Bab 22: Drawing out the Deception
Marcellus only followed Winter the whole time.
He sure hoped that she was not messing around with him and that he was not only wasting his time. It's just that he couldn't figure out a thing that she'd possibly want to show him in a raffle.
"What do you think, Mr. Marcellus Lexington? Does this seem like a fraud to you?" Winter started out of nowhere, talking in a whisper that was barely audible.
"Well, considering certain factors like the cost of their prizes and the number of these people, it can be. The expenses outweigh the profit," Marcellus replied, a little taken aback by how sudden that question was.
"Their prizes are authentic, though. Wanna see?"
"You're saying you're gonna win a prize?"
"Not just one. I can win them all."
"You sure know how to talk big, Ms. Agreste."
She only grins at him right then, overflowing with confidence.
Eventually, they get to stand first in line. He watches her from the side as she buys for the tickets and holds the handle of the barrel. But right before she spins it, he notices her shooting a pointed look at the host of the raffle.
He is standing there before them, smiling like the accommodating event organizer that he is. Even then, she keeps giving him that look - she appears to be suspecting him of something.
"What's the matter, young lady? Having second thoughts? You can't have a refund now, okay...?" the host quipped with a huge grin that came out nothing but disturbing to her.
"Now, draw it already. The people behind you are waiting."
Winter does as she is told - but not without sparing him what seemed to be a glare at the last minute.
She didn't spin the barrel, though. She only slipped her hand in the hole with ease and pulled out a piece of paper with a certain number written on it -
A number that won her a luxury voyage on a cruise ship.
"W-W-W-W-What?!"
The host of the raffle and everyone else there were so astonished that it soon turned into a ruckus.
However, she did not stop there. She proceeded to use the rest of her tickets to get all of the grand prizes. It wasn't long before a bigger crowd gathered around the stall, spectating the lucky draws of the most fortunate person they saw that day.
From the start until the end, Marcellus was too stunned to say a thing.
"Woah, you're not kidding at all..." he then breathed out at her last draw, thoroughly struck with awe.
"You really did win them all."
"W-Wait, wait, wait, young lady...!" the host of the raffle cut in and bolted out all of the sudden, thrown into panic.
"Y-You...! How did you...?! I-I-I mean, you can't seriously be-"
"What's the matter, Sir? I thought there's no refund..." she trailed off in all smugness.
"Then, there's no taking these tickets back, too. These are mine now."
At that moment, Marcellus noticed two particular things that were amiss. First, the event organizer had not once congratulated his customer - he only appeared like he did some sort of mistake. Apart from that, the winner herself was not that all pleased. She was not even smiling.
Even though Winter had done something so mind-blowing, Marcellus could not see her enjoying it.
---
"See? The prizes are all authentic, but there is a cheat."
Winter confessed the truth to Marcellus after getting far enough from the venue of the raffle.
She did end up taking all the grand prizes, but she acted like she was not going to make use of them. Now, she had gone ahead and told him what kind of deception was happening.
"All of the event organizers were in it. They were going to make certain people from their side win the prizes. Through that cheat, they had tricked their customers."
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