"I would appreciate it if you stop looking at me as if you want to kill me. Someone who doesn't know we're sisters would believe you want to hurt me. I've done more than enough by not mentioning that the prince asked me for a dance. I need you to remember from now that I am not here to help you win," said Hazel.
Helena knew that they were both competing but since she was doing well and Hazel disliked the prince, she just thought that naturally, they would push for her to become the next queen. The attention she had from the ball was drying up quickly.
What if the prince were to suddenly be interested in Hazel? Then Hazel would be the centre of attention again. It was hard to step out of her sister's shadow no matter how hard she tried. If only Hazel was already married then Helena wouldn't have to compete with her.
"I'm more interested in becoming queen than you are. You don't like the prince," said Helena.
"I'm eager to become the future queen. It is only that I do not express it like you do. The prince and I have not seen each other for a long time. I will walk with him and try to get to know him. I would like for you to be happy for me just as I would have been for you. We made a promise to our mother to not let this selection ruin our sisterhood. Or have you forgotten already?" Hazel asked.
"I have not. I'm sorry that I ruined your moment and I wasn't excited for you. There is only one prince so it makes me extra competitive. You should have fun during your time with the prince. I want to be with my friends. Excuse me," Helena said and then left to find her friends.
Helena felt guilty for not being happy for Hazel in a moment like this and knew that their mother would be disappointed. She would try to get rid of her jealousy and congratulate Hazel later. She wanted to be more mindful of her feelings to not upset Hazel.
She shouldn't make requests with Hazel to tell the queen she didn't want to walk with the prince since this was also Hazel's time to compete. To step out of Hazel's shadow, Helena knew that she had to be better at impressing the queen and prince. She already had the queen's interest so it wouldn't be hard to rise above Hazel.
This was only the beginning and as of right now, there was still attention on her to make use of.
Hazel knew that what she said was not properly understood by Helena. Her sister was already too convinced that the seat of queen belonged to her and Helena believed that she was already in love with the prince when she had never had a conversation with him other than when they danced.
"I am suddenly happy that I am the youngest and I have no sisters. You know that she craves attention and always tries to compete with you," said Linda. Luckily, no one tried to compare her to her brothers as no one expected her to use a sword to join a war. "The prince is coming to us."
Hazel watched Tobias come back to the garden with a smug smile on his face like he was up to something. Before he came to her and Hazel, he stopped to speak to the queen's maids.
The two maids then hurried off somewhere like their jobs were at stake. It left Hazel curious about what he said to them.
"Now that's taken care of, we should hurry off before they find out that I lied to them. Follow me," Tobias said as he walked by Hazel and Linda. It wouldn't be long before his mother's maids would catch up to her or simply realise that they had been lied to.
Linda and Hazel looked at each other, both wondering why he was in a rush when they were given time to speak with him. Still, they followed Tobias to the other exit of the garden. They shouldn't be scolded since they were just following the prince's orders.
They walked far away from the garden to a place Hazel couldn't recall visiting in her youth.
"Your Highness," Linda said, no longer able to wait for him to tell her why she was picked. "Might I ask why I was your first choice?"
"You are a Henson. Why wouldn't I pick the woman who has family ties to the army? I want to have a close relationship with you in the future along with your brothers. Don't tell them about the relationship I want to have with you. They are a pain in the ass with how overprotective they are," said Tobias, already seeing them picking up a sword to send him away from their sister.
"Could you blame them?" Hazel asked, but then bit her lip as she didn't mean to let her thoughts be heard.
Tobias stopped walking and turned to Hazel. "What more is there you want to say to insult me, Hazel? What other rumours have you heard about me in the palace? Hazel the prude who looks down on everyone. I am not the only one with rumours about how I am."
Hazel frowned, disliking the description of herself. "Who said that? I have not heard anyone say that about me," she replied.
"That's because it's a rumour I plan to spread. You're the first to hear about it," Tobias said, enjoying the way she glared at him. She showed her anger, not caring that he was royalty. She was the same way as in the past where she would let it show that she disliked you.
Now that he stood close to her again, Tobias saw how much she had changed. He got to enjoy the woman she had become. He wouldn't mind if his mother would push Hazel as her favourite instead of the younger sister.
"Must you play this game because I didn't accept your dance? You should have picked someone you wanted to spend time with. I wanted to be picked because you were interested. Not over you getting back at me," said Hazel, letting him know that this wasn't right.
"You're in the palace now, Hazel. Not even the royals get all that they want so why should you? I picked you first because out of all the other women back there, you are the most normal and I get to annoy you," Tobias said, smiling to purposely bother Hazel.
He didn't have to hear about his mother and stand with someone who was in love with him when they knew nothing about him. Most of the women in the selection loved him for his face and his title. Hazel spoke to him as if he was not a prince. Something he enjoyed.
Hazel started to think it wasn't about him toying with her but then he ruined it at the end.
"You insufferable bastard," Hazel muttered, hoping he didn't hear it as she walked off to be ahead of him.
Tobias watched Hazel walk off, still saying insults about him under her breath. He chuckled, knowing he would have some fun. Before he could follow Hazel, he was reminded of Linda standing beside him. He couldn't properly enjoy his time with Hazel with someone else present.
"You like Edgar, don't you?" He asked, deciding to make an offer to her.
Linda blushed, surprised by his sudden question. "I-I don't. I'm here for you and becoming the next queen."
"That wasn't convincing. You need to work on lying so my mother doesn't find out. I will help you with getting Edgar's attention if you make yourself lost and leave me alone with Hazel," Tobias proposed a deal.
Linda looked down the hall at Hazel walking alone. "I can't do that if you will punish her for not dancing with you. If you are not interested and just want to get back at her, I beg you to please forget what happened at the ball."
"Not interested? Now why would you think that?" Tobias asked.