The King's Unbreakable Wife-Chapter 35: Why me? (3)

"I am not playing with you, Hazel. That is the last thing I want to do to you so just be happy when I pick you so you can explore the palace and see what comes from this. At the moment, there isn’t anyone I think I want to marry. There are only seven days to make a decision," said Tobias.

He had to stay with the woman he picked for years to come and start trying for the next prince as soon as they wed. Seven days wasn’t enough and it didn’t help that he didn’t get to spend time with many of the women before the selection. Not that he wanted to.

"Seven days would be enough for us women because we need to snag a husband fast before all the good ones who can take care of us are gone. You’d be surprised by how many women here already love you. Like my sister,"’ Hazel said, now thinking of the portrait Helena had in her room of Tobias.

Those portraits were sold all through the market and there were some of the other popular men around the town.

"They love that I am the prince- Wait! When you said you must start thinking of your future, do you intend to start looking for a husband here in the palace if I were not to be serious about you?" Tobias inquired as he now thought over her words.

"I shouldn’t have said that, but yes. There are plenty of men here in the palace who are yet to wed and if not you, my parents would have picked them as my suitors. I cannot go long without getting married. At some point, I will lose my beauty for many men so I must marry before then. I envy how you could prolong getting married and then come back with no one scolding you," Hazel said.

She knew Tobias must have been scolded for not marrying when he came of age, but it was nothing compared to what would have been said about her. What was already said about her now that she was looking to find a husband at the same time as her sister.

"Wow," Hazel said in awe of the table set up for her and Tobias.

It was in the same garden they were in this morning with all the other women but there was a smaller table just for her and Tobias. It was more beautiful at night than she had imagined.

Tobias was caught off guard by the way Hazel’s eyes lit up now that they were right where they had to be to eat. He thought she had been looking for something to talk about then, but she truly loved the garden. So much that it brought out the expression she wore now.

Tobias reluctantly looked away from Hazel to the garden to try to understand what she saw. Perhaps he should take a moment to enjoy the beauty of the palace again. Then he wouldn’t feel so caged up as he did now if he saw the palace in another light.

"Do you want to become my wife, Hazel-"

"Do not say that if you are not serious. There are six more days which is plenty of time to get to know the other women and like someone else. I told you not to fill me with hope when you are not sure. I’m going to kick you again but harder if you play with me," Hazel spoke softly so the maids following them would not hear her threat.

Tobias smiled, amused by her threat. Other than his mother’s scoldings and Edgar wanting to throw him out of his home, this was the first real threat he had in weeks. Normally he didn’t take threats to his body lightly, but he was going to let this one slide.

He didn’t doubt for a second that if alone Hazel wouldn’t kick him if he upset her. She had given him a hard kick last time that left a little bruise which he wasn’t looking forward to experiencing again.

"It sounds like you can’t keep your hands off of me. Why kick me when you can do so much more to punish me?" Tobias asked simply to tease Hazel. He backed away from her when she moved her foot and luckily, it turned out that she was just walking ahead of him to the table. "Allow me to help you to your seat."

Hazel didn’t make an attempt to turn down his offer since it was the gentleman’s thing to do. She inspected the small table full of flowers as she neared it.

There was a man she presumed to be one of the many butlers, ready to pull out her chair for her. freēnovelkiss.com

"I will take care of her chair," Tobias said, beating Hazel to the table so he could pull out her chair for her.

Hazel watched from behind Tobias as the butler seemed to be conflicted about whether he should let Tobias pull out the chair for her. She wanted to laugh at everything she was witnessing. She understood why she could not walk beside him, but not why Tobias could not pull out a chair for her. After he was courting her to decide if she would be his wife.

How would this selection work if there would be little rules to put a wall between the prince and women which killed off the little romantic feelings Hazel got when she spent time with Tobias?

At this point, Hazel was starting to think that it was wrong to even speak to Tobias. To breathe the same air as him. They should just walk together in silence and then somehow fall in love.

Meanwhile, Tobias was having enough of the servants not listening to his orders right away. It was only a chair that he was moving for Hazel. What harm would it cause for the prince to do something so little like this? Again, he needed to speak with his mother because she was the one giving all the rules.

Tobias was curious if this was his mother’s revenge for whatever she endured during her time in the selection many years ago. Having the woman experience what she did instead of going easy and making better what she hated in the past.

It needed to be studied how his loving mother changed the moment the selection was to start and now he started to think he was right about her making others go through what she experienced. His father did nothing when it came to the selection so this was all his mother’s doing.

"Thank you," Hazel thanked Tobias as she sat down on the chair Tobias pulled out for her. It was moments like this that she could see them getting along if they were to get married.

She was far from loving him, but it wasn’t like she would have been deeply in love with anyone else she set her eyes on to marry. Hazel didn’t see herself like Helena to fall in love quickly. She knew that she needed a husband so she had planned to look for a man she could get along with in the present and then fall in love with later.

Her relationship with Tobias had greatly improved in one day and now she was looking forward to what the other days would bring.

Before leaving Hazel to take his seat, Tobias leaned down to Hazel and asked, "Do you want me to move my chair near to your chair in case you might miss me being so close?"

Hazel sighed. He was still annoying. "Please sit where you were meant to sit. I’ll try my best to not feel lonely without you right beside me."