned something about Weiss not being family. Lady does not quite understand what it means, but at least, she now knows why she is only allowed to be close with Fallon. 

"Well, considering the kind of relationship you have with Mr. Saoirse, your father will definitely be wary of him," Sylvia explained, which did not feel like an explanation to Lady at all. 

"Relationship? You mean friendship, right?"

"Hmm? Isn't he courting the Young Miss?"

"Say what?!"

She jumped in surprise – and even nearly fell out of her seat. Her eyes bulged wide, mouth slightly open. She felt her brain short-circuited at that moment. 

"C-C-Courting?! H-H-He ain't courting no one!" Lady bolted out.

"He's not family, and he's very close with you," Sylvia elaborated.

"Doesn't that make him my best friend, then?"

"There are many instances where friends turn into lovers. As someone who's into reading books, you would know that it's only a matter of time." 

Again, that cannot be it. That's really far-fetched. 

'I mean, things like that only happen in books! And I know how to tell fiction and reality apart…!' thought the very person who was literally filling in for a fictional villainess while living in the real world. 

'H-Hold on a moment! If she said that Father was jealous of Weiss because Father thought that Weiss was courting me, did that mean Father wanted to court someone too?!'

Struck by that realization, Lady stood stunned. 

Of course, that has to be it. There's no other reason for him to be jealous. 

Lady has to investigate. For all she knows, it might be Regina that he wants to court. More like, it can only be her. She can't always be with Maximilian, so she's not sure if they already met each other. It's possible that they did, and she just didn't know about it. That's why Lady must find out. 

"But hey, Sylvia, I'm telling the truth. Weiss is not courting me, alright?" she said as she shifted on her seat, trying to settle down again. 

Sylvia gave her a sly look. Lady just ignored her.

That's when they heard a loud knock on the door.

"Young Miss, are you still awake? Your father wants to speak with you."

--- 

As much as Lady wants to ask about Regina, it seems it's not possible with Maximilian's current mood.

Fallon is nowhere in sight when she entered the study room. Lady is guessing that he has already been sent home. 

Now, she finds herself standing by the doorway – in front of her father's desk. The place appears as imposing as usual, the ambiance solemn. Somehow, the weighing atmosphere felt like a remnant of the previous exchange that went down there. The tension is almost palpable – unnerving.

"Father, you called?" Lady dared to start, and Maximilian turned in response.

Her father, the key reason why everything in that room is the way it is right now, stands up. He was on his chair, his back on her. When he spun around to face her, she was met with an inscrutable expression. He still wasn't saying anything – just stared at her. Fed up with the silence, she spoke again.

"Ummm… Where is Fallon? I thought he's with Father?" Lady inquired.

"He went home. He said he'll just talk with you tomorrow," Maximilian simply replied.

"Oh, I see. W-What did he tell you?"

"I think you already know."

"Ermmm... I can explain?"

"And you will."

Lady casts down her gaze, evading his as he walks around his desk and saunters towards her. She keeps her head low even when Maximilian is close enough for her to smell his crisp, clean scent.

Her eyes widen. She recognizes this aroma. 

He's wearing the perfume she gave him as a present for his birthday last year. She thought for sure that he didn't like it since he didn't make a single comment back then.

"But before that, let me see your wrists," he said all of the sudden, making her snap out of her thoughts. 

Without saying a word, Lady shows him the bandages around her wrists. Maximilian holds both of her hands gently, taking a closer look. 

His mouth curves down into a scowl, eyes half-lidded. She feels him rub his thumbs against her skin - almost as though he wants to soothe her pain. If it wasn't for this gesture, she would've thought that he's still mad. 

Maybe he still is. But it's not only that this time. He seems worried too. 

"Don't they hurt? Should I call a doctor?" he asked her, voice surprisingly soft. 

"I'm okay. They do hurt when they're touched. But there's no need to call for a doctor," she told him, suddenly feeling shy. 

"Listen, you have to tell me what's on your mind more often. I know I'm not the best listener around here, and I think that's exactly why you don't depend on me that much-"

"Wait, what? That's not it, Father. Of course, I depend on you. In fact, I do it much too much. Where's all this coming from?"

"You spend more time with your cousin and that boy than you do with me. You always look for them when you need help with something. You don't go out with me unless I tell you to keep me company. You even started skipping mealtimes with me."

And so on, and so forth. 

Lady looks up at him incredulously. She can't believe that Maximilian can be this childish. 

It's rare to see him rant about such things. He acts cool and tough all the time. She would never even guess that he felt this way. It's quite bamboozling. 

But that's how it is. Like she thought earlier, she couldn't be with Maximilian all the time. That made her miss a lot of things. She was too focused on Sarah for the past months, so she would often go out with Weiss and Fallon. It didn't even occur to her that he'd notice too.

And now, Lady is torn.

She isn't sure which matter she should address first. There's still that one about the Student Elite Society - and then, that whole theory she came up with about Regina. She wants to do it all at once.

But at that moment, Lady has this feeling of wanting to reassure Maximilian before anything else.

He only means well, she knows. Under that austere and impenetrable exterior of his, there lies this awkward kindness that she is nothing but thankful for. This is not the first time he acted like this, anyway. Even way back then, he would show her a side of himself that he never showed to others.

He's both good at controlling and hiding his emotions. His facade is always flawless - basically unbreakable. He's on his guard most of the time. 

Thinking of all of that makes Lady wonder if Fallon said or did something that led Maximilian to this outburst. 

---

Moments prior to this conversation, Fallon did give Maximilian quite a talking.

He told him everything that happened with Lady and the Student Elite Society. But that's not all. He also went on to tell Maximilian how Lady probably felt about the whole situation.

"She felt overwhelmed when we tried to give those people a taste of their own medicine. I believe she has the same concern when it comes to you, Uncle Max. She just doesn't want to trouble you over something she thinks she can handle on her own."

He had thought that it was kind of ironic.

Lady doesn't mind getting him involved when the problem is trivial. Yet, when it's something as serious as her getting injured, Maximilian is being left out. 

He expressed this thought to Fallon, but all he said then was, "It's not because of how small or big the issue is, Uncle Max. She has her reasons." 

From there, he realized that he really didn't know her daughter as well as he thought.

Lady may appear so simple at first, especially with all those easy-to-read expressions she keeps making. There are instances when Maximilian finds it hard to decipher her thoughts, and he admits that he doesn't take enough time to gauge them out.  Fallon is even better at him in that kind of stuff, which is saying a lot since he used to be just as detached as him not too long ago.

'So, that's it...' he had thought after coming up with all of these realizations.

'I just don't know my daughter that well. I can't guess what she's thinking most of the time or why she's acting the way she does.'

But still, at the very least, Maximilian wants to try to understand Lady.