The Cursed King

Loriel initially hated Brick, because deep inside he felt jealous. Elise loved that cat so much, it followed her everywhere. It even slept with her on her bed.

Ahem.. that was until Loriel took over.

Yessir! Loriel finally put the cat in its place four months later. However, that was for another story.

Uff.... sometimes Loriel still missed Brick. The cat lived up to 30 years or around 137 years in human life*. He had a good life.

Come to think of it, even though he was officially Elise's cat, Loriel was stuck with him for much, much longer.

When Elise was gone, Brick was the only one who understood just how sad and devastated Loriel was. They both shared their love for Elise and finally bonded over their longing for her. He cared for the cat, the way Elise would.

And when Brick took its last breath, Loriel even cried for it.

Not only because he had learned to love Brick during their three decades together, but also because he felt like the only connection he had left to Elise was finally gone.

She was gone with his heart and all his dreams for their future together.

Now, finally, seeing her again right before his eyes, Loriel couldn't help but shed a tear. She was all smiles while turning around with her hands raised to receive the flowers from above.

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"Hey... what happened to you?" However, as soon as she caught sight of the man looking teary-eyed, Elise's happiness disappeared. She quickly came to him and touched his arm. "Are you sick? Or... sad?"

Loriel instantly wiped his eyes and shook his head, pretending to catch something in his eyes.

"Ahh.. I'm fine, really. Just these darn flowers.... Some pollen got into my eyes," he pretended to complain.

"Oh..." Elise looked guilty for enjoying the rain of flower so much, while Loriel suffered from it. "Poor thing.. we better walk away from here. Maybe we can go there?"

She pointed at a small gazebo by the lake. Loriel nodded. He wiped his eyes dry and walked with Elise toward the gazebo and sat there.

"How are your eyes?" she asked him attentively. "Do you want me to blow them for you?"

Loriel smiled and nodded. "Yes, please..."

He gladly let Elise tugged his chin while she focused on his left eye and blew air to it since Loriel lied and told her some pollen got into his eyes. Then, she blew the other one.

"Is it better now?" She asked him.

Their eyes met. Loriel had to look away so as not to reveal the secrets of his heart.

He didn't want her to look straight into his eyes. She would see his longing for her and feel confused.

Heck, she might misunderstand and thought he looked at her that way because he was a pervert.

He couldn't let that happen.

Oh, Elise...

"I think I am having a migraine..." Loriel suddenly became shameless and put on a pitiful expression. "It is so painful."

"Oh no..." Now Elise was in a panic. "Do you have any medicine with you?"

Loriel shook his head and held his temples, pretending to be in pain. "Usually it will subside on its own if I lie down."

Elise looked around them and didn't find any comfortable place for Loriel to lie down. The gazebo had a hard wooden floor and it looked very uncomfortable. Elise didn't have the heart to let the man who was in pain to rest his head there.

'Uhm..." She bit her lip and reluctantly sat down on the floor. "Maybe you can put your head on my lap? Perhaps it will help?"

Loriel's heart was pounding when he heard her generous offer. Ahh.. she was always like this. She could never see other people around her suffer. That was the excuse that Loriel often used in the past to get onto her bed.

He would feign a headache and she would kindly take him and cared for him, like she cared for Brick.

"Can I?" Loriel asked Elise in a doubtful expression. "I don't want to bother you..."

"You don't bother me," Elise replied. She patted her lap and motioned Loriel to put his head on her lap. "Come on... you said you will get better after you lie down. What are you waiting for?"

Loriel swallowed. Gosh, he missed her lap, so much.

"Okay, then..." Loriel let out a relieved sigh. Then he rested his weary head on her warm lap. "Thank you."

"Don't mention it," said Elise. She looked away, trying not to see the handsome face under her.

Her heart beat faster, without her knowing why.

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1] It's generally agreed that the first two years of a cat's life are roughly equal to the first 25 of a human's. After this, each additional year is around four 'cat years'.