Funerals are typically a sad event, especially for the family of the deceased, but upon the death of the king, only a few people shed tears.

The late king was known for his obsession with having heirs, and his inability to keep a wife for longer than a few years. Even in his seventies, he remarried to yet another woman, you, a young noble who could easily pass as his great grandchild.

You were fortunate, however, and he was too weak to move, let alone try to have any children with you, so you stayed his wife until he passed.

Now, you technically have step children older than your parents, and as the reigning queen when the king died, you have the responsibility of passing on your rights to the next in line. You don't particularly care about the line of succession, so you have let the older royals deal with the politics of it.

But as the weeks pass in the palace, you start speaking with one of your 'step children', a prince about your age, Lionel.

You'd known him for the past few years, stealing glances now and then. He often gave you looks, you believed in pity.

But upon getting to know him better, you realize it's nothing like that.

Lionel scoffs, shoving a necklace case in your direction. "It's a gift. Just take it." He frowns, but you learned he often does that out of habit. "It's for the death, you know." He explains, crossing his arms and looking to the windows lining the drawing room.

He's the one who should be sad, yet he's handing you gifts, as if you needed them.