The Cursed King

"How could you forget what?" Loriel asked.

"That you will love me now and that's all that matters," Elise kissed her husband gently on the lips.

Loriel chuckled and wrapped an arm around his wife, he happily kissed her back. 

Thinking about Loriel's first love made Elise actually happy and pleased with herself, even though Loriel still didn't seem to have figured it out. 

Maybe her husband's memories of her face faded over the years, but the memory still rested in his heart. Besides, she couldn't really blame Loriel for not figuring out that the 'fairy' that saved his life was actually Elise.

Loriel didn't know that humans could travel through time with the help of the Time Master. This was something that Elise would never tell anyone because she had already given her word to Dante to keep his existence a secret.

***

There were days that Loriel would get invited into events outside of the kingdom and palace of Summeria and Castile. It was not uncommon for royalty to be invited to a lot of gatherings.

Loriel always refused them and turned them down because he preferred to stay at home with his wife. He did not want to put a strain on Elise's body by also making her go to different places when she should be resting. Besides, Loriel was not big on celebrations or festivities. 

He rarely went to parties and festivals held in the kingdom before he ascended the throne, but before he was married and his wife got pregnant, he became more disinterested in attending those events.

"I don't think it's a good time to go out. It is a delicate time for Her Majesty and I wish to stay with her at all times," Loriel explained to some of the dukes who tried to invite him to the hunting festival.

"Your Majesty, when you become a father, you will also refuse us because you will tell us that you are busy taking care of your child," one of his ministers said. "Join us now while you are still not busy."

"Even we make time to spend time and go out," another lord said. "It is strange that the wild prince of Summeria who left his country to travel different nations is now always just staying inside of the palace. Our king has turned into a househusband?"

Loriel gritted his teeth and stared down at the lord. "My priorities may have shifted, but it does not mean that I have changed as a person. I still enjoy going out and I know that if I leave with you, I will be the one winning this competition."

"Then join us, Your Majesty!" His men entreated. "We wish to see your prowess during the hunt… or is the king afraid that you have lost your touch? Hehehehe…"

"Perhaps, His Majesty has grown soft after being pampered by his wife," one of the braver ones spoke, but then quickly gulped when they saw the king's not so pleased expressions.

Loriel hated the idea that he was seen as 'soft' because he was spending his days with his wife. He was much more of a man than any of them and he knew that if he joined on this hunting trip, they would be finished.

"Haha, well, if my wife was as beautiful as Her Majesty Queen Elise, then I would also not leave the house," laughed one of the dukes as they tried to ease the tension.

All of them were trying to entice the king to leave the castle and go on a hunting trip with them. It was not an easy task when Loriel was adamant about staying with his wife.

The man now could see and even feel the bulge on Elise's stomach and it was something that made him incredibly happy. He did not wish for it to be taken away from him by these people.

However, when Elise realized that Loriel was not taking care of his relationship with other people, she quickly urged him to do the opposite. She happened to be visiting the king when she realized he was in his own residence and she heard the king's men all persuading him to go.

"Her Majesty, Queen Elise Leoralei Ashborn has arrived in the Summerian throne chamber." One of the servants stationed at the door announced her arrival as the lords, dukes and other nobles quickly went to their knees to bow down to the queen.

Loriel who left the queen's residence to finish his conversation with his men suddenly leaped to his feet and approached Elise. He held her hand and said.

"Elise, you shouldn't be straining yourself to go here. I would have come back soon. My conversation with my men is about to end. Isn't that right? We have already reached a conclusion to this meeting."

"Yes!" the lords, dukes, and nobles all chorused as one.

Elise placed a hand on her hip and looked at him seriously, "You should join them, Your Grace."

The process of falling in love with Elise was actually something that took some time for Loriel. There were moments that Loriel questioned and doubted himself.

Was it really possible for him to suddenly fall in love with her or was he fooling himself?

There were times that Loriel found himself incredibly taken by her beauty, but there were times where he wondered if he loved her because of all those traits, or would she still love Elise once those were taken away?

They were useless thoughts since Elise already thought that Loriel loved her, but sometimes he failed to fully show it. This time, Loriel listened to Elise's request and nodded his head. "I will be going on a three-day hunting trip, then. I hope that it will be alright."

"It is alright, Your Grace," Elise said and reached out for her husband. She quickly placed a protection seal on him to make sure that the man was safe during his journey.

For someone like Loriel, he could not tell what his wife actually did and assumed that it was Elise urging him to leave Castilse quickly and go on a trip.

"Okay. Since you asked me, then I will go with these people." Loriel's brows furrowed as he thought that Elise would be less willing for him to leave. 

Didn't she like that he was always around her or did she find it annoying now and wanted time for herself? So, why was she encouraging him to go hunting and leave her?

Loriel did not know and was still very clueless about how his wife's mind worked. It was difficult for him to understand a woman or another person unless they became very straightforward with him. Loriel wanted people to say what they wanted.

Now that Elise urged him to go, the king finally left for the hunting trip even though it was not something that he really wanted to do in the first place.

The king was unaware of Elise's own thoughts about the trip and the truth was that she would miss Loriel so much. However, she understood that it was necessary for a king to maintain relationships with his people.

"It's only going to be three days," Elise whispered to herself as she slept alone in her bed that night.