The Cursed King

"Where do you want to sleep?" Loriel tugged on Elise's sleeves when they left the dining room toward their bedrooms.

There were two bedrooms in the penthouse. One was given to Elise when she first started living here with Loriel and after they got married, she moved into his bedroom.

But earlier today, when they arrived here after the incident involving Loriel and Dante in Antarctica, Elise went to her old room and locked herself inside to cry.

Thus, Loriel didn't want to be presumptuous and just assumed that his wife would go back to sharing a room with him. So, he decided to ask her.

"In the bedroom," Elise said.

"Uhm.. which bedroom?" Loriel batted his eyes and looked at his wife longingly. His action made Elise chuckle. Loriel's expression now looked like a cute puppy, giving her his best puppy eyes.

It filled her heart with warmth to the brim. She couldn't remember Loriel Ashborn, her cold husband in the past, who didn't care about her feelings. What she saw now was only this loving, doting, and extremely caring man.

She liked the new Loriel. Very much.

"Our room, of course," Elise said with a smile.

Loriel stepped closer to her and clasped their hands together. He pulled her to his chest with his other hand and planted a sweet kiss on her forehead.

"Thank you," he whispered. They held hands walking toward Loriel's master bedroom that was already decorated with Elise in mind.

The soft fluffy silk sheet had nice warm colors. There was even a vanity set in the corner of the room, right next to the walk-in closet, not that Elise needed to use it to put on makeup. She was the most beautiful woman in the world, according to Loriel.

Elise loved the gesture and she was reminded of the past when she had her chamber decorated to fit Loriel's taste so he would feel comfortable staying with her.

This time, it was Loriel who did that for her.

"Do you want to sleep now?" Loriel asked after he closed the door behind him. He flicked his finger and the room lighting was changed into a nice mood-light, perfect for sleep.

"Hmm... I think I want to take a bath before bed," Elise said. "You?"

Loriel had already taken a shower earlier when Elise locked herself in her room, crying. He had changed clothes and got rid of his dirty clothes from the fight with Dante. He was now ready to sleep and rest.

But… if Elise was taking a bath, he was suddenly tempted to join her. That is.. if Elise was willing to let him join. 

Would she say yes? Ahh... if you never ask, you never know, Loriel made up his mind.

He pretended to scratch his arm and his shirt as if showing his body was itchy and needed washing. 

"Uhm… can I join you for a bath?" he asked Elise, again using his best puppy eyes.

Elise touched his cheek and smiled sweetly. "Of course."

Loriel couldn't hide his big grin when he heard her approval. He wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her nape. "I love you… so much."

Then, he scooped her up with his arms and carried her to the bathroom. The light immediately turned on with a perfect mood-lighting and a faint score of classical music played in the background. With a flick of his finger, the water ran and filled the bathtub with warm water.

Loriel put down his wife on a stool next to the bath and kissed her lips. He went to the cupboard and looked for bath salt and essential oil. The nice scent of aromatherapy immediately wafted in the air. It was oh so relaxing.

Loriel remembered his wife loved taking this aromatherapy bath when she was still in Summeria. So, he made sure he made it as perfectly as possible. 

"I hope you like it," he said, this time with their old language that he had not used for centuries.

He and Elise spoke in English after they met in the modern world, but there were so many things that couldn't be conveyed properly using modern language when he wanted to express his love for her.

Summerians had a richer vocabulary when it came to expressing love and affection.  All this time, Loriel was dying to use their old language with Elise.

However, since she lost her memories, even though she would understand what he said, she would be shocked to find out she spoke a foreign language that she didn't have any knowledge about.

Elise's eyes bulged when she heard the familiar words uttered by her husband. A flood of memories filled her heart and suddenly she was engulfed in nostalgia, more than the time when she heard the truth from Dante.

Suddenly, home felt so close to her heart.

Castilse was her home with Loriel and now it was no longer just a fragment in her distant memory.

Tears slowly dripped down her cheeks. She pressed her chest and closed her eyes, as she listened to Loriel speaking some more in their old language.

At that moment, Elise realized, she was now truly home.

"I love you, wifey…" Loriel came closer to her and rubbed her hair lovingly. From this day onward, he would speak in their old language to his wife and only used English when they were with other people.

This made him feel that what he had with Elise was very special. He loved her so much and didn't want to share her with other people.

Having their own language made him feel the exclusivity of his union with his dear wife. What he and Elise had, no other people had it.

"I love you too, Loriel," Elise replied to his words in Summerian too. She opened her eyes and looked at Loriel with a smile. "Husband."

"I like that very much..." Loriel grinned more broadly. He loved how his name and the word 'husband' rolled in her tongue.

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From Missrealitybites:

Yep, that's expected of Loriel. He is so possessive that he doesn't want to share his wife with other people XD.

PS: Now that the book is ending, if you want to read my other books and you like Loriel, I can suggest you read my first book called "The Alchemists".

Have I told you that Loriel's character is inspired by the man called Lauriel Medici in "The Alchemists"? Yep. I love Lauriel so much that I regretted not writing his own separate book.

So, when I had the opportunity, I decided to use his story to write "The Cursed King".

If you wish to read about the other version of Loriel, you can go read that book. Different from Loriel, Lauriel is very cool and he was not a jerk to his wife, ever. Unlike Loriel Ashborn.

Lauriel Medici is a 570-year-old immortal who is an expert in poison and medicine (basically an expert on all plants), he speaks 70 languages, has traveled around the world at least 50 times, used to lead a big pirate group under the name of Black Bart in the 17th century, and after living for almost 6 centuries, he just wanted to die.

I will not spill his story here, but if you read the book, just the first volume (the first story), you will see why Loriel's story is inspired by Lauriel. And you can let me know which one do you like more, Loriel or Lauriel.

PPS: Thank you Diana Gherman for gifting a dragon to Loriel and Elise. You are so kind! xx