Chapter 38 - Friend And Partner

Winter takes some time to rummage through her memories and search for any detail about the Miller's having a child after Violet. 

Yet in the end, she finds nothing. She was more than certain that she did not have a sibling. That made her wonder if she missed something in the past or this timeline was actually different from the previous one.

"You've got a younger brother?" Winter blurted out, unable to keep herself from asking. 

"I also never heard of that before, Ms. Miller," Marcellus chimed in from the side, taking her aback.

"Huh? You're not aware too?"

"Why're you surprised, Ms. Agreste? No, I wasn't."

"I mean, I wasn't too."

"Oh, you mean...?"

"Yeah. That's it."

"Oh."

It took him a moment to realize that she must be talking about not recalling this particular detail to be canon in her past timeline. That can only mean that they have discovered a whole new matter regarding the Miller household - them having another potential heir, that is.

While the two of them are having this telepathic conversation, their visitor suddenly feels left out, especially with how they only continue staring at each other without saying anything.

"Both of you are kinda close, huh...?" Violet commented all of the sudden, stealing back their attention.

"Mr. Lexington, may I ask what is your relationship with Ms. Agreste? I really hope it's not what I think it is-"

"She's a relative of a close acquaintance of mine. She's not what you think she is to me," Marcellus lied and cut her off in a haste, a bit stunned by her assumption.

"Oh, I see...! That's good, I guess. I don't what I'd do if you're also playing around with her."

While Winter coughed at that, Marcellus came to a still.

In only a matter of minutes, Violet had gotten too fond of her that she started to become kind of protective. How she smiles as she warns him is impressive in a way that it intimidates. Her tone and expression even darken. From there, they've come to learn that she's actually sharper than they take her credits for. 

'So, she's aware that he's only playing around with her and the other ladies, huh? And she hadn't really fallen for him. They're friends at most, I guess? They do talk with each other from time to time...' Winter mused to herself, trying to figure out how Violet was seeing Marcellus this whole time in that case.

'Well, as long as they get along when it comes to their businesses, that's more than enough.'

More importantly than that, she will have to concern herself with the matters surrounding her attempt to end her life. That's the elephant in the room here. Considering how she's acting far from how she was back then, it gave her the impression that she wasn't necessarily an angsty kind of person.

"If you don't mind talking about it, may I ask what made you do what you did last time?" Winter then finally addressed, straight to the point yet careful with her wording. 

"Oh, that's..." Violet breathed out and cast down her gaze, already expecting that.

"I do plan to tell you since I owe my saviors an explanation - I'll be direct about it."

"No need to force yourself, Ms. Miller. Just tell us what you want."

"Well, it's just that... Things has always been tough on me, the successor of Miller Holdings. I worked hard to manage the company on my own, but in the end, the pressure of finding a husband was still being pressed on me. From one marriage interview after another, the elders made me go through a hard time."

"Oh, then... Mr. Lexington is...?"

"Mr. Lexington is indeed part of the candidates, and he is the only one who gets to understand me even just for a little. You guys did prepare those flowers for me, right? I was really happy about it. Those were my favorite too. Other candidates only come and go - took me to fancy places, gave me expensive presents, and made me feel like I could never fare well if I would be on my own."

"Right, right! I feel you. Boys can be such jerks, right? They think that only a king can rule a kingdom. I mean, this is not the old era where you have to get a man to-"

Realizing that those were really unnecessary, Winter didn't finish her comment and snapped out of her rambling to find that Violet and Marcellus are giving her a look. They are quite astonished by her mini pep talk.

"I-I'm sorry. I got a little carried away," Winter apologized while blushing in embarrassment.

"Don't be. I actually love your perspective. It's just as you say..." Violet replied with a smile. 

"I want to lead our company by myself - at least until I find the 'one', that is. I don't want a forced marriage. That's why I did what I did. In opposition to the desires of the elders, I tried to do it."

"And I'm glad you didn't see it through. You don't have to listen to them, you know."

"W-Well, it's not really that easy-"

"I know. It's not. But I believe that Ms. Miller can do it."

Or rather than believe, Winter is sure that Violet will.

Before she went back in time, she got to hear a lot of great things about the head of Miller Holdings. She did get to ascend that position, and she succeeded leading it without the involvement of marriage. That's why she helped Marcellus out in his date with her even though she knows she's not interested in being in a relationship -

She'll become an outstanding entrepreneur whose company can partner up with his. 

"Ms. Agreste, may I ask you something?" Violet asked with a small blush, acting all timid again.

"What is it?" Winter asked and beamed at her, feeling like they were going to get along well.

"May I call you Winter?"

"Of course, you can, Ms. Miller."

"You can call me Violet too. I'm only twenty, after all. Our ages are not that far from each other."

From that point on, something else that Winter did not really plan had started - her friendship with Violet blossomed without her realizing it.

---   

"Can I call you Winter too?"

When Marcellus asked that later that afternoon, Winter only gave him a flat look.

Violet already left a while ago. The two are now on their way out of his office, walking beside each other. He offered to take her home since night time was about to fall - but not without arranging another meeting with her tomorrow.   

"Help yourself. I don't mind," she then only sighed as he kept looking at her expectantly.

"Then, you can just call me Marcellus too-"

"By the way, Sir Lexington, will you be alright meeting me day after day?"

Marcellus is well aware that Winter has just changed topics on purpose.

All he can do is take his turn to sigh, wondering what it is that makes him so different from Violet. In fact, he knows her better than she does. Yet knowing how stubborn she is, he just gives up and saves it for another time.

"What do you mean by that?" Marcellus asked in response to her question.

"You're still going to go on dates, right? For one, Ms. Anne of the Collins Firms seems to be getting along well with you - better than Ms. Violet, I presume," Winter pointed out, catching him off guard for a bit.

"Just how do you know about all these things? Are you still stalking me?"

"I've got my private source."

"Well, good job on bragging about it. Now, I'll have you say who in the world this is."

"Private means private. You can't know. Besides, I want to mess around with you for a while longer."

"Why, you little-"

"President?"

At that call, both of them halted on their tracks.

Claude appeared before them out of nowhere, having only turned from a corner of that hall. Winter looks at him in surprise and a little bit of awe - as expected of Marcellus, his secretary is really hot and handsome too. Of course, he appears younger than the last time she remembers, and as always, he seems passionate in his work.

Even at this hour, he is carrying piles upon piles of paperwork while his boss has only been goofing around since earlier.

"Oh, Ms. Agreste paid a visit. Good day to you..." Claude greeted as soon as he saw Winter.

"My name is Claude. I'm President Lexington's secretary. Well, I think you already know that."

"Pleased to be meeting you again, Mr. Claude. Good day too."

Though he should no longer be, he is a little surprised to hear that she is meeting him again - they really did know each other before. It's kind of surreal when he thinks about it, especially knowing that she traveled through time.

'Other than that, it's also surreal seeing the President with a lady he's not taking on any date. All the women who used to come to his office were always playing around..." Claude thought in silence before heaving a sigh of relief. 

"Ms.. Agreste is such a fresh breath of air."