Cruel King

A prequel set at Royal Elite School, this novella follows Astrid, a grieving student who has decided that staying invisible is the safest way to survive an institution where wealth and power decide everything.

Warned by her father to avoid anyone with the surname King, she is dragged by a friend to an extravagant party in a countryside mansion, where the rules of the social hierarchy are made brutally clear. There she crosses paths with Levi King, whose attention is the last thing she wants.

After a humiliating incident at the party and a near-fatal accident that leaves gaps in her memory, Astrid returns to school to find herself singled out by Levi, who has decided she is worth his cruelty. What follows is a combative back-and-forth in which he issues commands and she retaliates rather than submits.

Told in the dark, antagonistic register that defines the series, the book establishes the world, the King family's reach, and the tone of power struggle and reluctant attraction that recurs across Royal Elite. It functions as a self-contained entry point as well as background for the main trilogy.