The Cursed King

Chapter 278  Loriel Wants To Pay For His Sins

"Future?" Loriel asked with a broken expression. "She wanted to go to the future so she could escape from me?"

The expression of hopelessness on Loriel's face was satisfying.

Dante knew that it was better if it was the king of Summeria that told Elise's father and grandmother about what Elise 'chose' because it would save him the time from going to Myreen.

Loriel would receive more hate after that when King Alexander learned his daughter ran away to the future because of him being a terrible husband. It was not enough to pay for his sins, but as long as Loriel suffered, that was enough.

Of course, Dante was lying to Loriel though.

Elise was still waiting for him in Cretea and did not have a clue about what was happening right now and Dante had no interest in mentioning this at all. Elise was too kind and might still change her mind if she realized that Loriel was sorry.

Dante was doing everyone a favor by keeping the two separated.

"Elise cares about her family but after all the pain that she went through? She couldn't stand being here any longer and chose to stay away from you," Dante smiled harshly. "She told me that she wanted to forget about you. She wanted to unlove you."

Loriel's heart shattered into pieces. "W-What? You must be lying! Elise loves me… she wouldn't have said that at all."

Dante's eyes twitched in annoyance. "Your arrogance is too much for a mortal. Do you think that Elise would love you forever despite your flaws and reprehensible actions? You're even more terrible than I thought and my standards for you were already so low."

Loriel forced himself to stand up despite everything.

The king of Summeria pointed his sword at the Time Master.

"That may be true… but Elise, her love is so pure. I know that I don't deserve it, and I have hurt her terribly. However, there's one thing I know about her, she has an incredible capacity to love someone so much. Even if she is hurt by someone, she has the strength in her to forgive and open up her heart again."

"Well, you're wrong." Dante said. "Everyone has their breaking point. She hates you."

"No. I refuse to believe that."

"Then stay delusional."

Loriel lunged at the Time Master with his sword as the Time Master only stepped back to avoid his blow. For a man and king, Loriel was extremely well-versed in swordsmanship, but a mortal had his limits.

"Do you really think that you can defeat me?" Dante asked.

"Yes!" Loriel glared at him and slashed with his sword and only found it slashing thin air.

"What do you even hope to accomplish by fighting me?" Dante raised a brow as he evaded another cut from Loriel's blade.

"I'll force you to send me to the future!" Loriel growled. "I'll find my wife again!"

"Even if I did that, she wouldn't go with you." Dante chuckled. "You really are stubborn in the most despicable ways. She doesn't want to love you anymore."

"Then doesn't that mean that she still loves me?! Elise still loves me… if she is trying so hard to unlove me." Loriel fought against Dante and moved faster. He glared at the Time Master who kept avoiding his blows. "As long as a small part of her still loves me, then it means that I have a chance. More than that, I want to earn her forgiveness!"

"Ah, so you're only feeling guilty?" Dante rolled his eyes. "You don't even love her, right? You just want her love but refuse to give her what she longed so much in the past. There's no second chances for scum like you. You don't deserve love."

The Time Master's words struck a chord in Loriel and he bitterly smiled.

"You have spoken the truth, but that doesn't mean you're allowed to make decisions for me. I don't deserve love, yes. I am a fool but I want to make things right again. So even if she doesn't want to love me back, that's okay too."

Dante realized that this fool was actually in love with Elise but didn't realize it.

And this was something that threatened the Time Master immensely. Dante was actually prepared to let Loriel live because it was more painful to live knowing his sins and regrets… but this time, there was no room for that.

It was much better for Loriel to die.

"It seems that I've toyed with you too long now and you're saying useless things. What a terrible use of my time." Dante smiled and caught Loriel's blade in his hands and tugged it away from him. "I've dawdled too long, so prepare to die."

Before Loriel could move away or dodge, the Time Master flashed forward and stabbed Loriel directly in the chest. The king of Summeria wordlessly fell to the ground as his clothes immediately soaked with his blood as Loriel even coughed up a mouthful of it.

Dante looked at him coldly.

This was the end.

No mortal would survive dying from a direct attack in the chest and Loriel was going to die from a hole in his heart. It was fitting in a way because Elise suffered so much in a similar way.

Satisfied with his actions, Dante turned away without another word and then left for the river of forgetfulness. The Time Master never looked back, confident that this was the end of Loriel's story.

As a god, Dante failed to realize that a man's will to live was an incredible thing.

Once the god was gone, Loriel forced himself to stand again even with the sword still sticking out of his chest. His entire body was in another world of pain, but the man refused to die.

The dragon he borrowed from Renwyck was still there and looking at him.

Maybe Aslain thought Loriel was dying and suddenly didn't know what to do. However, Loriel wasn't quite done. No, as long as he was alive, he would do everything to make things right.

"Argh, I can do this." Loriel slowly took one step forward, wincing as he stared at the dragon. "I cannot die before I make amends to my wife and pay for my sins."

In his heart, Loriel kept calling Elise's name over and over.

'Elise… my dear… I am so, sorry…'

'No words could express how much I regret what happened…'

'I know, I am not worthy of your forgiveness or your love, but I want to make things right to you… and our child.'