The King's Unbreakable Wife-Chapter 65: Far from over (3)

"This is just as sudden as it was for us to hear that she was meant to leave. I need to talk this over with my husband. Like him, I don’t want to give the palace another chance to discard Helena when you feel like it."

"It doesn’t feel like there was a good reason to take her out when you have already invited her along with Hazel. Is there something more I should know?" Renee asked, needing a better answer than before to see the queen’s reasoning.

Tabitha wished this would move along faster, but since the Wallaces was stubborn which was perfectly normal, she had to reveal just how well Hazel was doing. "It is likely that Hazel will become the next queen. I have taken a liking to Helena so rather than waste the time she could be looking for a husband, I want to help her now."

Renee looked at Nathan, surprised to hear that the queen believed Hazel would end up living in the palace. If this was true, it was as the queen said that they should start looking for an eligible husband for Helena so she could end the season married.

Helena grabbed a handful of her dress, angered by the queen stating what she had been trying to think wouldn’t happen. The queen shouldn’t say this as the selection was far from over.

Renee didn’t know what to do to help Helena at the moment. Bringing her home early meant that there would be talk about something big happening for her to be the only one sent home, but if they kept her in the palace, who was to say the palace wouldn’t decide to send her home another time?

"If I allow my daughter to stay, you must promise me that you will not decide to send her from the palace. If it is that she did something that a lady like herself shouldn’t then I would understand. I will not sit by and let you do this to her a second time," Renee declared.

Renee didn’t fear the queen not liking the way she spoke and ousting her from gatherings in the future. Renee loved her daughters more than her reputation to stay silent and let the queen humiliate Helena again.

Renee disliked that having Helena stay was the best way for her to not face ridicule. If Helena had the queen’s help, she would find a good man here in the palace. As long as Helena looked away from the prince, she could find love nearby.

The town would talk of Helena no longer being a part of the selection, but if they were to let it be known the queen helped her pick out a husband, Helena could walk away from this fine.

"I give you my word that unless she causes trouble, I will not send her out of the palace. I will make it known that I am taking her under my wing because I have taken a liking to her. I will do what I can to help. There is just one thing Helena must do," Tabitha said, looking at the end at Helena who was smiling brightly. "Say that you knew your sister was more suited for the prince."

"What?" Helena responded in disbelief. "Why must I do that?"

"It will make you appear honourable. That you gave up your spot in the selection because you knew your sister would win and no longer want to compete with her. I mean it when I said Hazel might become the next queen. The king also sees it. You must do as I say for this to all make sense," said Tabitha.

Helena was completely against this idea because she was not ready to give up the prince. There was still a chance for her to become queen if she met with the prince. The queen’s spot wasn’t guaranteed to Hazel until the last day of the selection. Anything could happen.

"I do not-"

"She will do it,’ Renee spoke over Helena. It was something simple to get this all over with.

Renee knew Helena well to see that her daughter was still hung up on becoming queen. It was inevitable since they had all dangled it in her face and were suddenly taking it away now. It was too soon to ask her to let go of her dreams but Helena would eventually understand that this was the best decision.

Renee didn’t want Helena to be on the receiving end of this town trying to ruin her.

"I will allow her to stay. I take your word that you will keep my daughter safe. Before the decision is made for who Helena might marry, I ask that Nathan and I are first informed," Renee said.

"Of course," Tabitha agreed, having no issue with this. She smiled as it was quite easy to get Renee to go along with her plans. It would have been foolish for Renee to deny her offer when it was the best choice to help Helena.

Now that Helena was off to the side and Tabitha was paying more attention to Hazel, Tabitha looked forward to her relationship with Tobias going back to normal. She had done something good for him by getting rid of a woman he didn’t care for. In four more days, Tobias would get rid of the others he had no interest in.

Tabitha was thankful Renee did not show her anger with all of this which could have led to them butting heads because Tabitha wanted to keep the relationship she had with the Wallaces. Especially when those around her were seeing Hazel as the one to take her seat.

"I apologise that I cannot stay for long. There is much I need to do for the selection. Helena will stay in her present room and I will call upon her to do matchmaking throughout the next four days. Excuse me," Tabitha said as she stood up. She had important places to be.

Renee and Nathan were the only ones to stand up with the queen.

Nathan followed Tabitha closely to the door to open it for her while Renee remained behind with Helena to finish getting the answers she wanted.

Renee waited for Nathan to close the door after the queen walked out to ask, "Tell me what has happened. I don’t believe that your relationship with Hazel is still the same. You weren’t pleased with what the queen said about Hazel and you threw blame at us earlier. The two of you agreed that you would not let this selection ruin your relationship."

"Mother, can we please do this another time-"

"No," Renee rejected Helena’s suggestion. "I will soon need to leave the palace and need to wait for my father to tell me what is happening with you. I want to hear from you that I do not need to worry about my daughters plotting against each other. You must not let this ruin the good relationship you have with Hazel."

Helena stepped away from her mother, frustrated that it was only her being made to promise something. "Why don’t you question Hazel? She was the one to be secretive and the one still in the selection. Ask her why our relationship is what it is now. She’s treated Linda as more of a sister than me."

’If I could speak to your sister, I would also ask that she not let whatever happened between you continue and ruin your relationship. You are the only one that I can speak to right now," Renee said, reminding Helena of the selection rule. Renee could not speak to Hazel before the last day. "This is not worth losing your sister. If the prince has chosen-"

"I was finally winning and it was ruined before I had the chance to show the prince the lady that I am. I should have been able to go further to show my talent. This isn’t fair," Helena said, stomping her right foot down on the ground.