The King's Unbreakable Wife-Chapter 290: The talk (2)

Tobias sat on the bed, ready for Hazel to open up to him. It had been a long time coming that they spoke about what had been troubling them. Being outside the palace was also the best time for Hazel to speak about Julia and Grant. Nothing she said now would get out to anyone.

"I must admit that I shared it with the girls earlier when we broke canvases to let our anger out. I wanted you to be the first person to know, but it just came out then. I have been depressed for close to a year now. I’m sure you’ve noticed," Hazel said since he noticed everything about her.

"It might have been longer than that but that timeline is when I noticed it. It was because of the pressure to have a child and not having one. There wasn’t much kindness when most spoke about needing an heir. It was so bad that there were a few times I considered sitting on the balcony in my room and then letting myself slip-"’

"Hazel," Tobias spoke softly. A mix of emotions came over him. He had gotten the feeling that she was depressed but he did not know it was to the point of wanting to kill herself. "Wait a moment. Just..."

"You’ve walked into the room once before when I thought of doing it. I could never go all the way because I thought of how I would be leaving you alone. How you would have to find out or have to witness the aftermath. Regardless of how much I was hurting, I couldn’t hurt you though I would have been free," said Hazel.

"I won’t say that I have fully passed that but I am a little better. I suppose speaking of it is the first step to healing. Tobias," Hazel said, placing her hand on his back to comfort him. Their conversation had taken a turn he wasn’t prepared for and she was willing to wait for him.

Tobias looked away from Hazel. "I’m sorry for disrupting what you said. Just, give me a moment."

"I know. You don’t need to hide your face from me, Tobias. I know what your crying face is like already. I was there when you fell out of the bathroom. Remember?" Hazel asked, trying to lighten the mood. "Honestly, I would be a little upset if you were all smiles while I tell you this. I should have thought of a more gentle way to tell you this."

Tobias didn’t think any other way she shared this with him would have been better. It would still pain him inside to hear that his wife tried to kill herself. "It wouldn’t have come to that if I protected you-"

"I will not have you blame yourself. I had been feeling something and instead of sharing it, I kept it bottled up until it pushed me to that state. You had no evidence of what Grant was doing and years ago, I wouldn’t have believed he was turning on the king or hurting me. I should have been more aware of what was given to me," Hazel said, taking some of the blame.

Hazel would not have Tobias fall into guilt and place all the blame on himself. She had a duty to be careful of those around her and she failed to do that. "We both have our faults, but I see Grant and Julia as the ones wrong in this."

Hazel continued, "You’ve done well with protecting me. Grant wasn’t much of a concern at first because I said we could trust him. That he was like a grandfather to me. Please do not place blame on yourself."

Despite what Hazel said, Tobias still put some of the blame on himself since he was to protect her. To not have her worrying about him when the focus should be on her, Tobias replied, "Okay."

"I know you are only saying that to please me, Tobias. We both have something to work on and we can do it together. Tell me, did she show any signs of regret?" Hazel questioned, referring to Julia.

She had treated Julia well over the years. Was there any remorse from Julia for what she had done?

"I haven’t questioned her yet, but from what I have seen, you won’t get any regret from her. She said she and Grant were in love with each other. I think he was using her and making her think they were something more. You must forget that maid you thought you knew," Tobias suggested.

"I see. Do you think it is possible she did something to Lynn? Before Julia, that was who I was most close to. I don’t want to end what happened to Lynn by placing it on Julia if it was done by someone else, but it is worth looking into. I didn’t know Julia well. She could have hurt others," Hazel said, thinking about the time of Lynn’s death.

Jane, Tabitha’s maid had gone missing as well and no one could place what happened to her. Hazel recalled the time when she met Julia for the first time. Jane was trying to hit Julia.

"Julia and Jane had a bit of conflict. You should look into if she had something to do with Jane’s disappearance as well. My hands feel cold just from the thought that she might have killed them. To have someone so cruel near and not know is terrifying," Hazel said, rubbing her hands together to try to warm them up.

"I will question her as soon as I return to the palace. I also need to speak to Liam about what he found with the missing maids. We can trust the rest of the Hensons," Tobias said as Hazel might have some doubt about them. "Kenneth was always ready to help me against his father and from what he said, Linda had no interest in being with me."

"I did question their loyalty for a moment, but I know we can trust them. Linda is still here unless Kenneth came for her when I fell asleep. Linda and I are fine. I don’t want anyone to bother the Hensons over this," Hazel said, knowing talk of them being traitors would start.

"I have already given Kenneth my word that I will protect his family and make it be known he is not a traitor. Still, you know the town will believe what it wants. You will need to keep Linda close during this time," said Tobias.

"I will and we must reward Eleanor. We would not have known without her. I think she is well suited to be one of the queen’s ladies," Hazel decided. From now on, no one could stop Eleanor from entering the palace or asking for favours.