The Cursed King

They kissed for a long time and vented their longing for each other. For Loriel, this was truly the best day of his long life. All his yearning, waiting, and perseverance paid off when Elise came back to his life.

And what's made this wholesome reunion even better was the fact that their son was still alive. And not only did he survive, but he was also still around.

After he became immortal, Loriel was ready with the possibility that if he was reunited with his wife again someday, he would only have several decades together with her and their children to come.

As an immortal, he would stay young forever, while his wife and children would age and die, just like what happened to everyone he knew in his lifetime.

Marc Sanderman was his only family left before he met Elise and someday Marc would be dead too and perhaps the Ashborn's and Sanderman family line would be truly extinct.

Marc didn't seem interested in getting a wife and building a family. So, his family name would end with him when he died. So, Loriel would really be left with no one.

But today... everything was different. He had his Elise back and their son was also already an immortal. They all could live as a happy family together until the end of time.

"I love you, wifey," Loriel pulled away from Elise and looked at her beautiful eyes with a gaze filled with so much love. His heart was warm, his mind was content. "Thank you for existing."

Elise smiled and nodded. She had suffered so much in her previous life, but she knew her husband suffered more and longer. He was especially eaten by guilt and remorse that made his long life a living hell. But he persevered because of his love and devotion to her.

Even though his regret came too late and had caused them to separate for such a long time, at least Loriel had understood and taken ownership of all his mistakes. Now,  he wanted to start over, just like Elise. And this time, they would do things right.

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"It's getting late, we should come in and continue talking inside," Elise said, clasping her hand with his. "I would love to know more about you."

"Yes... I would love that," Loriel nodded. He opened the door for them and walked together with Elise to the penthouse. The two cats came to them, purring. Both were pleased to see their two hoomans came back.

***

Loriel and Elise were now seated once again in the penthouse with the two kittens, Pott and Pebble happily playing around in the living room. 

The television was turned on and reporting some news about the recent calamities that happened across the globe but it was all background noise to their happy conversation. It paled in comparison to how much happiness the couple was now experiencing.

Loriel and Elise were in their own little bubble and their gazes were entirely on each other at this moment. Right now, it was as if nothing else really mattered except for the two of them and in their eyes, it really did feel just like that.

The two of them were now talking over what happened in the past fifteen centuries and also of their time together as a married couple. Lingering questions that both never had the chance to be asked before were now laid out in the open.

Loriel, who had always been sure of it in the past, decided to ask for confirmation from his wife. "When I was a child and had gotten kidnapped because my sisters wanted me dead… you were the fairy who saved me, weren't you?"

Elise blushed and nodded. "Yes. You were so cute as a child back then."

Loriel felt a bit sheepish and scratched the back of his neck. "Was it because I thought that you were the most beautiful woman alive so I only came to the conclusion that you had to be some kind of fairy? By the way, I don't think I was really cute since I was a bit thin as a child."

"While it's true that your assumption was really adorable," Elise chuckled and played with his hair idly. "I think that I actually liked seeing the younger Loriel because you were so meek and gentle before. I was really upset with those kidnappers."

"You know, I was more upset that you were with that Time Master back then," Loriel's expression darkened for a moment. "I only wanted to hold your hand but then he sent me a year into the future."

"I really think that was accidental." Elise couldn't help but poke Loriel's cheek and gave him a kiss on the cheek to help ease his mood. "Time powers are a bit… difficult, but I'm grateful for Dante for giving me the opportunity to save you."

Loriel snorted. "At least he was only good for that."

Elise's head rested against Loriel's chest as she sat comfortably against his lap. She looked up at him and asked. "When did you ever dye your hair? It used to be really… ash, like well. your family are after all the Ashborns."

Loriel chuckled and kissed her forehead. "Do you prefer my hair that way, Elise? I decided to change my hair color because I kept getting stares from other people and I think it was because of my hair color so I changed it to black."

Elise raised a brow. She touched his ash hair that was often messy in the past, but now he mostly kept it tidy. She said, "You think you were getting stares because of your hair color?"

"It attracted too much attention, doesn't it?" Loriel shrugged. "I think it lessened now because I've gone with a more common hair color. Ash, silver and such… it was so common in the past but now it's not."

"I think you've failed to realize how much people love dyeing their hair now or wearing wigs, Loriel. Actually many people dye their hair to white or ash to make them look more attractive and stand out." 

Loriel showed a look of slight contempt when he thought about the people Elise was referring to. "Those are other people who want to get attention. All that mattered to me before I found you again was staying in the background and not being visible to others if I could."

Elise rolled her eyes and knew that her husband really didn't seem to understand that people were looking at him because of how incredibly handsome he was. His hair made little difference in this situation, but he thought it did.

"So which one do you prefer, Elise? Do you like how my hair is now black or did you like how I looked more in the past?" Loriel looked at his wife with a loving smile. "I'd be more than happy to revert back to ash if you have a certain preference for it."

He motioned his hand and suddenly his hair went back to its original ash color. Now, he really looked A LOT like Alexei. For a moment, Elise was dumbfounded. She remembered Loriel with this look very vividly. She loved him looking this way.

But she had also been used to his new looks during their marriage in modern times. To be honest, she liked both and didn't care if he chose any style to his liking. He looked great regardless.

Elise cupped his cheeks and smiled broadly. "Oh, Loriel. You look the same to me either way. I don't see much of a difference."

"What?" Loriel batted his eyes. "You really don't have a preference on which one looks better on me? Or does my appearance really don't matter that much?"

Elise noticed how he seemed to genuinely care about her opinion about appearance and she kissed his nose and smiled gently. 

"Whatever hair color you have, Loriel. Even if you suddenly decide to shave your head and go bald?" Elise's lips pursed for a moment as the image flashed to her mind, but she smiled at him. "It doesn't matter to me because I'll love you always."

"Oh Elise," A tear slipped down Loriel's cheek again. And he held the two of her hands in his and asked. "How could you love me this much?"

"What?" Elise arched her brow at him and chuckled. "Would your love change for me if I suddenly change hair color or if I do something like… get a tattoo? You wouldn't leave me if I went bald would you?"

"Of course not." Loriel rapidly shook his head and kissed her hands. He stared deeply into her eyes. "I love you, Elise. I would have wanted to grow old with you and I would have massaged your aching back and kissed the wrinkles off your forehead."

Elise smiled at the thought and she had actually envisioned that kind of life when she first met him. Right now though, things were different for the two of them now that they were immortals.

"I'm at least glad that I won't have to experience what it feels like to have a creaky back then." she joked. "It's good to be an immortal."

The two of them continued to talk with each other and spoke of whatever came to their minds at that moment. It was a free-flowing conversation and their topics changed from one thing to another as the hours passed by between the two of them.

Before the two of them knew it, it was finally midnight and time to go to bed. They had had such a long day and now their bodies were badly in need of rest.

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From Missrealitybites:

I am publishing the final chapters for "The Cursed King" for the next few days. The book will conclude by the end of this week or early next week. Therefore, I have changed the Privilege Tier for December to only:

* Tier 1 with 1 coin for 2 advanced chapters

* Tier 2 with 100 coins for 38 advanced chapters

I will not set the book to complete immediately because I want to publish some bonus chapters in the future (Loriel's and Elise's life in modern times, possible future children, etc). If I set it to complete after the story ends by end of this week, I cannot publish the side stories the way I want it.

So, please understand that in order for me to do it, I will have to leave the book open until I can write the bonus chapters (possibly on January '22).