Chapter 42: Dorm Arrest

The comment section underneath the post was a complete, unhinged war zone of adrenaline, gossip, and pure chaos. Tens of thousands of comments poured in every second, turning the entire feed into a battlefield of excitement, celebration, memes, and wild speculation. The Dawnbreakers were especially loud, flooding the comments with victory posts, screenshots of Starlight’s ranking climb, and endless declarations that their queen had officially taken over Asterion Academy. Many were celebrating the fact that she had already climbed from #5 to #4, while others were rallying supporters to keep voting and push her even higher. The phrase "Queen Star" appeared so frequently that it quickly became one of the top trending tags attached to the article.

Between the massive wave of public apologies from people who had mistakenly doubted her, the ruthless memes mocking Beatrice’s fall from grace, and the nonstop calls to push Starlight straight to the top of the leaderboard, the comment section had transformed into an absolute victory lap for the Dawnbreaker movement.

Others were far more interested in the social fallout. Countless students were demanding that Princess Beatrice drop her pride and issue a public apology to their newly crowned Queen before the entire campus turned on her completely, arguing that Starlight had been unfairly vilified from the beginning. Some mocked Beatrice’s dramatic fall in the rankings, while others joked that they wished they could trade places with Starlight just to have the most powerful Alphas in the Empire publicly defending their honor. At the same time, many openly admitted their almost hysterical envy over her sudden rise to fame, marveling at how insane it was that a human was single-handedly shaking up the academy’s hierarchy. And, naturally, a sizable portion of the comments had already abandoned all reason entirely, declaring Starlight the future Empress of the Empire and insisting there was no possible explanation for the twins’ behavior except romance.

Whether people were praising her, defending her, admiring her, or simply enjoying the spectacle, one thing was obvious: at this moment, Asterion Academy couldn’t stop talking about Starlight Dawson even if it wanted to.

"How is it? Insane, right?" Elle asked the second Starlight lifted her face from the phone. An excited grin spread across her face as she practically bounced in place.

"Isn’t it amazing how you went from being public enemy number one yesterday to having half the academy crowning you Queen Star overnight? What a good day to be your manager!"

Starlight stared at the phone for a few more seconds before handing the device back. It was staggering how easily the tides had turned, and to be honest, she still couldn’t wrap her head around how one emotional video could completely flip public opinion upside down. Just yesterday, people had been lining up to crucify her and calling her every mocking name they could come up with. Today, they were acting as though they were ready to bow down to her.

Her old bakery manager had not been lying at all. People really were emotional creatures. Control their feelings, and you controlled their minds. Facts only mattered to them when those facts aligned with what they were already feeling.

"And starting right now," Elle announced dramatically, pointing at her, "you are not allowed to set a single foot outside this dorm room until lectures officially start."

Starlight stared at her in confusion. "And why exactly would I do that? You sound like I’m some kind of wanted criminal."

"You don’t get it, do you?" Elle groaned in disbelief. "This is exactly where my career as your manager shines! All you have to do is listen to me and do exactly as I tell you, with no arguments whatsoever."

Starlight bit the inside of her cheek, forcing herself not to laugh as she watched Elle speak as though she were some kind of elite manager handling an A-list celebrity, instead of a first-year human student just trying to survive her second day in an academy full of wolves.

"You are insanely famous right now," Elle explained, pointing a stern finger at her. "If you so much as step outside, people will swarm you and literally tear you apart just to take pictures or get your attention. You need to stay indoors until this initial explosion calms down. Once lectures start, everyone will be too busy rushing to class to harass you. They’ll be too busy trying not to be late to stop and bother you. Right now? It’s a mob waiting to happen. If you need anything from outside, food, drinks, whatever, I am your runner. Morning, lunch, dinner, I’ve got it covered. You are under dorm arrest until further notice."

"Isn’t that a little extreme?" Starlight asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Nope! It’s the perfect plan," Elle insisted, puffing out her chest. "Unless, of course, you want a repeat of what happened to your forehead yesterday?"

Starlight immediately winced, instinctively touching the plaster on her forehead. "God, no. Absolutely not. Never."

"That’s what I thought." Elle nodded in satisfaction. "Now you have to listen to me. Let’s start the regimen. Go take your bath, brush your teeth, and climb back into bed while I head down to the dining hall to fetch your breakfast."

Starlight chuckled, shaking her head as she gave a mock salute. "Aye aye, Captain!"

Elle frowned and immediately corrected her. "No, not Captain. Manager."

Before Starlight could even respond, Ariel groaned loudly from her bottom bunk, calling up, "Will you shut up and come down here already? I’m really starving."

Elle leaned over the edge of the bunk, looked down at her, and grinned. "So you’re no longer angry? That’s good." She nodded approvingly. "Anger doesn’t suit your face anyway, so don’t ever be angry again, okay?" She flashed an exaggerated okay sign with her fingers.

A pillow immediately came flying up at her.

"Get down here already, you menace," Ariel snapped. "Or do you want the celebrity you’re managing to starve?"

Starlight burst out laughing in amusement at the exchange as Elle shook her head. "Of course not," she said, climbing down from the top bunk. "A manager would never neglect her client."

As soon as her feet touched the floor, Ariel paused and glared up at Chloe, who had gone back to lying down facing the wall. "Hey, Chloe," Ariel called. "Are you joining us for breakfast, or are you planning to eat bitterness for breakfast?"

Elle immediately nudged Ariel’s arm, muttering, "Stop that."

Chloe kicked off her bedding with a heavy sigh, as if she had been waiting for an excuse to get up anyway, and grumbled, "I’m coming. Just let me change into something decent."

Ariel and Elle exchanged an amused smile before glancing back up at Starlight, who offered Ariel a subtle thumbs-up, making Ariel roll her eyes. Even so, the corner of her mouth twitched.