The Outsider (Outsider #1) ✔️

Chapter 58 : A Media War

Catharine took the 3 girls to the Hair Parlour in the mall. Her attendants got her own dress for the Ball as it was clear that her that they would not have time to go home to change. The earlier plan of going directly to the Imperial Palace and changing there, was no longer possible because the newspersons would be there in full force now and the Attendants would not allow the Princess to be seen entering the Palace in her current dress.

Louis paid for the dresses of all the 3 girls, though both Dusk and Susco offered to pay, as did Catherine (earning a surprised look from Louis). Dusk had her pride. Although she was unhappy the dresses cost so much, she did not want to let the Prince pay for them. Susco had already been told by Luke to pay from the company. But in the end, Louis overruled them.

As he waited for the girls to finish, he started walking around the atrium and meeting with the shoppers. They all crowded around him as they rarely got a chance to interact with the Young Royal in such an environment. Many of them were asking questions about Dusk and about Catherine (some about him too) and he answered happily.

The entrance to the mall had been sealed when Louis arrived, citing security concerns. But the real purpose was to prevent the newspersons from coming in. Louis had decided to turn the news game on its head. The Royal Family did not used social media as a tool before, though the government had its own social media response teams. This time, Louis was depending fully on social media buzz to make the news channels irrelevant to the public.

Someone picked up the point being made in the channels about a personal aircraft being sent to Ci'gazze for them to travel to Regis.

"Well, so what is the problem exactly?" Louis asked.

"What is the problem? It's so expensive!" Someone replied.

"Well, but who said Dusk was the only person travelling. We had an EPAC that was returning to Regis with some government officials, and we found it easier to just give Dusk and her team a lift. Do you really think it will be cheaper to let the EPAC travel with only 3 passengers when it has room for 10? And then again pay some commercial airline for 3 tickets to fly them to Regis? You don't think I am that bad in maths, am I?"

His statement was live streamed by 2 dozen people and quoted by another dozen, which was immediately picked up by thousands of people who were having fun scrounging the internet for the latest happening on the controversy. The statement exploded with over 2,500 people commenting in the next 15 minutes on how the news channels were unfair, picking on anything to make news, on how the Prince had made fun of all those who questioned getting the famous student by a private plane, on how government routinely sent planes with just 3-4 people and that should stop and many other permutations.

The news channels and websites picked up the post and tried to put their own twist to the reply. But each new statement made by them was jumped on by thousands. Someone started an attack on the news channels and websites that were making fun of the government.

Someone else put up the clip of Princess Catherine crying with Dusk Hale comforting her, with a long rant on how the Princess, a 16-year-old child, was being bullied by the newspersons, just because she went to meet someone at the airport, a thing which almost every child in the city has done at some point, when their friends, relatives or family members have flown in.

Few people diverted the thread and questioned why the Princess Catherine actually went to airport. What was her relationship with Dusk Hale and her team? But most of the users applauded what the post was trying to convey... That it was a very normal thing everyone did.

"Who posted THAT?" Oyster, sitting in the media room, asked.

"That's my nephew sir, he thinks the Princess is very cute and keeps asking me for giving him her communicator ID." One older news-room co-ordinator replied nervously. She was worried about reparations of her nephew's post on the Princess.