The King's Unbreakable Wife-Chapter 254: Winter party (3)

Hazel continued to watch Grant speak with men she knew and some she was not familiar with. There were a few from the court that she disliked as they were the ones pushing for Tobias to have another woman and the loudest about the fact she did not have a child yet.

"What kind of party is this?" Hazel wondered.

It was like many of her or Tobias’s enemies received an invite.

"He might not know," Hazel said, wanting to give Grant the benefit of the doubt.

Grant wasn’t in the palace a lot recently so it could be that he wasn’t aware of who was troubling her or Tobias. With the tension in the Henson family, Hazel didn’t know if Kenneth was passing on their troubles to Grant.

Hazel frowned when William made his way to Grant’s side. Grant looked annoyed at first but then smiled. If Grant didn’t like William around then why invite him? Why invite all these men who did nothing but kiss up to Grant?

The winter party was normally for close friends and family. Hazel could think of a few times Grant spoke of not inviting someone because they always wanted to speak about business and not just enjoy the night.

Hazel watched as William whispered something to Grant and then Grant finally noticed her. She narrowed her eyes, confused as to why William would speak of her and now Grant was coming her way.

Had William twisted what just happened? He had the perfect chance to do it since Tobias was outside calming Edgar down.

"Hazel," Grant greeted her.

Hazel dismissed the fact he didn’t properly greet her since he was one of the few she allowed to do this. "Grant, the party is lovely as always."

"Thank you. I enjoy taking my wife’s credit for it. A shame that my son and grandchildren couldn’t be here. I hear that Liam is lingering around the palace. What for?" Grant asked as no one could give him a reason.

Grant knew that like the coward he had grown to be, Kenneth had packed his things up and taken the others somewhere out of town. It was a little embarrassing to not have all the Hensons present at his winter party.

"I do not know why he is there," Hazel lied.

What Liam was looking into was not to be shared even with people she trusted. Too many people knowing might let the person they were trying to find catch onto what they were doing. In time, Grant would know why Liam was in the palace.

"You can speak to Tobias. He is outside with the duke and the duchess right now," Hazel said, looking in the direction they walked off to.

"Yes, the duchess. I am a bit curious about her with the mask that she wears. I see why her father hid her for so many years and I am yet to understand how she ended up marrying a duke," Grant said.

"It isn’t for us to understand. All that matters is that they love each other," Hazel answered.

Hazel had no interest in figuring out why Edgar picked Alessandra as she saw for herself that they loved each other. Knowing that Edgar was never interested in marriage should be enough for everyone to know that Alessandra was special enough to make him consider it.

"Linda was upset about it and then you called the duchess to the palace-"

"Did Linda tell you that?" Hazel asked, ignoring how Grant didn’t like that she interrupted him. She thought she had resolved the matter with Linda so why did she tell this story to Grant?

Hazel knew that Linda and Grant were close but the matter was so small that it didn’t need to be shared. It might make things awkward between Alessandra and the Hensons who were overprotective of Linda.

Grant wasn’t pleased with being interrupted. "You know that I dislike when you and Linda do that. What do I always say? A woman shouldn’t be louder than a man."

Hazel bit her tongue to stop herself from responding. She was quite over what a lot of men had to say and wasn’t in the mood to put up with Grant’s rules for how women should act. She put up with it in the past as Linda said to just excuse him, but she couldn’t these days.

"Something seems to be troubling you, Hazel. Maybe it has to do with you not seeing your parents. They are spending a lot of time with Helena. She is on her second child now?" Grant asked.

"She is and she is doing well," Hazel answered.

Grant admired how easy it was for Hazel to answer. She was holding herself together well and if not for his interest, she would make a good queen that he would enjoy following.

Grant would like for her to start breaking so it would make this all easier for her. She could save her husband if she would just find a way to get out of the palace.

Hazel continued to look in the direction Tobias had left her. It was a bit uncomfortable to be around Grant but it might be because she hadn’t seen him in a while or because Linda wasn’t present.

"I heard that there was a bit of conflict at my party. You know there is not to be any fighting at my party, Hazel," Grant said, still annoyed with what William shared.

"You say that as if I was the one to cause the trouble. I don’t know what he whispered in your ear but William was the one who started it. I asked him to leave us and he had to push to get to the duchess. You should be speaking to him about fighting. You cannot expect Edgar to not defend his wife," Hazel replied.

Grant couldn’t be that close to William to be ignoring that he had a lot of fault in what occurred. Had William listened to her when she asked to be left alone with the duchess none of what occurred would have happened.

It felt like Grant had already placed Edgar to be the one causing the trouble after only listening to one side of the story.

"I know the young duke well enough to know he has a temper. A man can defend his wife but was it something that needed him to want to fight here? I need to have a word with him before he tries to leave the party. The king is returning," Grant said, smiling as Tobias couldn’t hide his anger as he came this way.

Tobias picked up his pace to get in between Hazel and Grant. Leave it to Grant to want to speak with Hazel when he is not around.

"You should know that it is rude to not address the host," Grant said, more amused than annoyed with being ignored. He got under Tobias’s skin and knowing that the king could not touch him stroked his ego.

"I have addressed you before and do not see any reason to do it again. I would like to speak to my wife in private," Tobias said, ready to leave the party.

Outside, he and Edgar had agreed that it was time to kill William. When Kenneth returned, they would talk about how they would attack Grant to end this feud.

"We were just talking about what happened with William. We were not the ones to cause trouble," Hazel said, wanting that to be understood.

"I will take your word for it," Grant answered. His attention was now on Edgar returning inside with his wife. While he didn’t like Edgar’s temper sometimes, he liked the power that Edgar had and wanted Edgar on his side. "Excuse me."

Tobias waited for Grant to leave then turned to Hazel. "Are you alright? Did anyone bother you while I was away?"

"No, I only spoke to Grant about what happened and a few other things. Maybe it is because I have not spoken to him for some time now but my talk with him felt off. Or maybe it is because my mood has been spoiled after William," Hazel said, not enjoying the party like she once used to.

Perhaps she had only liked Grant’s winter party because of the fun she had with Linda.

"I wouldn’t be against us leaving soon. We’ve shown our faces and spoken to Grant so we can leave as soon as you want," said Hazel.

Tobias was pleasantly surprised to hear this considering Hazel was the one excited to be here. "When Grant is finished speaking to Edgar, we can inform Edgar and Alessandra that we will be leaving so they can leave too. Are you certain you don’t wish to stay?"

Tobias wanted to leave right this second but he could stay to make Hazel happy.

"I have to be host to a party tomorrow and I will see the duchess there. I must go to bed early to prepare for tomorrow. Sitting with these women can be a bit tiring so I must be well rested. You can smile to show that you are enjoying us leaving," Hazel said, poking the right corner of his mouth.