The King's Unbreakable Wife-Chapter 59: New favourite (2)

"You can follow your sister if you wish, Hazel. You must want to cheer her up now," Tabitha said, pouring herself a cup of tea.

Hazel had already considered her options. If she followed Helena, there would be many tears and blame thrown at her. If she stayed here, Helena would claim that she didn’t care for her and there would be tears. She was damned for either option and rather than have to deal with an argument right now, she decided to give Helena some space.

"Knowing my sister, she would want some time alone to settle this in and then speak with our parents. I will stay here," Hazel replied. Peace at the moment was always the better option.

"You are right. Would you like some tea, Tobias? You are quiet and that worries me. I never thought I would see the day the two of you sit side by side like this. Then again, Hazel frequented the palace a lot in her youth. Did you used to play with all the other children, Hazel? I am forgetting that part of my life," Tabitha said, using her own measures to find out about their relationship.

She was not convinced that this was some spark of feelings suddenly happening between them. Tabitha would have believed it if anyone other than her son was sitting before her. Either the two had some kind of relationship in the past or Tobias was playing around.

"I played with the children in the palace once in a while when I came with my father. I tried not to stay too far away from him," Hazel answered.

It was known that the girls and the boys were taken to different groups to play because the boys wanted to play with wooden swords and the girls were not interested in looking untidy. Hazel crossed paths with Tobias in her youth but didn’t play with him each visit.

Hazel didn’t want to share with the queen that she had spent most of the time either muttering insults at Tobias or avoiding him. The prince beside her was more annoying in the past which should be impossible.

"Yes, you were always like your father’s shadow. It was surprising to see him bring you with him when others tried to keep their girls out of the palace when they were young. Honestly, the palace didn’t make for a nice place for children to play around, but we had to bring a few for Tobias to play with-"

"Some that didn’t show up again if a few people in the palace didn’t think they would be useful to the future king. I could only play with the sons of those who were wealthy or their fathers had titles. You’ll find that I don’t have too many friends," Tobias said, picking up a cookie.

He didn’t look away from his mother after speaking and biting into the cookie.

His parents and the court were too involved in his youth. They were always picking his friends for him. The court liked to believe he had many friends, but Tobias didn’t consider them to be. What fun was playing with others who went along with what he wanted or said what they thought he wanted to hear? He already had servants to do that.

Tabitha calmed her anger over Tobias mentioning something that was long explained in the past. She tried finding boys who were close to his personality so he would have fun, but the court would be there to go through the list and get rid of a few.

It was easier to find friends for Sofia as she was always ready to have more girls to run around the palace with. Sofia never questioned who was around her and just had fun as much as the palace would allow her. Tobias was always the one to smile to pretend like he was fine with those around him, but not let them get close.

"We must always think of the future. I’m sure for you Hazel that there might have been children you wanted to play with, but your parents said no," Tabitha said, looking to use Hazel to get Tobias to move on.

"There were," Hazel honestly answered.

Back then she didn’t know about the secrets of other households and that her parents stopped her from seeing children she liked to protect her name. It was only when she got older and the girls around her started to share gossip they overheard that she knew the real reason why she couldn’t play with other girls she liked.

No one wanted to be the topic of gossip in a town like Lockwood. You would end up avoided by all if the town enjoyed speaking about you and added lies to the gossip to see you be ruined. From enjoying seeing families lose their wealth or claiming someone was cursed, Hazel wouldn’t look over her past and get upset with her parents for watching over her.

However, she wasn’t Tobias. Hazel didn’t know what his experience in the palace was like so she hoped it didn’t come off like she was siding with the queen. She only answered honestly to what she experienced.

"When Tobias has his children he will understand having to be mindful of who comes around them," said Tabitha.

Tobias would leave if not for Hazel sitting here beside him. He didn’t enjoy the prying. Why did they need to sit before his mother when he should be off with Hazel getting to know him? Time was wasted considering they only had a few days for him to find a wife.

The moment he became king, he would put an order for this selection to be over with. Or hopefully, the woman he picked to be his wife wouldn’t change overnight like his mother did.

"What do you think of the prince, Hazel? I am curious," Tabitha said, helping Tobias in having him hear Hazel’s opinion of him.

Hazel looked away from the queen to Tobias who seemed to share how awkward this was. It was like speaking to her mother about what she thought of a boy. "The prince has been a gentleman with me-"

"I do not want your answer to be what you think I want to hear. I want to know your honest opinion. Would you say yes if picked at the end of the selection?" Tabitha asked. She was yet to see Hazel acting like she wanted to be here.

Hazel wasn’t excited and was working for the queen’s throne. Tabitha couldn’t help but think it was because Hazel had it a little too easy with Tobias picking her over and over again. A fire might not have been lit under Hazel from staying in her room since Tobias was not present last night.

"I was honest in my answer by saying he is a gentleman. I would not sit here before you and be in this selection if I did not think I would marry the prince at the end of it if he were to pick me. There are times when our personalities differ so we might find it a bit hard to be around each other, but so far I’ve been enjoying my time with the prince," Hazel answered, continuing to be honest.

Tobias could be annoying, but he had his moments of being someone she enjoyed speaking with.

Hazel dared not look Tobias’s way because she knew he was enjoying this and would never let her forget what she said.