𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓟𝓻𝓲𝓷𝓬𝓮𝓼𝓼 & 𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓣𝓱𝓲𝓮𝓯

Chapter 24-𝓝𝓸𝓽 𝓐 𝓖𝓸𝓸𝓭𝓫𝔂𝓮

𑁍~~☆~~𑁍
"Oʜ, ᴘᴇᴏᴘʟᴇ, ʜᴇʟᴘ ᴛʜᴇ ᴘᴇᴏᴘʟᴇ,"
"Aɴᴅ ɪꜰ ʏᴏᴜ'ʀᴇ ʜᴏᴍᴇsɪᴄᴋ,"
"Gɪᴠᴇ ᴍᴇ ʏᴏᴜʀ ʜᴀɴᴅ ᴀɴᴅ ⵊ'ʟʟ ʜᴏʟᴅ ɪᴛ..."
𑁍~~☆~~𑁍

𝗟𝘂𝗸𝗲'𝘀 𝗣𝗢𝗩 ♡︎

"Have confidence that the princess received a firm reprimanding for allowing it to happen in the first place." Stimp snapped, referring to Julie dancing with Luke.

He, Alex, and Reggie were poised in the center of the etiquette classroom, the wiry, shrewd-faced Professor Stimp pacing in front of them. Her silver hair shone in the light, equally lustrous eyes critical as she glared at Luke.

"How is that fair? She was being harassed!"

"She was being courted. There are things that she was likely to endure." Bony hands intertwined behind her back.

"Like harassment?"

"Like an insistent courtier." She said with that infuriating air of superiority.

"It's still not okay. You would probably want her to get with that jackass him too." Luke retorted.

"Language, Mr. Patterson." Her eyes flashed. "Some would say in the name of the law that you were the assailant by intervening."

He huffed a laugh. "How does that even make sense?"

"You broke the law. Those allowed to dance with the princess on her seventeenth are only her suitors, which are princes and dukes. You are neither. You're lucky that the king was so kind as to write it off as ignorance in conduct."

"Just sounds like another ridiculous rule to me. It was her birthday, she should get to do what she wants."

"At any other birthday she would, but the seventeenth is the most important for a princess. It's when she chooses a possible future king and there should be nothing to disrupt that. In order to keep the bloodline pure, royalty must marry royalty."

"Bullshit inbreeding." He muttered under his breath. Alex kicked him sharply in the ankle.

Thankfully, Stimp chose to ignore that last comment. "Because of your misdemeanor, because you've gotten a strike, and just to make sure you never do so again, I will be drilling into you every single law regarding the princess." She stalked towards him until he could see nothing but those cruel, colorless irises. "We do not, under any circumstances, entertain any form of infidelity, wantonness, dawdling, whatever you want to call it, from outsiders when it comes to the princess. Do you understand me Mr. Patterson?"

He leveled her a look. "I can't say I do."

Narrowed eyes pinned him. "Let me make myself even clearer then. You will never have a sliver of a chance of having relations with the princess in any shape or form besides that of a companion. If you do, the very lightest punishment possible is extensive imprisonment, possibly banishment. The worst punishment," she leaned so close that he could smell her choking, flowery scent, "is death."