The Cursed King

Elise kept massaging Loriel's head gently while the man closed his eyes and enjoyed the treatment from the beautiful woman. He never really touched her, so he was pleasantly surprised when he felt how soft her skin was.

Elise was truly a pampered and sheltered princess, he thought. Her skin was smooth, her touch was gentle, her voice was soft, almost sounded like a gentle breeze.

Only now was he aware that she had such a beautiful soothing voice. Whatever words came out of her lips, they sound lovely to the ears.

Wait… she was not really pampered and sheltered, Loriel thought again. He remembered how hard she worked in the garden the other day. She didn't hesitate to roll up her sleeves and do physical work with the plants.

Now that he thought about it, the garden had turned so much more beautiful than usual. It must be because it was treated lovingly by very skilled and devoted hands.

Hmm… this woman was quite interesting, Loriel thought again. He opened his eyes and found Elise was watching him with her emerald eyes.

Those eyes were so beautiful. Loriel didn't realize his heart fluttered when his eyes and hers locked.

"Uhm…" Elise batted her eyes, looking so shy because Loriel caught her staring. She looked away and let go of her hand from the man's temple. She asked with a hoarse voice, "Are you feeling better?"

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Loriel shook his head.

He did feel better. Much better, in fact. But her hand on his temple felt so nice and comforting. He didn't want her to let go so soon.

"Oh…" Elise was a bit confused. She knew Zaff had given a potion to help relieve Loriel's pain, and she also exerted some of her magic to soothe his nerves. Why was he still feeling unwell?

"D-do you… want me to continue?" she asked him softly.

The man raised his brows and nodded. He closed his eyes again. So, Elise went back to work and gave him another massage on his temple and his scalp.

Ohhh… it was heavenly.

"By the way… thank you for the plants, Renwyck told me you went to the mountain with him to find those rare plants," Elise said.

"Hmm…" Loriel nodded slightly.

"Were you hurt because you were looking for them?" Elise asked.

"Me? No way…." Loriel grunted. "I got into an accident, that's about it."

"Oh…" Elise nodded in understanding. "Please, be careful next time."

"Hmm…"

***

Maybe it all started when Loriel gave Brick as a present to Elise, but after Loriel experienced how amazing it was to be cared for by his wife, he slowly got addicted to it.

Not only was Loriel around the castle more often… he started to call for Elise whenever he was sick or headed to the queen's residence himself and sought after her. 

He didn't realize that sometimes his body tricked him into thinking he was getting another migraine, because later even though he was not really sick, he still looked for her.

Of course, Loriel still didn't love her. There were no indications of him starting to open up his heart to her at all but the two of them grew to have a healthier relationship.

Loriel did not touch her or do anything that showed a hint of him being attracted to Elise at all, but Elise's presence made it possible for him to relax.

Like today, Elise was soothing Loriel who got another bout of migraine. The king was resting his head on her lap and was comfortably sleeping.

'Don't let yourself be taken for granted…' Elise said to herself as she looked at Loriel's sleeping face. She remembered her grandmother's words and knew that she probably needed to think about herself some more.

But when moments like this came, where Elise was needed by Loriel to stay at his side… how could she not feel elated?

Being able to be this close to her husband and spend private time together made Elise feel incredibly happy. 

All her life, she was raised as a princess betrothed to him and this was what she knew to do. She knew from the start that she was going to marry this man and fulfill the wishes of their mothers. 

A part of Elise even held on to the hope that doing things like this would bring them closer together and finally the two of them would fall in love. 

Or at least Loriel would look at her way and feel the same way as her.

It was a plan, so this wasn't Elise taking herself for granted.

Elise knew what she was doing and she was only taking care of Loriel because the man needed her. Not to mention that it was the responsibility of a wife to take care of her husband. Right?

Elise didn't want to see Loriel in pain or hurt so all of this made sense to her.

"Meow," Brick tried to climb up from the foot of the bed and mewled for her attention. The sight of it made Elise smile at how cute it was.

"I can't bring you up to the bed while Loriel is resting, Brick." Elise reached down with her free hand and rubbed Brick's head. "Thank you for accompanying me, though. I'll make sure to pamper you too later."

Loriel pursed his lips when he heard how doting his wife acted to that stupid ugly black cat. He didn't like to see Brick monopolize Elise all this time. The cat followed her around almost 24/7. And what's worse, he just found out today that, apparently, Elise took Brick to sleep with her on her bed.

The audacity!

Loriel groaned and he winced, feigning another bout of migraine. He grabbed his temples with both hands and opened his eyes, looking pitiful. Instantly, Elise's attention was diverted from Brick to the suffering man.

"Oh no…" She adjusted her sitting and embraced Loriel's head as if doing so would protect him from the pain. She asked worriedly, "Are you in pain?"

Loriel nodded weakly and turned to his side and lay down more comfortably on her lap. From the corner of his eyes, he could see Brick staring at him with hatred. The man narrowed his eyes at the cat and stared back with equal hatred.

'This is MY WIFE,' his eyes warned the cat, 'not your slave. How dare you keep her all to yourself. Ungrateful cat! I took you from the street. You were just a stray kitten. You OWE ME for the good life you are having right now.'

Elise didn't realize Loriel and Brick were having a staring contest. She closed her eyes and focused her attention on healing power.

She learned a little bit from Raphael, whom she met last year when she was looking for ways to heal her injured father. He was known as the god of healing and he imparted a little bit of his power to Elise because he liked her a lot.

So, now, Elise was trying to use the magic to heal her husband, because her heart ached to see him suffer.. However, after numerous tries and Loriel kept getting the same headache, Elise realized she might not be talented enough to use magic from the god of healing.