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

From that point on, Lady decides to just smile it off.

The mockery and teasing did not stop with Fallon's wordless threat. This time around, though, their classmates chose to whisper among themselves and let Lady hear their insults on purpose.

"Is she really President Mireille's daughter?"

"She doesn't look that pretty at all."

"Well, there are rumors about her being a fake, right?"

"Probably a Mireille in name only."

"I bet she'd just been picked up from a dumpster." 

"Makes sense. She still reeks of the air of a simpleton." 

"Can't she at least not behave as one, though?"

School can be quite scary.

Now that she has heard their impressions of her, she has realized that the reason they're acting this way was most likely because she used to be a commoner – and it goes on because she's still not doing anything to make them stop. Their treatment and prejudice are certain details that aren't caused by her intervention, which means that all of these are really part of the story. It might turn out to be a series of events that can help with the progression of the plot and the making of the main characters. 

And so, Lady just lets it be.

'Bully me all you want, you fools. Just watch…' she quietly thought to herself with a smug look on her face, ignoring all the pep talks and the why-and-wherefore of their homeroom teacher who's touring them around the academy's primary school building at the moment.

'I shall soon become a villain whose only desires are power, influence, and money – one who thinks nothing of making others suffer so long as I gain an advantage. My aggression shall be destructive because I lack empathy and because I make choices for emotional coldness. Oh, those infinite paper cuts to the soul! I shall wallow in my own sense of victimhood rather than using my pains as part of my emotional education toward an empathic self. That being said, a world of sufferings only benefits the development of villains such as I while heroes would work hard every day for others and consider it an honor to have the chance to do so-'

"Hey, stay in line!" 

She snapped out of it then, perking up in surprise. Her homeroom teacher has just scolded her out of nowhere, which earned a round of snickers and sniggers from her classmates.

It appears that she has unknowingly wandered away from the line after getting too caught up in her inner monologue.

'Oh, no! Get a grip, Lady! This is exactly how you got lost before!' 

She should focus. 

Even though the official beginning of The Princess of High School is yet to take place, she needs to play her role seriously – and ruining the backstory of the villainess by getting lost on the very first day of school will not help with that at all. For now, she has to let herself go through painful experiences. Those will serve as the reason for her comeback. So, if sticking with her offenders is what it takes, she has to do everything she can so as to not go astray. 

"Make sure to stay at your proper behavior, everyone. I do not hesitate to give out Thorns even if this is your first day at school…" their homeroom teacher suddenly announced, giving a look at Lady in particular for being the first in the Star Section to have shown a lack of effort in being at said behavior. 

"As mentioned earlier, these Thorns represent your offenses. Once you've collected five of them, there's a possibility that you'd be expelled from Golden Rose Academy. On the bright side, we also have Cressida Petals. These represent exceptional achievements and remarkable deeds. They're special awards given to brilliant students, in short. Those who'll get to earn five of them will be qualified to join the Student Elite Society." 

Everyone gets pumped up at the mention of that esteemed student organization. 

Such reactions are expected. Then again, being part of that group is deemed as the greatest honor that young students like them can achieve in their entire school life. Not only will they be respected and admired, but they will also get the privilege to participate in certain activities, events, and gatherings that the majority of the student populace are not allowed to join in. In other words, they will receive special treatment.

'Right. I heard Father try to explain it to me several times before. Not like Lady isn't aware of it, though. I technically created that system.' 

She made that whole thing up to make the heroine of the story shine even more. At some point in the future, she will be appointed as the youngest leader of that student organization. Also, most of her admirers will come from there. So, she is already expecting that their clubroom or whatever they call it will turn into a harem a few years from now.

As if Lady would want to be any part of that.

"Of course, Fallon will be able to join the SES in no time!"

"Yeah! Fallon is very smart! It will be super easy for him!"

"I'm sure that you're going to be a Student Elite, Fallon!"

All of the sudden, some of their classmates began kissing up to Fallon. It seemed that defending Lady earlier had earned him a few followers. He is a Mireille in action, after all – unlike her who does nothing but smile like a weirdo at her offenders.

"What? Fallon? A Student Elite? Ha! We'll see about that!"

Then suddenly came the most obnoxious of these brats. 

It's a young boy with a lean stature, slightly unkempt pink hair, and emerald green eyes. He's kind of fine-looking too, she must say. She didn't notice him earlier on the stage. But it seems that he's one of them. Unlike the others, though, he's not coming after her. He appeared to have some sort of grudge on her cousin instead. 

"Will you even have time to earn a Cressida Petal? Just look at you! You've completely turned into your cousin's babysitter! Isn't that hilarious?" the pink-haired, green-eyed rascal went on.

Lady did not realize it until she turned around. Fallon was actually backing her up this whole time. 

He was surrounded by their classmates just a moment ago. Yet, as soon as whoever this was stepped into the scene, he immediately stood in front of her to keep him away. She couldn't help but be struck with awe at such a cool side of him – even more so at his unbothered demeanor.

Hands in his pockets, he just stares back at their classmate as if he is spouting out nonsense. 

"I see you still haven't changed a bit. What gets you shooting off your mouth now, Hartigan?" Fallon then finally responded, not liking how Lady got involved in this.

She went still upon hearing his name. It sounds familiar. Way too familiar.

"Just wanna comment on how close you two are. I bet you're the one who used to change her diapers when she was still a baby," Hartigan snickered.

"Are you dumb? I'm still a baby when she's a baby. So, how is that possible?" Fallon muttered.

"Well, it could be that she's still using diapers now."

"How impudent of you – bringing up a girl's undergarment and all. Don't you know that diapers are considered babies' underwear? You might as well be talking about her panties right now. Is this how the Holbein family teaches their children? Quite shameless, I should say."

That made Hartigan stiffen in flummox. Lady did too – though, for a different reason.

'Wait, wait, wait…! You mean, he's that… Hartigan Holbein…?!' she screeched inwardly, stunned by this discovery.

'He is like Sarah Gracelyn's first-ever admirer in this school, 'ya know!' 

As it turned out, Hartigan is one of the story's potential male leads. Lady had not completely expected that he was such a jerk.

She used to imagine him as this excellent young man with a passion for fine arts and crafts. His family is made up of world-renowned artists, his main forte lying in painting, in particular. He would always try to woo the heroine with flowers that were made out of paper, fabric, and at times, even gemstones. When he confessed his love to her, he gifted her a huge portrait of herself – huge enough to fill an entire wall. 

Greatly astonished, Lady ended up staring at Hartigan for so long that the next thing happened. 

"Oh, what's this~? Did you just fall for me? I understand, though. Even though you're related to this guy, you're still a girl. So, how can you possibly resist my charms? No ladies can~" he claimed boastfully. 

Her brow twitches at that.

She's starting to get annoyed. She didn't expect that he'd be a narcissist of all things. 

'This creep…' Lady thought as she just continued to watch Hartigan posing and winking and finger-gunning at her like a total moron.

'Where the hell did that 'excellent young man' disappear to? Just who is this idiot? Whatever this creature is needs to qualify as a human first before qualifying as a male lead.'