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

"Peppermint mocha for Sarah!" the barista called out. 

It's a warm Saturday afternoon, and Sarah chose to spend it in this cafe again. 

She rose to her feet, leaving her homework and bag at the table. It's been a while since she found this coffee shop, and she'd come to like going here quite a bit – in fact, it's definitely her favorite place to study.

The view from the second-story window is breathtaking. It overlooks the academy's botanical garden. Also, the fact that it's quiet, which is probably attributed to being inside the school's museum, is positively splendid. The ambiance makes it very easy to concentrate on her studies. 

Unlike at home, Sarah is in peace and quiet here. 

At least, that's what she thinks up until recently. The store's newest barista is handsome, cunning, and very charming. He must have a girlfriend – there's no way he doesn't have one. Still, she can't help but let her mind wander. It's just how she is. She can never resist an absolute eye candy. 

'You and your mother are so alike.'

Sarah paused at the thought. She hates that she did – just shows that she can't deny it. Regina has always had a good eye and taste when it comes to men. She must have taken this trait from her.

Focusing ahead again, Sarah shook the thoughts away. 

She walked over to the counter and took her order from the barista. Pink dusted her cheeks as their fingers brushed together for a brief moment. 

"Thank you!" she beamed. 

Her eyes fell to his nametag then flicked back up to meet his gaze. 'William,' was written in neat cursive across the tiny board pinned to his apron. Today's the first time he's worn it. 

A smile tugged at his lips. 

"You're welcome, Ms. Sarah," he kindly said before taking a quick glance at the counter. 

"Your name is William?" she asked, pressing the mug to her lips. 

"Yes. Delighted to make your acquaintance." 

"Yours too. Thank you again… William."

His smile had seemed to dim down for a second there before lighting up once more. With her free hand, she timidly tucked her hair behind her ear. 

"Of course, Ms. Sarah. Anytime." 

With a nod, she turned around to retreat to her table, but before she walked away, she glanced over her shoulder to give him one final look. Then, she cleared her throat, thinking there's really nothing to lose.

"Say, what're you going to do today? After you get off work, I mean," asked Sarah, giving it a shot. 

YOLO, is what she recalls her classmates keep saying. She can't really remember the full meaning, but it has something to do with living life to the fullest. Now, the worst thing that can happen is for him to tell her that he already has a girlfriend – and the best thing is him telling her that he'll be free, which will definitely be ideal. 

Silence rules over them for a whole minute, and eventually, she decides what isn't said is everything that she needs to know. So, with that, she just giggled and waved. 

"Nevermind!" 

"Oh, I'm sorry. I'm not free this afternoon." 

"No worries."

"I apologize."

Her lips curve upward into a reassuring smile. 

It had been worth a shot – she'd miss every shot she won't take, after all. Besides, this isn't the first time that a guy turns down her offer. Sure, there's a lot who asked her out themselves, but when she's the one making the first move, it's not always guaranteed that she'd earn a date with them. 

"It's okay, William. I understand." 

--- 

That was quite unexpected.

Weiss even nearly had a heart attack. Sarah was quite bold.

He didn't know that she'd often visit this coffee shop until he just did. Perhaps, working as a barista here isn't the brightest idea after all. He would've stayed at the flower shop if only he could. However, since he and his mother had to finally change locations after a year of managing that store, he also had to change identities – like what he'd do every few months.

And so, Weiss got to this café. From flowers to coffees, it was quite a transformation. The only thing that remained was his alias, William. 

'It's pretty nice here so far. Just like the flower shop, our family owns this cafe too. Only the manager knows my true identity. It's safe and convenient…' Weiss thought while quietly observing Sarah from the counter. 

'There's only one problem, though. I think I've earned some unwanted attention.'

And true enough, just as they accidentally made eye contact, she blushed. He sees it clearly even though she's four tables away – and he's not dense.

At least, it may have just been this persona of his that caught her interest – not Weiss himself. She's most probably not serious either. Then again, over the year, Sarah had become known for dumping guys so out of the blue and with no actual reason whatsoever. It's kind of brutal. Orion, apparently, was the first to experience such savageness. 

'Even so, I can't have her thinking that I'm available. Not only is there the risk of getting my true identity exposed if she pays too much attention to me, but being watched all the time also makes me feel a little bit uncomfortable…' Weiss grimaced, turning away when Sarah began to stare rather than look. 

'Also, I already have someone I love.'

Lady is the only one for him. No doubt about it. Sarah can just find someone else.

'Now, how do I go about this?'

Weiss is not used to this kind of thing. He receives marriage offers all the time, but he never takes time to deal with it – each one of them is instantly turned down. He can't just straight up reject Sarah when she isn't even confessing yet. In fact, he doesn't want to get to that point – she needs to lose interest in him as early as possible.

At the end of the day, Weiss still hadn't come up with something, so he had decided to ask for help from one of his closest friends, Fallon.

---

"I have a… Sarsa Greatly?" the barista called out, making Weiss smirk.

Sarah stomped up to the counter and seized the cup. Growling the words, "Give me that!" under her breath, she glared at the name written on it. She then spun away from the barista and marched up to Weiss at the register.

"You know my name! It's Sarah Gracelyn!" she bellowed exasperatedly. 

"Oh?" he said, resting his elbows on the counter, fingers under his chin.

"Don't 'oh' me, William!"

"Are you sure it's not Sarsa Greatly? I could have sworn-" 

"No!" 

Sarah leaned forward and shoved her finger right at his nose, invading his personal space. Weiss was tempted to back away at that moment but refrained to do so and just steeled himself.

"S-A-R-A-H space G-R-A-C-E-L-Y-N! I'm a regular here, and you know that!" 

"Never seen you before in my life." 

Weiss gave her a flat look. Sarah flared up even more.

He could have sworn steam was coming out of her ears. 

"You must be blind." 

Whirling around, Sarah trudged off to find a seat, her steps echoing on the hardwood floors of the coffee shop. Weiss took the next order, passing a correctly-named cup off to his coworker. 

The barista squirted some chai-flavored syrup into the cup. None the wiser, he nudged Weiss by the shoulder and whispered, "You like her, don't you?" 

"What? Who?" he blurted out, flummoxed. 

"That girl just now. You keep teasing her." 

His coworker added frothed milk to the latte and two shots of espresso for the double dirty chai. He called out the customer's name and handed the cup off, returning to Weiss with a conspiratorial look. 

"Come on, William. You know the one - Sarah," he said with a meaningful tone, and Weiss wrinkled his nose. 

"I most certainly do not." 

"Oh? Then, why do you spell her name wrong on purpose?" 

The barista plucked up a rag and ran it under the tap. He wrung the cloth out and wiped coffee spills off the counter before they dried. 

Weiss blinked and snorted, "On purpose?" 

"What an idiot. There are easier ways to ask a girl out, you know." 

"I have no intention of asking her out. It's just fun to rile her up." 

The truth is, this is all Fallon's idea – being a complete turn-off to Sarah, that is. 

Of course, he didn't tell him the whole story. He just asked for some advice on how he could make an admirer lose interest and used a hypothetical situation to explain the details. And with that, he ended up with this method.

Fallon had told Weiss to act everything that William was not. 

"If I were to call her over right now and tell her you liked her, how would you react?" his coworker taunted, head cocked to the side. 

"You wouldn't dare," Weiss deadpanned. 

"Hey, Sarah-" 

He tried, but Weiss slapped his hands over his mouth. Fortunately, he was significantly taller than his coworker – he only came up to Weiss's chin despite being a year older. He used this height difference to loop an arm around his neck and give him a noogie, effectively locking him in an embrace. 

'Good riddance. Why did it only seem to get worse, Fallon?'