Betrayed By The Hero, Loved By The Lord
Chapter 151: Plotting for the future (4)

Chapter 151: Plotting for the future (4)

"Move your hand," Juliana ordered Natalie. She stepped away from Natalie when she was freed. "Why are you being so sneaky?"

"I just saved you and that is what you say before thanking me?" Natalie asked.

"Saved?" Juliana laughed, now confirming Natalie had lost her mind. "We were here first. It can’t be helped that Vivienne and her father came near us to speak. It must have been important if they were using a stone. I didn’t hear anything. Did you?"

"No," Natalie replied, curious about the secret conversation. "That just shows that you were wrong. There is something wrong with their marriage."

"It looked fine to me. There’s nothing wrong with her not wanting to be stared at by all those people. Why are you laughing?" Juliana questioned, annoyed that Natalie tried to make her the joke.

"I fear how you will be if you ever get married. No one should be this naive but I guess, our kind should have a few like you. It makes it all the better for the ones like me. Go on thinking their marriage is fine. Don’t come to me later when the truth comes out," said Natalie.

Natalie continued to walk away from the ballroom. Vivienne heading back meant she was going to be with Darius and Natalie wasn’t ready to see it yet.

Why did two people who hate each other need to stay together?

Natalie felt compelled to burst Vivienne’s bubble by reminding her Darius only wanted her because of Xavier. Vivienne wasn’t special.

Natalie had the thought again of becoming Selene’s friend for real so she could help take Vivienne down.

"Stop following me and go search for the men she wants to introduce you to. Some of the men are worth your time. Do it now while you have your chance. Most of them are going to head back to their homes in some dark corner of the kingdom," said Natalie.

Juliana continued to follow Natalie. "That is what I don’t understand. There are all these good men inside and you are wandering around out here like you are brokenhearted. I am curious who makes you act this way. Have you always been this secretive?"

Now that she thought about it, Juliana didn’t know much about Natalie besides who her family was. It was strange considering they had known each other from a very young age.

Natalie held out her hand to touch the neatly trimmed bushes she walked by. "I have. Why would I tell you every detail of my life for you to judge or try to stop me? That’s your problem. You speak too much."

Juliana shoved Natalie’s back. "You fool! It’s because we are friends. I don’t tell those things to anyone else."

"Friends?" Natalie repeated the overused word. "Are we friends or were we set up by our parents to speak to each other? They always said purebloods needed to stick together so it made sense to pair us together. Are we friends, Juliana?"

Natalie turned around to face Juliana. She first noticed Juliana’s right hand balled up. Natalie would allow the shove but not to be hit by Juliana.

"I thought we were but it doesn’t seem that way to you. Then I have been wasting my time worrying-"

"Worrying?" Natalie chuckled. "A friend would wait for me to be ready to open up about my love life. Just admit you want to see the kind of man I give my time to so you know if you can joke about him or try to compete. I don’t mind you competing."

In Natalie’s eyes, Juliana would always lose. Who could Juliana get her hands on to be above the king?

Juliana couldn’t believe the nerve of Natalie. "So, you’ve been around us for what? To please your parents?"

"Yes," Natalie nodded her head. "It’s the same for Vivienne. It is you who hasn’t caught up. If you bring this up to her, you’ll suddenly find yourself no longer invited to the palace to sit with her. You will see another woman at her side to act as a friend."

Natalie started to walk towards Juliana. "You wouldn’t like that. Do you know why? It isn’t because you would be sad over a friendship ending. You would be concerned about your father’s reaction. Don’t yell at me that it isn’t the truth. We can be easily replaced from her side."

"Only act like a friend to her and don’t be curious about my life," Natalie advised Juliana. "The tiny part in me that likes you pushes me to say that you should be more careful around her. Aren’t you tired of being used?"

Juliana didn’t like all of what Natalie said since it was hard to deny it was true when it was put this way. What she wasn’t going to allow was for Natalie to act like she was the only one being used.

"You do the same. You helped to attack everyone she dislikes so don’t try to make it sound like I am the only one who is a fool," said Juliana.

"I have always been aware of how I act around her. It is you who has always been clueless. I am curious about something. Do you intend to be this way forever? Simply at her side and being nothing more? It would be silly if you didn’t desire to go higher," Natalie said.

"Higher? There’s no greater position than being queen. Is that what you are aiming for?" Juliana questioned, her eyes wide with shock.

Natalie flicked Juliana’s forehead with her finger. "Don’t be ridiculous. I meant I wanted to be known as more than her friend. There are good men we can cling to or make better use of our family name to find our place as more than just her friends. I am giving you advice to return to the ballroom and find a man worth your time."

Natalie continued, "Find one who can spoil you for a lifetime since you have a lot of life left ahead of you. Well, as long as you are smart and don’t end up the kingdom’s next victim. Start planning for your future, Juliana. Vivienne’s life is already figured out."

Juliana’s anger started to fade seeing that Natalie was trying to offer her good advice. Natalie’s approach was merely terrible. "Why must you always speak as if you want to see me cry?"

"Because it’s fun. Something about you getting upset makes my day better," Natalie replied.

"You’re an awful woman," Juliana concluded. Despite their heated conversation, Juliana still thought of Natalie as a friend. A friend who annoyed her and made her angry but still a friend. "We all like to compete with each other and I am nosey but I still consider you a friend. We’ve been forced to be around each other so much that I couldn’t help thinking of you as a friend."

"How touching. Now leave me alone," Natalie said, turning around to continue on her way. "If you stop annoying me now, I just might be kind to you in the future."

Julian didn’t follow Natalie this time. She hadn’t gotten any answers to her questions but she knew Natalie was up to something. She wasn’t convinced Natalie didn’t want to become queen but she wasn’t going to tell Vivienne about it. It would be amusing to see the two be against each other.

’She was right. We’re not friends after all,’ Juliana