The Cursed King

"The last time you were here, you said you wanted to have some of your clothes here. So, I make it happen," Elise explained.

Her lashes fluttered adorably when she spoke. In modern times, Loriel would say that Elise was giving him her best puppy eyes. 

The king was astonished to see how cute his wife was when she behaved this way. He thought Elise was always meek and quiet, but apparently, she had this other side of her. 

Loriel crossed his arms on his chest and pretended to listen to Elise's explanation with a serious face.

"Hmm.. so you entered my chamber without permission to get my clothes and brought them here?" Loriel asked her after Elise finished her explanation.

His words made the girl step back and press her lips with both hands, like a thief being caught stealing. Her face looked guilty.

"I-I... I am sorry I didn't ask your permission," said Elise with a low voice. "I thought that's what you want. I am sorry for being presumptuous."

Loriel was just teasing her. Of course, he wouldn't demand Elise send pigeons to the frontline just to ask him if he would allow her to enter his chamber and get his clothes to bring to her chamber.

That would be ridiculous.

Besides, Elise was right. That was what Loriel wanted the last time he spent the night with Elise in her chamber. So, seeing she paid attention to what he said in passing made him feel elated.

Elise was a good listener and she was observant.

Loriel was happy to see Elise take initiative and did this for him. He liked a confident woman who took what she wanted and did things unapologetically. He thought It was sexy.

However, seeing how cute she was when she looked guilty like this, Loriel became tempted to tease her further.

"Do you understand what is the meaning of 'privacy'?" The man looked at Elise intently. "Entering another person's private chamber without permission and rummaging their stuff is a violation of their privacy."

Elise lowered her face and looked at the floor. She suddenly regretted her actions. Apparently, as she feared, Loriel thought she was presumptuous for violating his privacy by entering his chamber without permission.

Actually, Elise was contemplating it for days before, finally, she made a bold decision to just do it. It was not an easy decision to make and took a lot of courage since she needed to prepare for the consequences if Loriel didn't like what she did.

"I am sorry," was all she could say.

Loriel cast his glance around him and noticed how his wife's beautiful and feminine chamber was now barely recognizable. The colors in this chamber were now mostly darker and the decoration was simpler. The furniture and colors looked like something that he would choose for himself.

Did Elise intentionally redecorate her chamber for him? Did she so desperately want him to move in here with her?

At that moment, Loriel felt such tenderness for her. This woman obviously loved him so deeply and did everything she could to please him.

"Wifey, I was joking," Loriel finally decided to stop his tease. He saw how guilty Elise looked because he 'accused' her of violating his privacy.

Suddenly, he didn't have the heart to keep playing her. She looked like she was about to cry.

Elise looked up and stared at Loriel with a confused expression. "Wh-what did you say?"

The man grinned and stepped forward until his front body almost touched hers. Then he tugged her chin and said, "I was joking when I said you violated my privacy by entering my chamber to get my clothes. I did say I want my clothes here. So, you did the right thing."

For a moment, there was no reaction.

Elise was stunned by his statement. And then, she pursed her lips. They started to tremble as tears slowly streamed down her face.

Apparently, she was so distraught earlier because Loriel said she violated his privacy. 

As the unloved wife, Elise knew her place. She felt like she always had to tiptoe when doing things, so her husband wouldn't dislike her even more.

She wanted to do things that make him happy and feel that her presence brought more benefit than nuisance. So, she was very conscious of his reaction.

Any signs of negative response would make Elise know that Loriel disliked certain things and she would never do it again.

She honestly thought he was serious when he said he didn't like her entering his chamber and rummaging his stuff.

But it turned out, he was just joking?

How could he do this to her?

Loriel was in a good mood and decided to joke with his queen, but then Elise looked up to him with an expression that was close to tears. Unknown to him, she was so eagerly waiting to see him and then surprise him with the fact that baby clothes were mixed in with his clothes and Elise's.

Tears started dripping on Elise's face even before she realized it and she tried to wipe them away. But it was no use because the tears already started pouring even before she could handle them.

"Why are you crying?" Loriel was confused when he saw tears streaming down hard from her eyes. He thought Elise would be happy and relieved to know that he wasn't serious with his words. But she was actually crying?

What a crybaby!

Now, Loriel started to feel annoyed. Elise was too uptight and didn't seem to have a sense of humor.

Elise shook her head and wiped her tears with difficulty.

Gosh... she was obviously crying but she dared lie and said she was not crying? Did she think Loriel was blind?

"What? Are you offended by my joke?" Loriel asked curtly. "I was just teasing you. I thought you would get the joke."

Emmelyn would get his joke and play him back.

However, Elise was too uptight. His mood was now ruined by her tears.

When Loriel saw her today, looking so beautiful and alluring, he was immediately turned on and wanted to spend some time with her, perhaps making out and then making sweet love together.

He had been missing her body for more than two months while he was away. It was so hard to stay in the frontline, especially after he just consummated his marriage with a really sexy wife.

Her beautiful face, her naked body, and her sexy moans were all he could think about as he lay down to sleep in the tent alone at night.

Now that she was here with him, Loriel wanted to vent his longing for her body. That's why he kissed her and took her to her chamber.

But now the mood was gone. He just wanted to go to his chamber and sleep.

"I-I'm not crying…" Elise was such a bad liar. 

The sight of tears on Elise's face suddenly made Loriel feel upset as well. He wasn't even trying to pin the blame with her. 

"Why are you so sensitive? It's no good being around you like this," he said in annoyance.

Elise tried to wipe her tears, and tell him that she was pregnant but no words came out of her mouth. She was genuinely hurt, that instead of Loriel trying to comfort her, all the man did was speak harshly.

Loriel shook his head and turned around to leave the chamber. Elise could only cry as his back disappeared from view.

***

After he left her chamber, guilt suddenly wormed its way to Loriel's stomach, but he was already far away and didn't have the pride to return to Elise's chambers. Instead, the man called for the royal physician to come and visit Elise.

"Make sure that the queen is alright, Zaff," Loriel told the man. "I just came to see her but then she suddenly started crying even though I didn't say anything wrong."

"I will do so, Your Majesty." Zaff nodded without a word. There was a lingering suspicion in the royal physician's mind, but he needed to confirm things first before he told the king.

***

Once Loriel left the room, Elise sank back down to her chair and covered her face for a moment.  She was relieved that Alina was not around this time or it would have been painful to watch.

Elise was extremely disappointed in how things ended with her conversation with Loriel. She was so excited about telling him the news of her pregnancy that she did not think about how he would react.

Loriel was always organized and careful with his belongings, touching them without permission… She should have expected this kind of result.

However, Elise had hoped that Loriel stayed long enough to listen. She did not know how she would approach him this time to tell the news… 

A knock interrupted Elise's thoughts. She wiped her tears and tried to look fine before she opened the door. She saw Zaff standing in front of her chamber.

"Your Majesty, it is the royal physician. His Majesty has told me to come and visit you, Your Majesty." Zaff said.

"Oh, please come in…" Elise wondered if it was because Loriel thought she was problematic so he sent Zaff? A bitter and sad smile appeared on her face as the royal physician stepped inside of her chambers.

"Your Majesty, my apologies for coming here without your prior approval, but His Majesty was worried about you and did not know what to do except to summon me when he saw you in tears," Zaff said. He noticed the redness in the queen's eyes.

"Oh… did he?" Elise blinked and rubbed her eyes.

"Yes, Your Majesty," Zaff nodded. "So if I can conduct a couple of tests, Your Majesty? I will be reporting your current health and condition with His Majesty after this."

"I see," Elise smiled a little bit.

It was not hard for Elise to remember that when Loriel braved the mountains to get her rare herbs, it was Renwyck who approached Elise to present them to her. Now that Elise cried, it was also another person who came that was sent by Loriel.

Elise realized that her husband was not great at expressing his emotions and intent to her in person, but it did not mean that Loriel was a terrible person. On the contrary, Elise was extremely touched.

She hoped that someday, Loriel himself would be the one to approach her and not other people.

.

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From Missrealitybites:

I know you already read some part of this scene in the early chapters, but I believe it's important to show it again, this time in full context.

Btw, I cut the words before publishing this chapter so it will only cost 7 coins, even though it has 1800 words (9 coins).