"Just how am I supposed to control this stupid trait?"
Wynter, who stepped out onto the balcony, turned when she heard a heavy sigh and someone muttering to themselves. There, she saw Shawn Dominick Lockhart, someone who had been in the midst of people moments ago. It seemed that he had disappeared here after a while.
'I guess I'll just go somewhere else—'
"What is kindness?" Shawn muttered again, interrupting her thoughts.
"I guess it depends on who defines it," she replied.
Shawn abruptly turned around when someone answered him. Not that he was hiding it, since he was muttering to himself, and this was an open area, not his room.
"Greetings, Mister Lockhart," Wynter greeted him when he turned around.
"Greetings, Miss Morgrave," he replied, a bit indifferently.
"So you can sound like that," she walked over, no longer intending to leave.
He furrowed his brows.
"The bright and kind young master Lockhart could actually sound indifferent. That's new," she elaborated.
"I don't think I need such words from you, Miss Morgrave," he replied.
He stood straight, ready to leave instead.
"If you ask me what kindness is, it does not mean being good to every person out there. Real kindness is being good to those you deem important. That you can reject others while prioritizing those who you should prioritize. Sometimes you even need to become bad to others who are exploiting those you wish to protect."
Shawn frowned. It felt like she was speaking while knowing his past actions.
"Let me ask you this: who do you prioritize? A stranger who badly needs your help or someone close to you who definitely needs your help?" Wynter looked at him seriously and asked.
"You sound like you know me greatly," he replied.
"I don't, but I heard stories of you here and there. I pieced two and two together to understand the gist of your character. Even your words moments ago spoke of what you are facing right now."
"…"
"Why don't you tell me what happened?" she asked again.
Shawn did not need to do so. In the first place, they were not close. They had not even spoken with one another before this. Their worlds were so far apart that what advice could she give him?
But looking at her eyes, which had been observing him since moments ago, he found himself opening his lips and telling her what happened between him and Harmony.
"Stupid, indeed," were her first words.
His face fell instantly, "Are you mocking me now?"
"Seriously, people are taking advantage of you."
"I can tell if they are," he rebuked.
She shook her head, "In a way that is not affecting you but instead those who are around you."
Shawn fell silent.
"Your kindness is not affecting you in a negative way at all. But what about the people around you? Those you want to keep close? Are they really not affected? Others exploit your kindness to push away the people getting close to you."
He fell silent, remembering his aunt's words: 'She came here a bit wet, her temperature had risen, and her clothes were cold.'
"The few seconds that you helped others, many things could happen to your companions."
Wynter heard someone calling her, "I'm leaving now, Mister Lockhart. Do ask those you are close with directly; they will surely enlighten you more."
Shawn was left there, pondering over her words. Thinking back, he indeed had not asked them about his kindness. He had only heard them wondering whether they were really his friends or not.
'Come to think of it, I could not read her eyes at all. What she was feeling or whatever it was she was actually thinking. It felt too deep to fathom,' he thought, turning to look at Wynter, who approached her mother, Minerva.
"What were you doing?" Minerva asked when she noticed that Wynter had left the balcony with Shawn still there.
"I went for some fresh air and chanced upon Mister Lockhart. I simply chatted for a bit," she replied without pause.
Minerva squinted her eyes.
"I should get close to anyone, right, Mother?" she smiled, her eyes forming a crescent moon.
Minerva slightly frowned before straightening her face, knowing that they were being surrounded by people.
"Then go and interact with more people. You need to keep contact with most of those who are present," she whispered.
Wynter smiled, "I know, Mother. I shall be going now."
She kept her well-practiced smile and walked over to other people at that brightly lit party.
Upon getting home, she received a message just as she stepped inside the room.
'You seem to be getting distracted.'
'Of course not, Hymn. For the first time in a while, I just felt like saying those words to that person.'
'You do know that it is getting closer, right?'
'I know.'
'I am not restricting you, but you have been waiting for that time for so long.'
She smiled, 'Don't worry, Hymn, everything will go just as planned.'
'Just keep in mind, I will support you no matter what decision you make, Ice.'
She smiled again, not her usual walled smile but a genuine one. This person was her only real support in this life.
Soon, the messages were deleted completely without her doing anything.
She took a deep breath and looked at her reflection in the mirror.
"Sometimes I, too, wonder where I should stand. Or who is this person that is in front of me now."
She looked straight into her eyes, "Not even this small happiness of knowing someone is there to support me is reaching my eyes."
She chuckled, "Why am I thinking about this? Seriously, it seems I am being affected."
She shook her head and went to take a bath.
After stepping out, she once again looked at the mirror.
The thick makeup she always put on her face was gone. This time, if Shawn were to see her, he would say he was wrong about her being older than them. She looked like she was the same age as them.
What was more remarkable in her appearance was the mole under her right eye, something not visible whenever she stepped out because of all the makeup.