Miss Spoilt Brat On the Case

Courtney and Winnie had eavesdropped halfway through their conversation, and overheard the bombshell Emma had dropped. So she was an illegitimate child that was born from royalty?

Courtney scoffed to herself.

To her, Emma was just as invalid as that Richard Caron boy she was paired with for her dance class.

She moved to a seat farther away from the two students, before she turned to face her friend-turned-slave, Winnie.

"Winnie, see what you can find out about Emma's background. Make it quick, and tell NO ONE, that I asked you of this, or I'll personally order daddy to send someone to slit. Your. Throat," Courtney threatened to the already terrified Winnie.

Winnie nodded, before she excused herself from the assembly to use the restroom.

As she reached one of ZALE's elegantly decorated restroom stalls, immediately pulling out her phone, and dialing one of the numbers in her contacts.

As the phone rang, and as she awaited the person she called to pick up, Winnie nervously looked around the restroom stall.

It was when she saw a familiar face pop up on her phone screen that she breathed a sigh of relief.

"Uncle Roland, so glad to see you again. I need your help. You do own a private detective agency, right? Courtney wants me to find out as much as I can about one of our classmates," Winnie explained.

Uncle Roland, who was a retired private investigator, had started his own private detective agency years ago. That business venture had turned out well, and he earned a huge cut of the profit in the process.

His relationship with his niece was unlike any other, and Winnie had grown up closer to him than she was with her parents.

He raised his brow.

'What a strange request for a friend to ask,' he thought, completely oblivious to how Courtney actually treated Winnie.

If anyone else had asked, he'd refuse such a favor, but this was his niece he was talking about.

"What's the name of this classmate of yours you want to find out more about?" He asked curiously, not bothering to ask her how her day went, or why her friend had asked her of such things.

"Her name's Emma Grey," Winnie answered, as her gaze landed on the time on the top-left corner.

If she didn't rush to class now, she'd be the next student unconscious in the clinic. Not because of the inevitable punishment she risked getting, but because of a furious Courtney.

She looked guilty as she quickly excused herself, wanting to get to class as soon as possible.

"Uncle, I'm sorry, but I have to go now, I have classes soon, and if I know how Courtney is, she's going to be furious if I don't arrive to class soon," Winnie admitted guiltily.

Roland's curiosity increased. As well as doing a background check on Emma, he'd find someone to do a check on this Courtney friend of hers.

He faked a warm smile to his niece.

"It's fine, Win. I wouldn't want you to be late for your class because of me. I'll find out more about that classmate of yours and I'll be sure to inform you when I find more about it, okay?" He asked.

Winnie nodded, before bidding her goodbyes and ending the call.

At the pace she was sprinting, fast would be an understatement. Her pace was fueled by the thoughts of getting punished for being late, her daily dose of caffeine, and the thought of a furious Courtney.

As a lady-in-waiting, she wasn't allowed to run, or sprint.

As Madame Marian placed it, 'Never stomp, never slink, never sprint, and never skedaddle. A lady must glide."

If class wasn't starting in the next two minutes, she would have never broken the rules by sprinting in class. At ZALE, they were taught on the first day of school that it increased the likelihood of falling and breaking a bone, which, in royal standards, was an ordeal.

The minute she reached class, she straightened her attire, making sure she wasn't seen in class with messy attire. The last thing she wanted was to receive reprimanding from Courtney about how her looks embarrassed her, and how it was terrible to even stand or sit beside her.

She strolled in the classroom, trying to make it seem she hadn't run all the way there, greeting her arithmetic professor, Professor Alexandria, before taking the empty seat beside Courtney.

Meanwhile, on the left of the two girls, was Emma and James.

As Lily was still in the clinic, and understandably absent for classes, James had chosen to sit next to her, much to Emma's satisfaction.

James usually was quite the loner, choosing to sit at the front seat to be able to be attentive during classes, despite his tall, and muscular build. As Emma was as competitive, and just as ambitious as he was, she didn't have any problem sitting at the front of the class, the ideal spot where students were bombarded with questions from their professors.

Though Emma was delighted to have him sit next to her, there was one downside to this all.

Emma had thought that she'd have difficulty being able to understand ZALE's academic subjects' curriculum, but she was mistaken. That wasn't the problem. Sitting next to the guy she found most handsome throughout the whole school, not to mention, fantasize about as well, was.