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

Lady shot an inquisitive look at Hartigan, wondering the same thing as Julian.

He could have just announced his presence as soon as he came. There was no reason for him to sneak around. Though it could be that he just did not want to intrude while they were in the middle of having a conversation, finding him listening in on them in secret was not really any better.

"You were actually here too, Hearty?" Lady started.

"Why? Can't I be here?" Hartigan muttered grumpily.

"I'm just asking a question, brat. Reply like a normal person."

"Well, it's stupid. You can already see that I'm here."

"Are you trying to pick a fight with me?"

"Sure. Why not? Do it in front of your future fiance."

Now, she regrets saying anything good about this kid. 

He always tries to get on her nerves – almost as if he enjoys getting that kind of attention from her. For some reason, though, he's being more annoying than usual. What's more, he can't look at her straight in the eye. It's giving her the impression that he's already in a bad mood even before he showed up. 

"Hey, are you angry about something? If that happened to be because of something I did, I'd have you know that I'm the one who should be angry here. You were eavesdropping on us, weren't you?" Lady brought up, which caused Hartigan to suddenly look cornered. 

"I think I'm the one who must beg your pardon for that, Lady. I already knew that he was there. But I chose not to tell you because I wanted to let him hear what you said about him. I'm sorry if you didn't like that," Julian said apologetically. 

"Huh? Why would you want him to hear that, though? Anything I say doesn't matter to this guy. Do you even know how he treats me at school? I just told you about it."

"Which I strongly believe is a misunderstanding on your part-"

Julian was abruptly cut off then. Hartigan has just interrupted.

He grabbed him by his shoulder out of nowhere. It wasn't until then that he realized he already got inside the gazebo. He must have been thrown into a panic. Going by the glare he's giving him now, he can tell that he has figured out what he's up to, and as expected, he doesn't want him to continue.

"Alright, alright. I won't."

Julian chuckled, looking quite amused, while Hartigan just scoffed. Lady, on the other hand, felt left out.

"By the way, let me be clear about something…" she began again, feeling the need to discuss this particular subject before anything else.

"This whole arranged marriage thingy – I've got to have a say in this, okay? No one's my fiancé, and I'm no one's fiancée. In the first place, I was brought here without a single clue of what was going on. So, don't just come up with your own ideas, Hearty."

"What? You didn't know…?" he blurted out, flummoxed, while she nodded.

"Then, does that mean… it's really not confirmed yet?" 

And alas, his mood doesn't look as bad anymore.

His whole expression softened. It looks as if a burden has just been lifted from his shoulder. His sigh of relief was what really set the score, though. It was so out of the blue that even he was taken aback by it.

"I already told you that last time, didn't I? You should really learn to listen when someone is talking," Julian quipped with a smirk that appeared nothing but teasing to Hartigan. 

He doesn't like how Julian can always see right through him. It was already embarrassing enough that Belle was also able to notice it – even way before the dodgeball match. Maybe it's just that Hartigan can't really hide this sort of thing from those who know him best. 

"Why is this about me, anyway? This is on you, Julian. You're the one who's getting engaged here – to a kid four years younger than you, might I add," he muttered sharply, keeping his voice low so that Lady would not hear. 

"So what if she's that young and I'm that old? I'm not the one who decides things in this family. That being said, if this arrangement ends up getting approved, I'm afraid I can no longer continue supporting you like this," he told him, and though he had a smile on his face as he did so, he could tell how serious he was. 

"Shut up. Whoever says I need your support, to begin with?"

"Well, let's just put it this way – it's either I support you or oppose you. I need to choose only one, Hartigan, and you know how I am."

Silence prevailed between them after Julian dropped those words. Lady could not even guess what's with them at this point. What baffled her the most was that Hartigan was being inscrutable for once.

"So, you're here all along, Lady. I've been looking for you."

Then, out of nowhere, Maximilian came.

All three of them went still, completely thrown off guard by his unexpected arrival. It was so sudden that the tension in the air disappeared in only a second – only to be replaced by another one of its kind.

For a moment, they were not sure what to do.  It's just that the way he carries himself right now is greatly intimidating.

He enters the gazebo and walks up to them without saying another thing. His hooded, enigmatic gaze is focused ahead. The closer he gets, the clearer the look on his face becomes.

Maximilian seems displeased about something. He did not even acknowledge Hartigan and Julian, which showed that he was only after Lady there. 

"Didn't I tell you to stay back at the table? I had someone serve you some food there. Just where did you wander off to again?" he chided gently, which surprised her a whole lot.

Sure, he was scowling like what he'd always do when he's upset. But the tone of his voice this time was a bit different – it's softer and lower. It almost felt like he's not scolding her at all. 

"Anyway, that doesn't matter now. Let's just go. We're returning home," he continued before bending over a little and picking her up from the floor. 

Once more, Lady is struck astonished. Maximilian is actually carrying her.

He never did something like this unless he was forced to act all lovey-dovey or he felt like throwing her out to the dumpster. She can see that neither of that is the cause for this gesture, though. He does seem to be somewhat mad, but she senses that it's not at her. She's already so used to it that she can now easily tell that. At this moment, he must be dealing with someone or something else.

Lady wonders what has suddenly gotten into Maximilian. 

"We're going already? Is the party finally over?" she inquired with a puzzled look.

"Not yet. We're just going," he replied as he went on to carry her out of the gazebo.

"Why?"

"Because I want to."

"Did you finally agree to marry me off?"

"What? How did you know that?"

She stiffened when he glared at her. He even stopped in his tracks, showing her that she just earned his full attention. This made her want to question if she was even allowed to know about the arranged marriage at all. He reacted like he did not want her to. But at least, this kind of cancels out one of her initial assumptions about him not caring enough to bother telling her.

She would still rather have him imply that without glaring at her like this, though.

"Please, excuse me, President Mireille…" Julian called all of the sudden, stealing Lady and Maximilian's attention.

"I was the one who explained it to her. She wanted to know about it too, so I told her everything she needed to know. I believe she has the right to."

Right then, Maximilian suddenly looks even more displeased – it's nearly bordering on anger at this point. He still hasn't turned around to look back at Julian and Hartigan, so it's only Lady who can see the whole thing. 

His expression has turned grim and foreboding.

"W-W-What's wrong, Father? A-A-Are you feeling unwell?" she tried to ask, finally daring to do so after much contemplation.

"Lady, what were you doing with them?" he asked back, much to her surprise and confusion.

"Huh? What were we doing? We're just talking. Why?"

"At a place where there's only the three of you? You could've done that back at the table. Why must you go all the way out here? No one's around to see you." 

"I'm not sure I understand what you're getting at. Perhaps, you're worried that I'd cause trouble again? If that's the case, you really don't have to. I assure you I'm not gonna keep bothering everyone."

"You already are. By talking with those two."

"What?! But what did I do exactly?! Seriously!"

Maximilian may like finding faults in others, but even Lady knows that it rarely ever gets this unreasonable.