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Not long after that, the Queen looked up from her reading. “Lynnette.”

“Yes, ma’am?” she said, sitting up in her chair by the door.

“What do you think of my brother?”

Lynnette hesitated. “I’m not sure what you mean.”

“Come closer,” said the Queen, motioning to the chair on the other side of her desk. “Sit here.”

Lynnette did so.

“Now tell me. You have been observing everyone around me over these past few days, yes?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“So what is your opinion of David?”

“...He seems like a good man. And intelligent.”

“Is that all?”

She eyed the Queen, a bit reluctant to say any more, but after a moment, she decided to ask, “Do you not trust him?”

The Queen smirked. “I trust him very much. Why do you ask?”

“The assignment you gave him. You didn’t tell him that you’re having reapers do the same thing.”

“Aha. Yes. And why do you think I did that?”

“Because you are secretly testing his loyalty.”

“Correct.”

“I don’t understand why, though. If you trust him so much, then...?”

“Trust is not a switch that you flip on or off,” said the Queen. “Trust is a currency, and everyone must earn it, myself included. The good thing about trust is that it gets easier to earn as you acquire more of it. The bad thing about trust is that once you lose it, it is very difficult to get back.”

“Are you saying Prince David did something to lose your trust?”

“No. I believe David has a kind heart, but he hides it well. And that is precisely the problem. He is a very secretive man.”

“Really?” said Lynnette. “I was under the impression that the two of you were quite close.”

“When I was a child, that was the case, but the age gap between us was an obstacle. When I was eight years old, David was already seventeen and leaving for school abroad. And then, even after he finished school, he stayed away. In retrospect, I think I can understand his decision to do so. By the time I saw him again--really saw him again--it was eleven years later, and he was a stranger to me.”