Chapter 91: Beneath Her Dignity

PrincessWatcher_22 · 2.6K Likes

"I still cannot get over Sera’s apology. Just yesterday, she was confronting Starlight in the dining hall, and today she is transferring three months’ worth of Apex points to her. That doesn’t seem like a normal change of heart. Something must have happened behind the scenes. I don’t believe for one second that a princess who was confident enough to challenge Starlight publicly suddenly woke up enlightened and decided to become humble overnight. Something fishy is definitely going on."

└ UmbraObserver · 2.1K Likes

"Or—and hear me out—she actually realized she was wrong. She literally admitted that pride and prejudice influenced her behavior. Not everything has some secret conspiracy behind it."

└ Idontlikeusernames · 1.7K Likes

"At Asterion? You really believe that? Everything surrounding that Starlight girl has been a mystery. Why did the Imperial Alpha Princes choose only her out of the ten Lunar Lottery candidates who were selected? How does she confront both imperial royals and sub-royals without fear and get away with it? How many of you could do what she has done so far and swear the werewolves wouldn’t come after you? Something is definitely going on."

└ Dawn_Breaker_001 · 500 Likes

"@Idontlikeusernames Who is going to come for her when the Alpha Crown Twins are already standing behind her? That’s the reason none of us can dare to do what she does. We don’t have backing that strong. If I had Prince Mikhail and Prince Nikolai behind me, I’d be talking crazy too. So stop trying to turn everything into a conspiracy."

└ Idontlikeusernames · 200 Likes

"@Dawn_Breaker_001 Bro, you are literally under everybody’s comments. Get a life, man."

└ Dawn_Breaker_001 · 650 Likes

"@Idontlikeusernames Being a DawnBreaker is officially my new life. It seems we are breaking hearts and collecting tears now. 😌 Keep your negativity away from my queen."

SongbirdFanClub · 2.7K Likes

"Songbird saying she is a DawnBreaker has officially made this the funniest gossip thread on the academy network. Imagine being a professional gossip blogger and accidentally becoming a full-time member of the fandom you’re reporting on. At this point, she’s not even pretending to be unbiased anymore. And honestly? I respect it. Give me the bias. Give me the royal scandals. Give me the missing CCTV footage. Give me the mysterious swimming incident. Give me the Apex Rankings. Give me Starlight walking through Asterion like she owns the place. I have been entertained for less than a week, and I am already emotionally invested."

ApexAddict · 3.9K Likes

"Can we now go back to the main issue and appreciate the absolute insanity of the current Apex Rankings? A HUMAN freshman is sitting at Rank One. I don’t care whether you love her or hate her. That is objectively wild. Imagine explaining this to someone who isn’t a student at Asterion. ’Oh yes, the new human student arrived, got noticed by the Crown Princes, fought with a Perigee princess and an Umbra princess, collapsed in combat class, got carried to the infirmary, received a public apology, and then somehow became Rank One before breakfast.’ This academy is not an educational institution anymore. It is a reality show, and I am absolutely here for it."

└ DramaKing_01 · 3.7K Likes

"A reality show with tuition fees. 😂😂"

└ MoonlitRealist · 2.9K Likes

"I think the most interesting part of all of this is that Starlight Dawson doesn’t actually seem to be chasing any of these people. That’s what makes the situation so strange. From everything we’ve seen, she mostly wants to be left alone, and somehow every time she turns around, another elite ends up crossing her path."

└ SilverFang_99 · 1.8K Likes

"@MoonlitRealist Or maybe she knows exactly what she’s doing, and everyone is falling for it."

└ MoonlitRealist · 2.2K Likes

"@SilverFang_99 Then she deserves an award for the most elaborate manipulation campaign in academy history because apparently she’s controlling princes, princesses, rankings, gossip blogs, and thousands of students simultaneously. "

SeraSupporter_88 · 1.8K Likes

"As someone who actually likes Sera, I am glad she apologized. Admitting that she was wrong takes more courage than people are giving her credit for. She could have gone ahead with the duel. Instead, she chose to forfeit and publicly admitted that she had allowed her privilege to affect how she treated another student. That matters. You can dislike what she did and still acknowledge that she handled the aftermath better than many royals would have."

└ SS_Fan_Club · 2.5K Likes

"I still think it was embarrassing, but at least she apologized properly. That’s more than I expected."

└ EmpireObserver · 2.1K Likes

"I will keep saying this until people get tired of hearing it. Princess Sera has shown more maturity in one day than that other sub-royal princess has shown all semester. At least Sera was capable of admitting she was wrong. The other one still acts as if the entire world exists beneath her, and she’s not even sorry about it."

*****

Beatrice stared at her phone screen, her knuckles white where her fingers gripped the metal casing. The comment section under Songbird’s post scrolled in a nauseating blur, her own name dragged through the mud with every single refresh.

Beatrice would NEVER apologize... Beatrice literally humiliated three human freshmen... If only Beatrice could learn a thing or two... Sera is better than her...

"Tchhh...!"

A sharp sound escaped through clenched teeth, thick with bitter outrage. The muscles in her jaw flexed as she drew her arm back, ready to hurl the phone across the room and shatter it against the marble pillar.

"Whoa, whoa, hold on, Princess!" Maya lunged forward from the couch, grabbing Beatrice’s wrist just in time to stop the throw. "Calm down, will you? You do not need to keep smashing your devices every single time something pisses you off." Maya carefully pried the device from her fingers. "Honestly, I’ve lost count at this point. Is this the fourth phone this month? The fifth? I know your family can replace an entire phone store if they choose to, but please show a little mercy to the poor technology."

Beatrice’s eyes flashed with venom as she turned on her. "Let go of my hand," she hissed.

Maya immediately raised both hands, stepping back with an easygoing grin. "Fine, fine, I’ll do just that. But seriously, calm down first."

"I swear, Maya, if you don’t get back to your seat, your head is going to be what I’m smashing next," Beatrice snarled, pointing a trembling finger toward the sofa Maya had been sitting on. "So do both of us a favor and go back to trying to find a way to fix this mess before I decide to test just how durable your useless skull really is."

Maya sighed dramatically and retreated several steps before plopping back onto the sofa. She picked up her tablet and went back to scrolling through it, pretending to do as she was told. It was not as if the princess would listen to any idea she came up with anyway. Every idea she brought forward was pushed aside, and honestly, why did she keep bothering when Beatrice would only end up doing as she pleased?

She sighed again. Such was the unfortunate fate of being the beta of a troublesome princess who treated common sense like a personal enemy.

Beatrice glared at Maya for a second before turning her back on her and pacing across the rugged floor with sharp, frantic steps. Her chest rose and fell with heavy, jagged breaths. She still could not wrap her mind around it.

Sera actually apologized.

That stupid, spineless Umbra heiress had actually begged a mere human for forgiveness. Worse, she had even gone ahead and handed over three full months’ worth of voting points, effectively crowning Starlight Dawson as Rank #1 on the ranking leaderboard.

"Tch." The sound escaped her again, laced with bitter disbelief. Was Sera an idiot? Had she completely lost her mind? How could she apologize to a mere human? Even if the clans wanted something from that filthy human, Beatrice would never dare to do such a humiliating thing. It was beneath her dignity.

She ran a hand through her hair and began pacing. Beatrice understood that the five major clans were now interested in that stupid Starlight Dawson, though she had no idea why, and she couldn’t care less to know. For all she cared, there could be no other reason for them to be so interested in her other than that they had found out she had a higher chance of bearing full-blooded werewolf children than the other candidates. If not, why else would they want all their heirs and heiresses to pursue her?