Chapter 111 - Friend Or Foe?

"That would not be needed!" The cold and grave voice was enough to halt the action of Eli who instinctively looked at the man.

"This is the real silk of the Alienore empire. You can compare them if you want and even ask the one who made it." Richard Lazuli put his hands in his pocket and took out a piece of cloth, which had a strange glimmer in it.

It was a fine and luxurious piece that could be noticed from a distance. Eli frowned as she picked up a part of the dress that Hazel had torn and the one that Ricard had thrown on the table.

You did not need to be an expert to see the difference. The red cloth of the dress may have more lustre, but the english and refined look of the small piece was so much that the dress would never be able to compare with it.

The piece of cloth was cool to touch but her hands felt sweat due to its warmth.

She held it tightly in her hands and tried her best to tear it but it did not get even a scratch on it.

"Come here and tear this piece of cloth!" She ordered her knights in a frustrated tone as her face turned red with annoyance at all the energy she had put in it.

The knights ran hurriedly towards her to not dare to irk her further. They had seen how edgy she was right now that she even forgot how she behave in the public,

And they knew they would be at the receiving end if she lost. So they used all their effort, but the piece of cloth did not tear as if it had been made from glue.

Their faces had turned sweaty and their hands had turned red but the piece of cloth did not break up. But they did not dare to give up. For they knew it could cost them their lives.

But the sound of ccukle had brought everyone's attention and their hands halted instinctively too.

"I wonder when the princess would accept defeat. Or is she afraid that she would not be able to pay me a reward?" Hazel raised a brow as she looked at Eli with challenging eyes.

Eli gritted her teeth when she looked at the unscratched piece of clothing and then at the man who had taken it out.

"You! You have tried to trick me. You have that piece of cloth since the start. Yet you didn't show it till now.

You wanted me to jump to a conclusion and believe that the dress shown by the boutique is real and then show me this! It was all a plan wasn't it?" she asked in a sharp tone as gave a stern gaze to the guards, 

"Go and arrest them for deceiving the royal family for getting a reward!" This would have been the first time that even the knights did not follow her actions involuntarily.

Not because they had developed a sense of judgement suddenly or because they cared about Hazel and Richard, but the cold emitting from the face of the man was so scary that they froze at their positions. They did not dare to take a step further towards him.

"And here I thought that as a part of the royal family, you would have a sense of judgement! Who do you think we are? Gods!

To know that you would be coming here and the staff would show us an animated cloth's dress?

And I had not even informed you that the dress was fake. I had just asked the staff to show me better dresses! You were the one who interfered since the start yet you have the courage to blame me? I must applaud you for your wisdom.

And did not I tell you that the dress is not real. Then how could you blame us for deceiving you!" The sarcastic remarks and cold voice of Hazel was like a bucket of cold water that was poured on Eli publickally.

She was gnashing her teeth but she did not have anything to retort. In fact, never in her life did she need to give a reply, due to her status and position, others had always bowed down and accepted their defeat.

That was why even when she one in her heart that she might be wrong, she never cared. She always spoke confidently and sharply and had won,

But from the looks of the intimidating man and the cold woman who was looking at her with disdain, she did not know what to do. But if she would accept defeat, would it not be a matter of laughing?

"Do not tell me that you are afraid of your image! You will only be called an arrogant fool if you still stick to your point!" her eyes instinctively moved to the man who had only opened her mouth twice and her eyes widened!

How did he know what she was thinking? No! It would only be an assumption. If she would not accept it then it could not be proven.

"Ha! Who cares about what others think about me? I am a princess, not a young girl who lives for her image." she raised her chin high in the air as she replied so.

And then took a deep breath when no one passed any further comment.

"Fine! You won! I accept that the dress shown here is fake and you have the real silk of Alienore empire. What do you want as a reward?" She waved her hands and a maid came forward with a big box. 

Eli opened it unhurriedly and a lot of gems sparkled. The box was filled with gold coins, all kinds of gems, topaz, emerald, sapphire, diamond and rare pearls. The dazzling light filled the whole room but when Eli looked at Hazel with a smirk on her face, her eyes narrowed at her nonchalant face.

It looked as if she did not care at all about the rare jewels that can make anyone dumbstruck. 

They were the ones she had brought from the rare auction to gift a noble while attending their marriage reception for tonight.

Her brother had specifically ordered her to bring the rarest and most expensive one and when she asked about the position of noble, he refused to tell her so! That made her think that it might be a very important task, so she brought all the expensive one.

The box could be equivalent to the treasure of a marquees, yet a mere daughter of the count was not affected by it? How could that be?

"So which jewel do you need as a reward?" maybe she was only putting an act of not getting affected to maintain her image! With that though, she smirked again and picked up the most expensive gem and asked again,

"Would this be sufficient?" she was sure when offered, hazel would not be able to keep her eyes away and accept it readily.

The ruby was brilliant as it shone under the light of the chandelier. But hazel just snorted.

"My lady, I think I have better Ruby than this. So I apologise, but I did not think that I needed it." the smirk on the face of Eli forze when she remembered the ruby shown by the man to her a while earlier.

She had realised that they were together and the man was backing her up. But she never thought that the ruby belonged to the girl who looked like she was from an average family by her clothing.

She gritted her teeth once again as she asked with a lot of pressure, "then what do you want?" she could already feel the sour taste in her mouth. Today was her unlucky day!

"I want an apology for me and my husband!" Eli's eyes widened more with the word husband than the word apology.

This fine looking piece of art dressed in better clothing than her father and had the looks of a god with the vibes of a devil! The one and all piece of gem was the husband of this average girl!!!!!!????

"What!" Instead of getting her reactions, Hazel thought that the brat did not want to apologise! So she replied in a firmer tone this time,

"It is as you heard, princess! I want you to apologise to me." This time her voice was stricter and Eli finally came back to her senses.

Only then did she realise that it was the first time in her life that she had felt any man was worth noticing except her father and brother. 

But even that was taken by a pauper! She shook her head and sighed.

This time when she looked at hazel it was a strange light in her eyes that even hazel did not understand what it was.

"Fine, I apologise to lady hazel for my mistake!"