Chapter 103: Corrective Conduct

Starlight watched Elle back away from the entrance, her face pale as a ghost and her eyes wide with alarm, making it look as though a ravenous beast were waiting on the other side of the door. She frowned, her eyebrows knitting together at the sight. It took a lot to rattle Elle, but right now, she was practically vibrating with genuine fear. "Who was that?" Starlight asked, taking a step forward.

"Star..." Elle’s voice came out choked, her hands clutching frantically at her chest. "It’s... it’s Prince Nikolai. He’s outside."

She swallowed hard, her breath coming in short, broken gasps. "He... he said something... he said something about a corrective conduct program. He said it’s time for your session." Elle blinked rapidly, her voice laced with complete bewilderment. "He’s still outside waiting for you right now. Uhm... Star... what on earth is a corrective conduct session? Did you sign up for something?"

Starlight slowly closed her eyes and let out a heavy, exasperated sigh. The excitement from her bank deposit notification evaporated into thin air. She had completely forgotten about those fake-sounding mandatory conduct sessions that had been assigned to her following her public altercation with Beatrice and Sera. Fuck. If they found out about what she had done to Prince Kage, would they increase her sessions?

A low, painful groan escaped her throat as she rubbed the bridge of her nose.

"I didn’t sign up for anything," she muttered, her voice dry as dust. "It’s basically a disciplinary program," Starlight explained with another weary sigh. "After that incident with Beatrice and Sera, the academy decided I needed ’behavioral correction’ and ’social adjustment training.’" She made air quotes with her fingers."Apparently, getting into fights and repeatedly defending yourself against annoying people is considered causing public disturbances, which they claim means I have issues with authority and conflict resolution." She rubbed the bridge of her nose.

"So now I have these mandatory sessions where they assigned the Imperial Twins to supervise me, teach me how to be a better person by fixing my attitude, and mold me into a more cooperative student. At least, that’s the official explanation. Personally, I think it’s just a polite way of saying they believe I’m a menace and want someone to keep an eye on me before I end up in another fight with royalty."

"Wait, hold on," Elle gasped, her eyes practically popping out of her head as her shock swung into full-blown babbling. "Awwwn, the academy is actually looking out for the Imperial Twins’ love interest, going to this much trouble to fix her just for them?" She clutched her cheeks dramatically, squealing. "They are literally acting as matchmakers for the crown princes. Oh my god, they are going to these ridiculous lengths just to set you up with imperial royalty under the guise of discipline?! Behavioral correction? Social adjustment? This sounds like a plot straight out of a trashy romance NovelPhoenix! Aren’t you such a lucky girl?"

"Hold on." Starlight raised a hand to interrupt the breathless rant. "What do you mean by fix? Do you actually believe I need an attitude correction?"

"Um, well, for one, I definitely think your attitude needs a little bit of fixing," Elle admitted, giving her a pointed look before shrugging.

​Starlight’s mouth fell open, but Elle quickly continued. "Though I honestly had no idea we even had a program like that at this school."

"Exactly," Starlight threw her hands up. "I think it’s completely fake. I don’t know, it sounds totally surreal to me. What kind of elite institution has something like this? And which kind of academy assigns two imperial princes to personally supervise a student because she has an attitude problem? It is so obviously set up!"

"Which just proves how far the Alpha Twins are willing to go just to be with you," Elle shot back, stepping closer. "So it doesn’t matter whether it’s fake or not, just go with it!" She hissed the words through her teeth, shoving Starlight toward the door. "What you should be far more worried about right now is that you’re keeping Prince Nikolai waiting! He is still standing outside that door waiting for you! Please, just go. I do not want to face that guy ever again. He gives me the absolute creeps. I prefer Prince Mikhail over him any day. Next time, can it please be Prince Mikhail who comes to pick you up?"

Before Starlight could even protest, Elle reached out, opened the door, and unceremoniously gave her one final push, sending her into the hallway before quickly slamming the door shut behind her. The electronic lock clicked into place with a soft beep. "Phew..." She exhaled as though she had just escaped a dangerous situation, pressing her back against the door. Then her expression slowly changed, replaced by a mischievous spark as her eyes gleamed at the sprawling interior of the luxury suite. "Now, it’s time to explore this paradise." She rubbed her hands together with a sly grin, turning around to take in her new home.

*****

Starlight stumbled forward, her arms instinctively reaching for balance, only to crash straight into a solid, broad chest. Strong arms caught her before she could hit the floor, and for one stunned second, she found herself pressed against Nikolai. His body went rigid, startled by the sudden impact. He had clearly not expected her to come flying out of the room and straight into his arms. "What the fuck are you doing?" Nikolai snarled, shoving her away from him like she had deliberately thrown herself into his arms.

Starlight stumbled back a step, immediately straightening her posture with a glare. "Don’t flatter yourself, Prince Nikolai." She scoffed, brushing a strand of crimson hair away from her face, her pride stinging far more than the roughness of his push. "I wasn’t trying to fall into your arms. Trust me, if I had a choice, you would be the last person in this academy I’d willingly fall into." Her words made it painfully clear that she considered him not even worth the embarrassment of accidentally falling into his arms.

Nikolai’s patience snapped. In a single, fluid motion, he closed the distance between them, grabbing her by the jaw and slamming her back against the corridor wall. The sudden movement stole the next words from her mouth. His face was dangerously close to hers, his sharp blue eyes burning into hers with an anger that made the air between them feel unbearably tight.

"We clearly need to start working on that tongue of yours," Nikolai growled, his voice dropping into a dangerous, gravelly register. "You’ve been getting far too comfortable because everyone around here seems to have been far too lenient with you, and it has gotten into your head that you’re untouchable. You’re forgetting where you are and who you’re speaking to, Miss Dawson."

Starlight grimaced at the pressure against her face, her hands coming up to grab his wrist as she tried to pull his hand away from her jaw. His fingers were digging into the exact same spot on her jawline as they had in the headmistress’s office. What is it with this bastard and my jaw? she thought bitterly, her fingers clawing at his skin to pull him off. Why did he keep grabbing her there? She tugged harder against his hand, but Nikolai only tightened his grip, his thumb pressing firmly into her skin until she winced, forcing her head back against the wall.

"Change that rude tune of yours," he warned, his voice icy and lethal. "You have no idea how close you are to seeing a side of me you will regret provoking. So if you don’t want to discover just how little patience I have left for your useless attitude, learn to control it, and you must learn how to speak to me without acting like some spoiled little brat when you’re nothing but an ungrateful wench who wouldn’t even be where you are right now without us."

His words struck a nerve so deep that Starlight’s fingers tightened around his wrist. Nikolai released her jaw with a rough, contemptuous shove, letting her face whip to the side. Starlight stumbled slightly, catching herself against the wall, her lungs burning as she glared up at him with unadulterated hatred. Nikolai looked down at his right hand, his lip curling in disgust as if he had just touched something filthy. He stepped forward and deliberately wiped his palm down the clean shoulder of her crisp white shirt, clicking his tongue in irritation.

"Disgusting," he muttered as he turned away.

Starlight stared at him in stunned fury, the insult burning straight through her chest as her hands curled into fists at her sides. Every nerve in her body screamed at her to strike him, to tear that arrogant look off his face right here and now, but she knew better than to mess with an imperial prince. But that did not make it any easier to digest. She hated being looked down upon and hated being treated like scum beneath someone’s shoe. She drew in a slow breath through her nose, then released it carefully, forcing herself to swallow the explosive anger and furious words burning at the back of her throat.

One day, I will get back at you for every single insult, she promised herself, staring daggers into his back as he walked away.

"Are you going to follow me, or do I need to come over there and drag you by the hair?" Nikolai demanded without even looking back.

With one final glare at the back of his head, Starlight roughly wiped her shoulder with the back of her hand and followed him.