Chapter 97 - An Invisible Hierarchy

After dealing with Bianca and her friends, Winter carried on with greeting the other guests.

Night time is about to fall. She is almost finished by then. To her relief, nothing much went on after the chain of events that unfolded earlier. The party is sailing smoothly so far. Everyone commends her for making rounds to ensure that they are enjoying themselves. Now, all there is left to do is to greet one particular visitor.   

That's until a commotion suddenly broke out.

A drunken guest started causing a scene.

'Hmmm? That's new. I don't recall this happening before…' she thought as she made her way to where the uproar was taking place. 

'Is this another one of Bianca's plots, perhaps?'

Winter soon learns that it's not.

Apparently, it's Anne. She seems so drunk that she keeps laughing out loud like she's demented, chasing after the fleeing visitors for no good reason, and running around the place like some lioness that broke out of her cage – all these while she's carrying a bottle of wine. On her state of stupor, no one could even talk her out of this madness. While some scurry away to avoid her, others only go with the flow and entertain her.     

'Come to think of it, I recall that she's got quite the reputation. I've always been using the words 'daredevil' and 'bold' to describe her personality. But in reality, she's better known as 'The Wild Bitch of the Collins' or something like that.' 

Winter can't even afford to get angry or upset at Anne for causing a racket. 

If anything, she's amused. Most women of high status like her are not really honest. She, on the other hand, is not at all afraid to hide her imperfections. Though a little too heedless and loose, she's not a stuck-up nor a snob.   

'At any rate, I've got to make her snap out of it. The other guests are starting to get scared.'

Winter could see that not even Cyrus nor Grace could approach Anne. Knowing her relatives, they probably didn't want to involve themselves with such an outrageous behavior. They might've even already called for the guards to deal with the situation in their stead.

Before that can happen, she steps up and joins the scene.

"Excuse me, Ms. Collins…" Winter called out, stealing Anne's attention.

"I think you should rest for now. You can use one of our rooms-"

"Oh, my! If it isn't dearest little Winterrr~!"   

Then, all of the sudden, she coos her name and pounces on her, much to her surprise.

Everyone else is also thrown off guard when she hugs her. That's when she recalls what Marcellus told her before – she could be very clingy. Some of the other visitors attempted to pull her away from her, but she only smiled and reassured them that she could take care of it.

With that, Winter decided to talk Anne out of it.

"Now then, how come you're so drunk, Ms. Collins?"

"Oh, 'ya mean my guardian?"

"Guardian? What guardian?"

"That white-haired dude! 'Ya know, that lame ass!"

"Are you talking about Sir Lexington?"

"Yeah, yeah! Or at least I think that's his name. The thing is, I tried to make him spill the beans about his feelings for you. So, we had a drinking game. Turned out that he's better than I expected! I did manage to make him puke a little at the very least. Hehe."

On second thought, Anne is more honest than necessary.

Right when Winter was about to respond to that, she spotted Marcellus waving at her from a distance - beckoning her over. She scowled at him, displeased that she's the one who ended up dealing with the trouble he caused. He didn't even appear like he's going to step up and help her.

'Not like I have any other choice.'

Grumbling, Winter just decided to take Anne to Marcellus. 

--- 

Winter asked permission from Cyrus and August to step out of the party for a moment to look after Anne.

Considering that she seems to be the only one who can handle the situation, her uncle let her be under the condition that she'll return before the event ends. Her brother, on the other hand, needed a lot of persuasion first. She didn't tell any of them that she'd be going with Marcellus, though. If she were to say that, he doubted she'd get out as easily as she did. 

With that, the two of them momentarily left the party to take Anne home.

They used his car to drive their way to her residence. Feeling like she can finally be at ease, she puts her feet up on the dash in a relaxed manner. He makes a strange strangled noise at the sight, somewhat horrified. 

"Ms. Agreste! Feet off the dash!" Marcellus bolted out.

"No," Winter retorted, lifting her chin.

"Ms. Agreste!"

"No."

He sighs exasperatedly. Yet he smirks nonetheless.

"Why must it always be this way? I should ban you from the passenger seat."

"Nooo!!!"

"Just you watch. You'll be sitting at the back with Ms. Anne-"

"Sir Lexingtonnn!!!"

"I'll do it!"

Seeing the concrete threat in his eyes, she decides that desperate times call for desperate measures. So, she immediately takes advantage of her ultimate weapon – her sad doll-like look. 

"Pwease?"

Additional ammunition is the lisp. Marcellus quickly turns his gaze to the road, dodging Winter's attack. 

"I am not falling for that-"

She pouts as she goes for a full frontal offense. And then, she's tugging on his sleeve like a lost puppy, making her look cuter than he can bear. 

"Pwease don't kick me out of the passenger seat?"

"Stop it."

"Pwease, Mar-tellus?"

"Stop being adorable!" Anne yelled from the back seat all of the sudden, causing Winter to lose her doll-like look. There's a dopey smile on her face that she can't seem to rid herself of. It's the sort of smile one makes when they think, 'Holy shit! Why are they sooo cuteee?!' 

"Adorable?" Winter repeats, tilting her head.

"Yes! Stop being adorable…!" Anne exclaimed, burying her face in her hands. 

"I can't handle it."

"But I'm not-"

"Yes, you are!" 

Surprisingly, both Marcellus and Anne shout that. Winter looks at them back and forth. She then settles her gaze on Marcellus and asks, "So, I can stay in the passenger seat?"

"At least take your shoes off," he sighed loudly, giving in.

Beaming, she reaches forward to tug her shoes off her feet. She keeps her feet on the dash, snuggling into the car seat and leaning her head on the window with a satisfied smile. Seeing the expression on her face, he feels a dopey smile pulling on his cheeks too.

"You're such a child-"

"Hey, I'm eighteen! Legally an adult!" she cut him off, raising her head up in an effort to look cool.

"Yeah. Adult on paper. Five years old at heart."

Having nothing to say to that, Winter just huffs once more, conceding defeat. Anne looks at them thoughtfully, and dares to venture by asking, "So, you really are a couple now, huh?"

"A couple of idiots, yes," Winter chimed.

"What?" Anne blurted out.

"Sorry. She likes to do that to throw people off," Marcellus explained. 

Winter snickered at that. Anne only gave them a look.

"So, are you guys a couple or not?"

"Nope!"

"Seriously?"

"Yep!"

"Huh. You act like it."

"Sir Lexington is like family to me!"

Winter beams. Though a little disappointed to hear that, Marcellus just mirrors her grin.

"Perhaps, Sir Lexington isn't really the type to fall in love," Anne commented.

"What're you talking about?" Winter questioned, not expecting that.

"Well, I mean, he's like one of the Untouchables of high society now."

"Untouchables?"

"You don't know?" 

"Please explain."

Anne nods and goes ahead to do as she is told. Now, Winter is starting to wonder if she is still drunk or not. She appears to have already sobered up somehow. 

"Right. So, there's an invisible hierarchy in high society other than social status and whatnot. As a joke, my circle of friends classified everyone. And it kind of stuck. Here's how it goes – there are the standard dreamers, virtuosos, and saver-investors. Then, there are special categories, which are what people really pay attention to..." Anne disclosed. 

"The special category was only invented because all that everyone wants to know is who gets together with who."

"So, other labels don't matter?" Winter asked, curious.

"Yes. Nobody cares about those. What people care about is who's available, who's not, and who's on the rebound."

"Wow," Marcellus snorted.

"So, there are people like this dude who are in the 'Crush' category."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Everybody has a crush on you, but you're not in a relationship."

"Oh."

"However, you're starting to get labelled in the Untouchable category lately, considering that you don't flirt with women anymore." 

For some reason, Winter feels a bit uneasy about this, especially since she herself is called an untouchable in school, which makes the term not at all unfamiliar to her.