Total pages in book: 164
Estimated words: 157308 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 787(@200wpm)___ 629(@250wpm)___ 524(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 157308 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 787(@200wpm)___ 629(@250wpm)___ 524(@300wpm)
“It was Royals only. You shouldn’t have gone there without me.”
My brows blew up my forehead. “Are you for real? Since when do I need you on my arm to leave my house? They don’t clamp on the ball and chain until after the I dos, dear.”
Victor shook his head. “You’re trying to distract from the conversation by kicking off an argument. You always do this.”
“No, I don’t,” I cried. “And you don’t know me well enough to say what I always do.”
“You shouldn’t have gone to that party, Luna,” Victor said, boring into me. “You crashed the party and punched Saylor Burkhardt. Do you know who she is?”
“She’s a precious fucking Royal. I get it.”
“No.” Victor looked around, dropping his voice. “She’s not just a Royal. She’s one of the Royals.”
I gave him a blank, slightly irritated look. It was his turn to roll his eyes at me. We really were a sweet couple.
“Look, it’s like actual royalty. A duchess is a royal, but she doesn’t outrank the queen. There is a hierarchy among the Regalia Royals too—based on age, wealth, status, connections, and their standing in the community. The Burkhardts are at the very top.”
“Why? Because her father is a senator? That beats you out over the families who own multimillion-dollar companies?”
“It’s not about her father. It’s her grandfather. William Burkhardt. He owns this town, Luna. The dirt everything is sitting on—it’s all his. The houses, the businesses, the university,” he said, “is leased. And the rent goes into his coffers. The deals to set up shops here were made with him. William Burkhardt giveth and he can taketh away. Especially if his falsely sweet favorite granddaughter drips her poison in his ear.
“Below her, are Saylor’s ladies-in-waiting and the upperclassman Royals with the same net worth. A few people sitting on less are near their level too, but that’s because they’ve been in Regalia for as long as the Burkhardts.” He shook his hands. “Doesn’t matter—the whole hierarchy is complicated. Lots of little things move you up or down. The point is, within the entire shifting, changing system, one thing remains the same: the Burkhardts are on top. If there’s anyone in this town you don’t mess with, it’s Saylor.”
I reclined in the booth, the picture of the party becoming clearer. “So, when Saylor Burkhardt announces a new addition to the shit list, the drones attack the stray bee, obeying their queen.”
“That’s a weird-ass way of putting it.”
“But it’s true, isn’t it?” I squeezed his hand without thinking. “If she doesn’t like someone, everyone trailing her on the list will shun them to stay on her good side. Tell me I’m wrong.”
Victor hesitated, and that was all the answer I needed.
“I’m a class behind her,” he finally said. “I don’t know all the stuff they got up to. Just rumors. But... yes. If Saylor doesn’t like someone—doesn’t like you—life gets difficult pretty fast. It was a Burkhardt who started the whole Royal/Dreg thing. Separating the town and putting their family on top. Saylor’s happy for it to stay that way.”
I nodded. Yes, a lot of what he said fit into the things I’d seen in the mere week I’ve been at Regalia University.
“She could stop it too, couldn’t she?” My voice was a low, thin rasp. “She can end the whole Dreg nonsense. She could take people off the shit list as easily as she put them on.”
She could’ve helped Winter.
“No, she couldn’t,” Victor said.
“Why not?” I demanded, louder than intended.
“Because that requires— Oh, what do they call it? Kindness, empathy, a conscience.” He tore off a strip of bacon. “You’re asking a lot from the girl whose family carved out their own kingdom within the continental US. Because being rich as Midas and running the government wasn’t enough.”
I eyed him, picking up on his tone. “That’s pretty harsh for a system you’re a part of. Do you know how many people have shot daggers at me for bagging a Wilson? From what I hear, your family is high on the hierarchy.”
“My parents are,” he corrected. “Here, I’m just a freshman.”
“Don’t sell yourself short. No one is calling you a Dreg. No one is going to mess with you or get on your bad side, freshman or not. There’s still hope you’ll dump me and pick from the long line of eligible Royal bachelorettes. I bet Saylor and all the Royal girls have never been nicer to you.”
Victor heaved a sigh. “If you’ve got a question, ask it.”
“Are you really just a freshman?” I leaned over the table, looking him in the face. “How seriously do the Royals take this hierarchy thing? And if it matters so much, what does it mean that you’re marrying me?”
“Like you said, it’s a long way to the altar.”
I stopped him picking up another slice of bacon. “Answer the question.”