"Did you know the prince is human?" Jennifer said mildly. "Which means he could very easily eat free cookies with… creatively enhanced ingredients without realizing it."
Damien shot the prince a look that was equal parts pity and horror.
Jennifer didn't give Angus a chance to protest.
"And did you know," she continued pleasantly, "that Damien signed the lease without reading a single clause?"
Silence.
"I have an alpha wolf. I would have sensed if you were lying," Damien defended.
"Could you sense if the paper were lying?" Jennifer asked.
Angus looked appalled. "You didn't read it?"
"It was fine," Damien growled.
Jennifer smiled like a woman watching two unarmed men approach a battlefield.
"It's your last chance to get oriented to your new college like a normal student would," she said lightly. "You both need each other."
"You can help Damien learn social grace. And Angus—"
Sebastian interjected smoothly. "Please refer to His Royal Highness—"
"No," Jennifer said firmly. "You may call him whatever you want. But in this building, I am queen. And all the tenants are my family."
Sebastian narrowed his eyes.
Prince Angus tilted his head. "Go on."
Good. He was considering it.
"Don't you want to know what it's like? To live as a commoner for a week?"
Angus frowned. "Yes, I suppose Mia would prefer if I could—"
"No," Jennifer cut in, gentler this time. "Not for Mia."
She held his gaze. "Do it for you."
Silence settled over the room. Even Sebastian's expression seemed to soften.
"Angus, you're a nice guy. There's a lot to love about you."
"But Mia…"
"But Mia will never really know you if you're always trying to be something you're not."
"That much is true," Sebastian said quietly. "My Lord has many fine qualities as a ruler and as a man."
Jennifer blinked at him in surprise. She hadn't expected help from the butler, but pressed on.
"You're both still young. And there's so much more in life than a webnovel script—"
"A what?" Damien asked.
"Ah." Jennifer cleared her throat. "I mean there's more of the world to see and experience. Don't just stand on rooftops and monologue."
Damien bristled.
Jennifer exhaled. Fine. One more push.
"If your mothers were alive, won't they want you to make friends and live happy lives?"
She looked pointedly at Sebastian for backup.
He hesitated before carefully conceding. "I believe this is a common wish most mothers have for their sons."
Jennifer beamed. "See? Even Sebastian says so."
"If even Sebastian says so…" Angus murmured.
Now she turned to Damien. It took two to clap.
"Damien. If you listen to me, I can help you with the Darkfall curse."
The air shifted.
"What do you know about the curse?" Damien's voice lowered, something darker seeping through.
Jennifer forced herself to breathe. "Your alpha wolf can sense lies, right?"
A pause.
"…Yes."
"Then you know I'm telling the truth."
The tension stretched — then eased.
"My wolf doesn't know why it trusts you," Damien muttered.
Because I wrote you.
Jennifer did not say that aloud.
"I care about my family," she said instead, steady now, "and as a teacher, I don't like watching young lives waste themselves."
Damien studied her for a long moment.
"And if I accompany him today?" he asked carefully.
"Then we'll talk," Jennifer said. "Orientation together. Take it as a trial run."
Angus glanced at Damien. Damien looked away first.
"What are you afraid of?" Jennifer asked.
"I'm not afraid," Damien snapped.
"What's there to fear?" Angus agreed stiffly.
That was the first clap. Now they were good to go.
"Now go," Jennifer said, as graciously as Cinderella's fairy godmother before the ball. "Freshman orientation. Look out for each other. If you get invited to a mixer — and you will, because the two of you are too handsome — go make friends. Just don't get too drunk."
"I'm a wolf," Damien muttered. "I don't get drunk easily."
"Good. Then you're in charge of getting the both of you home in one piece."
Sebastian looked faintly anxious.
Eventually, the two boys left.
Jennifer and Sebastian watched them from the porch.
"What did you just do?" Sebastian sighed. It was a very autumn sigh.
The clouds shifted again, and a godray spilled in to frame him once more.
Jennifer smiled at her creation. "Me? You definitely helped too."
She patted his impeccably suited shoulder. "Come on. He may be a prince, but he's also just a teenager. This will be good for him."
"Yes," Sebastian said slowly. "This will do him good."
When he said this, his gesture swept to include the building around them — and Jennifer.
Then he held the door open.
"After you, my queen."