The Cursed King

Loriel looked at this woman who still managed to find the good in him despite everything that happened between them. Instead of getting upset that he did not love her, Elise was over the moon because he wanted to learn how to love her. 

She looked at the things he did with joy and in a light that was too pure.

"Oh, Elise… I'm such a fool for not already loving you," Loriel muttered to himself. "Another person would already be grateful for being beside such a beautiful and loving woman and yet here I am, being that belligerent fool."

"Loriel, I do not think that you can easily change your heart's desire," Elise took her hand in his and gave him a kind smile. "The heart wants what it wants. When you love someone, even if your head tries to argue with it, it cannot be stopped."

Loriel looked at Elise in surprise. That was almost just like his own thoughts. 

"I… that's true," he said.

Elise bit on her lip and tried not to think of Emmelyn, the woman that her husband loved. She did not want to have terrible thoughts right now as she concentrated on her husband's face. She took a deep breath and smiled at him.

"But… because you admitted that you want to learn how to love me, it is already something that makes me happy. I know that it will not be easy, but someday, I am looking forward to the day when you love me at last."

Loriel was so touched by his wife's sincerity and her sweetness. He pulled her to his embrace and hugged her tightly. 

***

Days would fly by for the Ashborn couple and, over each day, Loriel and Elise grew closer to one another. As promised when Loriel expressed his desire to get to know his wife and fall in love with her, Loriel did just that.

Loriel did his best to be there for Elise and, little by little, he opened up his heart to this incredible woman. It wasn't strange for him to fully accept her wholeheartedly and love her dearly. 

Elise was an amazing person that was worthy of so much love and it was up to him to take up the task of providing it to her. 

During one evening, the two of them were resting down in their bed as usual.

After Loriel's hard work in running the kingdom when necessary and most of his  time preoccupied with taking care of his wife, he yearned and looked forward to their conversations in bed the most.

These times were relaxing and soothing to his soul. While Loriel also enjoyed having sex with Elise countless times and being able to connect with her physically and intimately, conversations were also the same.

This time, it was their hearts that communicated with each other.

"Loriel… what if it's a boy?" Elise suddenly asked him.

"Hmm?" Loriel looked at her from his wine. "Are we thinking of names now? If it's a boy, is there any name in particular that you like?"

"Can we name him after my father?" Elise batted her eyes at her husband. "I am alright with other names, but I want one to have a name like Alexander after my father."

"Well, I don't mind it either," Loriel chuckled. "I'd prefer not to have him named after my own father. But what if our child is a girl then what would we name her?"

"Ummm… what do you think about Alexandra?" Elise smiled sheepishly. "I really love my father and wants to honor him for raising me on his own, being a single parent after my mother passed away."

Loriel chuckled at his wife's naming sense. 

It seemed like her ability to focus on names of things she saw or was incredibly familiar with her extended even up to children. He was just glad that Elise didn't see a vase and suggested the boy's name to be Vasil or something close.

Loriel leaned closer to his wife and whispered in her ear.  "You know, if you want a boy named after your father, we can always make another one if our first child is born and the baby happens to be a girl."

Elise's face became hot at her husband's words. Loriel wanted… to make another baby with her? Ah, she wasn't prepared for him to say words like those and she felt her loins actually heat up.

"You know, Alexandra is actually a very good name," Elise insisted. "I think it means something along the lines of a defender of man?"

"Of course, I didn't say it was bad," Loriel chuckled. "But what do you think if we named her close to your name? Elaine? Eleonora? Erin? Hmm… it's hard to think, but we'll come up  with a wonderful name."

"It would be nice to name her like a flower," Elise smiled. "I hope she grows up loving gardens like me and my grandmother. I think my mother loved them too, especially because Queen Maude also liked them. We could grow flowers together."

Loriel raised a brow for a moment and then casually asked. "What do you think of Rose as a name?"

Elise quickly glared at Loriel and it was a testament to how close the two of them have been. Loriel liked teasing his wife every now and then, but instead of crying, Elise actually pushed back at her husband.

"You're going to name my child after your childhood female friend?" Elise asked with a frown. "Are you trying to mess with me, Loriel?"

"I wasn't serious," Loriel chuckled. "Please don't be upset with me, Elise."

Elise rolled her eyes and tried to move away from him in her bed. "Of course you weren't. I wouldn't be surprised if you had a crush on Rose when you were younger. I didn't forget that you made her my lady-in-waiting."

Loriel looked at this beautiful woman and wondered if she was a lot more honest now that she was pregnant. That seemed to be the case because he inched closer to her and asked. 

"What did you even do with Rose? She was suddenly preoccupied and even left the position," Loriel commented.

Elise pursed her lips and shrugged. "Maybe she realized that it's more important to focus on running the dukedom over getting upset with me?" 

"Wait. Was she upset with you?" Loriel's brows furrowed.

"Please don't tell me that you didn't notice how she liked you too," Elise pursed her lips. "Maybe if I wasn't betrothed to you first, the duke would have wanted you to marry Rose and not me."

Loriel shrugged. "Well, I didn't notice at all. I thought she hated me and I kind of had another person I liked when I was a child. So she really wasn't in my thoughts at all."

"You did?" Elise raised a brow and asked him curiously. 

"Mhmm, it's a secret though," Loriel smiled. He expected Elise to bug him about this crush he had when he was a child, but instead of becoming intrigued, Elise only smiled brightly at him.

"Yes, how could I forget that?" Elise cupped her husband's cheeks and felt warm.. She realized that it wasn't Emmelyn but herself who was the person that Loriel actually liked and loved first.