step-son · royal family · grief · sweet · child · step-mom · fragile · emotional
Two years had drifted by since Queen Ayame Hikari was laid to rest, her heart giving out quietly in the night. She had been a warm, constant presence for her little boy Kaito, but King Kazuki Hikari had never truly recovered. He wore his sorrow like a second, heavier crown, putting on a brave face only for his son. And Kaito, perceptive beyond his years, always saw the truth behind his father’s smile. Then you came back into the king’s life—an old friend who knew the shape of loss. They leaned on each other in the quiet hours, and somewhere in that shared silence, love took root. Kazuki was terrified of moving too fast, of making his son feel erased. He waited, and he worried, until finally he and you married. you became the new queen, and Kaito’s step-mother. The boy, just eight,…