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

None of this can be right at all.

It just doesn't make sense. This is not how the story is supposed to go. 

Lady was anticipating Regina's appearance and meeting with Maximilian. 

But all she got was the news that she would not show up. What's even more perplexing was the use of 'would' instead of 'could' in her class adviser's explanation. It gives her the impression that she's not going not because she's not capable of doing so at the moment – but because she doesn't want to.

'But why? Why won't she?'

Even though she hasn't officially met her yet, she already has a feeling that she's acting a little bit out of character. It's somewhat foreboding – almost as if she's going to be that piece of the puzzle that won't attach itself even if it fits. Then again, she's supposed to be a kind and caring mother who'll do anything for her daughter, but now, she can't even use a portion of her time to attend today's meeting for her.

'Even my father, who's always so busy he doesn't sleep sometimes, has come.' 

To be fair, Lady doesn't really know what's happening on Sarah's side of the story.  

Since she's one of the characters in the book now, she's not as all-knowing as she used to be in her past life. She has no way of stealing a glimpse of the heroine's point of view, and because she's the villainess, she's not allowed to get close enough to her to learn what she's going through at home.

But maybe this is a perfect time to at least try.

"Did your mother say why she's not coming?" Lady asked while keeping a plain and straight expression.

"She never had time for this kind of stuff," Sarah muttered begrudgingly.

"What?! How come?!"

"Why are you so surprised? Why do you even care anyway?

Lady is now torn between wanting to interrogate her further and keeping up her antagonistic image. She fears that Sarah will assume that she actually cares about her if she so much as offer to listen to her personal matters. 

At this rate, there's only one thing left to do – that is, to pull off the iconic 'tsundere' line.

"Well, it's not like I care about you or anything. I just wanna know since this situation has troubled my father too. How dare your mother waste both of our time? At least, give us a proper explanation. We've got the right," Lady demanded with a haughty look and tone.   

"She's busy," Sarah plainly disclosed, expression unfeeling.

"With what exactly?"

"Her job."

"And that is?"

"A club stripper."

"Oh, of course, she's a stripper-"

She froze. 

And almost fainted too.

Lady is stunned in place as the revelation sinks in. Sarah has just really gone and said that Regina is working as a stripper in a club. 

She waited for her to take that back and say that it's only a joke. But seeing such a serious expression on her face, she doubts she's kidding around. She can't see any reason for her to lie about something like that in the first place.

"Anyway, I'm going."

Those were the last words that Lady heard from Sarah before the sound of the door slamming closed echoed all around the classroom. 

---

Lady knows what a stripper is, and Regina is definitely not one.

That's what she thought, at least. In the story, she's a single mother who earns a living by working day and night as a waitress in a restaurant. No matter how busy she gets, though, she always makes time for her daughter.

"Hey, does a stripper really have to strip to make money? Can't she just serve food or something?"

"For the last time, Lady, stop asking me why a stripper strips."

"I'm being serious right now, Fallon." 

"I know you are, but that's like the hundredth time, you know. You're starting to give me an impression that you want to pursue a career as a stripper."

Having seen how strange Lady was acting after her conversation with Sarah earlier that afternoon, Fallon decided to spend the night in their place to keep her company. Weiss wanted to be there for her too, but Maximilian won't have it.  

The two boys were nonplussed when they found her all alone inside the classroom. She was just standing there – stiff as a rock. They tried to coax her to speak and patiently waited to hear an explanation. But she only opened up when it's almost time to go home and call it a day. They had no choice but to save it for tomorrow.

Fallon can't wait that long, though. That's why he went with Lady instead of going straight home. Luckily, it seems that Maximilian is in a mood to share her. 

And now, they're having dinner together at the dining hall.

"But still, a stripper, huh?" Fallon commented with a thoughtful expression.

"I can't believe it no matter how hard I try to," Lady sighed and slumped.

"We can try to confirm it and get more details while we're at it. I can do a background check on the Gracelyn's if you want."

"Isn't that an invasion of privacy?"

"Says an outsider who technically knows everything about them."

"For your information, that outsider has just learned that she doesn't know everything about them after all."

"More reason we should conduct an investigation, then." 

As much as she thinks it's immoral, she feels tempted to do just that. She can no longer stand this sense of foreboding that's been creeping through her head every time she remembers – the way Sarah acted all afternoon, the possibility that Regina was not the Regina in the story, and the fact that Maximilian didn't meet the love of his life as he was meant to. All of these have given her enough doubts and fears that got her distraught thoroughly.

She turns to look at the head of the table and finds Maximilian too busy to pay attention. He's eating his food and reading some paperwork through a tablet at the same time, which is kind of convenient to Fallon and her. Lady wonders why he has to force himself to join them for dinner even though he usually skips it when he still has things to finish.

'Maybe he just wants to spend more time with me?'

Joy swells within her at that thought. But guilt surges through right after.

'Don't be selfish, Lady. The one he's supposed to be spending his time on is Regina. In fact, Maximilian should be filled with thoughts of her right now.'

She should probably take up Fallon's suggestion on doing some background check. If she wants to stay in control of the story's flow, she needs to learn more about these versions of Sarah and Regina – about the current status of their relationship. She might even figure out what went wrong by doing this.

"Fine. Let's do it," she told her cousin, having finally made up her mind.

"Okay. But on one condition," he brought up, raising his index finger.

"Huh?! I thought this is free labor?!"

"Relax. I just want you to promise me and Weiss that you'll let us in on everything. Don't shoulder it all alone." 

Her brows shot up at that, surprise on her expression. 

Even though the way Fallon said that held no feeling of concern, the look in his eyes spoke volumes – of worry and genuine care. Lady can't help but smile gratefully, feeling more than blessed to have him and Weiss. 

"Alright. I promise." 

"Promise what, Lady?"

All of the sudden, Maximilian cut in, startling Lady and Fallon.

They hurriedly turned back to their food and resumed eating. But doing so wasn't enough to help them slide off the hook. He peered at both of them intently.

"You two are acting really odd today. Come on. Tell me what's up," he prodded.

"Nothing. We're just talking about our homework," her daughter chimed, causing him to snort incredulously.

"You? Talking about school? Odd indeed." 

"I-I care about my studies too!"

Fallon is stifling his laughter at the side, being as useless as ever. Lady feels quite offended. She knows that Maximilian has a knack for roasting her, but he doesn't have to be this judgmental towards his own daughter.

But at least, he no longer reprimands her whenever she's being so expressive that she can't keep herself from raising her voice. Also, her response turned out to be enough to shift the topic to something else.

"Well, yes. I may not have a reason to deny that…" Maximilian continued while smiling that rare smile that both Lady and Fallon did not see coming. 

"Your grades have been improving lately. I'm glad to see you taking your studies seriously."  

Of course, they would go up. 

Maximilian probably doesn't know this, but she's always been doing her best in school. It's just that Lady isn't particularly smart. If it wasn't for Weiss who'd offer to teach her from time to time, she'd still be stuck with her usual low scores.

"What do you mean he teaches you from time to time?"

Upon hearing Maximilian grit those words out in that all-too-familiar tone, Lady went stiff – too late to realize that she may or may not have said her thoughts out loud.