The Cursed King

***

Two individuals traveled through a dark forest and emerged at a vantage point that showed a small hut deep within the woods. It was so hidden and old that old vines tangled around the roof and the wooden walls were already rotting.

"This is dangerous, Elise," Dante whispered to her, trailing behind the woman. "Must you really do this?"

Elisen nodded and raised a finger to her lips. She silently told the man to keep quiet as she gazed at her opponents. 

The 'abandoned' hut was currently surrounded by a great number of men with varying weapons. All of them looked like thugs, mercenaries, and other hired men meant to keep people out.

This was where they kept young Loriel after they kidnapped him. Elise had investigated the incident by asking Horatio the details in passing. She knew where to look.

Elise's blood burned at the sight of them. She was going to fix this rather quickly by herself and, as she looked at Dante, she said. "You don't have to do anything, I can deal with it."

Dante frowned. "I can definitely help you, Elise. But..."

Lightning sparked from Elise's fingertips and she sent a blast down towards the group of men. Several of the men who were holding metal weapons shrieked in pain, but others were quickly stunned and paralyzed in place.

The Time Master stared at the beautiful woman who didn't bat an eye. People who assumed her to be a gentle beauty were bound to find themselves surprised once she showed this rather meticulous side of her.

Elise sighed and rubbed her face. "I don't think they're hurt that much. I held back from doing actual damage. You can stay here while I retrieve Loriel."

"Okay…" After he learned that Elise actually redeemed her precious wish to save her husband, Dante wasn't so interested in helping and making sure that the boy was safe.

He was only here to watch and make sure Elise was not hurt. However, he had come to realize that this amazing woman was perfectly capable to protect herself.

She was far from a damsel in distress.

Elise leaped up from the cliff and landed on the ground. The entire hut was surrounded by numerous men lying flat on the ground and she passed them by and opened the door to find Loriel currently tied in a chair.

Compared to him at twenty-six years old and at the prime of his life, this young boy was extremely thin and weak looking. Elise was worried if they starved the boy. She came to him and spoke gently, "I'm here now…"

Initially, Elise's previous wish was the chance to see her mother when Loriel and her were happily married and with children. She wanted to thank the woman who gave birth to her and reassure her mother that she was living happily thanks to her sacrifice.

So, it was not that Elise couldn't decide what she wanted, but she wanted to wait until she was happily married to Loriel before she went to the past and told her mother that she was living a good life, and Catalina shouldn't feel worried about leaving her baby behind.

For someone who never knew their mother, it was something that Elise thought so hard about when Dante told her that she could redeem a wish from him. 

A part of her even wished to reunite her father with her mother in the past. Elise knew that King Alexander missed his wife dearly, but that would not be fair for her father at all to suddenly see his wife and then become separated again.

However, as Elise knelt down in front of the young Loriel and removed the ropes by burning them with a small flame on her fingertip and tearing the bindings away, she did not regret her decision to come here.

"Who… who are you?"

"I'm a fairy who has come here to save you," Elise replied with her sweet voice. She finally looked up at Loriel's face and smiled brightly. 

The young boy's face immediately heated up at the close contact between the two of them. It was so cute seeing Loriel like this. Almost hard to imagine that the strong Loriel in the future used to be this adorable and soft.

"T-thank you," young Loriel stammered. "I wish I was strong enough so I could protect myself…"

Ah. Was this young boy making a wish already?

Elise chuckled as she stood up and checked her pouch. "If that's the case, then I have something for you. Let's keep it a secret, okay?"

There was something that Elise's grandmother, Myrcella Leoralei, didn't explain when Elise returned from finding the cure to her father's ailment. 

The beloved crystal ball that was highly prized and was passed down from generation to generation in their family was shattered when Elise returned.

Her grandmother did not explain how it happened, but Elise decided to keep a small shard as a remembrance.

"You have something for me?" Loriel blushed, but then nodded eagerly. "I swear in my heart that I'll keep it a secret."

Elise realized that this was why Loriel only revealed it in the future when he was drunk. He promised to not tell a soul about his encounter with 'the fairy'. 

He kept quiet and even Renwyck couldn't know what happened during the time that he was missing.

Carefully, Elise placed the crystal on Loriel's palm and said, "This will make you stronger."

"Is it a magic crystal?"

"Mhmm. It will help reveal your inner strength." Elise nodded and smiled. "For now though, we should go out and head back to Castilse, okay? Your parents must be incredibly worried about you."

Loriel reached for her hand. "Can't I stay with you?"

Elise's heart skipped a beat and she resisted the urge to pinch the boy's cheek. Loriel was so cute as a kid.  Even though he was already fourteen here, but his small stature and sickly appearance made him look younger.

However, Elise had to shake her head. "Not right now, but in the future… the two of us will meet again."

"We will?" Loriel looked up to her, feeling hopeful."You promise?"

"Yes. So, let's go out now."

Elise walked out of the hut with the young Loriel and suddenly found Dante waiting outside. She raised a brow at him because she left him in the forest but now he went down to meet with her.

"We should get going," Dante informed her. "His family will send help soon."

"Huh?" Elise blinked.

"The original sequence," the Time Master explained briefly. But now was not the time for them to be sticking around too much. If Dante actually knew that Elise was going to do something like this, he might have stopped her.

But it slipped Dante's mind because he wanted to earn Elise's gratitude and favor as well. 

Loriel's eyes widened. "Please don't leave me!" 

"Can't we stay until we see that Loriel is taken care of by his people?" Elise bit down on her lip and pleaded with the Time Master.

Dante shook his head. Maybe it would have been fine, but the man was kind of jealous of a mere kid. Him? A literal god jealous of such a weak human. It was a little frustrating for Dante so he turned around and opened the time portal.

"He will be fine, so let us go," Dante walked towards Elise and reached for her left hand. "Please don't make it hard for us."

"Um, I have to leave now," Elise looked back at the younger boy and smiled kindly at him.

This was a memory that she'd treasure.

.

.

***********

From Missrealitybites:

So, that's why Elise didn't remember meeting Loriel when he was younger, and Loriel in present didn't realize the woman who saved him was his future wife, because of the age difference.

Only after he found out about Elise's friendship with the Time Master, he put two and two together.