Man of Steel

Much to Maximilian's surprise and confusion, Lady suddenly starts slamming her head on his office desk - over and over again.

It was so sudden that all he could do was watch the scene - or more like, he just really didn't know what to do. His secretary, who's standing at the side the whole time along with her caretaker and bodyguard, is the first to spring into action. Though he was as dumbfounded as the rest of them, he immediately responded and pulled her away from the table.

"Ms. Mireille, what are you doing?!"

Lady snaps out of it then, though she still appears to be at a loss. In that moment of stupefied silence, she sees Maximilian's flabbergasted look turn into an exasperated one.

"Just what kind of play are you into now, child...?" he chided with a scowl, expression so cold that it made shivers run down her spine.

"Such unsightly actions are unbefitting of a Mireille. Have you not been disciplined enough?"

She stiffens.

While what she did may have been so out of the blue that she wouldn't be taken aback if they'd question her sanity, he didn't have to slap his appalling indifference to her face. He doesn't look a bit least concerned, and he just straight up scolded her without even asking if she's alright - not that she wants him to be worried since that's certainly not what that whole thing for.

'Well, at least, I'm now convinced that I'm not dreaming...' Lady mused.

'That freaking hurt, though.'

She reaches up and caresses her forehead, feeling it for any bump. While it's indeed painful, it isn't really a big deal. She had experienced several things that were much more excruciating than this, after all - many times even.

Maximilian lets out a sigh as Lady remains quiet and unapologetic.

"Don't ever do something like that again, especially tonight. Otherwise, I'll be the one to discipline you myself..." he continued to reprimand her, much to her chagrin.

"If that's clear, let's move on to our agenda for today. We'll have lunch together in a minute. I have to see if your one month of training pays off."

Again, she stiffens.

She can't possibly go with him - not when she's not yet finished sorting things out. There's still time before the dinner party. She can gather more details about this world and prepare herself for what's about to come, but for her to do that, she first has to steer clear of her adoptive father and avoid showing any sign that she's not his adoptive daughter anymore.

And so, Lady decided to put her acting skills into test.

"Ouchieee! My head...!" she screeched out loud, grabbing the sides of her head and pretending that she was having a terrible headache.

"D-Daddy, my head h-hurts. May I r-rest for now?"

Everyone was taken aback, which meant that her act didn't turn out to be as bad as expected, but then, unlike the others, Maximilian was quick to show an unimpressed expression. His bafflement didn't even last for a second as his apathy resurfaced once more. It is then that Lady realizes that he really does live up to the character she's made him to be -

A man of steel.

"Father..." he muttered out of nowhere, regarding her sternly.

"Weren't you told that you're supposed to call me 'Father'? Or did you forget?"

"Eh...?" she blurted out, regarding him incredulously in return.

"I-I mean, yes! I-I was told!"

Before Lady could shoot her mouth off, it occurred to her that there's no use asking him why he wanted her to call him so formally. She recalls that Maximilian is the type of character who doesn't want any term of endearment nor form of attachment - at least in the present, he is.

So, instead of making this conversation longer, she just chooses to comply and bring up a more important matter.

"F-Father, my head really does hurt. Can I skip lunch-"

"Go with your caretaker and bodyguard. Rest somewhere for now. It won't do if you fainted and couldn't attend the dinner party tonight," he cut her off and stood up from his seat, expression still as impassive as ever, giving her the impression that he had no more time to waste on her if she would just be like this.

Lady frowned, already close to snapping at that point. Maximilian could really use a bit of delicacy, especially when dealing with children like her.

'Hmph! You're the one who named me 'Lady' so you should at least treat me like it!' she wanted to huff then but chose to keep silent as he gave her one last look before taking his leave.

---

Moments later, Lady comes to realize that she's probably the one who should be blamed here if anything.

That is if it's true that this second life of hers is really taking place inside the story she made in her first one. Since writing was her hobby and she was often bedridden, she used to write stories most of the time. They were all just for fun, though. So, they were definitely no match to any of those published works that could be bought online or in a bookstore.

'But even though all I did in my past life was create a draft of this particular story - one that I merely wrote on a notebook, it's undeniable that all these familiar details that this world has dropped on me so far are in parallel with the ones I put there.'

Lady is now taking her time to mull over everything.

She had been sent to the place where the dinner party would be held. It's a five-star hotel with a high-class restaurant. Judging by the deluxe suite that she's staying in at the moment, she could already tell that the setting tonight would be posh and upscale.

'I've never been in any social gathering before, so I'm pretty nervous. It also doesn't help that I don't have any idea about what I should do later. One month of training my ass...' she brooded over as she took out the pen and paper she stole somewhere on her way there.

'However, let's put that one aside in the meantime. Right now, I have to recall what exactly happened in that story of mine and what other details I can find to further prove that this world is indeed the one I created.'

With that, Lady went straight to the bathroom and sat on the toilet before commencing her strategic planning in secret.