Chapter 26：Serious Business

Winter wanted to curse at Marcellus right then.

He pushed her in the passenger seat without a warning. She didn't even know that there was a car waiting for them there, and she thought for a second that he only shoved her out of fun or ill will. It was rough enough for her to end up screeching and staggering to the side until she hit the window.

"Hey, what was that for...?!" Winter bolted out exasperatedly, forgetting their current predicament.

"Can't you handle a girl properly?! You call yourself a man?!"

"Why, you little...! Is that really the first thing you would say...?" Marcellus trailed off through gritted teeth, finding her anger outburst unreasonable.

"You've just got chased by those men. Were you not even a bit least scared or bothered?"

"Oh, you're expecting me to? The same goes for you. You're even smiling back there!"

"Seriously, you... First, the kidnapping. And now, this? Were your nerves made out of steel? Or you were only trying to act tough?"

"Look, I get that you find me odd for someone my age - and yeah, you are right. Believe me or not, I'd been something much worse than this."

Only when he went silent and still did she realize that she slipped.

Now, he is staring at her in a bit of shock and perplexity. From the looks of it, he appeared to have believed her.

She said that without thinking, though. And she did not mean to get that reaction from him. It just vexed her that he kept doubting her unexpectedly light reaction to something as seriously heavy as abduction. He might as well say that she should be afraid. It's not that she was indifferent to it - she only knew how to deal and cope with it.

"I get that you find it hard to believe me when I say that I am from the future - that I travelled back in time. Even I myself don't know how that even works. It just did..." Winter continued and cast down her gaze.

"However, I really need an answer from you. What else should I do to make you believe me?"

"First of all, I don't know what's your true intention behind all of this. That is one of the main things that makes it hard for me to trust you apart from the fact that time travel is simply impossible..." Marcellus started again, finally dropping his silent treatment towards the subject.

"Why me of all people, Ms. Agreste? You said you knew me. Did that mean you also knew what would happen in my future? And that it had something to do with yours?"

"Indeed, I know a lot of things about our future - your success can become mine as well. But only time can help me prove them to you. That's why I ask that you'll keep me by your side from now on."

As Winter said that with a timid yet expectant expression, Marcellus suddenly didn't know what to say.

She really kept startling him like this, and she was not holding back at all. More than what she said, though, her sincerity and earnestness took him aback. He would ever rarely see that on someone - she was the first in a long while.

Even then, he can't trust her right away. He knows better than to let his guard down, especially on something that he is highly skeptical about. However, he also can't afford to ignore the matter at hand. At the very least, he should do what she said -

To give her time to prove herself to him, that is.

"Ms. Agreste, do you even know what it means to be by my side...?" Marcellus muttered out of nowhere, earning a nonplussed look from Winter.

"If you are only playing around, being with me will get rid of that fun for you. I hope you are ready to enter the world of adults - all of this is serious business. Remember that."