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

Lady really is something, Weiss muses. 

One moment, she could be the nicest girl in the world, and then the next, she was one of the scariest. He never thought there'd be a day when she'd go as far as willingly attacking someone for her grades. Even so, he had to admit that the whole situation was quite humorous – 

And at the same time, kind of oddly forced too. 

'Just what were the odds that their essays would end up the same? Ms. Mirabella seems to be not faking it – to begin with, I can't see any reason for her to do such a thing. But was it really possible for those two to create the same work by pure coincidence alone? No. Something's definitely up.' 

Weiss decided to bring Lady to the school library in the meantime.

The ambiance there would make her calm down and set up a lighter mood. It might not be the right place to put her in, considering that she was still flaring up in anger. But it's not like she ever finds it in herself to make a ruckus there. 

"And down you go."

Once they entered the library, he finally let go of her. She got back to her feet and stood in front of him. Just when he thought she would complain again, though, he was taken aback to find her face beaming with pride and delight.

That's when Weiss finally realized what Lady was onto. 

"Oh, no. Don't tell me."

"He, he, he! Was my acting great, Weiss? I bet it was! Fufufu~"

So, that was it – all this time, she was just actually acting. He should have already suspected it when she first protested earlier. Then again, she has never been one to accuse somebody even if it means that she will have to get all the blame in exchange.

And now, there's this smug look on Lady's expression. Weiss is totally unimpressed.

"So, that entire thing back there was nothing but an act? Just what is going on, Lady? You do know that cheating is a serious matter, right?" he chided, eyeing her in confusion and disbelief.

"Relax, relax. Neither of us cheated – it's all but a coincidence. I know it's gonna happen, though," she revealed while waving her hand flippantly. 

"Wait, what? You knew that both of you would end up writing the same thing?"

"Yeah. It really happened in the story. But instead of giving up as easily as I just did, Lady would pull more strings just so that it's only Sarah who would take the fall in the end. She's supposed to be the one to propose to call the parents, you know, thinking that with Maximillian around, she could get away with anything. However, as it turned out, Ms. Mirabella herself had decided to do it instead." 

The way she's going on and on about this is starting to weird him out. It's weird to hear her call her own father by his first name, and it's weird to hear her indirectly say that she's the one behind all these happenings. He should be used to this weirdness at this point, but he just cannot help it. 

"How did you even know what she would write on her essay if you did not take a look at it?" Weiss sighed, already feeling tired.

"Well, duh. I'm technically the one who owns those ideas in the first place, and it's just so happened that I wrote them down in detail. Therefore, I've got a pretty good grasp of what she'd write," she explained, shrugging nonchalantly.

"You're unbelievable. Just what good will following this part of the story do? Isn't this a bit too much? You're being accused of cheating."

"My true goal here is to have our parents meet later this afternoon – her mom, and my dad."

Right then, Lady puts on a grave expression for emphasis. She has to make Weiss understand.

This is the main event she's referring to. Everything she's been doing these previous days is meant to lead up to this moment. This is the part of the story that'll significantly affect its entire course -   

Regina Gracelyn and Maximilian Mireille's fated meeting.

'He's finally going to meet his most beloved. I can't afford to screw this up for him. It has to be perfect. I even made sure to let that whole essay incident flow as naturally as possible, and I did my part well. It was so that this event would be the exact same copy of what happened in the story…' she thought to herself, hands clenching, and cast down her gaze.

'I racked my brain thinking how I could make my essay similar to Sarah's, I reacted like how Lady reacted when we're talking with Ms. Mirabella, I did everything I could to follow the original – and with these, I was able to set up the kind of meeting that Maximilian and Regina would have hours from now.' 

Everything must be on point.

It could not be as messy as the one Lady had with Sarah. Of course, there are many other ways for their parents to meet. But the issue is that Maximilian and Regina will develop some sort of relationship straight away.

'I guess it's kind of similar to love at first sight. They'd find themselves attracted to each other at one point during their meeting – unknowingly, albeit. I recall making that happen after Regina defended Sarah from Lady's accusations against her and even roasted those of power and authority despite the consequences. That includes Maximilian…' Lady mentally noted.

'Hmmm… Rather than love at first sight, maybe it's going to go more like the 'You-Are-The-First-Ever-Woman-Who-Punched-Me' type of development? I'm not really sure, which is why I'm doing my best to follow the original turn of events. I have no idea how to replicate this scene without losing that factor.'

While she continues to review all the things she's anticipating to happen later, Weiss is in the middle of threading his own chain of thoughts. This situation seems different from the others. Seeing how serious Lady looks right now, he can immediately tell that this is of great importance to her.

"Listen, I've been meaning to ask you this for a while now, and though you've already answered a similar question before, I feel that it may change depending on who's involved…" he piped in, staring at her straight in the eye.

"Why do you have to do this? Do you really want those two to get together?"

"Sure, I do. They're meant to be…" she replied with a hopeful smile that somewhat turned wistful as she continued. 

"I'm not lying when I say I want them to be a couple. You may think it's wishful thinking since I haven't even met Regina yet, but the truth is that I've already done more than that, and I know she's the perfect match for Maximilian. He deserves to be with the love of his life just as much Sarah deserves to get the life of her dreams."

"And you? What about you?"

"Me?"

"Yeah. What's in it for you?"

"Well, as long as they're happy, I'm good."

"Good… but not happy?"

"Of course, I am! I'll be so glad for them!"

Weiss admits that Lady is a good actress.

But even with that skill, he can see right through her. He knows her well by now – or so, he thinks. When he realizes that she's telling the truth, which he's expecting she's not, he starts to doubt if he even understands her. He had hoped she'd say there's nothing in it for her – that she really didn't want to do this at all.

However, what he got was an all-too-honest reply about her being glad to help others even without getting anything in return, and worse, she'd have to make sacrifices along the way.     

"I love Daddy, you know…" Lady suddenly confessed, smiling at the thought of Maximilian.

"Even though he's the way he is, he's a good man with a good heart. He may reprimand me a lot, and he may think of me as a disappointment. For all I know, he's already fed up with me. But that's just how my role is in his life. I'm the bad thing before the good thing, the hardship before the reward."

"The Gracelyn's would make a better family to President Mireille…" Weiss said and frowned.

"Is that what you mean?"

She nods. 

He stares at her for a few more moments before shaking his head and letting out a sigh. This is getting frustrating. He makes a face that shows just that. But all he gets as response is a sheepish look and the words, "I hope you understand. And thank you for listening."

With that, Lady closes the discussion, leaving Weiss with tumultuous emotions. 

---

"Daddy, you're here!"

Lady brightened up the moment Maximilian arrived at the front gate.

She rushes towards him with a huge grin on her face – only to get lightly smacked in the head. With a dark, foreboding scowl, he glared down at her and hissed underneath his breath, "Just what kind of mess did you cause this time?"

Before meeting Regina, it seems that Maximilian will go on a killing spree first.