The Cursed King

Elise looked at Loriel in surprise and felt tears prick her eyes. Her heart pounded loudly that she thought she heard her blood pumping in her ears. 

Did she hear him correctly? 

Was Elise dreaming or did Loriel actually say that he wanted to learn how to love her?

Surely she wasn't imagining this, right?

Elise didn't think that this day would actually come for the two of them but now she was so happy to hear it come from his lips. She began to wipe the tears that streamed down on her face.

Loriel looked nervously at his wife when he saw her in tears.  He quickly held her hand and stared at her worriedly. "Elise, are you okay? Did I say something wrong? I'm incredibly sorry if I said something wrong again."

The man said something wrong when he said he wanted to learn how to love, didn't he? Would it have been better to say that he now loved her? Loriel just wanted to be truthful with Elise and let her know of his heart's circumstances.

"No, you did not do anything wrong." Elise gently wiped the tears from her eyes and smiled at her husband. "I… I'm just incredibly happy. You've made me the happiest woman alive right now."

Loriel realized how Elise's heart was touched by him admitting that he wanted to love her. He didn't even love her yet but there was a look of fulfillment and satisfaction on her face that was incredibly glowing and mesmerizing.

"Ahh, you shouldn't be so happy about this," Loriel said softly. This made him feel a bit guilty. He gently cupped her cheeks and wiped away her tears with his thumb. "You should be thrilled when I really love you for real, Elise."

"Anticipating it is already something that fills me with joy," Elise smiled brightly at him. "Even though you do not love me yet, you've already been an incredible person, Loriel. What more when you finally love me?"

"I've already been incredible?" Loriel looked at her suspiciously. "Are you once again blinded by your love for me?"

Elise stared at Loriel and shook her head. "No. I don't think it's that, but all of your actions are great indications of how respectful and wonderful you are."

"Elise, I just admitted to intentionally avoiding you for the first six months before we…" Loriel said. "I doubt that's a good indication of me as a good person, much less wonderful."

"No," Elise pouted. "There's something else though. A lot of wonderful things that you did, Loriel."

Loriel raised a brow skeptically. "Which is?"

"You've treated me well as your wife. You did not shame me or find another woman as a concubine when you could have done that because you find me revolting. You also went to the mountains to obtain me flowers even when you endangered yourself, and you also had Zaff check on me when I cried because you were worried about me."

Loriel did not realize that all those things that he did were something that Elise looked upon as wonderful things. They were simple things and actually something that she deserved as the queen of Summeria.

"Not to mention that you also remembered my birthday and brought Brick to me," Elise beamed. 

Loriel batted his eyes and coughed when he heard her last words. Well.. about that. He actually forgot Elise's birthday and just picked up a stray cat, which she mistakenly thought was a birthday present for her.

That was because… Elise was too sweet and always thought the best of her husband. It didn't even occur to her that Loriel didn't get Brick for her birthday, or if he did, it was actually a lousy gift since the kitten was thin and ugly.

But… how could Loriel have the heart to tell her the truth. Elise's eyes were gleaming in happiness and her smile was so beautiful. She was happy with her perception of her husband being a wonderful man…

Loriel didn't want to burst her bubble.

"You've done a lot of good things to me even if they weren't so necessary. You could have easily abandoned me and pretended I did not exist, but instead, you were not opposed to me being near you," Elise said. "For that, you are a wonderful person."

"Elise… do you not think that it should be the bare minimum of what I should do for you?" Loriel couldn't help but ask. "Those things, if I did not do them, simply means that I am trash. They're NOT wonderful traits. I am not wonderful as you claimed me to be."

"You could have been terrible and more grudgeful because you were made to marry me, but you didn't," Elise said. "That must have been incredibly hard for you to do, Loriel. However, instead of lashing out, you did your best. Isn't that wonderful already?"

"Is it really that wonderful?" Loriel stared at his wife in disbelief.

"You are wonderful to me," Elise said. "What other people think doesn't matter."

Elise knew how hard it was to have unrequited love, but throughout all of that, Loriel was strong and managed all of the pain in his heart.

She knew he must be heartbroken when he let go of the woman he loved and had to enter a loveless marriage with her. Even if he sometimes became cold to her, Elise knew that it was because Loriel was hurting and didn't know what to do.

While it didn't excuse his actions, Elise was just too forgiving and kind-hearted to bear a grudge. She loved Loriel too much.

Now that they had a baby on the way… and Loriel already expressed his willingness to learn how to love her, Elise didn't want to dwell in the past.

She wanted to build their life together.. So, she would forgive him and understand him and support him to be a good husband to her and a good father to their child.