The King's Unbreakable Wife-Chapter 257: Tea (2)

If Hazel could do one thing for this party, it would have to be in more control of who was invited. Sohpia had always been troublesome but then after she married a man who was involved in the court, she was harder to bear with.

Hazel thought of becoming close to Sophia so in turn, she could have a man in the court on her side, but when Sophia spoke, Hazel wanted to quickly get away.

To end this before it could grow to upset Alessandra, Hazel replied, "I don’t find it necessary to announce to everyone who I am close to, Sophia. Since you are so curious you should know that the duke and my husband are quite close. I’ve invited the duchess to the palace to personally get to know her. I find her to be a lovely woman."

Hazel was letting it be known to those who could hear her that the duchess was not to be messed with. Hazel was more used to these catty women than Alessandra was so she could stomach them a little better. She would not have anyone trying to run off Alessandra from this party.

Sophia failed to realise what Hazel had done and further spoke to Alessandra. "Is that so? We have never met, duchess. My name is Sophia West. My husband is a part of the royal court. I am sure you have heard of me by now."

Eleanor couldn’t drown out what was said any longer. The only reason someone would know about Sophia was because of the rumours about her causing men to itch. Again, Eleanor thought that Sophia should be quiet as her husband’s position in court wasn’t so grand for her to be this loud. Especially with a duchess.

Eleanor glanced at Alessandra who seemed uninterested in what Sophia had to say. Eleanor could not resist speaking up on behalf of the quiet duchess. "Why are you acting so high and mighty about your husband working in the court when you are speaking to a duchess? Your husband won’t impress someone who is married to a duke. Ignore her."

Ignoring Sophia was something that many did but Sophia failed to notice because she was too loud talking about herself. Eleanor ignored the glare from Sophia as she had interrupted Sophia’s time to boast about herself.

Instead, Eleanor decided to introduce herself to Alessandra. "I am Eleanor, duchess. Happy to finally meet you."

Alessandra welcomed a friendly greeting as opposed to how Sophia was. She could already tell that this Sophia person was not a lady she would want a friendship with. Eleanor, on the other hand, appeared to be kind.

"Nice to meet you too, Eleanor," Alessandra returned the greeting.

Hazel owed Eleanor for stepping in to turn the conversation elsewhere. She was planning to have Alessandra stay behind after all the others left and now, she thought of inviting Eleanor. It was time that she got to know Eleanor a little better.

Hazel believed Eleanor must have a lot of secrets from what she might have overheard in the red light district.

Hazel was in a better mood now that Alessandra was getting close to someone she also liked but this didn’t last long.

"Your husband should know me."

Hazel frowned as soon as those words left Sophia’s mouth in response to Alessandra not knowing who she was. It reminded her of how the women still roaming the palace while claiming that they were visiting their father or brother would try to upset her.

It wasn’t directed to her but Hazel couldn’t help being angered by it since she dealt with so much mockery of her marriage this year. As a married woman, shouldn’t Sophia have the sense to know how wrong her words were?

"Had I played my cards right you wouldn’t have gotten the chance to be duchess. I have to say, I’ve been missing the way that man would make my toes curl. You are a lucky one."

Hazel was ready to end this right now as it was going too far whilst sitting in a room of married women who all had fears about who their husbands were with before them and in the present, but Alessandra responded for herself.

"You are a beautiful woman, Sophia but there is hardly any common sense to you."

Hazel couldn’t believe the way Alessandra spoke to Sophia with so much fire to her. Hazel tried not to be too biased but she couldn’t help but smile as Alessandra completely caught Sophia and many of their peers by surprise.

Alessandra had a tongue similar to her husband’s with the way she spoke.

"I pity your husband. You are not speaking of how he curls your toes. How would he react I wonder? Is he in the palace?" Alessandra turned to Hazel.

Hazel cleared her throat to help to not laugh and answered, "I believe he is."

Sophia panicked at the mention of her husband. Should he come here and learn that she was at odds with Edgar’s wife he might just kill her. Alessandra was going too far now and the queen was enjoying this too much. "There is no need for you to call my husband. I cannot believe you let her sit at this table. She is hardly a lady."

Hazel didn’t think Sophia had the place to decide who acted as a lady.

Once again, Hazel was grateful for Eleanor’s intrusion. Eleanor’s laughter took away the seriousness from the table and what she commented on about how Sofia had gotten her husband was just what needed to be said to get Sophia to quiet down.

Eleanor didn’t hold her tongue which Hazel liked. Once again the conversation turned to how Eleanor’s father owned a brothel which had women selling their bodies to men. Still, Eleanor did not back down.

Hazel could not stop herself from smiling as Eleanor spoke. She wished to have Eleanor’s confidence and perhaps, being near to Eleanor might allow it to happen.

"This is lovely Queen Hazel," Eleanor said, raising her now empty cup which once had tea. She would gladly travel to the palace just to have this tea. It might be a little too expensive since it was used by the queen and she could not afford to use any of the money from the books she sold.

Hazel loved that amid the drama Eleanor still found a way to enjoy tea. "Thank you, Eleanor. Sophia," she addressed the woman on a mission to ruin her day. "Get up."

Hazel didn’t have the patience to put up with Sophia throwing so many jabs. Must it always be this way? Why couldn’t they ever sit and share their troubles to get solutions to them? The women in this room should be looking to help each other but there was always a need to be competitive.

"What?"

"I said to get up," Hazel repeated.

Sophia no longer had a seat at this table from today onward.