The King's Unbreakable Wife-Chapter 210: Questioning (2)

"I’m sorry for laughing but it was funny," Hazel said, wiping the tears from her eyes. "She is not my husband’s lover. As far as I know, she is not anyone’s lover and I don’t mean that to be rude."

"No, what you said was true. Where is this coming from?" Linda asked as it was terrible for her to be called Tobias’s lover. She was the best friend of Tobias’s wife. "I have not heard of this before."

"It was heard today," Declan answered. "The maids are always talking about what they see and it spreads like fire in dry grass."

"Well, it is not true. Hazel," Linda called, wanting this lie to be cleared up right away. "I have never. I am only near the king if he is around you."

"I said that it is not true. I know you really well, Linda. If I was married to the duke then those rumours would be believable. It would have sparked something if they said one of the women walking around the palace was his lover but not Linda. I know my friend," Hazel said in defence of Linda.

It was funny that anyone would think that Linda would be interested in Tobias but Hazel knew she had to move fast to end the lie before it got out of the palace.

"I will get the head maid to gather the maids and tell them to stop spreading lies. Anyone who speaks of it will be fired. It won’t stop the whispering but hopefully, it won’t get out of hand. What does that lie have to do with what you came for?" Hazel asked as she couldn’t see why it was so serious for the court to tell her.

"As I was saying, we have to follow any leads so we needed to know whether she is the king’s lover or had any issues with Lynn. We cannot leave anyone out," Mark said.

It didn’t matter to Mark how much Hazel trusted her friend. The closest people to you could one day backstab you when you were in their way. He had seen it many times on his path to entering the court.

Hazel didn’t miss how scared Linda looked to be suspected of Lynn’s death. Hazel knew that Linda wasn’t involved because Linda wasn’t present in the palace at that time and Linda was close to Lynn.

"I know that I shouldn’t shield anyone from your questioning but I know that she did not do this. What led you to her as someone involved was a lie. Linda left the palace with all the other ladies when the gathering ended and she was close to Lynn. It is not her," Hazel stated, moving to stand before Linda.

Hazel’s trust would waiver if it was someone else but not Linda. She could always trust that Linda would not cause her any harm or those around her. This was the very friend who said many times that she would learn to use a sword so she could lead her father’s army to protect her friend.

"It is not her so I forbid you from questioning her. I won’t let this reach the Hensons so no one will approach you," said Hazel.

Hazel tried reaching behind to hold Linda’s hands to calm her. She would also be confused and worried if someone pointed her out to be a murderer when she was not.

Mark sighed as the queen was getting in his way of doing his job. If he wasn’t involved in the court and he wasn’t trying to solve what happened to Lynn, he might have found the friendship to be cute, but that wasn’t his life.

"Your Majesty-"

"It is not her," Hazel repeated. "You were to question two more of my maids. They are outside so you can do that and leave. If you want to question Linda, it would only be right that her father or brothers are present. How could she have killed Lynn when she was not in the palace?"

"Fine. She was not here so she wasn’t the one to do it. I will exclude her for now but should something else come up, I will not let you get in the way of questioning her. You can’t trust everyone, Your Majesty. Take that advice to the end of your reign. Excuse us," Mark said, finished with their talk.

Before the maids could become busy again he had to question them. Mark was going to take the queen’s word that the rumours were a lie. He knew not to believe much of the rumours but he had to check.

"Why that bastard?" Mark wondered, thinking of who Hazel said that Linda liked. There was no one in this town that was causing more trouble than Edgar Collins. At the moment, he was the only one daring to put up with the duke.

Hazel waited for Mark and the others to leave the room. "Linda, I am sorry about that. I didn’t think that- Why are you crying? Did they scare you that much?" frёeωebɳovel.com

Linda shook her head as that was far from why she was crying. "You defended me so passionately."

"Are you serious, Linda? And here I was thinking that you were scared out of your mind. Please don’t cry," Hazel said, using her thumb to wipe away Linda’s tears. "Your father will be able to sense it and bring his army here. I don’t want him to try burning the palace while we are still here."

Linda snickered. "He is not a fool to not find us first and then burn it down. You have nothing to fear. I spoke to the king on my way here. I should have put some more distance between us-"

"Nonsense. I didn’t have to see it to know that it was appropriate. The maids were going to talk regardless. Truly, when have they ever seen you alone with Tobias to think you are lovers? A simple greeting and this starts," Hazel said, furious that they had turned something small to this.

Once started, those who heard this lie would bring it up in the future whenever Linda crossed paths with Tobias. Linda was bound to be around him again as Hazel was going to keep welcoming her to the palace.

"I will do my best to end this so no one will speak of you being a mistress. It’s ridiculous."

"Thank you. For wanting to fix it and knowing that it was a lie right away. I would have been heartbroken had you believed it. Sorry," Linda apologised for her tears.

"I know you well to know when there is a man you like and between us, I am the only one interested in that fool," Hazel said, referring to Tobias. "Tobias will move quickly to put an end to this once he hears of it. He never wants to have your brother annoying him."