Chapter 138 - Taking Sides

"My lady, since everyone is dancing, would you like to join them?" Elizabeth raised her head as she looked at the son of the duke standing in front of her.

She had seen the man a few times in the party and even at her place talking to her father and brother about politics and ministry of affairs.

His father did praise him a few times so she had a good image of him in her mind.

Her eyes turned to look at the dancing area where Richard and hazel were dancing intimately and so as another daughter of the count were falling in the arms of her brother. They all seemed to be enjoying themselves, while she was sitting there alone with the count who was trying his best to flatter her. But the whole conversation was only awkward for her.

So, she nodded hastily to get rid of the table too.

She did n9ot want to hear the foolish conversation of the count and burn her ears.,

With that thought, she forwarded her hands and held the hand of Jonathan.

"It would be my pleasure to dance with you, my lord." she replied in a sweet voice and smiled at him.

The eyes of the man flickered as he turned and looked at Amelia and Hazel in the eyes of the respective man. 

"The pleasure is all mine." he replied with that same gentlemanly smile. 

With that he held her and started walking towards the dance floor while his eyes were still fixed on hazel after passing a few glances to Amelia.

One he could let Amelia go, since he knew that the crown prince would never be serious about a girl like Amelia. He was just toying with her since she was flaming his desires.

But with Hazel it was different, she did not even turn to look at him even once and seemed to be lost with her new husband and he could not accept it.

He could not accept that the girl who used to look at him as if he was her everything, now looking at him as if she didn't even know him.

Though he always felt irritated the way she used to cry all the time or behave like a foolish person. He could not forget how sexily she had handled the conversations today.

Just the thought of it was making him lusting for her.

He wanted to hold her in his bed and have his way with her while she shouted his name all night.

Just the thought of it left shivers in his spine. 

"Are you okay, lord Jonathan?" asked Eli as she felt that he was looking at the couple strangely as if he would just run towards them and separate them.

"My lady, I know that you are interested in Sir Richard!" he replied as he turned back to look at Elizabeth who was caught off guard. 

She looked a bit stunned but soon recovered herself and glared at the man!

"What are you talking about, my lord? I didn't get anything. Sir Richard you are talking about is the husband of lady Hazell. We are here only to attend their reception party. Did you forget that or are you drunk?" she asked in a bit of a cold voice.

She agreed that she was a bit attracted to the man but she never accepted that she liked him. And she could not forget that she was the princess of the empire and he was a married man.

She didn't want to have any kind of scandal!

"Oh! I know that lady hazel was engaged to me and she never broke the engagement before marrying someone else. And I could not bear that she married without even annulling the engagement. It had only been a day to their marriage.

So, I am thinking of challenging their engagement tomorrow.  I am silent right now because I did not want to create a fuss at the party. But that did not mean that I would let the matter go.

I only wanted to know your opinion in this matter, my lady." his voice was calm and collected and each word was filled with pain as if he could not bear that he was being betrayed,

He had loved the girl so much that she left him when she found a better man.

Eli, who did not have any good impressions of Hazel, felt more disgusted towards her after hearing Jonathan. 

Her face turned towards the couple instinctively and she saw how passionately Richard was dancing with her.

He whispered something in her ears and she giggled. She did not know why but she felt extreme irritation when she saw the scene.

She wanted to run there and separate the couple but she closed her eyes and tried to calm herself down. She was not a fool to act rashly.

Taking a deep breath, she turned to look at the man dancing with her and replied in a serene voice, 

"My lord, if you have any problem with their marriage, then you should talk to my brother. I did not handle the matters of the court but he does."

The man nodded as he understood her words clearly but then sighed,

"I would have done that only but I had noticed how his highness behaved so amiably with the couple. I am not sure if he would listen to me and give me justice when I would plead to him.`` His tone sounded low but Eli did not move by his words.

"Then you should go to my father. You have a strong position in the empire, i am sure they would listen to you if you plead.'' Once again she reminded herself that it had nothing to do with whether he was being listened to or not.

"Sigh! Alright, I will do that. But i still hope that you will think over the matter and help me when the time comes, my lady"