The King's Unbreakable Wife-Chapter 256: Tea (1)

The next day, Hazel was quickly prepared to greet all the young women she had invited to the palace. She was most excited to see Alessandra so they could finish up where they were so rudely interrupted last night.

"Will I be the one serving you today?" Julia asked as she brushed Hazel’s hair. Hazel was using Daisy a bit too much for her liking though Julia was said to be Hazel’s favourite.

Julia had tried every opportunity to get Daisy alone so she could dispose of her but Daisy was always too focused on being by Hazel’s side and if she wasn’t there, Daisy would go back to the busy servant quarters.

If only Daisy was interested in being friends like Lynn did so Julia could lure her to somewhere private.

"My guests and I will be serving ourselves today. You only need to be close should I need you for something. How are your siblings doing now?" Hazel asked as she had forgotten to see if they were now in school.

Julia didn’t want to speak about her siblings but she still answered, "They are doing well. My brother hopes to make it to the court one day. He shall get there."

Working with Grant, there was no way her brother couldn’t get all that he wanted. Julia had found the perfect ally to help her siblings.

Speaking of Grant, Julia thought of how little tea Hazel had been drinking these days. There wasn’t any recent news of Hazel losing a child. That was just what Grant needed now to get the court to call for another woman to be taken.

If only she was set to serve Hazel today, then she could slip another serving inside of Hazel’s tea and the mouthy duchess who had somehow upset Grant. An enemy of Grant was also Julia’s so she would not let the duchess get away with disrespecting him.

"Julia!" Hazel called for a third time. Julia seemed lost in thought which made Hazel feel that there was more to what was happening with Julia’s siblings.

Hazel wanted Julia to be just as talkative as the other maids since she believed that Julia was still with the man who wasn’t treating her well. Hazel still spotted a few bruises that Julia failed to hide. Hazel wanted to address them but then she realised how Julia might push away from her.

It was what Hazel did to Tobias when he tried to address her growing depression.

"That is enough brushing. I must leave now to join the guests who are already here and seated," said Hazel.

"My apologies," Julia answered.

"It is fine. We all get lost in thought. Let us hope that this gathering will be one that I enjoy. Not too much childish drama," Hazel said, praying there wouldn’t be any but that was impossible. She didn’t mind drama but when it took over the party, it gave her a headache.

Hazel left her bedroom and quickly made her way to the room she picked out for the party. When she entered, Hazel did a quick look around the room and found that almost all of her guests had arrived.

"Your Majesty-"

"No need to get up from your seats. Please sit and continue to enjoy what you were doing," Hazel ordered the women. She wanted this party to be a bit more relaxing where everyone didn’t need to pay too careful attention to titles but there still wasn’t to be any disrespect.

Hazel walked to the table with a familiar face. "Eleanor, it is good to have you again."

"Thank you for inviting me again, Queen Hazel. You have delighted my aunt," Eleanor replied.

Since Hazel’s first invite, Eleanor had become accustomed to attending these kinds of events. There were still moments of feeling left out when everyone spoke of their families and she had to bring up her father’s work, but she didn’t allow these women to get under her skin.

"I am happy to be here as well, Queen Hazel."

Eleanor glanced at the young woman named Emma who was a bit chatty. Once again, it was only the queen that she could see herself being friends with. All the other women spoke about the same things over and over again or they liked to throw jabs and Eleanor was not in the mood to fight.

Hazel smiled at Emma who she hadn’t personally invited to the palace. Though she had provided some input on who to invite, many of the young here were selected by the court. She recalled that Emma was now engaged to a guard that Tobias wasn’t particularly fond of.

Just as Hazel was going to return a greeting to Emma, she saw just who she was waiting for. "Duchess," Hazel called to Alessandra, ignoring the surprised expressions from the women around her.

Hazel was well aware that many still believed in the ridiculous curse surrounding Alessandra or they were simply jealous that she was the one to grab Edgar so they weren’t too friendly with her but Hazel did not care.

Curse or no curse, Hazel would always want Alessandra to be near.

"You are seated at this table," Hazel said, pushing back the chair for Alessandra to sit.

Eleanor was surprised just as everyone else to witness the queen acting this way. She looked at the duchess who wore a mask just as the rumours said. Like her, Alessandra was going to become a target at this party even though she had gotten married to one of the most powerful men in the kingdom.

Eleanor didn’t pay much attention to what was said between the queen and the duchess as she was trying to recall what was said about Alessandra in the red light district. She couldn’t think of any bad stories where the duchess might have abused her power.

"Duchess, it is nice to see you again."

Hearing this, Eleanor turned to Emma once more. There was someone more excited than the queen to see the duchess. If Alessandra and Hazel were close to Emma, Eleanor didn’t think she would fit into the group.

’Where is the tea?’ Eleanor wondered, looking around for it. The palace was said to have gotten better tea and she had been looking forward to tasting a lot of it. Whatever was served to the queen had to be of the finest quality.

If Eleanor could get her hands on that, then dealing with petty arguments with the women around her was for a good cause.

"Queen Hazel, we weren’t aware you and the Duchess were so close."

Both Hazel and Eleanor sighed at the same time as Sophia West was looking to cause trouble.