Chapter 53 - A Fun-loving Heiress

Claude never thought the he could get this tense from something that a highschooler said - a girl who is apparently almost a decade younger than him. 

At times, this ever bubbly Winter can be the most vivacious little lass that he ever sees. But there are also some occasions when her scintillating personality dies down and suddenly lives up to the meaning of her name. Said occasion is happening at the moment - she is starting to bring forth a blizzard with her icy-cold, sharp-edged gaze. 

"I asked you something, Sir Claude..." Winter started once more when Claude did not respond.

"Are you hiding something from me? There's someone else inside his office, isn't it?"

"M-Ms. Agreste, I apologize but I can't give you any further details. President Lexington ordered me to keep quiet about this."

"Oh? Now, I'm more intrigued~"

He can't help but gulp at that.

There's just something about this particular highschooler that doesn't settle well with him. Not only is she a living proof that something as implausible as time travel exists, but she is also practically on the same level as his boss when it comes to their sharp-mindedness and shrewdness. That makes her a little intimidating - even more so when she gets serious like this.

Nevertheless, Claude had to follow Marcellus and keep Winter from entering no matter what.

"Well, alright. Fine. I won't meddle in..." she then eventually sighed and gave in, making him let out a breath of relief.

"As long as there's some tea around, I'll stay put and behave in the lounge." 

"Vanilla, is it? Right away, Ms. Agreste," he said with a smile. 

"Oh, you already memorized my favorite flavor, huh?"

"I'm not the secretary of the President for nothing."

"It's actually as I expected of you, Sir Claude-"

Right then, the doors were thrown open out of nowhere, cutting off their conversation.

While Claude went frozen still at the sudden intrusion, Winter remained calm and took a look. That's when she found this charmingly chirpy woman whose distinguished beauty she was able to recognize straight away. Contrary to what she expected, she turned out to be quite amused instead of indignant at the thought that Marcellus was hiding something important from her. 

It just happened that the heiress of the Collins Firm, Anne, had paid a visit.

"Gosh, Sir Lexington! Since when did you become the indoor type? You should get a fresh breath of air once in a while! Maybe another trip to an amusement park with me will do~?" Anne quipped with a playful smirk, still not looking ahead of her until she ended up almost bumping into them as a result.

"Ms. Collins, are you leaving?" Claude asked while he hid Winter behind him and stood between them.

"Oh, yes, yes! I'm going now. Please, excuse my unannounced visit."

"It's alright, Ma'am. There is no problem, though I hope you can make an appointment next time so that we can prepare. I also ask that you excuse the President for not being able to accept any of your invitations." 

"He said he's busy, which I understand. I worry that he might pass out from too much stress and work, however." 

"That won't happen. I assure that."

Anne was about to reply to that when she suddenly took notice of Winter. 

Claude wasn't really hiding her well enough - if anything, what he's doing only piqued her curiosity even more. Raising a brow, she then narrowed her eyes at her and leaned down for a bit to take a closer look. She could see that she's wearing a school uniform, which immediately gave her the wrongest impression she could come up with. 

"So, the secretary is into younger girls, huh? What a surprise~" Anne teased, making Claude cringe in chagrin. 

"P-Please, don't say something like that-"

"Hey there, little miss~! Be careful of older men, okay? I'm not really judging his tastes, but I bet that the little miss will do better with someone her age-"

"Who will do better with whom, Ms. Anne?"

Then came Marcellus.

He appeared from behind Anne all of the sudden, looking dauntingly ill-tempered and displeased at what he heard. She swerves around and looks at him - only to be greeted by his scowl and glare. Startled, she blinked rapidly and smiled nervously. Claude and Winter, on the other hand, have no idea how they should react at that moment. 

"She's not in any relationship with my secretary," Marcellus then corrected in all seriousness while Anne could only stare at him incredulously.   

"Ermmmm... You do know that I'm just teasing him, right?"

"Well, it's not funny."

"That's what you always say when I'm joking! Goodness, Sir Lexington! You're no fun anymore! Hmph!"

Winter doesn't know what's happening at this point.

She couldn't believe that Marcellus started talking like that to Anne. Back then, he would act all tough and manly in front of her since he wanted to gain her favor and form some sort of relationship with her family.

She recalled that this plan of his did succeed, especially since she helped him out at the haunted house before. Perhaps, the kind of relationship they formed was the reason why she suddenly paid a visit and tried to invite him to go out with her somewhere.   

Winter was thinking about all these things when Claude escorted Anne out of there - leaving her and Marcellus at the entrance to his office. 

"Ms. Agreste, how come you're here so early?"

Only when he talked once more did she snap out of it and turn back to him. He appeared somewhat fretful about something, which she was able to notice even more when she only stayed silent. She decided to carry on with that silent treatment until he finally addressed his concerns.

"Did you... try to take a peek inside my office earlier...?" Marcellus brought up all of the sudden while Winter tried not to react too surprised at how he came up with that assumption.

"I swear! Her hugging me like that doesn't mean anything! She's particularly clingy, and she's really stubborn. I wasn't trying to entertain her advances or anything, though-"

"What are you babbling about, Marcellus Lexington? So what if she's hugging you?"

He abruptly came to a pause at how she said that so nonchalantly. 

Not only does she look like she does not give a damn, but she also has him disappointed with how much she seems to mean that - she really doesn't care if he plays around with women like how he always does. That's already a given, though. He knows that she doesn't mind since she even helps him out in finding his targets and preparing his dates.

But then, things changed.

For some reason, he can no longer take how she is more than willing to hook him up with another girl - he himself can no longer stand flirting around like that either. 

"Anyway, going down to business..." Winter chimed in again, moving on to another topic.

"I won't be able to meet up with you tomorrow. I've got plans."

"Huh? What plans?" Marcellus asked in surprise and confusion.

"My brother's gonna pick me up after school. He thought that you're my sugar daddy, so I've gotta prove that I'm still focused on my studies."

His mouth went agape while his eye bulged a little wide right then.

Out of all the relationships that others could've assumed he had with her, it had to be this - he's no sugar daddy at all. Sure, he would love to pamper her and take her out as much as he could. But he knew his limitations. And those limitations were decided by none other than her. He does what she wants him to do, but he also draws the line from time to time, especially when she tells him to.

"I am in no way you're sugar daddy, okay?! We're only seven years apart! And in reality, you're the same age as me!" Marcellus exclaimed, affronted.

"You're missing out my point here..." Winter trailed off and let out a sigh.

"Of course, you're not my sugar daddy. What I'm trying to tell you here is that we shouldn't meet tomorrow. Don't show up at school or call me or text me or anything. I have to focus on making August believe that I still haven't turned into some rebellious troublemaker of a sister." 

"No calling...? Really...? Even texting?"

"Nope! My brother's pretty sharp. I'm guessing that he's gonna ask questions if he sees me chatting with someone on the phone, especially since I told him before that I didn't even have any friend to hang out with."   

He had to understand.

Although cutting all connections with him for a whole day was too much on his part, he had to trust that she was doing the right thing. This would be the first time he would not see and talk with her ever since they started hanging out with each other, though. For certain, he would find her absence peculiar.

"Well, alright.. Have fun with your big bro, then," was what Marcellus told Winter in the end while patting her head and smiling a little.