A Slave to the Royals√

IT took Karen just a week to confirm her invitation, submit all the required documents and pack all her stuffs to travel. She had been hearing a lot of rumours about the most prestigous academy in their country but never had she ever dreamt of getting into it although she had wrote their scholarship exams for five years.

She lowkeyed prayed that all those ridiculous rumours she heard were nothing but a fairytale constructed by some drunken young fellow, because the storyline wasn't plausible.

Karen realised that she was at the front gate of the academy when the car abruptly came to a stop, she had been clouded with her thoughts that she did not notice them approaching the institute. She released a sigh of relief when she remembered how she can have a proper sleep after the early hours journey.

She hopped off the car and payed the driver a stipend before mumbling a 'thanks' and strode to the big gate, dragging her box along with her. Adjusting her new eyeglass, she grinned widely at the bald man at the gate.

"Name, department, course and title." The man asked nauseously, as if her face was sickening.

"Karena Scubertt Peters!" She beamed zealously. "Art and design department." She danced happily, not able to contain her joy. It was a long time since she was free and happy. The man couldn't control his disgust any longer as it became really apparent in his face and his patience had long disappeared.

"Pure Art!" She continued, ignoring the man facial expression, jubilating happily.

"Title?!" That came out more like an order instead of a question from the man, with irritation in his voice. He clearly wasn't pleased with her high spirit and her body language.

"What's title?" She asked the man eagarly, tilting her head to the side.

"What do your parents do?" His question took her aback, she did not expect to be asked that question at the very entrance of the school.

"M- my st- step dad is a wealthy businessman." She paused. "And my mum is a house wife. She does sell stuffs occasionally, stuffs life hair ties and—"

"Outcast!"

"Pardon?"

"Your title is an outcast." He man laughed boisterously. "Where's your pass?"

Karen pulled out a small blue card which had the school name, seal and some details written on it. After the man scanned the card through some machines, he let her go in.

"Tsk! What an obnoxious old man. Pot bellied—! To think he mocked me and laughed.... Tsk tsk!" Karen wailed, as she angrily dragged her box, kicking any stone that was in her sight angrily.

"People seldom get mad at their first days." A feminine voice whispered lightly drawing the attention of Karen.

"Except they've been angered by some asshole." The girl continued. Karen turned to observe the girl in front of her.

She had a skin that shone like the morning sun and her eyes were as enchanting as the deep blue sea. Her platinum hair with a sprinkle of gold rested right below her back, she was just— perfect.

Karen still did not say anything, she was unsure whether she could trust the girl in front of her yet. The girl chuckled before she continued.

"Lemme guess, it's the fat old gate man." The girl cheekily smiled at Karen.

"How do you know?" Karen returned the smile.

"He does have a PhD in gatemanship and pissing off new kids." The girl answered, adjusting her books in her hand. "I'm Mina Hattaway by the way." The girls both giggled because of the rhyme.

"Karena Scubertt Peters. I love being called Karen instead." Karen once again adjusted her glasses to her nose bridge. All her glasses never fitted her perfectly.

"Rena! I'll call you Rena."

"That's so cheesy but I like it!" Karen smiled. "Then I'll call you Nana."

"No please." Mina declined, crossing her hands to an 'X' while shaking her head.

The girls both clicked on their first meeting and they really got along with each other. They told each other about their family, likes, dislikes and their awkward moments as they strolled to the school hostels.

"Say, Nana. What are the traditions of the academy?" Karen enquired when they halted at a red iron door. Mina raised a brow in confusion and Karen continued.

"Like the rules and regulations, the prerequisites to be a full fledge student of the school. In my previous school, we were asked to drink water from an aquarium of a dead fish, because apparently, he was the king of the school to them." Karen curved her lips upwards, forming a forced smile.

"Yikes, don't tell me you did!" Mina opened the door with a key she afore brought out of her purse, clicking the door open. "Come in to my humble room!"

Karen nodded and step inside the large room. What she witnessed was really breathtaking. The room had several large windows that were made of beautiful glasses. The sun illuminated it's rays on the window which made the room to glitter like gold. The bed was really big that it could contain seven people of Karen size, and the pink and white chanel sheet and pillows made it exceptionally pretty. There were different chairs and glass tables in the floor, which made it more unique like a five star hotel. And the ground was adorned with shinning white tiles and diamond stones.

Karen mouth hung wide open and she could not believe such a room ever existed. Sure she had had her own fair share of luxury from her step dad's wealth— from his richly built house and all the exotic hotels while they were on vacations, but none of them were are beautiful as this.

"Karen!" Mina called her.

"Umm, I'm sorry."

"I'm really curious. Did you or did you not drink the dead fish water?" Mina jumped on her bed and patted her bed, beckoning Karen to join her.

"Of course not. So I became the outcast." Karen hung her head down.

"Sorry." Mina said, patting her shoulders to comfort her. "Our school do have a tradition. To cheer you up, I'll tell you the 'Tales of Royal crown academy'".

Karen nodded her head sheepishly, listening attentively to Mina in order not to miss any details. Mina sprung out of the bed and ran to her chest of drawers, shuffling it before pulling out a hair brush. She held it to her lips to mimick a mic.

“If you are a bona fide student of our academy, you will know about the hierarchy of our school. The students are ranked based on their parents' wealth and properties, their parents' official position and political power and of course how much money their parents pump into the school.

If your parents contribute massively in finacial terms to the school development, you will have some immunity. You can break the rules and laws without being punished, you can bully students and pick on teachers or insult them without facing any consequences. Because of the power a student and their parents holds, all protocol will be overruled and justice will be proven non-existent.

Our school has three tiers. The first or the upper or the superior rank, the second or the middle or the average rank and the last the third or the lower or the inferior rank.

Let me start from the last rank, if your parents are poor and you find your self in here by scholarship or charity; you are in this rank. The students in this rank are considered less human. They have no right or freedom or protection from the school. The middle class and upper rank students pick on them and use them as errand students. They are like mini slaves. It's just that there are no chains and stuff, but the treatment are literally the same.

The middle class students are students whose either parents are rich and send them to this school with THEIR money. My father is an average person who work as the CEO of a large company, while my mother has many estates and businesses. She is really rich. She sent me here with her money. So, I'm in the average rank.

The last but not the least, the first rank or superior rank students. They are the law makers and breakers of our school. They instruct the management on the rules to make in order to favour their selfish interest and break any rules that aren't favourable to them. They torment both teachers and students and beat up anyone that get on their bad side. No one can query any of their actions except the school wants to loose millions or billions in a day. They are the lawless kids.

Oh, I almost forgot. There is a class that is above all class, the rank that is more superior than the superior rank. The rank that is higher than the school itself and anything that inhabits it. The untamable class. The one that can make or break the school within a snap of their fingers, the ones that can make the whole school– no, the whole country trembling within a blink of an eye. The class that are feared even more than God. The class you most avoid if you REALLY want to live— The ALMIGHTY class.

There are only a few students in this class. I will explain all of them and show you their pictures. If you sight them from afar, you must avoid them— no run— no disappear if you REALLY want to stay alive! For they are more venomous than snake, more lethal than poison and more scary than death.”

Author's note:

I guess this chapter is a bit better than the previous one, what's your take on this?

By the way, I will really appreciate if you commented, voted, shared, and add this book to your reading list so that it'll get more exposure 🙏.

This is edited but if you see any grammatical or spelling error, please holla at me.

Thanks for reading.

Question of the chapter:

Have you ever experienced any hierarchy, bullying or discrimination firsthand? How did you feel and react?

Many authors usually have songs for the chapters and graphics and stuffs, but I don't write with songs as my inspiration. I write from my imagination. I read books but not a lot so my book may not be your ideal book, I only watch (k)dramas so yeah. I'm not really good at writing even if English had been the only language I've known my entire life [I know I'm pretty dumb].

I will really appreciate any book covers, graphics, banners and song recommendations from my readers.

Random:

Do you watch Korean dramas like I do? Comment the names if yes and suggest the dramas you watch if no.