The King's Unbreakable Wife-Chapter 122: Suffer alone (3)

An awkward silence came over the room as Hazel focused more on what was served for them than lingering on the queen’s words. If not for Tobias, her welcome into the palace wouldn’t have been so great.

Now she was back to thinking about the pain caused by her shoes. Hazel moved slowly, trying to take her feet out of the shoes while she was sitting to give herself some comfort. She no longer expected Tabitha to be kind enough to have the shoes changed or the dresses altered.

To not have her feet in so much pain that she would not want to walk, she would wear the shoes she brought into the palace. Should the dresses rip because they were not suited for her, she would not be embarrassed. freewēbnoveℓ.com

"Your sister, why didn’t she return with you? I have not received a letter from your family yet," Tabitha said, missing the younger sister. This sit down would have been better with Helena as she had not questioned the advice to not fall in love with Tobias.

The other women knew to do as they were told, but Hazel was quick to question everything.

"My mother has changed her mind and will now allow Helena to come into the palace for an hour every day and return home when she is finished. I believe my mother will accompany Helena when she is dropped off today to give a proper explanation," Hazel answered.

"I see. It is quite amusing that she went back on her word. The Wallace’s are an interesting bunch," said Tabitha.

They took this all as a game as if they were not speaking to royalty. Perhaps it was because the palace needed them. More than just nobles these days, the palace had to rely on businessmen for their wealth. Now some were requesting that the king reward them with titles and lands.

Hazel stayed quiet to avoid another disagreement. Her focus was now getting her left foot out of the shoe just as easily as she had managed to slip the right foot out. Not letting her relief show was a challenge but she managed to do it.

Tabitha kept her gaze on Hazel as she ate a small piece of the sweet pastry she placed on her plate. "It will take some time for the dresses to be altered so you should try eating a little less, so your dress doesn’t tear. We try to not let what happens in the palace slip to the town, but some things the maids cannot keep to themselves, and it spreads throughout Lockwood."

Hazel put her fork down, finishing what was in her mouth as it would be unladylike to spit it out.

"You can have one more. A nice walk would help you fit the dress. Since you have not met with my son, you wouldn’t know that the two of you will be taking over putting together the engagement party. It was Tobias’s request that he do it and you be involved. What do you think?" Tabitha inquired, eager to know if Hazel was ready.

If Hazel wasn’t ready, Tabitha could go back to doing most of the planning with Tobias. She already mapped out how the engagement party would go and who would be invited.

"It is sudden, but I look forward to doing it. It would be the first time I put together a party. Thank you for trusting us with this," Hazel replied.

She never planned any type of gathering since her mother either did it herself or hired someone, but her mother did have them stay around to listen to how it would go because as wives, this would be their duty. Valerie was quite knowledgeable of the palace so Hazel could always go to her for help.

"The wedding planning will be done by me. You will have the pleasure of planning the wedding for the young lady who will become queen after you. We will need to take better measurements to start the wedding dress. I will have a tailor come to you when your lessons are over with tomorrow," said Tabitha.

"Do you like the maids tending to you? They were all handpicked by me."

"Yes, they are all lovely," Hazel replied. ’I can’t say a word to them,’ she realised.

Her maids were likely to be the queen’s followers so whatever she did or say would get back to the queen. Not even the maids she could make connections with and have them loyal to only her.

’I must find a maid of my own who is not yet on the queen’s side,’ Hazel noted.

Right now, loyal maids would be her greatest allies as they see and hear everything in the place.

With more of the palace left to be seen, she hoped to find a maid. If she could not, a request would have to be made for someone from her parent’s house to come here.

"Soon there will be a small gathering for women around the town to come here to sit with me. It is to keep our relationships close and how I know what is happening around the town. You are to be there to watch how it goes as you will one day have to do this. I’ve started to put together a list of young ladies you should keep your eyes on," said Tabitha.

"A few of them would have been in your group of the selection and the previous one. It is wonderful that you are already so close to the Hensons as the palace would like to keep a close relationship with them. Why didn’t anyone think of getting you or your sister married to one of the Henson sons?" Tabitha asked.

Two strong families would have come together. It was something that crossed her mind when thinking about the men she should introduce Helena to. There was still some time to avert Helena’s attention to one of the brothers.

"I have never felt any attraction to Linda’s brothers. I’ve known her from a young age, so her brothers felt like my own. And Helena has no interest in them. We joke that Linda and I are sisters so we are already one big family," Hazel replied.

Hazel secretly hoped the queen would not push for a marriage of the two families using Helena. If there was ever to be something between her or Helena with one of Linda’s brothers, it would have happened long ago. A forced marriage would ruin the good relationship they all had.

"I see. What a shame. With your father making weapons and the Henson’s knowing how to train men well, you would have become one big strong family with great power. Perhaps it’s good that the two houses stay separated," said Tabitha.

No one house should have enough power to rival the palace because if the Wallace and Henson were to turn on them, they would be backed into a corner. The Wallace’s were on their side now more than ever because of Hazel, but she had to find a way to keep the Hensons loyal and ready to protect Tobias.

’I must make use of Linda,’ Tabitha decided.

She didn’t know how yet, but with it being very apparent that with all the men in the Henson family being very protective of her, should Linda have anything to do with the Castros, they would be on the palace’s side. There were distant relatives they could get her wed to or to a young man of a family loyal to the Castros.

One of Tobias’s close friends would be better.

"Since you don’t plan to eat any more, come with me for a walk until dinner is ready," said Tabitha.

Hazel became tense as this meant she had to suffer with the shoes again. The queen couldn’t have forgotten about her problem with the small shoes, so this had to be some kind of punishment for her reactions a moment ago.

If Tabitha was looking to be entertained by her pain and have her plead for this to end, she was going to be disappointed.