The King's Unbreakable Wife-Chapter 301: Birthday ball (2)

"Announcing the King and Queen, Tobias and Hazel Castro!"

Hazel smiled as the attention came to her and Tobias. She leaned close to Tobias and whispered, "We should have told them to leave out the announcement. I would have liked to sneak in. And must we have so many servants behind us?"

Hazel glanced behind them at the two lines of servants.

"It is hard for you to hide your beauty, Hazel. You stand out amongst all the women present," Tobias replied.

He could spot her in a large crowd. Tobias didn’t doubt that the people could also do it.

Hazel blushed, enjoying the comment. He had been speaking highly of her look since he saw her. "Tonight is all about me showering you with compliments. Do not make it hard for me to compete with you."

"You are asking something hard for me to do, Hazel. My wife looks beautiful so I cannot resist complimenting her. Perhaps if something was covering my lips, I would be able to stay silent. I would like twenty-four kisses. One for each year that I have been alive," said Tobias.

"Not here," Hazel answered, finding that more suited for an intimate setting.

"Then, should I tell them the ball will be over in an hour-"

Hazel pinched Tobias’s arm she was holding onto. "You will do no such thing. I told you to think of your friends who have travelled far to see you. You will not receive my gifts if you end the ball early."

Tobias sighed. It was already bad enough that most of the guests were more interested in finding last-minute love instead of focusing on him, the birthday boy. The very reason there was a ball.

"Why aren’t they focusing on me? I am the star of the night. Their need for love is stopping them from enjoying me," said Tobias.

Hazel could only shake her head at her husband’s ways. Many were still to wed and since the king was already taken, he would not get all the attention that he was craving. "There are others. Hopefully, they shall offer their attention to you. I hope."

Hazel had spotted Alessandra first and then Eleanor. She was happy to see Alessandra was comfortable attending the ball without her mask and Eleanor was more willing to attend these social events. Eleanor had to get more comfortable with it because Hazel was going to have every invitation for palace events sent to Eleanor.

With this, the number of people speaking poorly of Eleanor because of her father’s business should decrease as no one should offend one of the queen’s ladies. Based on the letters Hazel had received from Alessandra since she left the duke’s estate, Eleanor seemed to have set her sights on the son of a woman close to the royal family.

Hazel looked at one of Alessandra’s twin guards, Reed. Eleanor certainly had good taste in men.

Hazel and Tobias approached the group. Tobias was the first one to make their presence known. "Enjoying the lovebirds? I don’t see why they make my birthday the time for others to get their heart broken or engaged. Isn’t this like someone wanting to get married at their friend’s wedding? Stealing all of my attention."

Tobias looked down at the garden where men and women were walking around, either proposing or just looking to kiss in the dark garden.

Hazel, on the other hand, enjoyed that others were making use of the garden. After having to return to the horrible sight of the gardens being dug up because the doctor used them as the resting place for his victims, Hazel had to work with the gardeners to fix it before the ball.

"Happy birthday."

Tobias closed his eyes, enjoying the music to his ears as the women told him happy birthday. It was about time they told him it. "Thank you. At least you’re not rude like your partners who have not visited me once today or brought me a gift. I need to find new friends."

When they were younger, Dominic and Edgar along with some others would come to the palace to drink and celebrate his birthday but now they were a rare sight. Tobias understood why Edgar could not do it but what was Dominic’s excuse? Running from his mother who wanted him to wed since Edgar had gotten married?

Dominic thought of the best gift for the king. "I’ll help you look," he said, referring to Tobias wanting new friends. He knew Tobias wasn’t going to find anyone better than him but they could still try.

Tobias could try getting close to his younger brother Daniel but after the comment Daniel had made about Hazel not being one of the women he thought Tobias liked, the odds of that happening were low.

"Happy birthday," Dominic said to stop Tobias from sulking. " You act like you are not surrounded by a lot of people on your birthday so it is a waste of our time to see you before the ball. Hazel, I feel sorry for the attention-seeking husband you have to put up with."

Hazel appreciated that someone knew what she had to endure. "It’s his birthday so I will put up with it today. Ladies, it is nearing time for us to go off on our own to have a chat while the men go off to drink with Tobias. I promise to keep an eye on her."

The men had to go off to drink or whatever they did in the private room prepared for them while the women would talk and share gossip.

Eleanor was nervous about going off to sit with other women as it meant drama. "What are we going to chat about?"

Hazel touched Eleanor’s hand to calm her. "It’s mostly young women asking me for advice or trying to get into my circle. The three of you cannot leave me alone. Linda is having a hard time coming out to the ball because the things said about her grandfather are taking a toll on her. I need all of you in her absence and it would be fun to get away from the men."

Hazel knew that as much as Tobias wanted to be near her, he wanted to catch up with his friends and enjoy his birthday with them.

Tobias placed his hand on his chest. "Hey! That is not something you say when your husband is around and it is his birthday."

Hazel knew that he wasn’t offended by it and kissed him goodbye. She ignored the chatter she heard over her display of affection for her husband. Gone were the days when she would not show just how much she loved him.

"Don’t act like you are not excited to go off to have a drink with Edgar and all the other men. Follow me. I will take you to the room the ladies are starting to gather in. Don’t get into any trouble," Hazel warned.

She had heard the stories of the trouble that came when Tobias got with his friends and didn’t want to witness it tonight.