Chapter 80 - A Bad Memory

Marcellus does think that Winter is an intelligent and capable young woman who'll definitely do good in any field of profession that she takes in the future.

After all, he could no longer count the times she left him astounded with her wits. She is not only smart, though. She is also strong-willed and single-minded. That character of hers is what makes her all the more charming, especially to him. But then, he also can't stand how other guys will look her way because of that.

Whether it is platonic or transient, an attraction is still an attraction – and it can very well turn into something more. 

"Don't get me wrong. I do feel proud of you, and I commend you for doing a great job. But could you at least rely on me for once…?" Marcellus continued to grumble, making Winter giggle to herself.

"I'm serious. If I had really known that you wanted to start a business, I would help you in any way I could."

"You can still do that, Sir Lexington. Don't be so upset about it. Besides, I was not really planning to engage in money-making this early. Sir George just happened to propose the idea, and I just happened to agreed to it 'cause I'd feel bad if I did not. I think that accepting his offer will do more good than bad. Don't you think so, too? I have nothing to lose here."

"For all we know, he might have a trick or two up in his sleeves."

"He wouldn't try such a thing. You're with me, after all. Pulling a trick on me will be the same as messing with you. See? Without even doing anything, you're already a lot of help to me."

"So, you did consider that he might be planning something underhanded?"

"I considered more possibilities other than that. You told me not to trust too much, right? And well, I'm not. I swear I'm not that gullible."

For some reason, he can feel that there's an underlying message beneath those words.

She said that as if she already experienced a number of betrayals before. It's not that he wants her to be too wary of others, though. Trusting someone isn't a fault to begin with. It only becomes bad when it's done on the wrong people. And while he did say all those things about George, he himself knew that he would no longer do anything against her. 

Then again, Marcellus had that conversation with him earlier when Winter hadn't arrived yet. 

"I talked with her during the party that night. It was only our second interaction, but once more, it reminded me of something from my past. You did hear about my elder sister, right? The one who was assassinated by an enemy group. For some reason, Ms. Winter reminds me of her – so earnest and sincere but could be formidably ambiguous at times," was what George told Marcellus about.

From there, he realized that he had taken a soft spot for Winter. After all, that elder sister of his was one of his closest relatives in the past – someone who was always with him, and someone whose death ended up leaving him worse than devastated. For her to remind him of that person could only mean that he found her one of a kind.

Just like Marcellus and Violet, George had found something in Winter that made her stand out from the rest. 

"I still feel ashamed for making both of you wait for that long, though. Definitely not an impression I wanted to leave," she muttered with a pout, making him smile a little.

"You really should've listened to him when he told you to take your time explaining. I'm sure he didn't mind. He wasn't even disappointed that he waited," he reassured her and patted her head.

"He wasn't because you're there with him. If it wasn't for you, he would've probably already left."

"Hmmm… I doubt that."

Winter raised a brow at that, pouting a bit more.

She thought that Marcellus still didn't trust George. But now, he looks like he knows him better than she does.

"Anyway, your Senior Prom's coming up, right? That's the delay all about?" he suddenly brought up, changing topics. 

"Oh, yeah. I don't really wanna go, though. I remember how bad it went down before," she confessed, grimacing at the memory.

"It was bad?"

"Yeah. I went there wearing an old dress that I had. I was pretty sure that it looked fine on me. But then, I was still made fun of and became the laughingstock of the evening – even more so when my dress got ruined after someone spilled a cup of punch on me. I felt so humiliated that I had to lock myself up in the comfort room and stay there until the night ended-"

Then, she paused.

Winter cut herself off as soon as she realized that she said too much. She didn't mean to tell everything to Marcellus – heck, she's too embarrassed to even think about doing that. But since she was trying to recall what happened that time, she didn't notice that she was already saying her thoughts out loud.

Now, he is speechless and unmoving while she can only look away and blush in shame.

"Y-You know what? F-Forget about what I said-"

"Who are those people…?" he then hissed all of the sudden, making her go stiff and quiet.

"Tell me their names." 

Winter turns back to Marcellus right then – only to find him looking like a cold-blooded, demonic beast who is lusting for a sinister slaughter. 

His half-lidded, shard-edged glare is predatory. And he is glowering like he is more than prepared to hunt down his prey. 

"Hey, chill out, man. You don't have to do anything about it…" she tried to talk him out of it, fearing him for once.

"Besides, I'm not going with an old dress anymore-" 

"It's not about the dress. If you said that you looked fine in it, then I know you did look fine in it. This is about those scummy dumbasses," he snapped, mad and provoked. 

"Look, you can't do anything about it, okay? And you shouldn't. I already moved on from that. It doesn't bother me that much anymore."

"And yet you said that you didn't want to go to the prom because you knew what would happen. It obviously still bothers you."

"Ughhh… I shouldn't have told that to you."

Seeing her fidget about and break out in a cold sweat - uncertain of what to do, he tried his hardest to calm down and not make her feel even more uncomfortable. There's no point in getting angry. Even if he asked her about the names of her offenders, he knew that she wouldn't tell him anything. 

With that, he decided to put aside his feelings and deal with this matter later.

"So, you're going to buy a new dress, then?" Marcellus asked, still coming out a bit angry even though he tried to get back to his usual cool.

"Yeah, I will…" Winter answered then trailed off the moment she noticed how he started to look like he had just come up with a plan.

"I know what you're thinking, Sir Lexington. But it's fine."

"What? Can't I get you as simple as a prom dress?"

"August wants to buy it for me. He called me earlier, and I told him about the prom."

"And here I thought we could go out shopping again."

With him returning to being playful and goofy, they continued on their way and headed for a nearby café where they could spend the rest of the afternoon in. She's relieved that he didn't insist on his fit of pique anymore, though she doubts that he's just going to leave it at that. For now, she would have to distract him from that as much as she could, and hopefully, she could make him forget about what she said.

"What do you think about getting a second dress? You know, some costume change-"

"Pfffttt…! Don't be ridiculous!"

Though Marcellus kept coming up with one amusing idea after another from that point on, Winter just laughed it off.

---

"What about a second dress, Winter? You know, some costume change."

On the next day, Winter got to hear the same idea from August – but this time, she no longer found it amusing, and that's because he seems serious about it unlike Marcellus. 

When she went out shopping with him after her classes dismissed that afternoon, she really didn't know what to expect. Then again, this is her first time shopping clothes with him after a long time. She's also clueless about what kind of prom dress he's going to pick up for her.

Right now, they're in a branded clothing store at the mall – with him looking around and her following him from behind. 

"I don't need no second dress, August. Besides, you can't even decide on one," Winter said with a small smile – though she was not amused by his sense of humor, she was delighted to see him trying hard for her. 

"Seems like I need some back-up, then," August then muttered out of nowhere, pulling out his cellphone.

"Huh? Who're you calling?"

"Just someone."