The Funeral

It did not surprise her when she had received the invitation for the funeral of her dear cousin, Theodore, the crown prince of Ilomar. He had had it coming for a long time. Everyone in the family knew how horrible he had been towards his wife. Although it was unknown if she had known. Sweet Lily hadn’t deserved such a husband. She had been better than all of them. Deserved better than this family. Constance looked at the expensive paper of the invitation, reading it once more, before throwing it in the bin next to the vanity she sat at. She looked up at herself in the mirror. Her stylist’s brush grazing her cheek, doing her job to make Constance look perfect.

Despite her negative thoughts towards her family, she did not hate them. It was rather the opposite. She thought she had a rather realistic view of her family. Constance loved her family very much, even the distant members like the current monarch and his children. But it was a bittersweet love. They wanted the best for eachother, but could not bring themselves to show true kindness. Always in a competition for the spotlight. And once again, this funeral would, despite the circumstances, be a competition for the members of the royal family. Who would have their picture taken before entering the Iosta Cathedral? Who would be mentioned the most in the articles that would follow this big but sad event? Ofcourse, no one would admit that they thought this way. Some may even be in denial of these thoughts. Perhaps it was instinctively of them to be aware of their manner, their looks, and their reputation because of the spotlight their family brought with them?

Constance had been lucky in that regard. She was a cousin of the royal family, not bearing the title of ‘Princess’. She was merely a countess. Unimportant to the general public unless she was invited to a big ball or event, just like this funeral. She had hated the lack of attention. She loved the spotlight. It was her drug. The attention. The flash of cameras pointing towards her. She could not get enough of it. She wanted part of the competition. So she had made herself important. First, in her teen years, she started modelling, and quickly became successful in that area. It was not everyday you could have a royal walking your designs on the catwalk, so she quickly became popular, even internationally. But it was not enough. Models rarely got invited to interviews. People didn’t want to listen to what models had to say, they only wanted to look at them. Constance wanted to speak. She wanted people to listen to her. So she had begun acting, and surprisingly was really good at it. Probably because she had been acting her whole life, keeping up appearances. She quickly became a face that everyone knew, and not just because she had royal blood. No, people knew her first and foremost as an actress and model. She had built her own importance and hadn’t been handed it like her cousins. She was proud of that.

Since she was very aware of the competition, she had to look her best on this day - the day of the funeral. Obviously she would be in all black, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t look good. Truthfully, she looked good in everything. But this was not just any other event. At this funeral she wouldn’t just be Constance Beaumont - the model turned actress - she would be countess Constance Antoinette Maelys of house Beaumont, cousin of the deceased crown prince. She glanced up at the clock on the wall. Her brother, Dominic, should be here soon. The two of them were supposed to go to the funeral together, being the only members of their immediate family able to attend.

“Let's look at the jewelery options, Clarisse,” Constance said to her stylist as she finished her make-up. The stylist quickly went away to collect the jewelery. While she did, Constance turned around in the swivel chair and followed the stylists with her eyes. A knock sounded from the door. ”Come in.”

“Constance! So good to see you!” Dominic was in a fashionable black suit and his blonde hair was perfectly sculpted. He had truly made something out of himself on this supposedly sad day. She couldn’t blame him, she was in the midst of doing the same thing herself. She smiled at the sight of him. ”Dominic!” She said with every bit of love she had in her. She left the chair and met her brother in a quick but sincere embrace, both careful not to mess up the other one’s clothes or hair.

”Now, Dominic, which one do you prefer?” She said as she tucked a blonde piece of hair behind her ear while turning towards the two different sets of jewelery that Clarisse presented. Dominic took his sweet time, examining both necklaces and accompanying earrings, bracelets and rings. “This one,” he finally said and picked one of the necklaces up. Swiftly he went behind her and put it around her neck. She turned towards a mirror, inspecting her reflection. Her fingertips caressing the black corset. Yes. This would be perfect. ”You’re a darling.” She said looking at him in the reflection of the mirror with a big smile.

***

As soon as Dominic and Constance exited the car, cameras began flashing in their direction. Despite the media not being invited to broadcast the ceremony inside the cathedral, for the sake of privacy, cameramen still showed up anyway just to catch a glimpse of the important people invited to the funeral. And hopefully taking some good pictures that they could sell for alot of money. Constance didn’t mind. It was simply part of this life. Dominic laid his hand on Constance’s lower back, leading her up the stairs towards the cathedral, but not in a hurry - we wouldn’t want the pictures to become blurry, now would we? She looked up at him for a moment. Despite her heels he still towered over her. Her coat was open, even though there was chilly weather, to make sure that the cameras would capture the outfit she had on today. Every movement they made was strategic, but it didn’t seem so for the ordinary eye. But they both knew. This display was fake and coordinated, nothing about it was organic. It was almost a sort of dance that only they knew.

As they entered the cathedral, Constance swept her long blonde hair over her right shoulder, and examined the guests that were already there. Many faces that she recognised had already arrived and the cathedral was packed. This was not going to be a small affair. Her and Dominic went down the aisle of the cathedral together. Their seats would be up near the front, but before they would take their place they had to pay respects to their cousins. Constance smiled and said hello and gave kisses on the cheeks of the people she knew as they moved forward. She glanced towards the greatly decorated casket - which mind you was closed, probably to spare delicate souls that were present. She knew that the body - or what was left of it - in the casket was in a horrible condition, barely recognisable. A brutal death. A death fit for a horrible man, she thought. He had risked the family’s reputation by acting so recklessly. Truly unforgivable. Had he been smart about it, there would have been no problem, but he had not. Everyone in the Godia Castle knew of his unholy endeavours - except maybe Lily, because no one dared telling her - it had only been a question of time before rumours would have spread in the public…

A man caught her eye. The High priest, Nitrius. She knew him quite well. He had been the high priest for all of her life. She loved hearing him preach, and went as often to his sermons as she could. Which was never enough. The heir to his title, Alina was also more frequently doing the sermons, which annoyed Constance. Alina could never be as good as Nitrius. There was just something about the way that Alina preached that felt off to Constance, although she could not say what it was exactly. Nitrius and Constance locked eyes and gave eachother a small nod as a greeting, before Constance moved forward towards her cousins.

”Dearest Bianca,” She said, getting the attention from her younger cousin and embracing her in an airy hug and both women giving the other a kiss on their cheeks. ”You have my condolences, the world has truly lost the greatest man.” Bianca nodded with a sad smile, but they both knew what the other knew. This was formalities, or rather, this was how they communicated the truth: through pretence and overly exaggerated kindness, that meant the opposite. Both women knew that what Constance said was a lie, but nonetheless, it was what was expected. That was what was written in the script. “Thank you very much darling cousin.” Bianca said with the usual fake smile on her lips that she had perfected after all these years of practice.

The grimace on her cousin Philippe’s face caught her attention. She hated him. He was even worse than Theodore to keep up appearances. He had had scandal after scandal, tainting the family’s reputation just by breathing at this point. It was almost a shame it hadn’t been him that was currently in the casket. Nonetheless, she smiled pleasantly at him, as he finally graced her with his attention. ”Cousin Philippe,” They quickly hugged, as family does, but both of them knew the hatred they had for one another. She thought of him as a weed in a beautifully pedicured garden that should be eliminated before it would spread, tainting the delicate flowers. He thought of her as a stuck up royal, just like he thought of everyone else in his family. He was not wrong. She was a bit stuck up, and she knew that. That is why she is so good at not seeming so to the public. Philippe probably thought he was slick with his snickering comments, but he was wrong in that regard. Everyone at the Godia Castle knew what everyone was saying about everyone. And Philippe had voiced his opinions of many of his family members. Including Constance. She didn’t mind that he talked badly about her behind her back, it was only his lack of discreteness that frustrated her. He was too spontaneous for his own good, and the good of the family.

“My condolences,” Dominic said as he greeted their cousin Philippe. The other only nodded, clearly incapable of keeping up pretences like everyone else. A weak link, Constance thought. She gave the woman beside Philippe a polite smile. She was a Godia Warrior, but at this moment, Constance could not remember the woman’s name. She couldn’t remember what it was about the woman, where she stood in regards to… well everything. It was a bit worrisome that she seemed friends with Philippe…

”Constance! Dominic!” A deep voice sounded behind them, clearly happy to see them. Constance turned around and was immediately embraced by her cousin Julien. The new crown prince of Ilomar. “Julien! So lovely to see you -” Julien was perhaps her favourite cousin. He kept himself out of the public eye and did not engage in any scandals. Sure he had his own unholy endeavours, but he never risked the reputation of himself nor his family. He was truly a prime example of how you should act in this family. “-despite the circumstances.” she added with a sad smile. Julien nodded with a similar sad smile and looked down for a moment. She laid a hand on his arm, trying to comfort him just a little. It was an intimate moment. A real moment too. He looked up at her and gave her a soft smile. The two of them had always had a connection. Perhaps because they were the same age and had always been placed next to eachother on the seatingcharts whenever there had been an event or party of some sorts. The middle children that never did no wrong. That was them.

“We should find our seats,” Dominic said, pulling both Julien and Constance’s attention towards him again. Constance nodded agreeingly, her mind returning to the funeral. ”We’ll see you later, Julien,” Constance said with a smile and gave his arm a little squeeze before she let go of him and they went their separate ways. Dominic guiding her towards their seats and Julien taking his seat by his siblings.

***

After the ceremony, Constance and her brother stood by the pews, waiting for their turn to leave the cathedral. There were so many people there that it was impossible for the people who were seated close to the altar, as Constance and Dominic were, to leave the building before everyone in the back had left first. And since the place was packed, they had to wait quite a while. Constance removed a piece of fluff from her brother’s coat, fixing him up a bit before they would enter the world of paparazzi again. We couldn’t look less than perfect, now, would we?

“Constance? Dominic?” A voice said behind her and she turned around, surprised to see Julien again. ”Julien!” she said, smiling pleasantly at the sight of him.
“I was wondering, where are you staying at the moment?”
Constance raised her eyebrows in surprise at the question and she glanced at Dominic for a moment, before turning her attention towards Julien again.
”The Sierra Hotel down in the main city, why?” She must admit she was a bit confused by the sudden question. Julien only nodded for a moment, clearly uncertain of his next words.
“I was wondering if the two of you would stay with us? Like in the old days?” He let a hand brush through his hair before he added: “We could use the company.”
Oh, she thought as a smile grew on her lips. ”I would love to. It’s been way too long since last time. Although,” She turned towards Dominic, unsure if he had plans that kept him back at their family home. ”do you need to go back to Mertmond?”
“Unfortunately I do,” Dominic apoligised with a sorry smile to Julien. “But thank you for the offer, hopefully Constance's presence will be enough.”
“I’m sure it will.” Julien said, smiling as he looked at her.

”I think we can leave now,” Constance said to the two men, as she looked towards the back of the cathedral where the door was. It had emptied out while they were talking, so there was plenty of room for them to leave now. Dominic immediately gave her his arm, which she held onto almost by reflex. Then she looked at Julien and gave him a last smile. ”I’ll see you later.”