The King's Unbreakable Wife-Chapter 61: Confession (1)

"The queen’s favourite? I doubt that," Hazel said, laughing at the silly thought.

"Laugh now and come crying to me later," Tobias said, enjoying the way Hazel failed to see what was coming. ƒгeeweɓn૦vel.com

"Why would I be the queen’s favourite? Is it solely because of the attention you have been giving me? I wouldn’t consider that making me her favourite. That is just her keeping an eye on where her son’s interests lie. I know that she likes Helena more, but you have not been picking my sister therefore I wasn’t the one sent away," Hazel said, picking up the cup of tea.

"She’ll make you her favourite. Have you ever shared a kiss with a man?" Tobias asked, letting the question that was on his mind finally come out.

Hazel was thankful she had not brought the cup to her lips yet to spill the tea on her skin when taking a sip, but some of it fell onto her dress. "I thought we were enjoying that you were not some creep to make me uncomfortable and I will not be kissing you."

"Not right now. We’ve already asked each other the boring questions of what we like to read. I want to know more about Hazel Wallace. What daring things has she done? It is not like I asked you if you ever slept with someone. That would be rude. Cookie?" Tobias asked, offering her a piece of the cookie he had already bit into.

"No thank you. There are plenty without bite marks still on the plate. I find it rude to ask if I kissed anyone considering that it is none of your concern. If we were to get married, I wouldn’t be asking about your history. Only that you send them away should they come looking to speak with me" Hazel said, picking up a cookie for herself.

"No one would ever come near you. None would ever come into the palace," Tobias said as his plans to meet outside the palace ensured it. "I’ve stayed away from anyone whose fathers could get them in here or whose goal was to become queen. Or the king’s mistress. It’s only fair if you mention if you have men I would need to worry about."

"We both know that is not any concern. Why the sudden interest now? I thought I was a prude," said Hazel.

"I had to find something to say when the master of insults was standing before me. Regardless of us not getting along in our youth, I would never deny that you are quite the beauty. Again, I am surprised that you were not already married off. Lucky me," Tobias said, smiling as Hazel frowned. "You are unaware of how popular you are. I almost had to punch someone yesterday for speaking of you."

"Can I see your hands, Tobias?" Hazel requested after a moment of silence, putting down the cookie as there was something she needed to check.

"We need to be quick in performing the act. The maids will lose their mind from us touching as a baby will come from it," Tobias said, holding his hands out for Hazel.

Hazel heard the head maid clear her throat again, but she ignored it for a moment to check his hands or more specifically, his knuckles. "How hard would you need to punch someone for your hands to be this way? It looks like your hand is recovering from punching a wall. How didn’t I notice earlier?"

"My mother didn’t notice nor did she find out about the incident. You would be a good friend if you don’t tell anyone," Tobias said, pulling his hands away from Hazel before the head maid could disturb them.

Hazel was more interested in knowing what was said for him to hit someone. She had dealt with ignorant comments from men after she came of age to know what could have been said, but she had never been so angry to hit someone.

It was somewhat upsetting that she couldn’t hold his hand to take a better look without the noise coming from the door.

"What was said about me?" She asked, needing to know the full story.

"I’m learning from a good friend of mine that nothing is free in this world. If you want to know, shouldn’t you offer me something?" Tobias asked jokingly.

Hazel took his words seriously and picked up a cookie for him to take a bite of. "This is a good exchange."

"There are plenty of cookies on the table," Tobias said, still tempted by the offer.

"This one is special because it is in my hand for you to take a bite. I will take my hand down," Hazel replied, slowly moving her hand down, but Tobias held it to keep the cookie in place for him to bite.

"Enough," Tobias spoke out loud for the head maid to be silent. "Are you not afraid of this getting back to my mother? The head maid there is a bit chatty, you see."

"I am only offering the prince a cookie. I cannot control if you take a bite of it from my hands," Hazel answered.

Tobias’s shoulders shook as he laughed. "You are exceptional," he said, taking a bite of the cookie which tasted better than the one he had bitten into already. "I won’t tell you who, but I didn’t like the bastard who said he would swoop in to marry you if I didn’t."

"What? That was all said for you to hit someone," Hazel said, not believing it was the true story. She put the cookie back on the plate because Tobias lost his right to be fed.

"It annoyed me. It might have been a wall that I hit instead of his face. I’m trying to lay off killing people unless I am out at war."

"Men are odd," Hazel muttered, turning away from Tobias. "I’ve heard the worst things. Saying they want to marry me should the prince not choose me is not the worst. It is what shall happen. Eligible men will come looking around the women in the selection to pick a wife. Being picked for the selection has made us sought after."

"While it is true, he should wait until the selection is over to voice his plans or keep those thoughts to himself. I was having somewhat of a terrible day so it was bad timing. It did earn me a ride to Edgar’s home so I wouldn’t hit someone," Tobias said, finding it to be positive in the end.

"I’ve concluded that you like me more than I thought. There will be many broken hearts when this gets out. I’ll have a good story to tell my children one day of how the king once liked me," Hazel teased, not believing that he liked her, but it was fun to accuse him.

"Laugh now, but I’ll laugh later when it turns out to be our children. At least you and I are now aware of something," Tobias said, finding the selection to be more entertaining now.

"Aware of what? That you have a weird temper?" Hazel asked. It was strange but now she had something to tease him about.

"No. That I do like you," Tobias confessed. "You’re just as cute when you are surprised as when you are angry."