Talking personally

No matter how or what the count spoke, not even once did Richard's eyes leave Hazel. As if he could look straight into her soul, his gaze continued to assess. There was more than the eyes could see, he realized that she was not that upset with the news of her breaking marriage as she was showing.

There was no sign of a wild, carefree lady who could even stand and argue with a wolf and force him to follow her words. All he could see was a meek girl who was bulging her eyes and crying her heart out. He tilted his head, though his muffled cries could be heard and his face looked aghast, his eyes were narrowed and looking at everything sharply like a hawk.

She was more mysterious than she seemed?

"Trust me when she would realize what she had been offered, she would accept it willingly. Give us some time to explain it to her.'' The count continued his long speech to convince the messenger through gritted teeth. He had decided if the man would still not listen, then he would ask him to arrange a meeting with the royal family itself. There was no sense in explaining all those to a mere messenger. But before he could say so, the man snapped at the count rather abruptly that the count had to take a few steps back to control himself.

"If that is the case, then I need to talk to the lady in private!" said the man rather nonchalantly. But it was not a simple thing. Women were taken as scared beings and their respect was of the utmost concern for the families. Ladies never meet any man alone except their husband, even a fiance could meet the lady in the presence of her younger sister or brother or a close friend.

The count fumed at the audacious request of the man.

"What the hell are you talking about? How could you! A mere messenger expects to talk to my daughter in private?" His tone was harsh and cold. Even if he did not love his daughter, she was still a part of their family and her respect was part of their respect. He could not expect that a man of unknown origins would enter his house and ask him to meet his daughter privately.

"Darling, calm down. I am sure that the lord did not mean to disrespect us. There must be different norms and culture in their land. Right?" asked the countess as she held the shoulder of her husband who was going berserk with rage.

Richard tilted his head but did not react at all. He did not reply to the count or countess. In his eyes, they were nothing but pests who were trying to feed over a wild animal ignorantly. They did not know that the animal could annihilate them with a snap of his fingers.

His eyes continued to look at the cold and calculating eyes of the girl who was trying to plan her next strategy.

"Yes father. I am sure the man did not mean harm. He wanted to know the wishes of Hazel as a norm so that he could decide whether their prince could marry her or not. Right sir?" she fluttered her eyes and asked in a sweet voice that even Jonathan blinked. Hearts could be seen forming in his eyes but Richard did not even look at her as if he could not hear them at all.

Hazel continued to look at all of them who were trying to convince the man to not take the offer back. She understood two things from it. One, they were trying to get rid of her so that Amelia could marry Jonathan. Second, the man who was of high standing in their family would not have been trying to curry favor from him. But she still did not understand how a man of this caliber knew about their family and most importantly how did he know about her?

He did not seem to be set by them or they would not have been trying to flatter him. They would have been glaring at him or showing their superiority.

But she could even feel the unwavering gaze on her. Why was he looking at her this way? Could he read her expressions or was there anything he wanted to tell her. After her rebirth, Hazel was not in denial of anything. She was sure that anything could happen!

"Hazel, did you not hear the lord? He wanted to talk to you for a minute. Do you have any objection to it?" asked her mother in a threatening tone. She was telling Hazel to accept the offer if she wanted to live here peacefully or she would make sure to make her life hell. The way she was squinting at hazel and asking her was a straight warning for her to accept the offer!

All the eyes were set on hazel now. She could feel the pressure of their gazes yet all she was worried about was her plan to destroy them if the future deviated from the old path. Then she would not have the advantage to know what was going to happen.

"What are you thinking sister?" asked Amelia when she realized that the man was not even looking at her. His eyes were set on hazel without even blinking. She fumed! She could not understand what was so special about that ugly freak who did not even know how to sit. Just look at her bad posture! How could she be accepted as queen? If it was not for a dangerous and mysterious land where she would most likely be killed Amelia would have never accepted Hazel to be a queen.

Hazel took a deep breath and stood up. If she would not show courage and take the initiative, she would not be able to know the truth. She had learnt to be brave.