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

Everyone has gathered around the dining table for the banquet. 

Maximilian is a bit dismayed to see that Lady has chosen to sit together with Weiss and Fallon again. But he soon realizes that it's for the better as Benedict and Penelope start talking about Cecil, Theo, and Viscount. 

"It's not that I want them to show up…" his father tried to clarify while he heaved out a resigned sigh, folding an arm over the other.

"We have the same thing in mind. I also don't want my granddaughter to see them just yet. She mustn't be reminded of what happened." 

"Besides, they should be too ashamed to appear in front of us…" his mother muttered with furrowed brows, disdain curving her lips into a scowl.

"Such terrible parents. Makes me wonder just where had I gone wrong in raising them. They're not taking responsibility for their children's misdeeds at all. How very disappointing."

"That being said, we're just pointing out their absence, son. They're still part of the family, after all, and they have duties to fulfill."

"I would've been okay with it if they've come to apologize, but considering how stubborn those foolish sons of ours are, I don't think I should hold my breath." 

As their rant goes on and on, Maximilian recalls what exactly happened.

---

It all began the day after Bryce, Art, and Travis were reported to have lost their membership in the Student Elite Society. 

Their parents had been called to the principal's office along with the guardians of the other student council members who were involved in the bullying incident. Protests were thrown here and there. They all had found it hard to believe that their children were capable of engaging in verbal and physical assault. But the evidence against them was proven authentic.

In the end, they failed to keep them from being punished. What they didn't know was that this decision had long been final. In the first place, they're just there to be informed. There's no room for arguments and oppositions –

Not when a certain middle-schooler was manipulating the whole situation.

'Weiss Saoirse…' thought Maximilian moments before confronting Cecil, Theo, and Viscount who'd all come to complain on the morning of the next day.

'What a formidable young man. Not only did he singlehandedly deal with those parents, but he also did it without ever showing his face. Makes me question if he's really a thirteen-year-old.'

He readied himself to face his brothers while he thought of what would happen to his nephews from that point on. 

The school admin had deliberated on their penalties, and because they've always been strict about the image that the academy's highest student organization needs to maintain, it had been ultimately decided that they'd be stripped off of their membership. Furthermore, they'd be suspended for a whole month and would be required to take part in community service during that period. 

If all the other offenses that they committed against Lady were to be taken into account, however, Maximilian personally thought that all of that was still not enough. 

"Do you have any idea what your daughter just did to my son's future?!"

"Come with us and talk the school out of it, Max! They don't deserve this!"

"We know that kids always get into fights! What happened is no different!"

Theo and Viscount were mad that Art and Travis got 'roped' into the mess. Cecil, on the other hand, was enraged that Bryce, who had the worst sentence for being the one to hurt Lady, was at risk of getting expelled for being 'suspected' of enlisting violence. 

"Being part of the student council is essential for Bryce's career, and so is keeping a clean record at school…" Cecil tried to calmly reason out, but Maximilian could tell that it was all but an act. 

"You already took everything away from us. You have no right to do this to our sons too." 

He certainly didn't expect that he'd bring that up, knowing that he's not one to admit losing to him of all people, but he had gathered that he's already at his wit's end. Then again, his marriage life wasn't particularly doing any better either, and his unhealthy addiction to drinking and gambling was recently exposed by the press. He figured that he had it the toughest, though he really couldn't care less.

"This is what you get for raising your child after you, big brother..." Maximilian had shot back to Cecil.

"Do you recall when we're still little? You also used to beat me up before."

Cecil snorted at that in reply. Maximilian glowered. 

"What? You're still on about that? We were kids back then! You're so petty."

"You never uttered a single apology – just like now. I had let you off the hook many times before, but it's my daughter who got hurt this time around. If you think I'll let something like this slide again, you're gravely mistaken. I would've liked to talk to your son myself, but I figured he couldn't even get out of his room anymore. Say, is he still eating properly – still breathing?"

"What the hell are you trying to get at now?! Are you accusing me of abusing my own child?!"

"I'm just asking. I can't help but feel worried."

With him digging their past further and relating it to the present, his brothers got more and more aggravated. They would no longer even deny what they did to him when they were younger. In reality, he had already moved on, but if doing this would make them realize the importance of their roles in shaping their children's characters, he did not mind talking about it.

That whole time, Maximilian had stayed on top of the staircase at the mansion's entrance hall while Cecil, Theo, and Viscount had kept barking like dogs from down below.

It perfectly showed their current positions – with him above them, and them under him. At any other day, he would've just paid them no heed. He would've been driving off to work by now. But this was no other day, and there's no way he'd pay this no heed – not when his daughter was involved.

"Fine! You don't want to clean this mess…?!" Cecil hollered lividly, which did nothing to earn any significant change in Maximilian's apathetic expression. 

"Let's see what Father and Mother would have to say about this!"